Echoes of Ending Worlds

This is such a neat little game! I love sci-fi Twine games, so this was perfect for me.

Echoes of Ending Worlds is a Neo-Twiny Jam submission. You work for the Bureau of Observation as an Operator tasked with screening planetary radio frequencies for signs of life. The basic act of listening and reporting, or as the game puts it: “You Listen, So We Can Learn”, is vital to the Bureau’s efforts to obtain resources, find new settlements, and squash potential threats.

Time to tune in.

Gameplay
Gameplay is brief yet atmospheric- your first playthrough will likely be about two minutes or so. After the game’s intro, which serves as a mission briefing presented by the Bureau, you are presented with your first radio frequency.

You must:

• Observe.
• Record whether there is life, intelligent or unintelligent, or none.
• Suggest if Bureau should investigate, abandon, or re-observe later.

You read through the data audio collected and then make two decisions: whether there is intelligent life present and what action the Bureau should take. The game uses two drop-down menus that allow you to input your decisions before moving on to the next radio frequency. Also note that there is actual audio you can listen to for atmosphere. I, however, played with the sound off after my initial playthrough.

The entire gameplay consists of processing (Spoiler - click to show) three radio frequencies. It then ends in a probation review to evaluate your decisions.

• Suggested new settlement location in dark sector. Nearby mission rerouted to investigate.
• Noted mission distress signal. Rescue pending, awaiting resources. ETA: two months.
• 100% accuracy in observation reports.

Above is what I consider to be my best ending.

I really wish the game was longer, although I recognize that the 2025 Neo-Twiny Jam had a 300-word limit. Given this rule, I think the game makes the most of the amount of content it has through its potency and atmosphere.

There is some replay value. Your choices for each frequency seem to influence the frequency you receive next, and said choices also determine the nature of your (Spoiler - click to show) probation review . After playing several rounds, I encountered a total of (Spoiler - click to show) five planetary frequencies. Seeing how these frequencies could influence each other had my attention and prompted experimentation.

Story
While the game is short, there is still an interesting story to unpack. Right from the beginning, the Bureau of Observation establishes a strong presence. The game strikes a nice ambience by making it clear that the Bureau takes note of everything. That while you are listening to your frequencies, an invisible party is no doubt listening in on you… to make sure to you are doing what you are supposed to be doing, of course.

Also, despite the important nature of your job as an Operator, the PC does not seem to be a high-ranking individual. If anything, they seem to be at the bottom of the bureaucratic food chain. The fact that they are (Spoiler - click to show) under routine probation meetings makes one wonder what their backstory is. Did they step on someone’s toes? Or is this life as usual for everyone in this future?

My favorite aspect of Echoes of Ending Worlds is the overarching story. At the start of the game, the Bureau says, “Every observed frequency saves a manned mission; every planet could be our new home.” My interpretation of this is that Earth isn’t doing too great and that humanity needs a new place to live- a premise I enjoy exploring in science fiction. Missions have been sent out to find a new home, but with limited success. It also (Spoiler - click to show) puts the intro’s mention of an “evac time” into context. There’s not a lot of info, but I’ve pieced together that the people of Earth will have to evacuate at some point, and those who help the Bureau’s efforts earn more priority. We see this in action if you are rewarded for certain gameplay choices. Glad to see that finding an unauthorized settlement shaves off two months’ worth of waiting…

On a final note, I would like to know more about frequency (Spoiler - click to show) Asmer 31 and its status as a Re-observe case. Also, why do you get locked into declaring it “Observe: No Life/Suggest: Abandoned” when you read the frequency’s data? Does anyone have any thoughts on this? There seems to be a deeper story going on, but all I can say for certain is that the Bureau is not pleased with your assessment.

System scans indicate Observer’s report on Asmer 31 inaccurate: life signs detected. Observer hostile to this report. Psych eval requested.

What this psych eval looks like is never revealed. Let’s hope it’s nothing bad.

Visual elements
The game’s appearance is a dark blue-grey panel set into a background of the same colour. The text consists of crisp orange and white font and is evenly placed on the screen. I liked how the text included basic interactivity where the player clicks on passages for more descriptions about what is being heard over the radio frequency. It keeps the screen from becoming cluttered and makes things more interesting.

The credits list several images, but I never saw them in the game. Unless of course it has to do with a technical problem on my end. I don’t think the lack of photos takes away from the game’s presentation since it already has a “less-is-more” aesthetic.

Conclusion
Echoes of Ending Worlds is a game with a great concept both in gameplay mechanics and story concept. The premise of turning to the void of space in search of a new future amid an ongoing planetary crisis is a powerful one. Anytime we ponder the possibility of life in the universe we are forced to evaluate our relationship with the Earth and confront our ability to leave it. These themes immediately caught my attention, and I spent many playthroughs trying to digest every detail I could find. I would love to see a longer, expanded version of the game since I didn’t want it to end, but it still stands on its own as it is now.