About

FREEFALL HIGHSCORE IS A SMARTPHONE APPLICATION THAT UNDERMINES THE VERY THING THAT WE EXPECT APPS TO DO — WORK FOR US. The object of the game is to drop your phone—the multi–hundred–dollar piece of metal and plastic that has become our constant companion, secretary, and babysitter—and drop it as far as you possibly can without breaking it. Freefall Highscore asks you to challenge your own materialism and dependence on technology by risking the destruction of something dear to you. It's up to you to make sure your phone (and your dignity) survives.

If your phone survives an epic fall, the reward isn't just an adrenaline rush. The player–created protective case becomes a performative sculpture. The acrophobic videos shot by the app during the fall are trophies, proof that players took a risk and pulled it off. These videos are uploaded to YouTube and shared to the internet at large; the chance to go viral by leaning out a twentieth–story window only eggs players on.

Sound scary? It is, but it's also fun. The app has all the markings of a normal game. But this one actually works against its players, adding anxiety to excitement and physical danger to a platform that is usually totally virtual — phones are going to break. The better you play, the more real the danger becomes.

There are no extra lives in Freefall Highscore. When you lose, game over is permanent.

Kyle Chayka