Signal Simulator is an indie game developed and published by Blagovest Penev, available via Steam. Inspired by SETI, the game puts you in the shoes of a lone researcher operating a SETI array in the desert, scanning outer space for signals, analyzing and decoding them...and, hopefully, finding some meaning to them.
Gameplay is both straightforward yet in-depth; you mainly operate from a console inside the station, scanning space for signal anomalies, then using your systems to interpret and decode them. Successfully decoding signals will reward you with "credits" which can then be spent on various system upgrades, making the overall process more efficient. Occasionally, system errors will occur, which among other things can necessitate restarting the station's generator, or having to make the trek out to one of the seventeen arrays to manually realign them. There's also a minor element of self-care, as the researcher can sleep, drink coffee, and use the restroom.
The game has a very "zen-like" quality to it; there are long stretches of quiet while the computers do their thing, and to facilitate the passage of time, the in-game laptop has access to radio stations and websites to keep you entertained while you go about the work of scanning and maintaining the station.
Warning: This is a game all about discovery and the joy of experiencing the unknown. Being aware of what exists and what can happen may spoil the experience for a new player. You are strongly encouraged to try the game and see what it has to offer for yourself before reading. There will be SPOILERS below!
Signal Simulator provides examples of the following tropes:
- Alien Abduction: Implied: you had a partner at the station who mysteriously vanished before the game starts. Considering what happens when you find their shoe outside...
- Alliterative Title
- Apocalyptic Log: Some signals will decode into seemingly-random sentences that, when taken together, form one of a few distinct sets of these. Among other things, they discuss:
- A set of space explorers experience equipment failure, ending in an explosion that kills many. They then find a unicellular extraterrestrial organism - which then turns hostile after getting a taste of blood, and starts growing...and learning...the logs start begging for help, before suddenly pulling a 180 and begging not to be helped...because the entity has learned how to look like them, now...
- A group of people on a base on Mars lose a cargo of food and request a replacement. They get no response, and the situation sours as food begins to run short and a storm cuts the base off from communication. Then members of the crew start dying in..."accidents." Then the crew gets desperate...
- A researcher at a SETI observatory is abducted and subjected to Fate Worse than Death experiments and torture at the hands of The Greys. They manage to escape and make it back to Earth, but the aliens track them down and begin Gaslighting them. They end up, in a fit of paranoid, killing their wife and infant daughter in an effort to save them from abduction - before being re-abducted again, their final lines accepting that they will die without ever seeing Earth again. Oh, and the ship that takes them is described as
a black and red triangle.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: One of the signals can trigger a giant eyestalk, resembling the Tripods from The War of the Worlds, to briefly appear on the horizon of the desert. It will slowly descend out of view, and never appear again.
- Being Watched: Rarely, when not looking directly at them, your peripheral screens on the computer might briefly change to an image of a shadowy figure watching you from the kitchen behind you. Turn to look, and there's no one there. It's also possible to see a figure watching you through the window in front of you, and an alien spying on you through your bathroom window is one of the game's more notable spooks. Since these only happen when you don't sleep, they could be hallucinations.
- Flying Saucer: As can be expected, you can spy some of these in the distance. They usually disappear before too long. Much more prominent is the one that appears when you investigate your missing compatriot's shoe.
- Hell Is That Noise: Fittingly, since you're a SETI researcher interpreting seemingly-random radio waves and radiation from space, some of them can sound pretty unsettling when converted into sounds. The ones corresponding with UFOs or other events tend to be the worst, especially the Black Triangle ship
- I Come in Peace: One of the signals you can decode says as much. Consider it's the Black Triangle ship that says this, and the signal is coming from Earth itself, the player would be forgiven for doubting how genuine the message is...especially if you found the Apocalyptic Log mentioned above.
- Interface Spoiler: The station's doors have keypads that can be used to lock them shut, tipping the player off that they're probably going to be in danger at some point. It's a Red Herring; while there are entities that can appear, they don't use doors, and they (seemingly) aren't a threat.
- Irony: Despite the "Black Triangle" ship being the only ship that is explicitly nonhostile (via the decoded message from its signal), its design, the creepy noises it makes, and the fact that it's one of the only signals that comes from Earth means most unspoiled players will likely be too scared shitless to take the offer seriously...Then there's the little matter of the Apocalyptic Log mentioned above...
- Jump Scare: Consciously-averted; there are no explicit jumpscares, instead relying on creepy atmosphere and "Did I just see what I thought I did?" moments to unnerve the player.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The game isn't marketed as a horror game, there are no jumpscares, and nothing can hurt you, but the desert itself can be damned unsettling, especially at night. Likewise, some of the noises you get from decoding signals can be terrifying in their own right...and then there are the events they sometimes lead to...
- Ominous Floating Spaceship: Most of the UFO's do this, but the two most prominent are the terrifying "Black Triangle" ship, and the Mothership (which never goes away once summoned.)
- People Jars: One of the events that can happen is that a glass jar with a Grey in it will, inexplicably and without fanfare, appear in the corner of your office. You can't interact with it at all, and after enough time passes, it'll vanish when you look away. The alien inside is also still alive, and will move occasionally.
- Red Herring: The keypads to lock the station's doors. There are no entities that use the doors, so locking them does nothing but make the unaware player feel safer.
