Switchboard
Jonathan Yeap · 2026 · Story Rich, Puzzle, Adventure, Simulation, Choices Matter
PC
3 user reviews100% · 3
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About Switchboard
It is 1952 in Empire Grand. You are a telephone exchange operator in a rural town, still weathering the aftermath of the Second War. Your job seems simple - connect phone calls, learn the directory, and bring in the cash to help your family immigrate. The world, however, is not so predictable: the mysterious Windser Army Base has suddenly sprung to life; your loved ones are assailed by prejudice, paranoia, and whispers of grassroots rebellion. The private conversations you hear every day carry secrets that many people desire - could you trade them for a better life?Look forward to:
- A realistic and tactile switchboard control experience
- Quick-paced and intuitive gameplay - easy to learn and hard to master
- A thrilling voice-acted story, shaped by your actions
- A vast catalogue of conversations and original music
- Elaborate illustrated directories in a retro 1950s style
- A growing array of tools and objectives, from a host of mysterious allies
Listen in and learn the truth
Using the tactile and realistic switchboard interface, receive and route telephone calls from all over town. Make use of various illustrated directories and documents for reference and guidance. Work quickly and precisely - your overbearing boss won't tolerate poor performance.Every conversation that passes through your desk can be listened in on. Amidst the mundane chats of everyday life lie fragments of interesting narratives. With some skill and focus you can extract an array of small stories - but a larger mystery is afoot. Before long, your information becomes valuable to several invested parties - and they are willing to pay.Fight for a happy ending
Your decisions and and performance will determine the fate of your characters, so be vigilant. Will you remain loyal to your ideals, or come to understand the true toll of desperation?Uncover the tools of the trade
Discover new mechanics and forms of gameplay as the story progresses. Divert, transcribe and even record conversations as they pass through the exchange. Can you handle your growing list of responsibilities?Hear the story brought to life
Enjoy the fully voice-acted main storyline, illustrating the thrilling narrative through audio drama. Meet and listen to a cast of rich and developed characters, under your control and beyond.What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
A narratively-rich and often frantic management game centred around a switchboard operator that gets caught in between a corrupt government, a struggling workers' union and her own poverty. You play as Ms. Lister, who has begun a new job connecting phone calls for the town and its military base. She gets paid more for successfully connecting more calls (amongst other tasks) and must make enough money each day to keep herself from going bankrupt. The game eases you in for the first few days to allow for learning the complexity of using the switchboard, after which the gameplay becomes much more fast-paced. Eventually you might be managing up to six calls at once while taking notes on their contents and looking through multiple sets of instructions and directories to avoid making mistakes that would dock your pay. It feels satisfying to beat your own records as the difficulty increases, mirroring Lister's own growth through the narrative as she gains more and more competence and influence over the world's events. It's impossible to do everything in one playthrough (Which takes roughly 2-3 hours), and you're often forced to choose between working hard for more money or taking it sl…2 found this helpful
I really liked playing this game :) The voice acting is really good, and the gameplay is great, although can get a little frantic. There is a mechanic in the game where the government wants you to monitor if a call happens between two people. I unintentionally went down a unionist story path because I was simply unable to pay attention to where calls were coming from as I was moving as fast as I could to get everybody connected. On a similar note, I'm pretty sure there was a ton of content that I missed in this game, simply because I was too locked-in to read the phone calls. The phone lines look a little unpolished (just being lines instead of a modelled wire), and your desk space seems a little barren, but I didn't notice this much in the heat of a shift. My first playthrough took about 3 hours, and I'll definitely enjoy it again if I go back through to get another ending.1 found this helpful
An engaging game with political thoughts and consequences. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys the "Not For Broadcast" Series. :-)
It's just a cozy game for the likes of us. Listen in on some drama... or the new man next door...
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