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About the Story
Far out past the edges of the solar system lies a smallish chunk of rock. This is the planet Rupert, and it is a monitoring station for the Grebulons. The goal of the Grebulons is unknown, even to them. All they know is that they're supposed to monitor something, so they have been secretly watching Earth for a long time, studying its inhabitants.
The Grebulons abduct earthlings and put their victims through strange tests. The Grebulons have hundreds of test subjects working their way through various tests in the devious labryinthian contraption code-named the 'Z-MACHINE' housed on planet Rupert. Most of these tests involve wiping the subject's memory and placing them in a nondescript room containing objects that aren't really there.
After a successful (or unsuccessful) test, the subject's memory is wiped again and they are returned to Earth, where they live out their lives oblivious to the mental agony they have been through.
But one previous test subject has other plans...
Ratings and Reviews
| Average Rating:    Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 2 |
Didn't quite finish the game, but I figured I should leave my thoughts here since it doesn't have any other player reviews at this point. This is a pretty straightforward "get the keys" parser game with plenty of rooms to explore in detail, given a slight humorous twist from its misanthropic alien perspective. It's not as blatantly meta (up to now) as I expected from the blurb.
Personally, I stopped when I had (Spoiler - click to show)gathered three of the four puzzle box pieces. I assume the fourth is in the safe, which I have no idea how to open. I'm just not feeling motivated enough to ransack all the rooms again, even with the vague guidance from the hints. Also, looking ahead in the hints, I'm afraid (Spoiler - click to show)figuring out the final puzzle, given my current lack of demolitions knowledge, might require the sorts of internet searches that raise some flags.
Sorry to leave it there — I would have liked to see how it all turns out. This is probably a better game for more experienced old-school parser fans.
Error, February 6, 2016*
Link does not work, therefore I can't play it but it sure sounds interesting.
News
Added IFArchive linkSeptember 9, 2016
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Game Details
First Publication Date: November 16, 2011
Current Version: 5
License: Creative Commons
Development System: Inform 7
Forgiveness Rating: Polite
IFID: 2ABEF009-406E-4648-B376-5BE4350733E3
TUID: 32id49lmaviphkas
Signal Error on IFDB
Polls
The following polls include votes for Signal Error:Games with an abrupt and unexpected ending twist by dutchmule
I'm looking for games which, as in a lot of short stories, feature a sudden and unexpected revelation/twist at the very end of the game, that possibly changes your interpretation of what the game was really all about. (but please be...
Games that could use more reviews by MathBrush
I love to review games. Let me know if you've made a game that needs more reviews, or can suggest someone else's! I might not be personally able to review every game due to time, content, or platform, but I'll try!
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