This Indie Game Simulates a Phone Experience

It’s a familiar scenario for many of us: the automatic habit of flipping through apps, as if shopping through virtual store windows, all to give ourselves a sense of activity.

IAIYWOYP, a quirky app, imagines a setting where you’re just pretending to fiddle with your phone. It throws random instructions your way, asking you to do things like:

Widen your eyes and then frown.

In this whimsical exercise, you find yourself tapping circles as they appear, swiping as directed, and occasionally wiping your screen.

Together, these actions create a perfect little performance to convince people at the next table over that you’re entirely preoccupied with your phone, effectively masking any stray eavesdropping tendencies.

What struck me the most—both intriguing and a bit unsettling—was how fulfilling this entire charade feels. I derive pleasure from the simple act of double-tapping a pink circle, or dramatically pressing my lips in thought. Perhaps it’s the element of make-believe, or maybe this basic interaction is all I get from using my phone anyway. As someone who’s glued to their device without much to show for it save for nearly 2,000 wins in Sawayama Solitaire, it’s something to ponder.

When obeying commands from a clever phone game is as briefly engaging as scrolling through Bluesky, it begs the question: what am I really doing here?