Strange Telephone
- January 20, 2019
- HZ3 Software
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"Strange Telephone" is a 2D adventure game where players, as protagonist Jill, explore surreal worlds created by a phone's keypad, assisted by Graham, a helpful telephone, in hopes of finding escape. With pixel art graphics and a "hidden story" foundation, the game features multiple endings based on the items collected in each strange world.
iPad
iPhone
Nintendo Switch
PC
Phone
Steam Deck
Windows
Android
Mobile Platform
Tablet
Reviews
- Strange Telephone features a charming aesthetic with lovely visuals and a captivating soundtrack that enhances the surreal atmosphere.
- The game offers a unique mechanic of dialing random numbers to explore various worlds, providing a sense of discovery and experimentation.
- While the puzzles can be challenging, they encourage creative thinking and exploration, making it enjoyable for fans of surreal and indie games.
- The exploration can become repetitive due to the limited variety of environments and the reliance on randomly generated rooms, leading to a sense of grind rather than discovery.
- Many puzzles lack clear logic, often requiring trial and error or the use of guides, which can detract from the overall experience.
- The game is relatively short, with some players feeling that it lacks depth and replay value after completing it once.
- graphics31 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming pixel art style and unique aesthetic, creating a surreal and dreamlike atmosphere that resonates with fans of indie titles like Yume Nikki. While the visuals are generally considered appealing and enhance the overall experience, some players note that the repetitive nature of certain scenes can diminish their initial impact. Overall, the combination of cute graphics, enjoyable music, and a strong aesthetic contributes to a memorable gaming experience.
“The graphics are very cute and the story is quite nice!”
“With its surreal atmosphere and endearing pixel graphics, I can recommend this to fans of Yume Nikki or Japanese indie games in general.”
“The music and atmosphere are unique and the graphics are appealing.”
“A bizarre little pixel graphics game.”
“Strange Telephone is not a bad game aesthetically, but I feel like it actively does not want me to take the time to appreciate and get immersed in the atmosphere.”
“The aesthetic of it might appeal to some people, which is what initially drew me in, but the visual awe wears off after seeing the same scene too many times.”
- story30 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game is generally perceived as vague and lacking depth, with many players noting that it often feels disjointed or non-existent. While some appreciate the surreal and ambiguous storytelling style, others express disappointment over the absence of a coherent narrative or character development. Overall, the game offers a minimalistic approach to storytelling, relying heavily on player interpretation and exploration rather than delivering a structured plot.
“The graphics are very cute and the story is quite nice!”
“Strange Telephone is a wonderfully crafted game which, in my opinion, is heavily underrated. The story is vague and one has to figure it out for themselves, though it looks like hints are scattered about.”
“The game sports 11 unique endings, all of which can help bring some understanding of the story.”
“The story is hard to follow, and the world exploration element gets old fast.”
“The story isn't really there, and it looks like the creator is trying to do something with Alexander Graham Bell and inventing, but I'm unsure what the main goal is.”
“There's no real dialogue (save for the item descriptions) so while there is a story, the details are up for interpretation.”
- gameplay29 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 76 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Strange Telephone" is a mixed bag, with some players enjoying its unique mechanics and charming aesthetics reminiscent of "Yume Nikki," while others find it repetitive and shallow. The core mechanic of dialing phone numbers to access small, disconnected worlds leads to a lack of meaningful exploration and engagement, often resulting in a tedious experience. Overall, while the game has potential with its surreal atmosphere and puzzle elements, many reviewers feel it ultimately falls short in delivering a satisfying gameplay experience.
“This is a fun little Yume Nikki-styled sidescroller with an emphasis on puzzles and classic 'point and click' styled gameplay.”
“It's really charming and fun to play, with some new and interesting game mechanics I've never really seen before.”
“A pretty good atmospheric exploration/puzzle game with a lot of experimentation in its gameplay.”
“Unfortunately, I think this game is somewhat hampered by the primary mechanic of dialing in locations to visit and the repetitive nature of the locations you visit.”
“The actual gameplay is 'use item on x to continue' and it tells you nothing about that.”
“I cannot say that I gained a single thing from playing this; it doesn't have any gameplay so it's not really fun, it doesn't have a story or artistic vision to the world so it wasn't meaningful, and there's no cohesion to the different worlds so it wasn't even immersive.”
- atmosphere28 mentions
- 61 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its unique visuals, calming sound design, and surreal qualities, often drawing comparisons to the beloved title "Yume Nikki." While many players appreciate the charming art and immersive environments, some criticize the game's shallow mechanics and lack of depth, which can detract from the overall experience. Overall, it is recommended for fans of atmospheric and exploratory gameplay, though opinions vary on its effectiveness in creating a truly immersive world.
“Visuals, music, atmosphere, and more are all lovely.”
“The art is cute and unique, the atmosphere is really nice and the sound design is excellent.”
“Overall, it's just a very unique, original and charming game, with great aesthetics, atmosphere, and an exchange of ideas not seen so much in games these days.”
“But for most players, I'd recommend you try Yume Nikki instead, which has a better surreal/creepy atmosphere and better exploration.”
“Strange Telephone has some nice art direction and certainly nails, for the most part, that surreal atmosphere it's trying to convey, but when you start seeing just how shallow the 'worlds' are and how ineffective and broken the mechanics are, everything falls apart (pretty quickly too, I might add).”
“The music and designs of the environments are alright, but since each environment is literally only the size of your screen and you constantly are jumping between them, there's zero room for atmosphere or immersion.”
- music24 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its beautiful and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the overall experience with laid-back tunes that are enjoyable to listen to. While some players noted that the soundtrack can become repetitive over time, many found it memorable and integral to the game's surreal and immersive environments. Overall, the combination of music and visuals contributes significantly to the game's charm and appeal.
“The music surprisingly has some really nice tunes, many of which are very laid back and nice to listen to when you're just chilling out or studying.”
“The music is wonderful, the worlds are wonderful, and the creature designs are so wonderful.”
“Honestly, the game is worth it for the music alone, if you want to spend a few hours between realms wandering without a cause.”
“The music and designs of the environments are alright, but since each environment is literally only the size of your screen and you constantly are jumping between them; there's zero room for atmosphere or immersion.”
“A very atmospheric game, beautiful art, but the soundtrack is kinda annoying in some worlds.”
“The soundtrack is fair, although it gets repetitive after a few hours of gameplay.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and frustrating, often involving repetitive back-and-forth actions and aimless searching for objectives. Unlike its inspiration, Yume Nikki, the game lacks the cryptic charm and instead feels obtuse, leading to a boring experience.
“The game eventually devolves into a tedious session of trying random numbers until you find the object you need in the preview screen, or you give up and try to walk in a single direction from a random number.”
“In the end, this game is boring, tedious, and (unlike its inspiration Yume Nikki) instead of being cryptic and mysterious, it becomes just obtuse and frustrating.”
“It's a bit tedious having to go back and forth, but I can understand a bit why since otherwise most players would just be roaming around forever with no repercussions and eventually would get lost.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game lacks significant replayability, with users noting that it does not offer enough incentive to play through again.
“Unfortunately, it really doesn't have any replay value.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its fascinating and charming qualities, as well as its heartfelt moments, though it is acknowledged to have some flaws that may impact the overall emotional experience.
“This game is fascinating, charming, and heartfelt, but also quite flawed.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's humor is characterized by a variety of endearing "mini-stories" that players encounter while solving puzzles and assisting NPCs, offering a mix of cute, scary, sad, and hilariously awkward moments that enhance the overall experience.
“Instead, there are countless endearing mini-stories you uncover as you solve puzzles and help NPCs, which can be cute, scary, sad, or hilariously awkward (if you played the game, you know the one).”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of "Strange Telephone" is positively noted, particularly for its clever use of advertisements that creatively integrate gameplay elements, such as showcasing a player using a phone in the final video.
