Two unique new games get very meta by being about smartphones

If you are getting tired of playing smartphone games that are just clones of Clash of Clans or Candy Crush Saga, there are definitely some new options to check out in the Google Play Store this week. Two titles, A Normal Lost Phone and Strange Smartphone, get all meta with us by using smartphones as their main gameplay device.

A Normal Lost Phone, from the French independent developer Accidental Queens, is perhaps the most meta of the two new games. You start out by finding a lost smartphone on the sidewalk. You discover that the phone belongs to a person named Sam. As you go through the texts and other content found on Sam’s phone, you learn more about his past and his connections with others. It’s a mix of adventure and puzzle solving that definitely goes into some themes and ideas that most games don’t explore.

You can find A Normal Lost Phone (no pun intended) in the Google Play Store right now and download it for the price of $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

The other new game, Strange Smartphone, comes from Japan-based developer Magniflop. It’s perhaps a little more “normal” than A Normal Lost Phone, but not much more. The side-scrolling 2D pixel art game has you controlling the character of Jill, who is trying to navigate this odd world that she finds herself in. She gets some help from “Graham”, a creature who takes the form of a smartphone in this world. Jill can call other people with “Graham” or she can create new worlds by dialing strings of numbers.

The game is basically a 2D adventure title where you have to search for items and keys that will help you get out of this odd world. This game also has five different endings, so there should be a ton of replay value. Strange Smartphone is available now in the Google Play Store for $3.99, and again it has no in-game purchases.

What do you think of this trend of games that use smartphones in their gameplay? Let us know in the comments!