Is there an old smartphone in your drawer that works even if you’ve already switched to a better model? Way not use your phone as a code lock?This opens up a lot of opportunities! Take a photo with text, numbers or another message on your phone. Set the image as your home screen wallpaper. Lock your phone with a number code or pattern that players can come up with through a task. When the phone opens, players receive an important reply or message from the wallpaper.
You can also use the phone in the game to give hints. Give players a “business card” for a character that fits the story, with an emergency number to call if the game gets stuck. In fact, of course, you answer the calls in the role of the character you invented!
You can also play a sound recording, watch a video or find a QR code reader on your phone …
Pitfalls: The phone is such a mundane item that a task can become tedious. So feel free to use pictures, sound, code readers or anything else that is not part of everyday phone use. Consider where in your story the phone task would fit and use the phone only once (unless it’s a tool for getting tips).