Alt-Frequencies
Review

Alt-Frequencies (2019) is an adventure game played by listening to a series of radio shows. It's a story about people stuck in a time loop without realising it and what you can do to save them.

It's a game played entirely with audio recordings. You choose the station and can record, rewind and broadcast snippets of radio shows to expose the hosts. Along the way take on conspiracy theorists, politicians, underground activists - and a dog.

This sharing of information changes what happens in the 3-minute loop of the game and the people who are living their lives over and over in it. In this way, you hear their personal stories evolve, in a world that seems to stand still.

With professional radio talent and a diverse cast of 20+ voice performers the game is more than a novelty, but a new and engaging way to consider life, choices and how to get the world to pay attention to what's important. This grows into a nuanced and unusual look at fake news, not least because it is the player themselves who have the task of shaping the headlines and available information.

Some can find the narrative arc of the story to resolve overly quickly, but it's the unusual perspective on a pertinent topic that this game can be most enjoyed for. In fact, the abrupt ending is (perhaps) part of the subversive take on truth and who controls the stories we believe.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Alt-Frequencies 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 5 months ago.