Last updated on January 16th, 2026 at 11:43 pm
A Normal Lost Phone – Puzzle Game Review
A Normal Lost Phone is a Puzzle/Adventure game from Plug In Digital, first launched in 25th January 2017.
It’s rated 12+ and currently has 480+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes A Normal Lost Phone Stand Out
A Normal Lost Phone is a game about exploring the intimacy of an unknown person whose phone was found by the player.
The game takes the shape of a narrative investigation: you have to search the phone’s text messages, pictures and applications, in order to learn about its former owner. Through this phone, you uncover Sam’s life, friends, family and relationships, until the evening when they turn 18 and mysteriously disappear.
Features
- An immersive and intuitive way of introducing the narrative through a fake smartphone interface.
- A game that bridges the gap between reality and fiction by letting players act as themselves. The game asks a simple question: if you close the app but still think about the game, have you truly stopped playing?
- A relatable story that helps build empathy with the characters, allowing to explore difficult topics.
This Puzzle game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, A Normal Lost Phone is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 20th October 2020
Recent improvements include:
Adapted the game to modern iPhone and iPad screens and fixed some minor visual glitches.
Download & Availability
A Normal Lost Phone is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get A Normal Lost Phone on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
We guess we first downloaded this game a long time ago, in 2017, as a teen. We have no memory of it at 27 in 2025 but we were scrolling through our old apps for some nostalgia and saw it, figured it would be a fun little mystery game. When we first played it we were 19, and we were just figuring out we might not be straight. Flash forward to now and we know Im not a woman either. What a wonderful treat to find this game and get to relive the mystery. As a trans person ourselves we can say the subject was handled very well, especially for having come out 8 years ago. It hit so many personal notes for us. Our (now) wife came out to us first. When she told us she was a woman we were so excited to get to say we had a girlfriend. When we discovered we were non binary she was nothing but supportive. After dating since we were 15 she was finally ready to get married on our 10 year anniversary. We were honored to give her our last name. What Im trying to say is the story on the forums, about the woman whose partner comes out to her as trans, it doesnt always end badly. If anyone is out there reading this after just having played the game, scared to come out to your partner, please have hope. 12 years with our wife next week. It can happen for you too, coming out isnt always the end. Anyway this game was lovely and we appreciate how the subjects were handled with such grace. There was only one thing we had to look up a hint on, the game lasted us about 1.5 hours but kept us up late when we work tomorrow lol. Trans kids out there we love you. We gets better, we promise.
We thought it was going to be another find the person story but (no spoilers or anything) it completely changed into something we could not stop reading for an hour. The puzzles are challenging but fair, the story is relatable in ways Ive never experienced in similar games, and we legitimately cried at the end. Short but sweet. Highly recommend.
This is a wonderful game. Without spoiling too much, we found that we deeply identified with the events, revelations, and emotions that the player discovers throughout the course of the game. This game, while not identical to, tells a story that mirrors events that have occurred in our own life. We highly recommend this game, and while the puzzles can be difficult at times, the rewards and rich storytelling are more than worth it. Thank you to the developers for making this game, and we look forward to playing the sequel.
We loved this game. Searching through the phone to find puzzle answers while learning about the main characters life was a great way to experience this story.
For those reading reviews before buying, this game can be difficult to play if youre not as thorough about details. It is considered a mystery rightfully so. However some complain its too easy. As an avid lover of mysteries, there were some roadblocks we had a difficult time getting started on, and other times it was a bit straight forward. Keep an eye on the details. ;) As for the message of the game, its an amazing one. Its a game we find not just relatable but too relatable. We know too many people in our same demographic experiencing exactly what the overall lore of the game is about. Its a really heartfelt game easier described as a short story with mysterious elements. Our girlfriend told us about it and when we played it together she told us it was a little short. That said, we spent at minimum an hour on it, actively that is, and we loved every minute of it. Despite relatability its an amazing game overall that we were actually drawn to over and over. We played it at work when we were supposed to be busy, even because it has such a unique charm. A similar game series Ive been drawn to for years is Life Is Strange, a mystery-based CYOA. It strikes us as an inspiration even. While we would actually pay more for this game we do seriously hope theres an independent source of revenue for the team that worked on it as Id like to see it free to play. Having grown up in a poor family, and even another family that didnt let us have privacy or spend any of our money on anything we wanted to, we didnt get to buy mobile games. We feel like this could have a much larger audience and reach more youth if it were free. But ADs would kill the immersion and we wouldnt want to harm the devs. This is an amazing ride. We crave every minute of it. Bought it because our girlfriend said it was good, and it was so good that now her girlfriend wont stop pestering her about how good it was lol.
Please add trigger warnings for sexual assault as well!! But whew- FASTASTIC story. We had no idea what to expect but didnt count on a powerful and MOVING tale! We feel incredibly grateful for every bit of that! Wish there was a way to write a final email to the main character but its almost more moving without that ability. Wow.
Very touching story, fun game mechanics.
Awesome game! Honestly, thank you for making it, thank you! Not only was it a story we could appreciate, it was wonderfully done! Through the story you really did do your best to figure out what to do best, each time you were rewarded for it too! The music was nice! This games deserves a lot! Its unique and has great quality! Thank you.
As a trans agender lesbian this game is iconic.
This game had us in tears by the end. We were so glad Sam had a happy ending she deserved it. This game was most definitely worth the 2 dollars.. As someone closeted we really hope we get a happy ending like sam thank you.
This game helped us related to our brother. Luckily growing up our parents were the exact opposite of this characters parents. We couldnt imagine having parents who didnt love you for EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE! Its an eye opening game! It really brings light to the hardships the LGBTQ community faces in their everyday life and while growing into adulthood. We really felt a strong connection to Samira, the devs did an amazing job with this one.
The game was interesting in the very least. We thoroughly enjoyed playing it but it was a bit short in the time side of things. Besides that its a great game so im giving it 5 stars. It truly is amazing and im happy we got to play it even after we accidentally bought it.
This game means a lot to us, we loved the story. It doesn't take to long to play and that's ok and we love it for that. Some sections are sorta hard to understand how to progress but you should get it without a guide or anything. We really recommended this game especially to lgbtqia+ youth.
The title says it all, it is a well written story on what was at time of release a very hot topic. You will grow attached to the character and root for them to come out ahead. The game is too short to charge money for it. There is zero replay value as there is only one possible ending. And honestly the art is mediocre at best. This is not even in the same league as the other found phone games like Sara is Missing and Simulacra. This is alright but not worth paying for. You live and you learn.
Id like to write a review but the game just freezes and we have to restart our iPad to close it. We purchased this and your bundle, would love a refund.
Boyfriend started playing one of the songs in the car after he found it on spotify, and its not his normal style so we asked where he found it and he said it was from this cute and sweet game! Started it shortly after and just now got to the end and man, our heart. Will be recommending to EVERYONE, whether they are queer or not because this game is CUTE and oddly educational, learned more than we thought we would! Just enough of a puzzle and very much great plot and we love love love it.
We were just looking for a game to buy and we came across this and we though oh this would be a good time killer. When we started playing it, we instantly fell in love. We love how this game is mostly about a trans woman and other people apart of the LGBTQ+ community there arent many games that have that topic. It also talks about real life problems that people may have experienced before. We dont really know what to say but this is a great puzzle and story telling game for people part of LGBTQ+, or people that are allies this is a great game.
This game captures what many people have to experience on a daily basis. We love how there are hidden hints for passwords. We do wish this game was a bit longer. Maybe a part 2.
We thought this game was really good, we just wish there was more! It took us an hour or so to do the whole thing and we loved every bit. Now im sad we kinda sped through the game because we wish there was more to play.
Ive played quite a few story games in our past, some that took a couple hours and some that took weeks to complete. The ones that were shorter never stuck with us in term of emotion, mostly because they didnt give any time to form a bond with the characters. But with A Normal Lost Phone, this was a whole different case. Sure, if you know what to do, this game can be very short, but taking the time to go through each message, take in every emotion, this is what truly makes a good story game. We are in awe, and this will be a game that we remember forever. On the technical side, this game has Zero bugs (that Ive encountered), is quite easy to play, and has a great system for the soundtrack :) 100/10, would recommend. Love it.
Ive been searching more for games with LGBT content, and this one is wonderful. Most of the puzzle aspects are straightforward, though we did have to use google once. Other than that, the characters are incredibly compelling and it makes us happy to know that someone out there made this. If youre somebody that wants to learn about trans people, or maybe youre a young trans person yourself and you want to explore that, this is a great game/visual novel. Very much worth the price of admission.
This game was really easy. We wish we were longer then all the games we play on our iPad and our iPhone.
This game does in fact slap very hard. Playing it was fun and relaxing and heartwarming. It has a great grasp on what it can feel like to not only figure out who you are but figure out how you want to share that with the world. We loved playing it and id totally recommend it to anyone interested, its absolutely worth the 99 cents.
Great narrative exploring the hardships and realities of LGBT life without diving into irrelevant political nonsense like many stories of this topic tend to do.
Im a casual gamer, we dont play much aside from Tetris, but we thought Id give this a try! So from the opinion Id say this was a lot of fun! The story was really interesting and rummaging around for passwords wasnt too challenging with some thought. As the story progressed we had a lot of aha! Moments. We learned more about the lgbt community as a whole, some things we didnt know or understand before make more sense now. Honestly its a fun game you can play through in one afternoon. We just wish it was longer! Twice as long? Still Im glad we made the purchase.
We loved every bit of this game, there is not a single thing that we dislike about it. Amazing story, amazing puzzles and just over all an amazing game. Im really filling this up with compliments arent we haha. Honestly we can relate to this game personally but anyways, love this game.
It felt like real people were telling the story and it felt so real thanks for making this!This game really explained a lot of problems LGBTQ+ people have and we loved it.
We had a hard time deciding between four and five stars. While the game is interesting and creative, it was also far too short and we feel they really didnt milk the unique setting of the game enough. There are many creative ways to incorporate puzzles into the framing device if the game, but we dont think the creators explored those options nearly enough. On the other hand, this game manages to tell a compelling enough story, the puzzles that are there are solid, and the music is some of the best Ive ever heard in a mobile game. Ultimately we are giving this five stars because we would like to see more of this kind of investigative game on the app store, and for managing to tell a classic LGBTQ story without falling into horrible outdated cliche.
We were initially disappointed because it finishes so fast. Especially if you cheat because the only thing that makes the game long is the PASSWORDS. Which are like impossible unless you have an IQ of 160. BUT Im gunna go ahead and give it 5 stars because of the raw untold narrative and how real reality gets. This was cozy, sad, romantic and uplifting :)) 10/10 would erase memory and play again. But seriously if you dont have 1.99 – watch a walkthrough babe.
Had a great time playing but we'd be lying if we said it didn't feel too short. In the end the sorry it's good and well told and was a natural progression so we do feel complete and satisfied but am hoping the next will be longer. After reading a review of one of the their newer similar games, we bought this one and two of the devs other games all at once because we like this concept. One glitchy thing: while playing, we had gotten to the diary section and was reading it but fell asleep because it was late. When we woke up and opened the game later, all our progress was gone. We are relatively sure we didn't do anything so maybe a glitch? We used a guide to get back to the diary quickly and then finally finished the game. It was a bit frustrating to have to do that but like we said above, good game.
Went in expecting something fairly straightforward. Got something extraordinary. Not a super deep puzzle game, more like an excellent novella with some fun detective work to get to the next scene. Enlightening, surprising, emotional, and engrossing. Definitely going to be checking out more from the developer.
We got so emotionally involved in the story that we had to have a page of notes. The creators did a fantastic job. We didnt put it down for a whole day and now Im sad that its over! We think Ill give their other app a try too. Thank you to the creators for such a great game.
Its a short ride, but powerful. Take your time and read everything for full effect.
Its incredible to think that in this day and age. You can learn everything about someones life through their phone. With a little investigation and time you can learn about the kind of person they were, the people they lived with and who they want to be. A Normal Lost Phone excels in telling a story the story of a person with a lot of troubles, with a family who doesn't understand. Its easy to navigate with a lovely soundtrack and we found ourselves reading everything in the phone to learn more about Sams life. By the end of the story we found ourselves running throughout the entire system trying to find a way to send a message to Sam. We were so invested in the story we wanted to reach out to them, we wanted to communicate to this fictional character. It was incredible, we loved this app very much.
We loved this game. We just could not get enough.
We wasnt expecting this game to be so personal. It was very relatable and Id highly recommend it to anyone questioning themselves.
Simple, fun, good story. We recommend it.
This game is amazing. The storytelling is superb, and the characters have a lot of depth. This one hits pretty close to home. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.
Very much enjoyed this game, its a nice no-pressure type of game that lets you investigate the mystery at your own pace. The puzzles are clever but not impossible. We also appreciated that we learned some things, but we wont say about what and spoil any of the plot :-) Just one word to the wiseif you leave the app open and dont touch it for too long it logs you out of the session and you have to start from the beginning. Dunno if thats a bug or not, but it happened to us twice! If you close out of the game its fine, though.
We love this. We will be getting other games from the maker (this is our second, including Bury us, our Love).
Well thought out and good for LGBT we liked it.
This game was in a word Amazing. It dealt with real problems and real struggles that people deal with. Also, we were so under the illusion that we were actually looking in someone elses phone! The art is also really good! We definitely recommend this game :).
Amazing and creative game. The story is so engaging and the puzzles are great. If you're on the edge of buying this, you need to play this.
Amazing story and interface. We even found the text in it might be useful (while not obvious).
In a sea of junky clones of the same arcade game, A Normal Lost Phone stands out as a creative game that really pushes the boundaries of mobile games and interactive fiction. Thank you for the absolutely wonderful journey.
We absolutely loved this story & we're so glad we bought this game on a whim. Recommendation: don't read other reviews or you'll spoil it for yourself.
It was such a good story. We were very invested and had just the right mix of a bit of puzzle and a story where we needed to know more.
We could not stop. For anyone whos very curious (ahem…nosy) by nature, this game will be a delight. We cried at the end, and now Im wondering whats in store for Sam. We dont know if everyone would play this the same way, so Im sure experiences will vary greatly. Luckily for us, we seemed to stumble upon the key bits of info in the perfect order by just naturally snooping around the way we would. More of these lost phone games, please! A good thriller would be extra nice!! SPOILERS AHEAD we think the password for her calculator was too hard. We mean, other than the WiFi password, everything had been dates. We tried all dates related to the LGBT group/book club, parade, etc. We had to search online to see what it was.
This game was great, we've always loved these types of games! Uncovering the secrets and story was fun and we enjoyed the message of the game.
This left us feeling emotional and unsettled in the next possible way. What a beautiful, eye opening story. Please play this.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.4
- Size: 103.99 MB
- iOS: 12.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes, Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity, Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor, Infrequent/Mild Medical/Treatment Information
- Developer: [Plug In Digital]()
Last updated: 20th October 2020 | Genre: Puzzle, Adventure | Developer: Plug In Digital