On the Phone (2020) by Linus Lindberg

[raw]
made by Linus Lindberg for Ludum Dare 47 (COMPO)

This game uses multiple real news feeds and real-time day/night cycle.

Screen Shot 2020-10-04 at 2.08.32 PM.png Screen Shot 2020-10-04 at 8.16.39 PM.png Screen Shot 2020-10-04 at 8.16.24 PM.png

[You can preview the daynight cycle by pressing "P"]

Ratings

Overall 500th 3.042⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 623th 1.932⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 187th 3.583⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 266th 3.696⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 290th 3.46⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Humor 415th 2.095⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 96th 3.72⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 24🗨️

Feedback

Lestat
05. Oct 2020 · 01:20 UTC
Well executed concept. Good job!
bereg
05. Oct 2020 · 07:47 UTC
I like the concept, it's thought provoking and deep. And I think it should be a mobile game. So you can play a game on your phone about how you read news on your phone.
ColeSlaughter
05. Oct 2020 · 16:21 UTC
This is pretty neat! I love experimental entries like this. I can see this being kind of a neat live wallpaper or something. The ambiance and lighting are really nice.

I'ma try to come back to this one later in the day to see how things change. :slight_smile:
🎤 Linus Lindberg
05. Oct 2020 · 17:24 UTC
@coleslaughter Thank you! If you want to cheat and watch the day/night cycle you can press "P" and then it will play the cycle at something like 1000x the speed :)
Game_Coder28
05. Oct 2020 · 17:41 UTC
Nice game! great concept and executed amazingly, keep up the good work!
BobParis75
05. Oct 2020 · 17:43 UTC
the concept is incredible and the game is super beautiful. Bravo for the work
complexitydata
05. Oct 2020 · 17:48 UTC
Such a smart idea, and so well-executed. The day/night cycle is a great touch -- I immediately cheated to see the night visuals -- gorgeous!
Pincushion
05. Oct 2020 · 17:54 UTC
I wonder what's keeping him up? I second the call for this to be a live wallpaper.

The "press space" instruction was hidden until night. I needed to cheat and press "P" to find out.

I appreciate the unique entry. Well done.
🎤 Linus Lindberg
05. Oct 2020 · 17:58 UTC
@pincushion Yeah... in retrospect I should have given the text a backdrop or a drop-shadow or something so that it's always visible..
Thanks for the comment!
Rolly
05. Oct 2020 · 18:28 UTC
Such an amazing take on the theme. You got me curious about the code behind it, I will definitely go check it to learn one thing or another!
Hadryel
05. Oct 2020 · 21:16 UTC
I like the concept! Got me wondering and clicking everywhere trying to figure it tho :laughing:
Dharby
06. Oct 2020 · 02:58 UTC
Love the mood of this game. Great use of lighting. Nice work!
notsomecats
06. Oct 2020 · 05:01 UTC
I just wanted some video game news, man. Nice atmosphere and graphics style.
Amin_JK000
06. Oct 2020 · 09:01 UTC
Liked the graphics and atmosphere :v:
indigo
06. Oct 2020 · 17:23 UTC
Is there a game here? This stuff is too artsy for me. I mean, come on, it's a game jam, not a wallpiece jam.
Voidsay
06. Oct 2020 · 17:27 UTC
No Linux build? Hm and the sources only include the code. I need a little more to rebuild the game myself!
JudgeZedd
07. Oct 2020 · 14:52 UTC
Interesting little experience, and really impressive having it pulled together in a weekend. I like something like this that can play with interactivity and our expectations of a game to highlight some real world issues in a novel way. Very nice.
Dmitry Mozgin
07. Oct 2020 · 19:25 UTC
It is not a game much, but rather an interactive experience. I always like then someone picks such concepts because I will be able see them in life. Thank you for choosing this theme of the game (social interaction via a phone) and finished the game. I was thinking of the similar one when I was coming one with an idea for my game, but discarded it for some reason. Overall, I like the visuals they make the right mood and not too personal. Good job!
Patchy
08. Oct 2020 · 11:22 UTC
Cool idea, fits the theme very well, very unique
Ramble House Games
08. Oct 2020 · 11:32 UTC
Interesting piece. I like that it pulls from real news sources.
squimmy
10. Oct 2020 · 08:13 UTC
This hits uncomfortably close to home... :confused:
GeraldFIngBurke
11. Oct 2020 · 01:59 UTC
Very interesting take here. I think it has some interesting things to say. I'm really interested in how you integrated the news feeds. Are you accessing an API somewhere, or are you pulling the RSS feeds that way?
🎤 Linus Lindberg
12. Oct 2020 · 07:32 UTC
@geraldfingburke I'm just reading the RSS xml files, and doing so very poorly, reloading the entire thing and repopulating the UI every time the phone opens instead of just checking for updates.

Had I had more time i would have wanted to pull from all three news sources at once and sort them by date, keeping that list and only adding new entries on opening the phone.
ruthiepee
16. Oct 2020 · 18:10 UTC
I really appreciated this experience, like a more somber and introspective version of a virtual pet. I'm going to leave it open for a while and see what happens. Just one piece of design critique, the "press space" text is not readable against the background for me (at 2:00pm). Now I'm just wondering: what's outside the window?