Every week or so, we pick a game on Itch and provide detailed feedback. You can read more about this initiative here.

This week, we're going to discuss Signal. Please post your detailed feedback below.

Disclaimer: I couldn't figure out the puzzles (other than the glass one) and would have really liked a walkthrough.

What I liked:

• The voice acting. It was pretty well-done.
• The story was really interesting; I want to know how it ends!
• The puzzles are simple if you can get them -- like the outside one.
• The setting and theme of a church -- a risk since people don't usually like religion in games. I think it works.

What I didn't like:

• There are no hints. If you get stuck, you're stuck, there's no way to figure out what to do or how.
• The lack of feedback. Beyond the radio and glass puzzles, if you do something right, you don't know.
• I got stuck! I couldn't figure out the letter puzzle, the shapes for the glass (once it was solved), or the numbers (the comment was a dead give-away).

For a 48-hour game jam, I think it's a really well-done game. I would have liked to solve it though :)

I beat it because I'm smart and took notes. I agree that Signal is an impressive 48-hour achievement, made in significantly less time than I needed to get this review written. The puzzle design is interesting, making the player not only find the right keys but also figure out where each key is and how it is encoded. I think it was a wise decision to respond to correct solutions by triggering dialogue and locking the door controls. Without that feedback, there would've been a lot more for the player to keep track of, perhaps too much. It does leave the puzzles open to brute-forcing, but players who resort to that have only themselves to blame.

The music and background art are appealing and quickly set a Myst-esque mood, drawing you into a a world of eerie splendor. Some of the graphics are unpolished, but I won't hold that against a game like this. It's a story that leaves a lot to the imagination, and the oddness of the puzzle mechanics also makes me lean toward interpreting the whole thing as a dream sequence. I'm not convinced that anyone would actually build a church like that, before or after the apocalypse.

The Conclusion: This game is worth a try, if you're up for a bite-sized adventure game that will require some lateral thinking.

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback this week. You can view the next weekly discussion thread here.