ROSETIA: A First Contact Simulation

About This Game

You are a SETI agent: a diplomat who has travelled for two-hundred years to make first contact with the tidally-locked planet of Triune—a world caught in eternal twilight.

You have one job: convince the native ‘Tortans’ to build a faster-than-light communications device capable of contacting Earth, thus cementing an alliance between your two species.

To succeed, you’ll need a quick wit, a silver tongue and an iron-clad moral compass. It won’t be easy, but the ensuing trade of art, literature and scientific knowledge will enrich both your worlds forever.

After choosing your manner of introduction (“Take me to your leader!”), you’ll be free to explore a very small but artfully crafted open world populated by an eccentric cast of alien characters—and all of them are eager to converse with the visitor from the stars.

Unfortunately, inter-species small-talk rarely stays small.

Do you lie about aspects of humanity they’d find repulsive?
Do you interfere in harmful cultural practices, knowing they’ll hate you for it?
Do you give away technology that might save lives, even at the risk of its misuse?

The law of unintended consequences is at play, and all eyes are on you. Every quest you undertake; every sacrifice you make; every agonizing, unexpected outcome—they all affect your GOODWILL: a measure of public support for you and your cause.

Whenever you feel ready, you can initiate a final, high-stakes dialogue with the planet’s leadership to make your case for interstellar cooperation. The ending you receive will be determined by…

1. Your GOODWILL score
2. Your ability to defend the decisions made in each quest
3. The persuasiveness of your argument (determined by your knowledge of Triune and its peoples)

Failure is possible. Make enough diplomatic blunders, come just short of the threshold for success— and the FTL Comm will never be built.

You’ll be stranded on an alien world, with no way to phone home.

ROSETIA gamifies the PRIME DIRECTIVE, the core conflict at the heart of Star Trek. Is it right to interfere in the natural development of an alien species—even if your intentions are benevolent? The answer to this question ultimately lies in the hands of the player. What kind of diplomat will you be?

A hands-off relativist, extolling the virtues of non-intervention? A rational pragmatist, making compromises in service of the greater good? Or a righteous humanist, happily freeing others from ignorance?

All are valid strategies for fostering GOODWILL, but the people of Triune have their own opinions, and they will not take your decisions lightly.

ROSETIA is a text-heavy game where conflicts are solved through speech and diplomacy rather than violence. To compensate for the lack of other forms of gameplay, dialogue trees will be longer, with greater branching. New options will be unlocked based on…

Your GOODWILL score, your PAST ACTIONS, your RELATIONSHIP to specific characters, and any KNOWLEDGE you’ve gleaned through books or in prior conversations.

ROSETIA doesn’t side-step the problem of alien communication with an unseen ‘universal translator’—it puts it front and center. Specifically, on your chest, in the form of an adorable, pink, and only slightly passive-aggressive AI interpreter named ROSETTA.

Together you’ll navigate translation errors, decipher ancient Tortan storybooks, and discuss the practical realities of xenolinguistics. Fun!

In ROSETIA, you must track three key metrics: HUNGER , SLEEP and MONEY. This is not to emulate survival, but rather the day-to-day ethical considerations of living on a foreign world.

Will you constantly fly back and forth from your alien mothership to indulge in a cozy bed and infinite human food—even though doing so makes you seem more alien, a cultural chauvinist, and thus damages your GOODWILL?

Or will you live the Tortan lifestyle, scrounging up money for an uncomfortable bed and paying for alien foods that your body might reject? The people will love seeing you as one of them—but what are you willing to do to get that money?

Beg for accommodations?
Mine their natural resources?
Sell human technology?

What will that do to your GOODWILL?

ROSETIA is a small-scale game inspired by…

• The ethical conundrums and humanist optimism of STAR TREK
• The character-centric storytelling of MASS EFFECT
• The realistic depiction of SETI in CARL SAGAN’s CONTACT
• The world-building, relativistic space travel and anthropological sensibilities of URSULA K. LE GUIN’s HAINISH NOVELS
• The humor and expansive dialogue trees of DISCO ELYSIUM
• The moral choices and complex player expression of FALLOUT NEW VEGAS and THE OUTER WORLDS