Remember the old brick phones? Hitokoe brings one back, hand-drawn, right inside your phone. In Vietnam they're called cuc gach. Five keys: four arrows and ひ. No tapping the screen: you press keys, like back then.
SIX LITTLE GAMES, HARD TO PUT DOWN
• Snake — every dish has its own count. Eat it on exactly its last step.
• Slide — slide the squares until the pixel picture is whole.
• Sides — push blocks in from all four sides. Full rows and columns clear.
• Dial — turn three rings of lamps to find the colour code. Open all three safes to win.
• Mines — take turns with the bot walking a cat to its cushion, across five fields; the last is a Saigon street. Step on the wrong flag and you lose.
• Pixel — stitch with ten threads, or find each number the phone calls to reveal a picture.
New to a game? Press ▲ on its first page: How to play lets you try it one key at a time, on the real board. Beat your best and the run is taped, to watch again in the Album.
TWO PHONES, SIDE BY SIDE
Connect with a friend using the tin can and challenge them: race the same puzzle in Snake, Slide, Sides or Dial, quicker time wins, or play Mines against each other.
PLAY FOR COINS, THEN BUY THE REST OF THE PHONE
Finish a game for 10 coins (once a day per game), beat your best for 20, and read what Hitokoe posts on the Board. Coins can't be bought. The Bank writes down every coin and keeps your savings, which grow a little each day you come back. Its Shop sells the Camera, the Pager, the Walkie-talkie and the tin can, plus charms and stickers to dress the phone.
ONLY THE PEOPLE YOU'VE MET
Add someone by showing your code for their Camera to scan. No names, no profiles: everyone is a five-digit number and a face, stitched by hand or by chance. Side by side, message each other with icons, sealed so only the two of you can read them.
ALSO ON THE PHONE
• Camera — photos, video and twin shots with a friend, with a cat if you like.
• Walkie-talkie — hold to record, let go to pause, save the tape.
• Album — everything you save, and every personal best.
• Board — what Hitokoe posts, the same for everyone.
• Music — every game has its own 8-bit tune.
• Sponsor — buy the maker a glass of soy milk or a bowl of bún bò, and wear a ひ on your face. Nothing else comes with it.
• English and Vietnamese.
WHAT STAYS ON YOUR PHONE
No account, no analytics, no tracking. A small server of ours only carries what two phones send each other — the card you swap when you add someone, and letters — sealed so we can't read either. Back up to a file whenever you like.
Think you can beat the bot? Prove it.
ひとこえ, "one voice".
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