Last month I delved into the Xbox game library and scrolled through the list of games created by Black game developers in celebration of Black History Month. I was intrigued by the indie game Signs of the Sojourner, a role-playing game with a focus on social interactions.
Signs of the Sojourner was developed by Echodog Games in 2020 and is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch and Xbox (free with Game Pass). After playing through the game, I wanted to share my thoughts about this cozy adventure game and how much communication matters.
This game features quirky character designs within the colorful 2D world of Bartow, and notably, you’re accompanied by a cute dog named Thunder to brighten your mood. The music soundtrack is mellow and lighthearted, making you feel cheerful for the adventures to come. I was drawn to the description which told of learning and growing in the world.
Signs of the Sojourner starts off with the main character mourning the loss of their mother, whose store the player takes over. One focus of the game is to travel to all of the world’s towns to fill the storefront with goods to keep mom’s legacy alive. While the game progresses, you unlock new towns each time the player travels. Communicating with the townspeople there is key. It is up to you how you move and interact during your five trips.
The sole way to talk to the game characters is through a deck of cards. You’ll make decisions on how to speak with others based on social cues and what type of personality the townspeople show. The card decks have color-coordinated symbols that you have to align with the other person talking. The game continuously indicates the definition of each symbol throughout the game, a thoughtful detail as players can be reminded every time they resume the story.
Since communication is important during gameplay, I tried to complete every dialogue opportunity in each town. I noticed how difficult it is to follow a one-sided dialogue. The player has to interpret how the main character’s deck cards will change the flow of conversation. Even if an upbeat and motivating card is chosen, the townsperson’s reaction to the card can be hard to predict. This lost immersion points for me.
My biggest difficulty while playing the game was having to change an old card with a new experience. The deck board reminds the player to invite change with the new cards. I wish there was more explanation on this mechanics’ purpose for continuing the game. Throughout most of my time with Signs of the Sojourner I lost the cards that would help keep the dialogue going, which had consequences. I felt that my relationships suffered in the end. Conversations were negative, which threw off the cozy feelings that I wanted to experience.
Each town has its own characters who can help the player keep the storefront afloat. Unfortunately, I had issues matching up most of the deck cards and struggled with keeping the store open. That did affect my relationships back home and the town was not fond of me. Even though I did not get the conversations I wanted, there were clear consequences for not growing relationships with others.
I feel that there was potential to add to the fatigue card, which the player adds from travelling away from home for too long. Fatigue does strain the player’s ability to communicate, but it is easy to make those cards go away by returning home to Bartow or talking to Thunder. I would’ve liked to see it become harder to lose fatigue cards. A nice twist could be that spending too much time at home makes the character restless, and the cards return. Since my conversation choices made the character standoffish, the story did not seem to build much.
At the end of the game, my goal was to learn more about the mom and successfully keep the store open. I achieved the ending where the player was unsuccessful in helping the store survive. The last two chapters of the game were sorrowful as the effects of the town closing down made all the characters down. I was unsuccessful at making the mood pleasant again. I also never learned more information about mom’s past.
I would play the game again to get other endings. I don’t feel particularly happy with this ending as I could not get the trick on how to match the card decks right. Early ended conversations led the story to end abruptly.
Overall, the best aspect of the Signs of the Sojourner is that the ending is all up to you. I enjoy playing choose your own adventure games. Even though I got a gloomy ending, the storyline and script were well done and easy to follow. I look forward to playing the next game developed by Echodog Games.
Signs of the Sojourner is available on Xbox, Playstation, Steam and Nintendo Switch.
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