Stay on the Line is open

Your front door unlocked tonight while you were out. The app says so. That is how Stay on the Line begins, and from there it is you, your phone and your own home until first light.

Stay on the Line is a free psychological thriller from The Hunt Is On, played at home on your phone in about 25 minutes. At 11:36pm, Tess from after-hours support rings back about your ticket. She stays on the line while you lock down fifteen devices in your house, one at a time: the smart lock, the router, the speaker, the TV, the lights, the doorbell camera, the fridge, the robot vacuum and more. Each one is its own short game, and something in the house keeps changing them back.

It plays like a phone call that will not let you go. You tap, tilt and listen, and every spoken line is also on screen. It never uses your camera, your microphone or your location.

Every device also comes with a card on what that kind of device can really record about you. A few of them are worth checking in your own home afterwards.

Stay on the Line is an ALWAYS game, based on Always Home by D.J. Cole: the smart home knew her schedule, then it learned her fears. You do not need to have read the book, and the game spoils nothing.

It is made for players aged 15 and over. It deals with stalking, surveillance and not being believed, with knocks, whispers and sudden sounds, and no violence or gore. Play with the lights on and stay inside.

Sign in before you start and your time goes on the Stay on the Line leaderboard, next to the house record.