---
key: mechanic/electronic-devices--family-g11
type: mechanic
id: electronic-devices--family-g11
lang: en
title: Messages and correspondence
summary: >-
  Digital messages convey information and change relationships. Message content
  and sending time can have consequences.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/electronic-devices--family-g11/
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/electronic-devices--family-g11.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/electronic-devices--family-g11.md
aliases: []
tags:
  - Electronic devices in games
  - Connection
sourceIds:
  - source-1ba39ffd3796b9ef
sources:
  - id: source-1ba39ffd3796b9ef
    title: Emily is Away
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/417860/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: electronic-devices
    id: family-g11
    title: Electronic devices in games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/electronic-devices/#family-g11'
    categoryIds:
      - section-4
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Messages and correspondence
    description: >-
      Digital messages convey information and change relationships. Message
      content and sending time can have consequences.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/dialogue-emily-is-away-02.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      crop:
        x: 180
        'y': 0
        width: 1080
        height: 750
      game: Emily is Away
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/417860/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/417860/ss_7318e7d1c250028664392d1fa59cf663a8340cce.1920x1080.jpg?t=1619107266
      credit: Kyle Seeley
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Conversation through an instant messenger
      alt: Conversation through an instant messenger
      markers:
        - x: 51
          'y': 31
          label: Message history preserves the context of the exchange
        - x: 47
          'y': 65
          label: The reply is chosen within the messaging channel
    tips:
      - Distinguish a draft reply from a sent message.
    examples:
      - title: Emily is Away
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/417860/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on
  2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are
  preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire
  classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and
  editorial review.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/electronic-devices
---
# Messages and correspondence

id: electronic-devices--family-g11
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/electronic-devices--family-g11
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/electronic-devices--family-g11/

Digital messages convey information and change relationships. Message content and sending time can have consequences.

## At a glance

![Conversation through an instant messenger](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/dialogue-emily-is-away-02.webp)

[Emily is Away](https://store.steampowered.com/app/417860/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Message history preserves the context of the exchange
2. The reply is chosen within the messaging channel

- Distinguish a draft reply from a sent message.

- [Emily is Away](https://store.steampowered.com/app/417860/)

## How it works

Devices: Smartphone; Computer; Terminal.

## Variants

### Variants and applications

<a id="family-g11-variants"></a>

- Read the correspondence. Rule: Extract information from messages and conversation context. <a id="variant-g11-01"></a>
- Select answer. Rule: Change relationships and the course of events through a ready-made replica. <a id="variant-g11-02"></a>
- Type answer. Rule: Formulate a message that the game interprets according to its own rules. <a id="variant-g11-03"></a>
- Submit attachment. Rule: Send a photo, file, coordinates or contact. <a id="variant-g11-04"></a>
- Set a sending time. Rule: Postpone the message or have time to respond in the available window. <a id="variant-g11-05"></a>
- Don't answer. Rule: Make silence a decision with consequences for the relationship or task. <a id="variant-g11-06"></a>
- Change destination or channel. Rule: Choose to whom and how publicly to disclose information. <a id="variant-g11-07"></a>
- Manage contacts. Rule: Add, block or remove a person, changing the available interactions. <a id="variant-g11-08"></a>
- Receive and accept the task. Rule: Select an offer sent through the device and start the game task. <a id="variant-g11-09"></a>

## Context and limits

Author's taxonomy of actions, task forms and end-to-end conditions for design. Categories overlap. References support individual families, not every variant.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on 2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and editorial review.

- [Emily is Away](https://store.steampowered.com/app/417860/) (id: source-1ba39ffd3796b9ef)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors