fassenberg 2026-10-19 10:12 ♥ 1
The UI looks great, and the music fits perfectly. The sound effects for facts and hypotheses are really satisfying. I mostly went by trial and error, but I still managed to figure some things out. Looks interesting!
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD60 → PHOBOS 101
By vorondesan
🤖 AI-Assisted
| Percentile | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | LD60 | Ever | |
| Overall | 30 | |||||
| Fun | 30 | |||||
| Innovation | 30 | |||||
| Theme | 30 | |||||
| Graphics | 1 | |||||
| Audio | 30 | |||||
| Humor | 27 | |||||
| Mood | 29 | |||||
The UI looks great, and the music fits perfectly. The sound effects for facts and hypotheses are really satisfying. I mostly went by trial and error, but I still managed to figure some things out. Looks interesting!
Btw, I left the page open in the background just for the soundtrack
I hope I got it right that I'm supposed to pull facts out of the notes and verify them. So far it feels like the notes don't give you much to go on. I mostly got anywhere through trial and error. The music came out really suspenseful and spy-like, great atmosphere. Screenshot_4.png
I played this for way too long. Didn't get all the facts, but I got enough to have a good idea what went down. Really liked the music. It helped set the mood. Very fun game. Good stuff 🎱
@fassenberg Hi, i`m especially proud of how music turned out, thank you for playing and kind words!
P.S. Posted soundtrack on itch.io for download, enjoy!
@avhatar Hi, congratulations on getting to the end! The notes are actually meant as a head start rather than enough information to solve everything directly — the idea is to use those initial clues to start uncovering facts through the terminal. Trial and error is a one of the tools. Thank you for playing!
@oddballdave Hi, thank you for playing and high praise!
It looks very interesting, but I’m probably not sharp enough for games like this. But all cool
@alextrash Hi, thanks for playing! And don’t be too hard on yourself. Glad you found it interesting!
The atmosphere is very good, music and graphics fit well with this kind of game. Great job !
Love the idea and the atmosphere with that music. But after 10 thoughtful attempts. I start to click on everything and just in combinatorics. Even though I read messages. Probably you can find more connection from what you already found. Love the idea!
@helagos Hi, thanks for playing, glad you enjoyed it!
@pazio-di-dante Hi, thanks for playing! You got the idea right - both the starting information and the facts you uncover, whether true or false, give you clues for what to try next. Glad you enjoyed atmosphere and music!
the investigation loop here is really well put together, turning facts and hypotheses into something you assemble yourself makes the mystery feel active instead of just reading a wall of text. the UI and soundtrack are doing a lot of heavy lifting too, the whole thing feels much bigger than a jam game. how did you keep the hypothesis system from turning into brute force trial and error? really impressive work.
Hi, @perrarancino, thank you for playing!
I tried to make brute force possible in theory, but inefficient compared to actually following the information you uncover. The vocabulary is filtered so only valid words can be used in each slot, and both true and false hypotheses give you useful information for what to try next. The initial messages are meant to give you a few starting threads, and from there the facts start connecting into different routes through the story.
I actually spent most of the first day not coding at all, just mapping out the facts and how they could lead into one another. Really glad the investigation loop worked for you!
At first, I didn't get how to play and thought it was kind of rubbish. But then I decided to give it another try, and I actually ended up liking it! Cool! It gave me a real board game vibe.
Hi, @shikaka29, thank you for playing! Glad you gave it a second try and ended up liking it. I’m actually a big board game fan myself, so that comparison really warmed my heart!
Love the sound design, art, and concept! I’ve only found 9 facts so far, but I’m going back to try and find all 47. I’m not entirely sure what the archiving mechanic is for, though. The idea is really cool, and the execution is top-notch. Great job!
Hi, @sanechekz, thank you for playing, looking forward to seeing your perfect score!
I see the Archive less as another puzzle and more as a wrap-up — a way to sort through what you’ve discovered and solidify the story in your head piece by piece, since the facts can be uncovered out of chronological order. Thanks for the feedback!
I played this sooooo long, I got a lot of facts but not all of them! Once I realized that trial and error was needed to get more of the story, I was way more successful. Every time I successfully established a fact I was so excited, especially later, like, "oh, THAT'S what happened to Boris?!" Really cool, I wish I knew the whole story, I maxed out on filters and don't have the patience to do the whole thing again. I loved this game so much!! Reminds me a tiny tiny bit of The Incident at Galley House. Amazing work. Screenshot 2026-10-20 121449.png
Great game! The music and atmosphere are perfect, and the premise is really intriguing. I love the investigation system, and I think with a few improvements this could work really well as a *Case of the Golden Idol* style game if you ever decide to expand it.
It would be cool to have a few more tools to help keep track of everything. Maybe a timeline and an overview of the characters where you can archive established facts about them as you go, rather than only at the end. Uncovering new sources of information as the investigation progresses could also be a nice addition.
This entry actually made me want to try making my own investigative game someday!
Hi, @kristinamay, that`s an impressive result! Thank you for playing! And yes, trial and error is indeed one of the tools, glad it clicked! I especially love how you discribed your "a-ha" moment, brings me real joy!
Hi, @liquid, thank you for playing! I really appreciate your ideas — they sound very neat, especially the timeline one! And yes, The Case of the Golden Idol was certainly an inspiration for me. I’m really glad the game inspired you to make your own investigation game someday. Godspeed!
The soundtrack is great, and the sound effects fit really well too. Piecing together what happened on Phobos is a cool idea. I’d only add a bit of animation to the screen, some flicker or glow, so it feels more alive and less like a still picture. Great work, especially on the music!
Hi, @rekk1d, thank you for playing! I really appreciate the compliments on the music — the soundtrack is actually available for download on itch.io. And you’re absolutely right, the game would definitely benefit from a few subtle animations to make the screen feel more alive.
Something entirely differnt. Good job with this.. very atmospheric. It got me thinking about some older space games on the amiga... Supremacy, Deuteros and stuff like that... nowhere near the same gameplay... I think it might the soundtrack and somehow the story. Excellent entry 👍
Hi, @purpledartfrog, thank you for playing! Glad nostalgia kicked in and you liked the game!
Love the idea and the atmosphere with that music. But after 10 thoughtful attempts. I start to click on everything and just in combinatorics. Even though I read messages.
Hi, @ao-85 thank you for playing! Really glad you enjoyed the idea, atmosphere, and music. Thanks for the feedback!
The way the suspenseful soundtrack complements the investigation process is genuinely effective. It really builds a tense, unfolding sense of mystery as you piece together facts. Great job crafting such a detailed sci-fi puzzle!
I have a memory like a goldfish; it'd be nice to refer back to the initial notes in the game while getting started. (Ah, I missed it somehow in the upper-right, it didn't look like a button.)
Hi, @eugenik, thanks for playing! Glad you liked it. It warms my heart to hear that atmosphere was spot on for you!
Hi, @mikeware, thanks for playing! It would be too harsh to make you memorize initial messages)
Actually first game that made me read, because it was interesting. Super cool concept. I could call myself some kind of detective now :D, Great game, i guess this could be a genre on it's own. Good luck
Hi, @vokietislt, thank you for playing and kind words, detective! Glad I managed to make reading interesting for you! You might also want to check out Return of the Obra Dinn and The Case of the Golden Idol, they were a great inspiration for me!
Congratulations on your entry! Building hypotheses from a small vocabulary and a limited filter load is a smart, tense deduction loop, and the scattered messages make the mystery click. The orange industrial UI looks great. Well done, great job!
Hi, @milq, thank you for playing and kind words! Glad you liked the idea and UI look!
Wow such a cool UI style. I also like the music a lot, overall they contribute to a slightly tense but also inquiring atmosphere. Really delighted to see some very carefully polished messages (like the small jokes hahaahh). Usually I don't spend too much time reading, but the hypothesis constructor encouraged me to flip back and forth just to establish more facts (yes my brain is basically an old tech with minimum storage, so thx for allowing flipping). Fun concepts to be able to play around such story lines without an AI involved. Great job!
Hi, @cupofcuppuccino thank you for playing! Cool that atmosphere worked for you! Glad you appreciated the messages, I worked really hard to make them sound natural yet useful with a touch of humor. Would be too cruel to make yoy memorize them.
I'm not sold on the UI or the theme fitting in, but the music was really good and it was easy enough to follow once I realized I could replay the messages. And the music was... really good.
Hi, @ganktronics, thank you for playing. Glad you enjoyed the music and the overall flow clicked.
