‘Long Distance Starship’ is a two-player co-operative game which was exhibited at Now Play This Experimental Game Design Festival 2023.
Game Concept
In this game the players take the roles of two aliens from different planets, separated by many lightyears but desperate to meet.
One planet has developed blueprints for a faster-than-light starship, and the other has the resources to build it. Together they have the technology to close the space between them.
Unfortunately, they have only successfully translated 7 words between their vastly different languages. Under this limitation, players must develop a new shared vernacular.
Gameplay
One player, the 'Architect' has the blueprints of the finished spaceship in front of them. They must try and guide the other player, the 'Mechanic', using their set of 7 words. The other player, the 'Mechanic', has a number of blocks in front of them with which to construct the spaceship, but cannot see how it should look. Together, the two players must build a new shared language, giving new meanings to the words they have access to.
The 'Architect' player is presented with a variety of ships to choose from which vary in difficulty, which adds both accessibility and replayability.
We found that players took different approaches to the gameplay - some established simple phrases before building, whilst some preferred trial and error. Some primarily used their words for directions, whilst others associated them mainly with specific pieces.
There were also some trends in how words were used, 'star' or 'love' often meaning a general positive ('yes', 'correct') and 'moon' for the negative.
Event Photos
