The Message from Deep Space

You know the Voyager Golden Record? If not, go look it up right now. It's a metal plate that was included with the Voyager space probe. A document containing information about humans, about us. Just in case some day, perhaps a million years from now, someone else in the universe finds our probe. Information about who we are, where we're from... and even, perhaps, what we love. But if you were truly an alien, understanding that record wouldn't be so easy. You'd have to start from first principles -- from the basic math embedded in the record itself, to figure out what it all meant. So, what if humanity received someone *else's* Golden Record? A document sent out into the void, in the hopes that it might one day be read by someone, somewhere? And what if you were tasked with decoding it? Have you ever wanted to do that, to be the first to try to unravel a message from the stars? Well, now you can. From the first ~175 or so messages, you might imagine this to be more of a programming/puzzle game. This is not entirely wrong, but... it's deceptive. After all, the hard part is first establishing a common language, starting from the basics of math and logic. But once you have that common language, well... you'll see. You are in for a truly incredible treat. I keep a shortlist of games that are so unique and special that there is literally nothing else in the world like them, and probably never will be ever again. This game, without a doubt, goes on that list.

Extremely good game. The best execution of the "you decipher an unknown language" concept *by far*. Lots of science and math. This is the perfect game for any nerd. The game is like 24h straight of puzzle-solving and language deciphering. It is surprisingly easy for how deep it goes (which is good! It feels like the lack of difficulty comes from the game teaching ideas to you very well, rather than from giving too many hints). If you're not well-versed in basic math and science, it may be more difficult. There are one or two minor plot-holes with how the alien information is deciphered and such, presumably there to make gameplay feel smoother, overall though the game is very good about presenting information in a realistic way that shows the difference in perspective you'd expect from aliens. The game adds in several QOL features over the course of it that make the langauge easy to work with, for instance being able to define your own words for things and type them in. I think it's a little bit dissapointing that you can't toggle these off, mostly just because I think it would be cool to go back and see what all the new things look like in the old system of input just to see how far you've come. There's a lot of dialog in the game. Some of it is hints to certain puzzles, which are toggleable and generally don't seem to show up by default. Even with these turned off, some of the dialog will sort of hint to meaning, but in a way that doesn't feel immersion breaking (it usually feels like things you already figured out, and so it fits in to the dialog naturally). There's character interactions which I found somewhat interesting but I could see falling flat for some people, especially since if you don't use the hints it doesn't always feel like the other characters are really contributing. I feel like this made the dialogue feel awkward at the beginning of the game, but over the course of the game it became easier to know the other characters and it felt more meaningful. The game does a great job of covering a lot of different science, math, and lingustics, and does a good job worldbuilding for the limited communication it provides. TL;DR: Amaze amaze amaze -138 -86 -14 -44 0 -195 -238 -85 -15 -100 -213 -2 -2 -138 -86 -14 -45 -86 -46 -196 -85 -15 -100 -108 -152 -2 -2 -138 -86 -14 -45 -210 -30 -45 -199 -15 -100 -237 -213 -2 -2

I love the message from deep space, it is an amazing puzzle game. If you liked project hail marry you will like this(just wait until week 9 i think). Decoding the alien message goes through everything I have learned and then teaches you more. Though having knowledge in math chemistry, physics, and so much more is definitely helpful they are not required as you can easily learn the basics through this game. Decoding what the meteor is saying is a super fun way to brush up on math and science skills and keep your brain thinking. I only have two complaints about the game. 1. Being able to rebind hotkeys would be nice as I would like to make shift my hotkey modifier rather than control. 2.I WANT THE SOUNDTRACK I AM WILLING TO PAY FOR THE GAME AGAIN JUST TO GET THE SOUNDTRACK. PLEASE YOUR MUSIC AS DLC OR ON SPOTIFY OR WHEREVER I WANT THE SOUNDTRACK SO BAD IT IS AMAZING. JUST TAKE MY MONEY PLEASE IT IS AMAZING

Really fun puzzle game, gets you thinking hard. Makes me think of Project Hail Mary.

beep boop maff

this might have just been one of the best games i've ever played. it felt like i was genuinely there and helping society translate an alien message.

One of the best examples of how to tell a compelling story and provide good puzzles in gaming. The way that the developers did so much with such a simple premise and moment to moment gameplay is astonishing. 10/10, one of the best games of the last 10 years.