Alright… this game really impressed me. Even though it definitely has its flaws. I’ll just write this as a stream of thoughts.

First of all, I really like how the jam theme is tied into the core gameplay. It’s great that every signal comes with its own story, commentary, and image.

The “wow” moment for me was the player. I took a closer look at the interface and realized you could apparently switch audio tracks. At the end of another in-game workday, I gave it a try—and sure enough, you actually can. And the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic.

However, the long-term goal of the game isn’t very clear. For a long time, I didn’t understand what I was actually supposed to do to reach the ending (aside from just maxing out upgrades). Correction: later I noticed in the menu that we’re supposed to buy a ticket… but it probably should’ve been highlighted with a separate button or color, because at first it reads like just another top-tier upgrade.

The color indicators of the signals also don’t really communicate their value or variety. Maybe there is a system behind it, but there’s just not enough time to figure it out… although I doubt it, since the scanning speed and rewards—for example, for two red signals—are different.

And that brings me to time. Unfortunately, all the jokes, Easter eggs, and interesting content are hidden in text blocks and images—which you don’t really have time to look at, because you need to rush through as many signals as possible in a short time. Yes, you can upgrade the workday duration, but the core loop doesn’t change—you’re still pushed toward quickly processing as many signals as possible. And the description texts also appear too slowly…

I really missed some kind of system to track which signals you’ve already explored. When you’re trying to move as fast as possible, at some point you just lose track of which sectors you’ve already checked and which you haven’t. Hovering over everything with the mouse just to check “maybe I missed this one” isn’t very fun. (And no, the slow blinking of the scanner doesn’t help—it actually confuses things, because for a split second it feels like a new scan is starting.)

Lots of praise for the “Wow” signal, and for the Dune reference. I didn’t see a reference tied to the “42” answer at first and was about to be disappointed—but then, thankfully, I found it :)

But it was really disappointing that the signals start repeating over and over again. I put in the effort to finally slow down and read them—and then realized they’re the same ones… At that point, the game turns into a grindy routine, because I’ve essentially already seen all the content, yet I still need to grind those 100k.