Signal to Noise

The Signal arrived while our grandparents were young. An invitation to humanity from from the stars. Driven by our curiosity and the proof that we were not alone in the universe we constructed the Generation Fleet. Vast vessels to carry humanity into the void and take our place amongst the stars.

But the journey could only ever be for a select few. Tens of thousands from a population of over ten billion. The selection process ripped apart families, forged new bonds and burned relationships. Those that ventured out were lauded as heroes while those that remained returned to their lives as loved ones grew ever more distant.

This is just one story of that journey, of two souls separated by the void of space trying to maintain a semblance of a connection.

Signal to Noise is an interstellar epistolary game for 2 players, played out one message at a time over email. It is a Prelude to the Dyson Eclipse, an upcoming series of small games exploring humanities voyage to, and exploration of, mega-structures around a distant star.

One player takes on the role of the Explorer, one of the lucky few chosen to join the generation ship while the other takes on the role of the Earther, forced to stay behind as their companion departs the solar system. Play each round is driven by a series of prompts, a combination of mundane everyday occurances and life changing events that develop over time. Sending messages back and forth to one another the players must try to maintain a connection in the face of an ever increasing time lag and the creeping distortion of the messages as the signal becomes distorted during its transmission over interstellar distances. Eventually the unfolding events or slow loss of connection will force one to break contact, forever severing the bond between the characters that they have struggled to maintain for so long.