CommutatorBuild

THE SWITCHBOARD

A game about a connection there is never enough of.

A besieged city, five days, a manual switchboard. You are the operator, and every line in the city runs through your hands. There are more calls than lines. The hospital, the garrison, the fire brigade, a bakery, a cellar full of refugees, and a mother looking for her son: who do you connect now, and who has to wait?

How to play

• A lamp is blinking: click the jack under it to answer.
• Listen to the request and click the jack of the person they want to reach.
• Interference builds up during a call. Keep pressing “TUNE” or the words turn to noise and the line drops.
• You only have one or two lines. To connect an urgent call you may have to cut someone off.
• You hear every conversation, and the consequences show immediately. The full report comes in the morning.

Features

• 5 days, 28 calls, 3 endings
• A personal story: the more consistently you connect Marta to the hospital, the closer she gets to her son
• The city outside the window changes every day
• All audio is synthesized in-game
• Mouse only, about 15 minutes

Theme: Connections. Connection is a limited resource. Every call you put through leaves someone else without help.

The game is in Russian.