Signal from the Stars by kassanu

made by kassanu for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

Screenshot from 2026-04-19 20-36-54.png Signal from the Stars is a radio telescope exploration game. You're part of a research team picking up transmissions from deep space.

Scan the map, decode signals, and upgrade your equipment. Each decoded signal unlocks more of the vocabulary.

Controls: Mouse only.

I had the idea of getting signals from space and having to decode the messages in the signals and learn the language of whatever was contacting you. I wanted to have something like Heaven's Vault or Golden Idol where you deduce the language through seeing it from the signals, but it turned out to be way too hard for 48 hours so I tried to simplify it. I liked the idea of scanning a signal and getting another piece of the puzzle and following the breadcrumbs like a little scavenger hunt.

Some story spoilers. !> The game contains about 15 story related signals. If you are near a sprite it's usually to do with the story. If you have to select words for symbols it is a story signal. The story is split into two separate parts. There is the main story to figure out what happened to this ancient alien race. And then a more cosmic horror story of something watching from space.

Link	https://github.com/Kassanu/ludum_dare_59_signal_from_the_stars
Link	https://www.eleventhhourgames.com/ludumdare59/
Link	https://github.com/Kassanu/ludum_dare_59_signal_from_the_stars/releases/download/1.0.0/ludum_dare_59_signal_from_the_stars_win.zip
Link	https://github.com/Kassanu/ludum_dare_59_signal_from_the_stars/releases/download/1.0.0/ludum_dare_59_signal_from_the_stars_linux.zip
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/signal-from-the-stars

Ratings

Overall	45^th	3.905⭐	23🧑‍⚖️
Fun	69^th	3.667⭐	23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	49^th	3.833⭐	23🧑‍⚖️
Theme	6^th	4.5⭐	23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	190^th	3.238⭐	23🧑‍⚖️
Audio	142^th	3.286⭐	23🧑‍⚖️
Humor	171^th	2.206⭐	19🧑‍⚖️
Mood	34^th	3.976⭐	23🧑‍⚖️
Given		45🗳️	11🗨️

Feedback

TermiGht

Apr 20th · 08:57 UTC

Man this was a good game. I spent about 40 minutes to figure out those pesky words. 10/10 :smile:

Jesús González

Apr 21st · 23:32 UTC

Nice concept. Just 2 minor things:
- Tutorial is too annoying, game is easy to understand enough.
- Not having codebook while decoding makes no sense, it just increases annoyance instead of being real difficulty in a game this long.

Still 9/10

FlameSeer

Apr 22nd · 00:42 UTC

I enjoyed this and was engaged and wanted to hear more, but I eventually had to give up because the difficulty actually seeing the tiny text was starting to hurt my eyes, it also sometimes didn't seem to accept symbols I already knew?
Would be great if I could have the codebook up next to the translation

Aannnnman

Apr 22nd · 07:07 UTC

The game fits the theme very well, but I’m not a fan of this kind of games, so I won’t stay for long. However, ignoring my personal preference, it’s 10/10.

cogcomp

Apr 23rd · 18:42 UTC

Neat game. I thought the tutorial was good. I also found adjusting the filters to be a lot more intuitive than I thought it was going to be. Well done on a pretty cool game! You got the highest ratings so far of all the games I've tried. :smile:

bentglasstube

Apr 24th · 05:18 UTC

This was a really well done game! I enjoyed the intuitive signal matching with the filters and modulations a lot. The story was interesting and kept me playing. I do wish there was a way to know if a signal was "lore" or just credits, as you get far more credits than are needed to buy all the upgrades. I also wish there was some background music or something. I translated everything I could find but I don't know if I got them all. Really great work, 10/10.

Mokabread

Apr 26th · 05:34 UTC

The signal filtering and decoding mechanics are intuitive and fun. The story is engaging, and the core gameplay fits the theme perfectly. The tutorial is a bit repetitive. It’s inconvenient to decode without a codebook, and the small text strains eyes. Adding background music would also enhance the mood. A wonderful signal-decoding game with solid design. Minor quality-of-life fixes will make it even better. Great work!

oller125

Apr 26th · 10:38 UTC

Very cool game that fits the theme well. I enjoyed the filtering aspect. As others have mentioned, it would be good to have the codebook available when decoding. Overall, a great compo game.

Ethernal Tech

Apr 26th · 11:26 UTC

Really nice project! I had a lot of fun playing it and found it very enjoyable.
You’re right, we ended up with somewhat similar ideas, but I think your execution, atmosphere, and overall result are really strong, great job!
I really enjoyed it! :smile:

BushFire

Apr 28th · 22:29 UTC

@bentglasstube I don't think you found everything. If you find all, you will get the ending dialogue.

@kassanu I don't know if it was a bug, but sometimes it wouldn't acknowledge the right word, before I filled in all the words. It was quite frustrating swapping between the codebook and the signal, wondering if there was an unknown symbol that would look almost like the silence symbol.

🎤 kassanu

Apr 29th · 03:27 UTC

Thanks all for playing. Yeah I originally didn't need the codebook because everything auto filled in but I changed that late in the weekend. Also I wanted to not have the codebook at all and have people keep track with pen and paper based on stuff they see in game like Heaven's Vault or something but I can't design something like that in 48 hours, was in way over my head with that one.

@bushfire I made the fill in kinda weird right at the end. The first version I made it so it auto filled in words, but felt it was boring then an hour before submission I changed it so you always need to fill in, but it should lock in some of the words based on how many words are in the sentence up to 3. But I think I screwed it up and it just requires everything to be set.

skiddings

May 03rd · 15:14 UTC

Fantastic compo entry! different, on theme, very engaging and a complete game