Description

Accidental Queens is a French video game development studio initially founded by three women from the games industry. They seek to create games featuring new mechanics, exploring topics from everyday life and social questions, through innovative narrative tools. They believe digital games can be entertaining but also convey social values and meaningful messages to a broad and diverse audience.

History

January 2016 - Global Game Jam

Development of the prototype that would become "A Normal Lost Phone" in 48h at the Global Game Jam, by Diane Landais, Elizabeth Maler, Estelle Charrié and Rafael Martínez Jausoro. The game is uploaded to Gamejolt and available for free: it's very well received by press and players.

May-July 2016 - Successful crowdfunding campaign

The team decides to push the game developement forward, and welcome Simon Bachelier, Miryam Houali and Victoria Guillon to the team. A crowdfunding campaign is launched on Ulule with an objective of 10k€, needed to turn "A Normal Lost Phone" prototype into a fully complete commercial game. The campaign is successful: 11,2k€ are raised from more than 400 backers around the world.

August-December 2016 - Plug in Digital partnership

"A Normal Lost Phone" is then signed with publishing partner Plug in Digital, allowing its developers to receive valuable help on the marketing and distribution, and leaving them more time to focus on the game’s development. Diane and Miryam relocate to Lille, a city in the north of France where Elizabeth is already living. The trio starts working full time on "A Normal Lost Phone" in their brand new office in Tourcoing, while the other team members continue to work on the game remotely.

January-April 2017 - "A Normal Lost Phone"

"A Normal Lost Phone" is released on January 26, 2017 on iOS, Android and PC (Win, Mac, Linux). It's critically acclaimed by press and players alike, and sells more than 100 000 copies in less than 3 months. While the others go back to their respective day jobs and studies, Diane, Elizabeth and Miryam officially co-found Accidental Queens as a company to build on this first success, and start working on a new project.

May-September 2017 - "Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story"

"Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story", a spiritual sequel to the first game, followed suit in September 2017 after four months of development with a team of five people. The game is released on September 21, 2017 on iOS, Android and PC (Win, Mac, Linux). Elizabeth leaves Accidental Queens.

October 2017-April 2018 - Switch ports and experimentation

After a two-months break dedicated in part to experimental projects - with indie creator Gaeel Bradshaw and with Léo Capou from Prismatik - Diane and Miryam start working on the proof of concept for a new IP: "project 91.1 FM". In the meantime, the "Lost Phone" games are ported to the Nintendo Switch by Seaven Studio, and these ports are released respectively in early March and late April 2018. Their commercial success allow Accidental Queens to start the production of "project 91.1 FM", which becomes "Alt-Frequencies".

May 2018 to present - "Alt-Frequencies"

Stay tuned.

Projects

Videos

Alt-Frequencies - Release trailer — YouTube

Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story - Release Trailer — YouTube

A Normal Lost Phone - Release Trailer — YouTube

Images

Awards & Recognition

  • "Honorable Mention for Excellence in Audio (Alt-Frequencies)" Independent Games Festival 2020
  • "Best Innovative Game (Alt-Frequencies)" Google Play Awards 2019
  • "Honoree "Games: Puzzle" (Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story)" Webby Awards 2018
  • "Honorable Mention for Excellence in Narrative (A Normal Lost Phone)" Independent Games Festival 2017
  • "Grand Prize (A Normal Lost Phone)" Women in Games Mobile Awards 2017
  • "Jury Award (Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story)" Ping Awards 2017
  • "Best Indie Game (A Normal Lost Phone)" Game Connection Europe 2016 Development Awards
  • "Third Place (A Normal Lost Phone)" Big Indie Pitch of Berlin, April 2016
  • "Prize for originality (A Normal Lost Phone)" Evry Game City 2016
  • "Finalist (A Normal Lost Phone)" YOUROPE Game Challenge 2016

Selected Articles

  • [A Normal Lost Phone] shares some of the feeling of Her Story, albeit featuring today’s technology and with less of a focus on the crime angle. But it has the same small moments of revelation, all of which come together to form a story in its own neat yet meandering way.
    Brendan Caldwell, Rock Paper Shotgun
  • A Normal Lost Phone is thoughtfully designed, leveraging voyeurism, curiosity, responsibility, and compassion to tell a strong, character-driven story unlocked through satisfying puzzle-solving. 4/5
    Lian Amaris, GameZebo
  • [A Normal Lost Phone] is a game that'll suck you in to its movements quickly, and hold you there until you reach the end of its tale. 8/10
    Harry Slater, Pocket Gamer
  • Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story delivers on the uncomfortable, important, and personal journey it promises. Clever UI design, superb writing, and intricate, complex puzzling weave together to accurately simulate both a lost phone and the world of the real person it belonged to. Though it’s a brief, one-way ride, the takeaways (and music tracks!) will stay with you long after you’ve pocketed the device. 9/10
    Rebekah Valentine, AppTrigger
  • Another Lost Phone isn't a sequel. It's a game that builds on the legacy of its predecessor, using some of the same tricks, but presenting them in a much slicker, much more polished way. The story is still at the core of things, and it's pushed along by clever logic puzzles that see you delving for scraps of information on the phone that you've discovered. It deals with big issues, with dark themes, and with things that other games are too afraid to talk about. And for that alone you should pick it up and give it a go. 8/10
    Harry Slater, Pocket Gamer
  • If you [...] appreciate a developer going in a totally new direction in terms of what you can expect from a video game, you owe it to yourself to check out Alt-Frequencies and carve out some quiet time [...] to really lose yourself in this fascinating experience.
    Jared Nelson, TouchArcade
  • While it may be fairly simple, the record and send system at the core of Alt-Frequencies steals the show. Accidental Queens once again manages to use non-conventional gameplay systems to tell a story that is grounded, relevant and compelling. I just wish I had a little more time with it.
    Jake Green, US Gamer
Photo credits
Gorgeous team pictures by La Fille d'à Côté: facebook.com.