by This game is simply brilliant and brilliantly simple. There are two parts to your interface: the alien computer and your journal, which contains notes your character takes from their own intuition and from reading previous researchers. The alien computer is in Sethian, a language deader than the planet you are on. It’s your job to learn how to translate the language and solve the mystery of where the inhabitants of this world went.
At first, the journal holds your hand closely – telling you precisely what to ask the arcane machine and how to interpret the results. As your knowledge progresses,1 your journal only tells you what to ask in plain English, requiring you to translate into Sethian and interpret the result. I found myself translating the responses on my own before consulting the journal just for the challenge and practice. Obviously, this isn’t a game for everyone – but if you like games like TIS-100, you’ll like Sethian.
1 An incredible part of what gaming can do is having you as a player develop, rather than your character. It’s easy to just have your avatar progress and gain skill – increasing the numbers as you get new equipment or gain levels, but games that can level up you the player represent some of the best experiences in gaming.
[Edit 01/07/2017: the other fellows mentioned by your journal are authors, not alien companions]