The Switchboard Operator

by isline

co-authored: @dingohlm, @stanewolfer, @zectalier

The Switchboard Operator

You are a telephone exchange operator in London. The board lights up.

Someone needs your help! "Hello ! Who do you want to call ?"

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Play

Play HERE!
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About

Clock in for work, sit at your desk, and work your shift! Callers ring in asking for a line number, a name, or worse, only an address. You try to find them in the phone book or the district papers, then drag a wire between the right slots on the switchboard before the call goes cold.

Each workday ends with a performance report.Do good and you come back tomorrow. Fall short and you're out.

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How to play

Mouse only.

1. Clock in - punch your card to start the workday.
2. Answer - click a ringing diode (or plug into it) to pick up the caller.
3. Look up - click the book or papers to zoom in; use the page arrows to browse.
4. Connect - drag a cord plug from the caller’s jack to the destination jack.
5. Survive the day - finish the shift!

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Screenshots

Clock in

On the board

Phone book

End of day

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Tools used

- Unity (Universal Render Pipeline)
- Optimized Ropes and Cables
- Linework Lite

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Credits

Les Joueurs du Midi

- NILS DARGENT - Someone
- TONY HU - One who wears many hats
- NOÉ HEY-LE-MADEC - Goat
- ETHAN NGHIEN - Bun owner (and VA)

Additional Credits

3D Models:

- White Stucco 02
- Old Wooden Floor 03
- Office Desk
- Clock
- Metal Industrial Bar Stool

Comments46

maxxxMAX19 Oct 2026, 22:12

I broke the game by connecting the end of one wire to the same point where the end of another wire was connected. Overall, it’s clear how to play, and the graphics are actually quite good for a game jam.

unpickel19 Oct 2026, 22:17

Despite the game being quite simple i love the vibes and it was somethign i wanted to play one day actually!!!! I'm happy i could try doing this job hahahaha Graphisms are simple but gameplay is fun, Tho i wish it was faster in between calls or maybe have a timer or something when i don't find the line quick enough but otherwise its super fun!

gamescodedogs19 Oct 2026, 22:18

Leonard Foxley wasn't easy to find, but I did it :) Love the concept! Now I'm curious about the actual process of deciding who should be commuted where during the Old Tech era. Thanks!

Zectalier19 Oct 2026, 22:44

Thanks for the feedback!
@maxxxmax I thought we fixed the bug during the development but obviously wasn't a good enough fix x)

@unpickel We did ponder a long time on the difficulty balancing, and settled on a frozen timer for the first call of the first three days, so player can get used with the different mechanics of the game. Glad you liked it!

@gamescodedogs Thank you for playing the game! Happy you loved it!

ansjofaye20 Oct 2026, 00:27

fun game! really brought out my competitive side, has a good flow to it once you figure it out. nice! voice effects made me laugh

estelgames20 Oct 2026, 00:30

Such an amazing concept. I have played a lot of games inspired by Papers Please, but this is the first time I have seen something like this. Perfect fit for the theme! ❤️

Codeman20 Oct 2026, 00:32

Nice work! I enjoyed "Clocking in" LOL

NikitaStarostin20 Oct 2026, 09:12

This is a really charming and clever take on the switchboard operator job - it fits the Old Tech theme perfectly, and the Papers Please-style flow works well once you figure it out. The graphics are simple but quite good for a game jam, and the voice effects made me laugh. I did manage to break the game by connecting the end of one wire to the same point where another wire’s end was already connected, which was a bit unfortunate. Overall, though, it’s clear how to play and genuinely fun; I’d just love a bit more speed between calls or an optional timer for when you can’t find the line quickly enough. Nice work!

Zectalier20 Oct 2026, 09:24

@ansjofaye Really happy you liked the voice effects! @stanewolfer put a lot of work to make it sounds good!

@estelgames We’re really glad the concept stood out and fit the theme well! Papers, Please was definitely a big inspiration (you might even recognize good ol' Jorji for one of the outline we made for the callers)

@codeman Had to make sure the job felt authentic lol.

@nikitastarostin Thank you so much for the detailed feedback! Really glad you enjoyed the concept, the flow, and the voice effects! We actually had a hard time deciding whether to make the game easier or keep the challenge, but in the end we settled on making the start a bit easier so the game would be more accessible to everyone

Nursultan20 Oct 2026, 10:32

Nice work! Really fun core loop and a clever take on the theme. Had a great time playing through it!
Left my scores. Greetings from the Meow Bomb team — if you're looking for more games to play and rate, come check out our bomb-crafting cat!

sovisovi20 Oct 2026, 10:51

The concept is really unique and interesting! But does the waiting time in the middle feel a bit too long? Or maybe I just didn't fully understand how it works haha. It was a little difficult for me as a non-native English speaker, but great job!!

Frizifrench20 Oct 2026, 11:24

Overall it is satisfying to play but the flow of the game is a bit slow with a lot of waiting time but i think if you focus more on connecting the cable it could better.

Zectalier20 Oct 2026, 12:17

@nursultan Glad you had fun playing it! Will check out your game for sure!

@sovisovi Haha yeah, we were also unsure about the waiting time and how easy to make the game, so we tried to make the start a bit more accessible. Thanks for playing, really appreciate the feedback!

@frizifrench Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, we had a hard time thinking about the pacing too, definitely something we could improve.

LaBicorne20 Oct 2026, 13:08

Really nice game!
I really enjoyed the concept and the game grab you by the hand at the begining so it is good to learn this mecanic I wasn't used to!

givit-game-studios20 Oct 2026, 13:38

This is really cool, also a good take on the theme. Just som eplayer feedback required about the documents and what to do with them. When I opened them up I wasn't sure what to do with them untill I got asked for the 70 Church street dude. Love the atmosphere though.

Entink20 Oct 2026, 13:40

I always wanted to do this sometime, now you fullfiled my dreams and be the one in charge of managing calls

iaselar20 Oct 2026, 14:12

Really fun and intuitive!

CodeRaurus20 Oct 2026, 14:16

Captures the feeling of being an operator. While I only played until day 3 I did enjoy it. I made the mistake of unplugging one end of the wire and letting it hang, making me unable to connect the call.

I wonder if the game would have become more hectic as days go by.

Good work!

evil2320 Oct 2026, 14:19

Fun game but I get why they replaced this job with a machine 😅
Please rate our game too!

RyzKu20 Oct 2026, 14:20

Really fun game! I enjoyed connecting the wires and the voice effects made me laugh. Great idea, well done!

Zectalier20 Oct 2026, 14:21

@labicorne Thank you! Good to hear the tutorial helped you get used to the mechanics!

@givit-game-studios Thanks for the feedback, we did want a gameplay where player has to figure out from the clues the caller were giving, and were thinking creating more possibles voicelines, but fell short with time. Glad you liked it!

@iaselar Glad you had fun!

@coderaurus Yes, the days do get harder as you progress. Though I guess we still have some work to do for the difficulty. Thanks for testing our game!

VokietisLt20 Oct 2026, 14:28

It's well done, bit tedious at clicking precise icon. Good music and appropriate music. Overall nice

Daniel12320 Oct 2026, 15:04

I actually wanted to make a game about connecting phone calls too, but I didn't know how to bring the idea to life, so I gave up. You guys did an amazing job! The game isn't too difficult or complicated. It feels just right!
Also, I noticed a possible small typo while playing. I'm not sure if I heard it correctly, but I think the name mentioned during the phone call was "HOOT", while the phone book listed it as "HEATHCOTE". I might be mistaken, but you might want to double-check that!

Evelyn_Rudaleva20 Oct 2026, 15:06

Great game! Cameras work is insane, I love it. Gameplay is really relaxing

Retrific20 Oct 2026, 15:13

Ah a fellow switchboard operator game. This one is not nearly as stressful as my own submission, which I like a lot. I also enjoyed this because it references London, which I visited just last week. Sadly I lost one green plug behind the panel, but I was still able to complete a workweek without issues. Still I guess it would be good to reset the cables over night. Other than that it worked great though and I had no issues figuring out what to connect where. That worked great.
Cool game

alex-lumi20 Oct 2026, 15:24

Nice idea, and well executed !

Kraghan20 Oct 2026, 15:32

Very strong entry ! I love the idea, I see a lot of potential of little situations to bring more complexity to the game ! I would love some hollow holes on the side to put my unused cables :D In the rush of the moment, I loose my cables X)

Emaigualmc2_art20 Oct 2026, 15:37

A great idea and a very good mechanic xD! I found it really fun to play. As an improvement, I would add more calls so the game doesn't feel so short, and have the calls follow one another more quickly. The atmosphere and sound effects are very well executed. Great job!

AO-8520 Oct 2026, 15:57

Great job, your game is amazing! I loved playing it, super cool

Empeurman20 Oct 2026, 16:07

Game is slow to start but once you have some experience with it, it can be challenging.

Has some bugs like the cable falling with rollback and putting 2 cable in the same attachment.

Simple but funny game

Samet Aylak20 Oct 2026, 16:11

This is amazing. I was thinking to work on switchboard as well, but couldn't come up with a good gameplay.

AmemA20 Oct 2026, 16:19

Game looks great, but i don't understand why i lose all the time, even though i do everything correct. I would really wish this game getting a small visual tutorial, as otherwise, it's really interesting

rat-balls20 Oct 2026, 16:19

Great concept, well executed, good mood and great sound design, overrall a very good experience. I did break the game making my green wire disappear, but despite that the game was still very easy, I wish the difficulty would ramp up a bit faster. I also took a gazillion years to do one call with only the address because I didn't understand where to find it, and connected the guy to two other persons before finding the correct one, yet it didn't make me fail that one, maybe a bit too forgiving on that aspect.
Quite fun still ! Good job.

Pimeko20 Oct 2026, 16:43

The gameplay was pretty clear, and it was nice to browse the books to find the contacts as fast as possible. Props for the retro art style, it works great :)

Tanjou20 Oct 2026, 16:56

This indeed is old tech! Nice!

Braulio_JG20 Oct 2026, 17:10

The gameplay loop is fantastic, I found the times well adjusted. Also, I really liked the mood and the sound design, and the game feels very solid, I did not find any bugs. Great job!

mikoolec20 Oct 2026, 17:31

Very fun! I got through 4 days. A few complaints tho: I managed to delete the blue wire by connecting it to the same peg as the green wire. Some letters may be hard to read (C/G, 3/5). And it's very slow in the first few days - picks up the pace at day 4.

anku20 Oct 2026, 18:18

I'm not usually a fan of these kinds of immersive games, especially in short game jams, but you guys did a great job! The dim lighting, subtle sound design, and relaxing gameplay create a really nice atmosphere.

Silas Reinagel20 Oct 2026, 18:27

This felt like a immersive preview of what the real switchboard operator job must have felt like.

Atmosphere is great! Very tight.

Naidove20 Oct 2026, 18:41

I'd only ever seen this job in movies, so I never thought I'd get to try it myself. It was a pretty interesting experience! Waiting for calls to come in got really boring, though. It would be great if we could eavesdrop on the conversations!

DashVirus20 Oct 2026, 20:00

Awesome game guys, congrats. The theme is really original, graphics rock, the pace is really well controlled which is rare enough to mention it ! I felt the urge but never felt overwhelmed like if I couldn't do anything to win. This is great. Also the sound design is pretty polished (but too loud haha).
Also I had one specific issue, where someone asked for a cell that was also asking for a call at the same time, so I couldn't do both at the same time and lost one of them to free it. Besides that, no issue ;)

GG

7uc4s20 Oct 2026, 20:49

I did get the office feeling lol but I wouldn't have mind for it to be a bit less realistic and more arcade, plugging the cables is fun, but reverse searching the contact book made me sabotage the line :p (I was hoping to get negative feedback by plugging at the wrong place lol)
Nice entry!

baziki21 Oct 2026, 00:32

This was a lot of fun! It's always great when a game shows you how it works without needing a full tutorial. The visuals were good, and overall the "busy office" vibe was done well. All the SFX fit in nicely.

My only complaint would probably be that splitting the game into days, with the time card in between, sorta gets in the way of the actual gameplay. I think it would've been more interesting to have it just be infinite, with call frequency picking up as you go.

Also, I accidentally dropped one of my pegs, and it fell through the table and I couldn't get it back 😔 so I ended up losing pretty early lol. But overall a lot of fun.

pro421 Oct 2026, 02:59

Wow pretty intense as you get into the later days. It started a little slow, but I liked the later days switching between looking up locations and then the person to connect the caller. Felt good when you had multiple coming in back to back so you had to scramble to get it done.

Fun concept for the theme!

n8tus21 Oct 2026, 04:55

Pretty funny game lol. I liked the way you clock in and the gameplay loop gives me some kind of papers please kind of feeling. Like you're doing a job but it's kind of silly and theres information you have to gather. Great job!

Bertus21 Oct 2026, 12:52

It is inspiring to see a switchboard game with such a different pacing to our submission. I love the art style as it gives a very nice ambient to it. The mechanics of looking up addresses in cities is something we did not think of and is quite a nice addition to the gameplay. However, I wish there would be more wires to manage as the downtime between calls can feel a bit repetitive at times.