Signal Weave by alexhonor

[raw]
made by alexhonor for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

Route the noise. Find the signal.

A node-based idle puzzle game about building signal networks. Connect sources to outputs, mix colors, upgrade signals, and watch your operation grow from a single wire to a sprawling machine.

Bigger game demo with more mechanics, better visuals and over an hour of content


Game Preview


How to Play

  1. Click a source (colored circle) to select it, then click a relay or output to link them with a wire
  2. Signals flow automatically — sources emit colored pulses, relays pass them along
  3. Output nodes absorb signals of their matching color and earn you money
  4. Use money to expand your build radius and buy new relay nodes
  5. Route signals through upgrade nodes to level them up and multiply their value
  6. Mix two primary colors through the same relay to produce secondary colors worth far more

Controls - Click node — select & start linking - Click target — complete the link - RMB / Esc — cancel - B — buy relay node - E — expand radius - F — fullscreen - Scroll — zoom  |  Drag — pan


Gameplay Description

Your goal is to route signals from sources into black holes, earn money, expand your map, and collect the required resources shown in the UI.

Nodes

  • Sources are the colored dots with particles coming out of them. They generate signals.
  • Star nodes are normal transmitter-relays. They do not change signal level. They only pass signals along. Can blend signals.
  • Arrow nodes are upgrade nodes. They only upgrade a signal one level, and only if the node matches that signal’s current level.
  • Black holes are the black circles with colored outlines. They consume incoming signals and reward you with money.

Signal Levels

  • Signals can have different levels.
  • The number shown on a signal is its current level.
  • Higher level signals are worth much more than lower level signals.

Upgrading Signals

Arrow nodes are labeled with upgrades like: 1->2

Each arrow node upgrades a signal by exactly one level.

Examples:

  • A 1->2 node upgrades a level 1 signal into level 2.
  • A 3->4 node upgrades a level 3 signal into level 4.

An upgrade node only works on the exact level shown.
A 2->3 node will not upgrade level 1 or level 3 signals.

Scoring

  • Send signals into black holes to earn money.
  • Higher level signals score much more.
  • Use money to expand your building circle (map).
  • Use money to buy nodes (relays).

Winning

To win, you must reach the required amount of every resource listed in the UI.

Tips

  • Plan upgrade chains carefully, because signals only level up one step at a time.
  • Higher level signals are much more valuable.

Made for Ludum Dare. Built in TypeScript, runs in the browser, no install needed.

Ratings

Overall 23th 4.284⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Fun 45th 4.119⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 198th 3.759⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Theme 266th 4.008⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 382th 3.822⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Audio 166th 3.879⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Mood 250th 3.931⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Given 9🗳️ 11🗨️

Feedback

Pavel Goncharov
Apr 21st · 09:19 UTC
Looks interesting and I love the games in the idle genre. Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how to play. Maybe the onboarding could be a bit clearer.
FLOWERFIELD Games
Apr 21st · 09:26 UTC
Mooore income-!! Really love this simplistic game. You dive in very quickly and get rewards and positive feedback instantly. I would love this to be a multiplayer game somehow.
I didn't get the message "wrong input" though.
runningopenloop
Apr 21st · 09:33 UTC
Wow, fantastic and clever little puzzle game with nice music vibes to go along. Would be nice to have the color mixing cheat sheet. What a joy to have this be my first game to review/test. I wish to make games like this.
Prunus Padis
Apr 21st · 09:50 UTC
This is crazy good, just my taste of a game.
The game works great, you have really good feedback which made understanding the game so simple. When i realised you combine the color i got so nice AHAA moment. The level layout is nicely done which makes you think.

Exapanding the concept would be so nice so you can have crossings etc. Its like minimetro but more relaxing without pressure.
Telkan
Apr 21st · 09:51 UTC
Super satisfying, the UI feedback is fantastic!
Nidoprince
Apr 21st · 09:52 UTC
I enjoyed this one a lot. Didn't realize I'd been playing for half an hour by the time I finished everything. I wish there was a way to turn the upgrade stars off if you don't need them because its annoying to see the "wrong number" pop up when you are just trying to path through them and already have that number increase.
🎤 alexhonor
Apr 21st · 10:31 UTC
@pavel-goncharov Hey, thanks for the feedback! I agree, I would love to make the starting part clearer, but time constraints didn't give me enough time!. If you are still willing to give the game another shot - I have added detailed Gameplay Description on this page, which breaks down all of it.
🎤 alexhonor
Apr 21st · 10:32 UTC
@flowerfield-games @nidoprince Thanks for the feedback! I will add an option to turn off upgrade notifications in the next update. I would love to explain upgrade nodes more, but I want to avoid too much text in the game.
🎤 alexhonor
Apr 21st · 10:33 UTC
@runningopenloop Thanks! Will add a cheat sheet too!
🎤 alexhonor
Apr 21st · 10:34 UTC
@prunus-padis so happy to hear it! I was actually trying to not give too much information to the player, leaving color mixing as a revelation/discovery moment.
TheKimeo
Apr 21st · 10:41 UTC
Had a really good time with this game. At first I thought the node buying trivialised it a bit too much, but then I ran into money issues :)

Really satisfying to get production chains set up across the system. Great stuff!
LDJam user 4312
Apr 21st · 10:47 UTC
Looks super clean and the ethereal background music is super soothing. Got very quickly into the game and found the controls very intuitive, feel very polished overall and is a relaxing idle game. Loved it!
Slippers
Apr 21st · 11:03 UTC
Such a great little game, extremely polished.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise I needed to mix colours (I just kept expanding expecting to be given a green / purple / orange source lol). So in that regard I would have preferred that info to also be in UI, but thankfully I went back and checked the description after 25 mins.

Nonetheless it's a great, fun experience. Thanks
jnur
Apr 21st · 12:05 UTC
Surprisingly comfy, I was almost a bit scared at first but I found it really easy to pick up and get going. Feels like a really good foundation for a deeper/longer idle sort of game. Would maybe work nicely on a touch screen? Also, points for using Typescript for this, that must've been a really satisfying tech choice for this!
Melomaner
Apr 21st · 15:11 UTC
This game is really captivating. Even with its very minimalistic visuals, it manages to hook you — which says a lot about how well the core design works. The progression and overall game design are genuinely engaging.

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this game ends up getting very high ratings, or even winning. Everything feels thoughtfully crafted, especially from a game design perspective. It’s clear, readable, and intuitive — you immediately understand what to do and how to do it.

Overall, great job — I really enjoyed it!
Anatei
Apr 22nd · 09:42 UTC
Cool incremental game. I liked the visuals and responsiveness. I'd like to be able to rearrange the nodes I bought.
LDJam user 260720
Apr 22nd · 09:43 UTC
Simple but very well polished game!
LDJam user 43351
Apr 22nd · 09:46 UTC
I enjoyed figuring out how this works and trying to build the optimal routes. It feels exciting to see the 10x and 100x at the edge of the area. Makes me want to expand and get crazy numbers. The music fits the game well too.
bonedaddy
Apr 22nd · 09:53 UTC
This is a great concept, fits the theme well and is presented well. It took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure out how combining colours work >_< It'd be good to play a post jam version of this where you fix some of the bugs (panning doesn't work well on the embedded version, sometimes the visual connections between nodes disappears even though they aren't actually gone)
thormoth
Apr 22nd · 09:57 UTC
Took me a second to figure out how it all works, but honestly a really fun game and feels like something i could've picked up on the steam store. Really well done!
Lizadettlaff
Apr 22nd · 10:35 UTC
I like it
LDJam user 317693
Apr 22nd · 10:38 UTC
This was kinda addicting. All goals hit in 24 minutes. Really badass, would be cool to see more management choices for nodes, like rearrangement, selling/deleting, etc.
jetrumbel
Apr 22nd · 10:43 UTC
was jamming to the music watching signals move
Volkolak
Apr 22nd · 11:03 UTC
The game turned out to be very cohesive, it's a pleasure to play, and expanding the world is interesting. Cool!
roccay
Apr 22nd · 11:05 UTC
Fun game. Interesting mechanics. Love the color-binding idea, it adds a nice layer of strategy.
YALI_Lily519
Apr 22nd · 11:22 UTC
Interesting game, I really like your music!
Tykki19
Apr 22nd · 12:19 UTC
Good idea and execution. Chill atmosphere and great entry overall!
steinhks
Apr 22nd · 12:20 UTC
A really cool game—simple yet stylish, with nice graphics and sound effects. super addictive
CrispyPear
Apr 22nd · 12:39 UTC
Sick! I loved the great tours you had to go on to truly maximize profits. My orange guys went to every corner of the universe.
senior_sigan
Apr 22nd · 13:13 UTC
Excellent game. Would be great to have an ability to buy x2 , x3 nodes as well.
Tetracold
Apr 22nd · 13:32 UTC
Really like it, despite the artsyle being minimal I think it's done really well here and it complements the vibe it's going for. the gameplay is nice too I enjoy he core mechanic it's an interesting take and it has enough depth to stay engaging
Janku
Apr 22nd · 14:38 UTC
Addicting! :D Would play more if stars could get 'infected' by enemy or some force, maybe AI you could fight against to gain resources, take over each other nodes? Still, love the game and would really like to play more if more content is added to it! <3
![signalStars.png](///raw/179/d3/z/72493.png)
recursor
Apr 22nd · 15:54 UTC
This is both quite fun and relaxing at the same time. Finding other, more efficient paths is quite satisfying, especially when I can route signals through multiple node upgrades. As others have said, this is addicting with simple mechanics that still offer depth. Great entry!
LDJam user 423872
Apr 22nd · 18:28 UTC
A very meditative game. I'd like to see some gradual increase in difficulty.

![weave.jpg](///raw/0c7/76/z/7255e.jpg)
KamikazeeSSJ13
Apr 22nd · 19:28 UTC
Great game, very simplish and addictive! The sfx sounds are nice and immersive too
ZedGame
Apr 22nd · 20:30 UTC
Oh this is fantastic! Great visuals and background music. Satisfying automation gameplay. I could see myself playing something like this for longer if it had progression saving.
NBumgardner
Apr 22nd · 20:34 UTC
A great game that fits the clicker genre except its about strategically updating your logistics network. Given more time, dragging a click to connect multiple nodes in a row would be great for speeding up gameplay, especially in the late game.
LDJam user 234567
Apr 22nd · 20:37 UTC
A really addictive game. Visually, it’s simple but very beautiful.

This game is one of my favourites.
JHax
Apr 22nd · 20:38 UTC
I found this game really satisfying to play! Didn't read the instructions properly so took me a while to clock that you've got to combine colours to get the orange, purple and green ones :sweat_smile: Audio fits nicely with the visual style of it as well to build a sort of almost zen atmosphere
evgenii-petrov
Apr 22nd · 21:21 UTC
Cozy and relaxing incremental game, it's very soothing to see numbers go up. Also great audio and overall mood. Thanks!
Oleksandr Marynenko
Apr 22nd · 23:38 UTC
A really cool game! At first, I was planning out routes and noticed the colors - purple, orange, and green. I thought those points would unlock later and started feeling like the progression was a bit slow. But then I realized I just hadn’t figured out that I needed to connect the colors, even though it was right in front of me. It’s very engaging and pulls you in. The game also looks nice visually. Great job!!
Theogen
Apr 23rd · 04:28 UTC
Very fresh take on an idle game! Love it!
Xientra
Apr 23rd · 14:13 UTC
Beautiful game. Really satisfying to connect everything up :O
🎤 alexhonor
Apr 23rd · 19:29 UTC
@bonedaddy Thanks for the feedback! Can you please clarify what was the panning problem you got? I would love to fix it, but I can't reproduce it on my side.
🎤 alexhonor
Apr 23rd · 19:31 UTC
Everyone, thank you for your kind feedback and for playing the game! I am working on fixes, improvements and post jam version with more content and mechanics!
bonedaddy
Apr 23rd · 19:50 UTC
@alexhonor I can't reproduce it now! Weird, I'm not sure what happened before but it was like if I zoomed in in the bottom right it'd be offset wrong, like trying to zoom to the top left. Anyways, it's not happening now, so not sure if it was some weird embed issue when I was trying it or what, but it's panning and zooming well now
TheSmellofOxygen
Apr 25th · 03:17 UTC
Amazing gen of a gem. Exactly enough ambience from the audio, clean visuals, responsive controls and addicting gameplay. I played for over an hour. The Ah-HA moment when I realized I could mix colors to get the other goals instead of trying to find purple, green, and orange stars that were just out of reach was great.
Bananplyte
Apr 27th · 11:35 UTC
This is my favorite game of any Ludum Dare. I was completely hooked. Would buy for real. 5/5 in all categories. Loved it.
LDJam user 424326
May 01st · 04:42 UTC
![изображение_2026-05-01_123943619.png](///raw/689/76/z/72fd4.png)

Great work!
You’ve built a solid foundation for further development.

If you continue working on it, it would be cool to add more challenges—like breakdowns at stations or something similar—because at some point, there’s nothing left to do except wait for the progress bars to fill.
Phasmantic
May 02nd · 20:46 UTC
Cool game! I had fun making a little factory and connecting the signals. It seems like my map spawned with a lot more black holes than stars though, and it mighve been nice if it were a bit more color-blind friendly (the purple and blue looked the same to me, along w/ the green and yellow). Overall though, I had a lot of fun trying this game, maxing all the bonuses, and getting past 100k/second.
🎤 alexhonor
May 03rd · 16:26 UTC
Thanks for feedback everyone! I just released a [**bigger demo**](https://acid-otter.itch.io/signal-weave) with additional mechanics, around 1 hour gameplay and better visuals. I want to see if I should go for a full game release. I would appreciate any feedback!

@phasmantic @pipetto @bananplyte @xientra @xientra @theoratkin @oleksandr-marynenko @evgenii-petrov @jhax @fifut @nbumgardner @zedgame @kamikazeessj13 @indiepanda @recursor @janku @tetracold @crispypear @senior-sigan @tykki19 @robotchimp @thormoth @anatei @prunus-padis @telkan @flowerfield-games
Tomssuli
May 03rd · 20:18 UTC
Great game! I thought it was easy to get into and interesting to find and optimize all routes.

Nice and polished entry :sunglasses:

![factory_Clipboard_05-03-2026_01.jpg](///raw/a34/d1/z/730f5.jpg)
NBumgardner
May 03rd · 20:34 UTC
@alexhonor nice job expanding the game out! I have copied the below feedback for the post-jam version on your feedback form.

The turrets and asteroids change the game balance a lot and will take some getting used to for me. I probably need upgrades in order to consistently defend a single crossing line with a red-1 turret.

Also as a heads up, the fullscreen web build has a few bugs when you have time:

1. The Controls menu overlaps the top-right corner 'x' and cog, so the only way I found for backing out was by pressing Esc which also leaves the fullscreen.
2. The Upgrades menu's tooltips for unpurchased upgrades overlaps `1star(`. Maybe add width for the star to fix it.
ironcutter
May 03rd · 22:35 UTC
Feels really good! I love the clean graphics, and the fact that it requires some planning. Really solid entry, this is great!
VenomousMouse
May 04th · 06:55 UTC
Very cool idea. Relaxing and immersive. Also great soundtrack. Great game.
digital bacon
May 04th · 09:52 UTC
Interesting concept, I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with it. Clean interface, clear feedback and graphics, nice audio.

Excellent work -- well done!
🎤 alexhonor
May 04th · 10:29 UTC
@tomssuli @ironcutter @venomousmouse @digital-bacon Thanks for feedback! [**Here is bigger demo**](https://acid-otter.itch.io/signal-weave) if you want to give it a try.
Tomssuli
May 04th · 10:33 UTC
@alexhonor way ahead of you, I already had tried the demo too :smile:

I think that kind of incremental game could warrant Steam entry for a right price. Just make loads of upgrades and things to achieve so player doesn't run out of things to grind for... And slowly drop in some new mechanics along the way.
brolga
May 04th · 11:20 UTC
Nice blend of incremental and strategy/management genres. Def a very fun and game, great work!
kkkyia
May 04th · 14:38 UTC
A very polished and fun game! I’d happily play it for an entire class lol.