Payphone Tag: The Real-World Game That’s Turning Australia’s Payphones Into Territory
A free, real-world game uses Telstra’s public payphones as territory points. Players sign up online, walk to a payphone, dial in, and capture it for points.
How It Works
Payphone Tag is a free, real-world game that transforms Telstra’s public payphones into capture points. Players sign up online to receive a five-digit PIN, then walk to a payphone, dial 07 LOAD TALK (07 5623 8255), and enter their PIN to capture the phone for points.
The game was created by independent Australian developer Alex Allchin, who used a dataset of payphone locations he had collected. Players explore neighborhoods, with younger Australians dialing a payphone for the first time and older Australians rediscovering them.
The game coincides with Telstra’s decision in August 2021 to make all standard national and mobile calls from payphones free. Since then, Australians have made over 100 million free calls from payphones, including during natural disasters and for calls to Santa.
How Payphone Tag Works
- Each player ("agent") registers at payphonetag.com to get an emoji identifier and a private five-digit PIN.
- The map shows nearby payphones. To capture one, walk to it, dial 07 LOAD TALK, and enter your PIN.
- A captured phone remains yours until another player calls from it and takes it back.
- Calls from any Telstra payphone in Australia are free since August 2021.
Scoring
- 10 points for each unique payphone ever captured (explorer bonus, retained even if phone is later stolen).
- 15 points for each phone currently held.
- 10 points for each connected edge between held phones.
- 15 points for every complete triangle among three captured phones.
- Bonus points for total territory area.
Cells and Party Line
- Cells are optional teams of up to 12 agents. Create a Cell after capturing three payphones, or join an existing one with an invite code. Cell territory is determined by triangles held by members.
- The Party Line: dial with "PARTY" (72789) to join an open conference without capturing points.
How to Start Playing
Register at payphonetag.com to get an agent emoji and five-digit PIN. Open the map, find a payphone, walk to it, dial 07 LOAD TALK, and enter your PIN.