Message Received?

by ydindamin

co-authored: @gullyfoyle, @timhugh

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.24

Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.95

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.74

Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.18

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.24

Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.12

Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.17

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.06

Search the galaxy for a secret signal before it's too late!

Check the links below to play it on itch.io

Gameplay:

Search the universe to find the system the signal is originating from

- WASD / arrow keys to navigate between systems
- Hold space to place a listening station

Stations will help you triangulate the signal. Place a station at the system the signal is coming from to confirm you've found it, and you will enter the system.

Search the system for the source of the signal

- WASD to steer
- Space to ping

When you find the source, you can decode the signal

- Type letters, hit Enter to submit
- Click a word on the left side to choose which puzzle to solve

Letters solved in one puzzle will help you solve the others

Team:

- ydindamin
- gullyfoyle
- timhugh

Story:

We picked a pretty ambitious scope while also challenging ourselves to our first 3D game, and that turned out to be _a lot_. Some ideas we would have liked to get to but didn't have time:

- In phase 1, the enemy AI would see and chase the player if they got too close
- In phase 2, enemies would occasionally pass through the system and attack you if they see you
- We thought it would be really cool if you could enter in and out of systems to gather resources that would aid you in searching for the signal
- General graphical polish, sound effects, etc. Just all the assets we didn't have time to make

Screenshots:

Tags: #game jam, #ludum-dare-59, #space

Genres: action

Tools: Godot

Comments13

Eridani21 Apr 2026, 02:31

I really enjoy the concept of placing beacons to triangulate a signal. It would be really cool if the beacons showed some kind of visual when you have all three placed to help locate the signal

Trav21 Apr 2026, 07:15

I like the idea that you have, but I couldn't work out how to find the place. If it was faster to move the ship I would have tried to guess a bunch of places.

Ydindaminauthor21 Apr 2026, 20:35

@trav,
Thank you for playing! Placing a station will project a glowing ring at the range it detects with each ping, though sometimes it isn't visible right away if it's very far.
And unfortunately we ran out of time before we could make any in-game instructions, but moving is usually much faster if you queue multiple moves at once by just tapping multiple directions in a row.
Thanks again for playing though, we really appreciate it!

Ydindaminauthor21 Apr 2026, 20:38

@eridani, thanks for playing! The station readouts are at the bottom right of the screen, and they will show which ones have been built. Is that kind of what you mean? Either way, thanks again for playing!

4farandbeyond22 Apr 2026, 01:19

Phase 1 was quite fun and interesting. Seems to have a lag issue when spreading out the particles for the scans though. Phase 2 I didn't understand, am I tracking the green arrow that circles me? and the lag was a lot more noticable since it was preventing me from moving as the scan went out. Very nice, and thematic concept though!

Mekuire22 Apr 2026, 06:54

I don't understand how to play this game. I place stations at the points, and they get destroyed. Plus, they take forever to set up. The game lacks sound effects and hints.

CodeChomper24 Apr 2026, 02:31

I loved phase one, I the organic like grid made it fun to hunt down the signal! Phase two was harder every time I found the signal I would crash and die. I never got to try one of the typing puzzles. Over it was great entry by a fellow Godot user!!

Ryrumeli26 Apr 2026, 04:33

The first phase had a bit of a lag whenever there were particles on screen, I found the way to move and plan routes very intuitive with three steps ahead, it felt polished, albeit a bit slow. Second Phase was graphically interesting but I couldn't get past it. I can see the ambition and good ideas, just maybe some form of guidance and onboarding would have helped to elevate the experience.

LDJam user 23334727 Apr 2026, 17:43

Unique idea with the signals and art style. Couldn't get to the source though.
Also, is it just me or is there almost no audio? I mean, some effects, but no background music or similar? (I know - in space no one can hear you screem and whatnot :smirk: )

Rentem27 Apr 2026, 17:50

Unfortunately the game was lagging and crashed twice for me. Once in 2. and once in 3. phase. I love the concept and the art was fitting.

Gurtek3 May 2026, 16:16

I love the concept. I was able to triangulate the signal during the first phase but it was unreachable (there was no trail to go in the correct system).

On my second run, I was able to go in the correct system, detect the signal, but the satellite was too fast and I was not able to stay near it.

The first phase often freezes. I think it come from all the points that are added. Maybe it should be done in an async way ^^. I like the navigation feeling of the first phase.

I was finally able to go to phase 3 in my third run but my game crashed. I love this game and I think that it will be very fun when polished !

lloydlobo3 May 2026, 18:36

I had a lot of fun playing this. It took me a while to figure out that you need to press space to set up signals. I really enjoyed the movement mechanics, where you lock into targets to travel. After a while, the blue signals converged into smaller and smaller circular areas.
However, my game instance got stuck and I saw the following console error:
```
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'currentTime')
at SampleNode._pause (index.js:1:157346)
at SampleNode.pause (index.js:1:154413)
at SampleNode.pauseSampleNode (index.js:1:152555)
at Object.sample_set_pause (index.js:1:164637)
at _godot_audio_sample_set_pause (index.js:1:169708)
```
Good job overall.

Quackqack4 May 2026, 09:30

Pretty cool, I liked being able to queue up my moves, made the game a lot more fluid.

Other games by @ydindamin

★3.39

★3.21