Switchboard Sprite by Falk Hoeppner

[raw]
made by Falk Hoeppner for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

BlogPost-AdvertismentCroppedLowQuality.png As the newest member of Board Witch Switchboard Co, you will be working as a Telephone Operator! When a firefly signals they want to chat, plug in the peg and check to whom they'd wish to speak!

gamplay2.gif

Then simply connect the two and wait for their conversation to finish before disconnecting. Only be sure to watch your cables. You don't want to get into a tangled mess!! ...or do you?

tangled2.png

Be an efficient worker each day to earn Premium Doll Hairs and get a good report from your supervisor! Supervisor note.png

Ratings

Overall 312th 3.74⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Fun 124th 3.865⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 200th 3.755⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Theme 67th 4.354⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 458th 3.698⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Audio 141th 3.968⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Humor 85th 3.946⭐ 48🧑‍⚖️
Mood 312th 3.819⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Given 57🗳️ 76🗨️

Feedback

nerdyHerbivore
Apr 21st · 00:43 UTC
Hope everyone enjoys our game! We didn't have as much time this weekend as we'd hoped, but so proud of what we got done! Post your final scorecards so we can see how many "Doll Hairs" everyone earned.

![finalDay.png](///raw/ffd/8/z/71666.png)
Eric Nguyen
Apr 21st · 00:53 UTC
Thanks for checking out our game!

![image (Small).png](///raw/6f9/84/z/7171e.png)
Julia Nistel
Apr 21st · 04:55 UTC
Great game! The lines tangling up was a fun mechanic. I liked the music too!
babyfoodstudios
Apr 21st · 04:56 UTC
"They were roommates?" Good fun, reminded me of Whack-A-Mole! Entrancing and whimsical music.
hammerfrenzy
Apr 21st · 05:24 UTC
Gonna have to run it back for perfect payroll >_>
![ld59.png](///raw/563/14/z/71cf7.png)
nathmate
Apr 21st · 05:40 UTC
![2026-04-21-153822_1920x1080_scrot.png](///raw/102/b5/z/71d09.png)

Pretty fun. I kept mis-aligning the cursor as I instinctively thought the index finger was the "middle".
nerdyHerbivore
Apr 21st · 20:56 UTC
Thanks for playing! And sorry Nathmate, I kept moving the "middle" since I struggled to decide where the cursor's grab point should be. One of those things you don't normally think about until an issue comes up :D
Boudichon
Apr 22nd · 01:13 UTC
Love the audio! I also struggled with the cursor alignment at first but once you get the hang of it it's very enjoyable :smiley: Good submission, well done!
Lukas Leder
Apr 22nd · 07:13 UTC
Very cute game, love the references ^^
Would have loved some osbtacles or similar to make the progression harder or maybe cables of different length?
But very good job! <3
Purrseus
Apr 22nd · 10:12 UTC
Wow, really fun once you get into the flow! The music is a BOP, I was moving my head to the beat the whole time through :notes:🙂‍↔️ :notes:

Sadly my flow state was so strong that I immediately clicked away my final scorecard. I think my score was 257.something doll hairs?

Great entry!
clymm
Apr 22nd · 23:09 UTC
Cool idea! I Like the graphics and the tune is quite fun.

I played but unfortunately got stuck as no more calls seemed to come through. I Did a couple but then they stopped (see in screenshot below).
![screenshot_23_04_2026.jpg](///raw/f41/24/z/7263f.jpg)
hammerfrenzy
Apr 23rd · 03:02 UTC
@clymm Yeah, it's a rare bug unfortunately :/. We were a bit strapped for time this go around and a few remain unsquashed
mattlevonian
Apr 23rd · 06:58 UTC
This is a great little bow on a mechanic. Lots of polish with the little sprite icons/text, simulated cables, and the audio all fits together well. It would have been great to see more happen with the mechanic rather than just what feels like largely a reflex/speed test. E.g. group calls. Or a limited numbers of cables, but longer patience timers. Or different types of customers. But I applaud you for polishing up the core mechanic!
god1385
Apr 23rd · 11:48 UTC
Addicting fun setup with magnificent cord physics, congrats bro, this mechanic is cool, looks really nice. Keep it up
conduit.games
Apr 24th · 13:00 UTC
On day 4 I hit the same bug as above, no more calls coming in.

However, this was indeed a fun a catchy game to play. Took me a bit to get used to the mouse cursor and the mechanics. I do like how you can start off with the plugs in place, which makes it easier to play. The mechanics are indeed fun, the jostling cables are fun, the mouse cursor is fun, the music is cute. Well done!
anaastaska
Apr 24th · 15:15 UTC
Really nice game, relaxing in some ways! Love the visual
aruseus
Apr 24th · 15:33 UTC
Got softlocked at day 5.

Was fun though. Only the controls felt a little unreliable. Made me feel like I was a rather hamfisted operator :D

The music was cool too.
VenomousMouse
Apr 24th · 17:42 UTC
Very nice mechanic! I enjoyed playing.
johnnyalfonso
Apr 24th · 18:24 UTC
Fun game!
Sort of reminds me of Papers Please :)

I thought the stuff the little characters were saying on the phone line was funny.
Def enjoyed my time spent with this game
bravelytyped
Apr 24th · 21:17 UTC
Fun concept! I enjoyed managing the limited number of patch cables and finding the end of the one that I was trying to re-use. Good job!
DrMaxwell
Apr 24th · 22:45 UTC
The game is really fun and the music is catchy. A very pleasant experience.
MostLikely
Apr 25th · 05:16 UTC
I just played "papers please" for the first time today, and then played this, which felt appropriate. The song was great, graphics were great, the game was super well paced! Only issue I had was the grabbing of the pegs was a little too finicky, I kept missing them... but that could have been user error. Great work!
Aster24
Apr 25th · 05:42 UTC
Perfect soundtrack for this, and quite fun!
Jiawen_hu
Apr 25th · 08:08 UTC
Good game, interesting game!! and the design also great. Perhaps there is still room for improvement in terms of interaction, e.g. dragging the mouse along the phone cord doesn't feel smooth...QvQ
LDJam user 424632
Apr 25th · 09:31 UTC
Interesting interpretation of the topic "signal". Good job!

Sometimes you run into some problems with the cursor when you need to press buttons.
Prunus Padis
Apr 25th · 10:01 UTC
I managed to get myself stuck at fist day on first playtrhough somehow, i dont think i succecfully did any call and the day did not just end. After restart it worked.

Really nice game with unique athmosphere and style. The music was super great and set up the mood so great. The game play is hectic and i dropped many calls but dont know why since there was so much happening, i thought i connect it right way but still got the error sound after many calls ended, might be just user error though but thats how i felt.

Really great entry was fun to play!
borjaparraga
Apr 25th · 20:07 UTC
Great now i'm oficially a witch
Byte Bark
Apr 25th · 20:41 UTC
Great game! Intense and relaxing at the same time :D. I love how the music added perfectly to the vibe. Sorry for the missed calls fireflies I just need to hear those gossips.
braktheman
Apr 25th · 22:01 UTC
Simple concept that works well. Good humor, nice game feel. Great to see a bit of progression in difficulty (at least felt that way to me) as the game went on.

Well done, team!
LDJam user 407703
Apr 26th · 00:40 UTC
Really creative and fitting take on the theme! With more time, you could turn this into something even bigger with lots of funny ideas, like humorous dialogues between mythical creatures.

In addition to the bug mentioned above, I also ran into an issue where a receiving call was overwritten by a new call in the same slot.

But overall, for the polished experience and the great idea, I am happy to give you a good rating. I had fun playing it!
apt_prose7
Apr 26th · 08:29 UTC
Well-balanced and fun to play.
joujjjou
Apr 26th · 11:35 UTC
Cool idea. I liked the gameplay. I'd like to make it a little clearer visually which outlet belongs to which cord. Maybe color the outlets the same colors as the cords? Either way, the idea is good. The plugging sounds are tactile. Good job!
Alex de la Cour
Apr 26th · 11:46 UTC
A cool entry! It treads that fine line between manic, stressful and fun really well. Gets the heartrate up just the right amount!

My main criticism would be that it felt like the grab area was off - often times it took me a few clicks to get one of the ends even though the hand was definitely over it. And maybe some sort of colour code for the different conversation (although at the same time, this was also part of the fun - remembering the pairs when there were 3 or 4 conversations open at once).
LDJam user 389319
Apr 26th · 16:19 UTC
That was super fun, the music was such a banger xD and i can tell you do not let me work at such a job i got fined so much hahahaha
Ryrumeli
Apr 27th · 16:30 UTC
So fun, I really liked the physics for the ropes, the tangling was so satisfying. Definitely fits the theme perfectly, and I love the humorous spin! Had a bit of an issue with a call that kept on vanishing on a spot, think it was a rare occourance but still happened once in each of my two playthroughs.

Definitely the people working with connecting calls in the past were truly unsung heroes.
lloydlobo
Apr 28th · 10:31 UTC
That was a wild ride. I enjoyed playing it. I could have done better with an actual mouse; the trackpad clicks had some issues, so I missed a few calls. If it had more distinct color variations, I’d have an easier time connecting calls. That said, that ambiguity seems to be part of the appeal.
LDJam user 430897
May 06th · 14:01 UTC
That's great, the sounds are fun and the game is easy. Congratulations!