De Rechtlijn
Completion date:
January 27, 2025
Development time:
Solo, 3 months part-time
Project type:
Study project, mobile game
January 27, 2025
Development time:
Solo, 3 months part-time
Project type:
Study project, mobile game
Description
De Rechtlijn is a (Dutch) satirical game, played entirely on a smartphone dial screen. The player is accused of murder, and has to prove their innocence in the digital justice system through hilarious and impossible to navigate call menus. The game tackles pressing societal issues in a humouristic way, focusing on the lack of interpersonal contact in an increasingly digital world, and the social consequences of such an environment.Fascination
The game is based on my frustrating experiences with (quote unquote) smart appliances and call menus, as well as on how online platforms are able to influence spending habits and election results.I turned this facination into a single sentence to base the game on:
⇒ "The dangers of a future in which machines are in control, and human interaction is lost."
Audio Game
De Rechtlijn is entirely audio-based, there are no visuals except for the smartphone dial screen. The player navigates the game by listening and responding.
Perfect Medium
Player choice is limited to whatever options the call menu provides. Many players will have had infuriating experiences with these menus, making it the perfect medium for a game with this topic.Design
Design Brief
Design goals:- Raising awareness about the dangers of the combination of digitalisation and bureaucracy
- Evoking frustration and helplessness through interaction with an unempathic digital system
Target audience:
- People that don't think about the digital transition: Young adults just about to step into society
- Current and future policymakers
Repertoire research:
I looked at 'Kentucky Route Zero' and 'Coldline' which both use call menu to explore a virtual environment, though tackling very different topics.
Narrative Design
"Press 1 to request a pro bono lawyer. Press 2 to request a trained lawyer. ... You do not have enough money to request a trained lawyer. Try again later."I wanted the player to get lost in a maze of bureaucracy, constantly getting referred to other phone numbers and parties.
Each phone number has a very distinct voice, which helps the player map out the call menu in their head, almost as if traversing a conventional video game map.
"You are on hold. ... This hold music is brought to you by our sponsor." (ad starts)
An advertisement, which at first sounds like filler, contains a phone number the player has to call in order to progress. A clue disguised as a joke.
Playtesting & Iterations
Success criteria
- Players should experience a bug-free and smooth game
- Players should voluntarily want to explore the call menu
- Players should feel a sense of urgency
- The game should encourage players to think about the subject matter
Iteration 1
⇒ The game is not excitingWhy? The game is only reactive, meaning the player has to go out of their way to initiate every action.
Solution: Implementing moments where the player gets called by the game, surprising them with sudden urgency.
Iteration 2
⇒ The game is not fun to play at allWhy? This one hurt a bit, but yes, it was not fun. It was confronting and dry.
Solution: I completely changed my approach to writing. Instead of going the obvious political talk route, I made it as absurdly bizarre as possible, surprising the player at every turn, and taking the piss out of all topics I covered along the way.
"We at Get Rich Quick value your privacy. To sell us all your personal data in one go, press 1."
Iteration 3
⇒ Players forgot important phone numbersWhy? Phone numbers were mentioned once, players had to listen to that section again to remember it. This was annoying.
Solution: Adding a "call history" tab to the game, listing both incoming and outgoing calls
Post Mortem
post mortm