bontegames

Hi! I'm Bart Bonte, a Belgian independent game designer and bontegames.com is where I blog about new interesting browser and mobile games. My own games are all in the left column (or at the bottom of this page on mobile). More info about me and my games on bartbonte.com.
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March 19, 2015

phonopath

Phonopath by Kevin and Colin Regamey might not be everyone's cup of tea, since you need audio software like the free audacity to decipher the password for each stage. But it's clever stuff and maybe ideal to start learning a bit about audio software.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, it looks like I'm first. The audio sounds backwards to me, so I tried a few guesses to get the door to open, but no such luck. Interesting idea though. Thanks for posting this, Bart, but I will pass on this one. Hopefully someone else will have more success.

Felix Corundar said...

This is why you have to use audio software. Reverse the entire track, and it gives you the password.

Now to get past the first stage........

GeorgeTz said...

Got up to 2.4 after about an hour and with a little on-line help with audacity. Coming back for another play at the weekend. A very interesting and different type of game. Thanks very much for this one Bart.

Yvonne said...

This game isn't for me, but it is interesting to watch the 2h17m walkthrough on youtube.

eightoclock said...

I am stuck on 1-1: I did what I was supposed to do to the audio file and apparently what I am hearing isn't the right password.

Felix Corundar said...

@eightoclock:

Each audio file has to be manipulated in different ways. It's not one method fits all. For example, to get past the intro file, it has to be reversed. For 1-1, there's a little tiny smidge at the very end of the file that has to be amplified.

eightoclock said...

@Felix Corundar:

I understand what needs to be done with the audio file in 1-1, but when I amplify the tail end of it, I am hearing a different word than what I supposedly should hear. I even watched the 1-1 part of the walkthrough on YouTube and what he says the word should be isn't what I hear in his audio.

Jade Green said...

I managed to figure out levels 1-1 and 1-2 on my own but after that I was woefully lacking in audio engineering knowledge and experience to even remotely tackle the rest of the levels. Then I just used the game creator's walkthrough as an interactive audio software tutorial!

Riiick said...

Great puzzle game, but now I've got to 4-4 with a few hints on some of the puzzles but now I'm completely stumped.

Anonymous said...

download software to run the game then give my email. no thanks they'll be asking for my bank account number next.

Tom said...

In my opinion, for a game like this to be appeal to a large number of people, the audio processing functionality needs to be built into the game. E.g., "speed up", "slow down", "reverse", etc. In my case, there's no way I'm going to install audio software I don't need just to play a game that lacks it, and I suspect that applies to the majority of people...

Cyn said...

Beware of downloading Audacity. Reviews at CNet indicate that it probably contains Spyware/Adware/Trojans. I had this happen once with a Freeware download through CNet and now ALWAYS check the reviews BEFORE I download anything. Quicktime worked for the intro, but not for level 1-1. Quicktime couldn't even open the file. Sorry Bart, looks like an interesting game, but I won't be playing this one.

Stevens Miller said...

I was all set to love this game, because the concept is so cool. I figured out what processing to apply to the clue in 1-1, and it clearly produced a work ending in the letters "nk." Nope. That's not the word. I watched the walkthrough and learned what word it is supposed to be. Sorry. Uh-uh. It is not saying the word they say it is saying. It is saying a word that ends in the letter, "nk."

So, lost interest immediately.

Carly said...

Well said, Tom!

Rava said...

My. God.
The game concept is amazing and (once you know you should use an audio software) the first puzzle is quite easy, but then from the third one it's really hard without a walkthrough...
not playing it, but thanks for sharing! :)

Stevens Miller said...

Tom, that's very insightful. I gave this particular game the heave-ho for the reason I mentioned, but the basic concept of doing audio processing to decode the clues is a good one. Your point, however, is even more salient: the processing needs to be something doable within the game itself. Kind of a like crime lab, or The Bat Cave, where the player can noodle things out with tools beyond just clicking on doorknobs and switches.

Great idea.

Riiick said...

Audacity is open source software and is safe to install. You should probably download it from its sourceforge site instead of cnet though.

Margaret said...

I use audacity most days for my audiobook editing, and *shrugs* I'd recommend downloading it from someplace not CNET. It's pretty good considering it's free and open source.

Though I will have to admit that I had to look up how to solve the puzzles halfway through! It was pretty cool to learn a lot more about audio editing through a fun game like this :)

-LIZ- said...

This is a very cool idea. But…..I'm a sound designer, sound engineer, and educator of 20+ years. First couple of levels were fun. But then I gave up, too complicated.

Anonymous said...

No way am I going to play a game that is not complete.
It feels like a contest with no prize.

platypus said...

I like it!

Anonymous said...

lols I tried to play this game so much.....I'm just not technologically advanced enough. Cool concept, though!

digigender said...

I want to play this REALLY bad because I know audacity, but it keeps telling me a PIN has been sent to my e-mail (or something like that), and I'm not getting any PIN in my email...

 

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