Sethian

About

"Sethian" is a single-player mystery puzzle game set in a sci-fi world where you, an archaeologist, must master a fictitious language with unique grammar and vocabulary to unlock an abandoned computer's secrets and solve the mystery of a vanished civilization. Over 100 handwritten journal pages assist in learning the language, making for a challenging and immersive experience. With elements borrowed from real-world languages like Chinese and American Sign Language, Sethianese provides a unique and engaging linguistic puzzle.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

63%

Audience ScoreBased on 186 reviews

story12 positive mentions

replayability2 negative mentions

The concept of the game is really cool, allowing players to engage with a computer in a custom language, which is engaging and intriguing.
The game provides a satisfying sense of achievement when players successfully decipher the language and communicate with the computer.
The interface is polished and responsive, with visual and audio cues that enhance the overall experience.

The execution falls flat, as the computer has a very limited knowledge base, leading to generic responses for most player-generated questions.
The game is overly linear, requiring players to follow specific prompts from the journal to progress, which diminishes the sense of exploration and discovery.
The game is short and lacks replay value, with many symbols and phrases remaining unused, making it feel incomplete.

story
70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
77%
6%
The story in "Sethian" is intriguing but ultimately underwhelming, as players find it linear and simplistic, often feeling more like a short story than an engaging game. While the concept of deciphering an alien language is novel, the execution is hampered by overly specific prompts and a lack of exploration, leading to frustration rather than a rewarding narrative experience. Overall, the potential for a rich story is present, but it is not fully realized, leaving many players wanting a more fleshed-out and immersive storytelling approach.
- “The story is simple; you find a computer that belongs to an ancient extraterrestrial civilization, and in order to make contact with such a machine, you need to comprehend not only the language but also the background, the meaning of the sentences and expressions.”
- “I like the idea of trying to figure out what is going on in an ancient piece of tech, slowly uncovering the story.”
- “The story, though, was indeed intriguing, and the premise was nice.”
- “The specific lines to trigger the later parts of the plot are extremely specific, which ruins the feeling of exploration.”
- “The story isn't great; I'd say it's actually quite bad.”
- “As it stands, the game is extremely linear and a bit frustrating, and only wants to tell one specific and kind of cliched story.”
gameplay
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
74%
11%
Gameplay in this title is characterized by a lack of balance, oscillating between excessive hand-holding and minimal guidance, which can frustrate players. The core mechanic revolves around learning and interacting with an alien language, a bold yet intriguing concept that some feel detracts from the overall experience, as it often feels disconnected from the story. While the interface is well-designed, many features are underutilized, leading to a perception that the game is more of a demo than a fully realized product.
- “Gameplay consists of looking at the symbols, thinking about what you know, and trying a new sentence based on words that you think might give you useful data.”
- “The game has an intriguing concept and mechanically is well made; the interface looks nice and fits its purpose.”
- “To base the gameplay entirely on interacting in an alien language you get to learn on-the-fly was a bold premise, but it's actually so cool.”
- “In terms of gameplay, at the beginning it holds your hand a little too much.”
- “First of all, I appreciated that it took notes (though I also did that myself), but I hated how it continually doled out things I had not yet learned, including words and grammar that I really wish I could have learned through the gameplay.”
- “(Many buttons in the game don't even do anything.) Even $5 is too high a price to ask for what is essentially a gameplay demo.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
20%
20%
The music in the game is widely praised for its brilliant and atmospheric quality, featuring a soft, spacey ambient soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. Many players feel that the soundtrack alone makes the game worth playing, as it complements the themes of language and meaning while providing a compelling backdrop for the gameplay.
- “The soundtrack is absolutely brilliant and it might be worth playing just to listen to it.”
- “Compelling and atmospheric with a spacey ambient soundtrack, Sethian is not without its frustration points but as a game it definitely works, especially for lovers of science fiction and linguistics.”
- “Just a soft song that will be in the background, but that's more than enough because this game is about what you can learn about language, the structure, and the meaning of things.”
- “Compelling and atmospheric with a spacey ambient soundtrack, Sethian is not without its frustration points, but as a game, it definitely works, especially for lovers of science fiction and linguistics.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
The graphics in Sethian are minimal, primarily consisting of a computer interface with logographic buttons and a notebook, which some players find too abstract and poorly realized. While the aesthetic choices may be justified within the game's context, the lack of visual depth detracts from the overall experience. Despite this, some players still find enjoyment in the unique concept and gameplay.
- “The game's logographic language is interesting, but it's too abstract; there's no way to know what anything means except by consulting the in-game notebook.”
- “In contrast, Sethian has no graphics to speak of, and while it has an interesting concept, it's poorly realized.”
- “The game takes place entirely in the interface of that computer, with an input/output channel, a series of 100 logographic word buttons, and a series of grammatical and punctuation markers.”
- “It reminds me a bit of The Dig story-wise, but graphically it's just you, the interface, and your notebook.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
17%
17%
The atmosphere of the game is characterized by an ancient, distant quality enhanced by its cryptic presentation and compelling art. Players appreciate the immersive experience provided by the ambient soundtrack and the engaging journal, which invites them to piece together the narrative. Overall, it effectively appeals to fans of science fiction and linguistics, despite some frustrating elements.
- “The art and journal really add to the atmosphere of the game, and I really enjoyed reading through it and puzzling over the missing pieces and how to tie it all together.”
- “Compelling and atmospheric with a spacey ambient soundtrack, Sethian is not without its frustration points but as a game it definitely works, especially for lovers of science fiction and linguistics.”
- “The game's world shines with an ancient, distant atmosphere that is certainly complemented by its cryptic presentation.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers minimal replayability, as players can complete it in under two hours and find little incentive to revisit it after experiencing the two available endings. While it may be worth playing if obtained for free, most users agree that it lacks lasting appeal.
- “It doesn't take too long to complete (I beat the entire thing in under 2 hours) and if you get it for free you might as well play it, but there's no point in keeping it any longer because it doesn't really have replay value.”
- “There isn't an awful lot of replay value either once you've gotten the two endings.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of Sethian to be tedious and reminiscent of rote memorization, likening it to the challenges of learning a complex language. This suggests that the grinding can feel repetitive and laborious, potentially detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “Playing Sethian is like learning Chinese; it is very tedious and requires a lot of rote memorization.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews highlight that the game's optimization encourages active engagement from players, enhancing the overall experience. This aspect is praised for creating moments that demand more from the player, contributing to a more immersive gameplay.