Arecibo: First Contact

Fifty years after our first attempt to send out a universal “hello” signal to the rest of the universe, an alien ship has come to visit us, and begun transmitting a response.

So far, translation efforts have been slow. But one thing is clear: the aliens have no idea what we’re talking about.

Arecibo is a game about alien contact, but written by an actual astrobiologist, and focusing on the logistical challenges involved rather than the philosophical ones

Long Description

1 6 7 8 15. 7 5 0 1 0. 4 5 5 0 0. 5 5 2 2 0. 7 5 0 1 0. 0 0 0 4 1. Thus begins the Arecibo message, broadcast in 1974 as humanity’s first attempt to contact alien civilizations.

Fifty years later, a very fast object (VFO) has entered the solar system, decelerating on an impossible trajectory to match the Earth’s orbit. And, to the excitement and terror of the world’s nations, it has begun broadcasting signals.

So far, translation efforts have been slow. But one thing is clear: the aliens have no idea what we’re talking about.

Arecibo is a game about alien contact, but written by an actual astrobiologist. Rather than focusing on the existential and cultural questions that are usually present in this genre, it devotes more of its time to the direct technical and logistical challenges involved in a first encounter. Inspired by [this] (https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/835922503478480896) terribly incorrect tweet from Neil Degrasse Tyson.

Gameplay: The game will involve a fair amount of encoding and decoding messages, as teams try to understand each other’s communications. There will be logic puzzles that require little actual math knowledge (but a bit of arithmetic), and plenty of outside-the-box thinking.

Beyond that, there’s a mixture of political and scientific gamesmanship over how to take advantage of first contact, as well as radio and telescope shenanigans.

Roles: The “home team” and “away team” will have similar gameplay, but be separated for most of the game (if you’re trying to sign up with a friend). The main difference between the two teams is that the home team has the option to bicker more about funding and committees, while members of the away team have the option (if they want to) to dress up like aliens.

GM Notes: Due to its focus on communication, logic, and translation challenges, this game is the kind of "fun" that we expect to appeal a lot to some players, and not at all to other players.

Players will interact significantly more with members of their own "team."

The final act of the game encourages everyone to wear masks for narrative reasons (and/or any other PPE you may have available), for players that are comfortable doing so.