Trouble in Telegraph Town by Theg

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

It's a simple job. Stay in the telegraph tower and relay the signals along to the next tower. Who knows what they're actually about.

Well, your friend might have some idea...

Game works best on desktop but a mostly functional web build is available on itch too!

Ratings

Overall 748th 2.982⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 773th 2.625⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 601th 3.071⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 413th 3.768⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 773th 2.375⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Audio 572th 1.944⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Humor 659th 1.82⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 821th 2.429⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Given 23🗳️ 31🗨️

Feedback

Alexander Stepanov
Apr 21st · 19:34 UTC
I dont det it. just copy the pattern? passed 1st one and then "undo".
Itero Proto
Apr 22nd · 17:34 UTC
I didn't understand anything) And there are no sounds
goblon17
Apr 22nd · 17:41 UTC
Simon says type game. It would be cool to manage multiple messages concurently.
Pavlo04
Apr 22nd · 17:47 UTC
I was a bit confused about what to do, but I managed to make it to the next day.
frozenfire92
Apr 22nd · 17:48 UTC
This was a really interesting concept, I would like to see it taken further with more stakes/visuals surrounding your actions. The web build was a little janky with the mouse caputre/escape but still playable! I'm not sure if I broke it or beat the game but once I sent the return nothing signal I got an undo message at the bottom then it said end signal :sweat_smile: Keep on making games!
Ricna
Apr 22nd · 17:54 UTC
After to press [E] the paper stuck in the screen and I take a lot of time to see the close button. Would be nice to presse [E] again to close. The camera is crazy even in fullscreen. I guess I miss the point of the game. Let me know when you fix these issues. Seems a great idea and 100% about Signal ;)
Petr Vejchoda
Apr 22nd · 19:01 UTC
Dude, I got such a Papers, please! vibe out of it. Definitely not that polished. But yeah, the idea of abstracting a plot from some routine actions that you are simply asked to.
Awesome job!
LDJam user 375016
Apr 22nd · 19:02 UTC
On the first day I was like - wait.. so I just copy and that’s it? But then it got interesting, especially when I was interrupting the message. Maybe if there was some info at the start that the first day is tutorial, I will wait to judge the game and wait like in every game. There were some comments that people didnt understand it, but I think that they just thought that the first day was the mechanism of the game. So fun idea, just more info would be great.👍🏻good job 👏🏻
msipp27
Apr 23rd · 23:38 UTC
i got it pretty quickly, but a tutorial would be nice
feffers
Apr 25th · 20:10 UTC
Very fun little game. I appreciated how it progressed with the new mechanics
DJTequila
Apr 26th · 12:28 UTC
Nice game! I like the story of manipulating the communication with your allies/enemies. It definitely fits the theme very well. I wasn't clear on when to use the "none" signal however. Overall a fun idea that could use a bit of polish. Well done!
Cazik21
Apr 26th · 22:38 UTC
I couldn't understand what the game was about; I was just copying what appeared on the towers behind the windows. I strongly recommend making the objective clearer within the game Great job!
LDJam user 259103
May 01st · 00:14 UTC
This was really neat! I'd initially assumed the first day was all there was of the game, then was pleasantly surprised when a story revealed itself. The last day was particularly interesting, though I feel the game could've done more with the idea than it did. Maybe that's something for post-jam, who knows.

I was a bit confused about the checklists, as the game didn't appear to provide any feedback on whether my answers were right or wrong. Either it doesn't check, or I happened to get them all right, because I made it to the end of the game just fine.

My main criticism is that the game drags a little; there are probably too many signals each day (most of which aren't relevant to the checklists), and the animations are quite slow. Perhaps signals could be confirmed with a separate button of some kind, instead of a fixed delay? That would speed things up quite a bit.
Rewzu
May 02nd · 12:09 UTC
Interesting idea. The graphics and audio could use some polish, but the gameplay base and the concept are there. The progression could be a little faster I think - Like a more convenient and faster way to flip the plates. Overall, it is a interesting entry! Good job! :D
Flatgub
May 04th · 15:19 UTC
I really liked the idea here! The audio was admittedly a little sharp but with some polish I'd enjoy seeing this taken further! Well done!
HacksawUnit
May 07th · 22:21 UTC
Really interesting take on the theme and a cool way to tell a story. I think I may have run into a bug near the end, because after I sent signals from the remaining tower, I was told to put in the UNDO signal as well as to hit ENTER, and the game ended abruptly. But, a lot of potential here with a little more polish and some QoL additions. If there was enough stuff going on I could see a really excellent story told with this setup. Thanks for making this entry!
HacksawUnit
May 07th · 22:21 UTC
(accidental doublepost.)
Prakkus
May 08th · 19:23 UTC
There's definitely the spark of something here. It took me a bit to figure out the undo signal but I appreciated how the single point of control leaned into the theme. I can totally see this evolving into something with a few more curveballs thrown in to keep the kinds of signals and their meanings interesting.
Wizard
May 08th · 19:26 UTC
Loved the take on the theme, being a signal person communicating orders between towers. As mentioned above, deffo has a papers please vibe, with a mundane job but an interesting story unfolding and changing by the choices you make. Im really excited to see this expanded upon and more story to come. Fantastic job, great game, well done.