Contact Protocol

Contact Protocol is a starship job simulator set in a gritty, cassette-future version of the solar system, where humanity has begun extracting natural resources from across the planets. The player takes the role of security officer aboard PALE HORSE, a Galileo Corporation vessel carrying miners to Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. The job involves assessing the intentions of approaching ships, deciding what happens to them, and keeping the crew alive while the company monitors the results.

Gameplay centres on desk-based tasks performed under time pressure. Players cross-reference incoming data bursts against company records, question ships to explain discrepancies, and can destroy vessels with inconsistent data or suspicious communications. Other duties include fixing contact frequencies, checking hull images, recovering corrupted data and answering comms, often at the same time. Players can also talk with shipmates, and mismanaged paperwork can expose the employer to legal action.

Encounters use procedurally generated ships, so each one differs. Decisions affect the player’s relationships with crew members and their individual storylines, and the game has multiple endings with consequences that spread across the solar system. At the end, players receive a shareable breakdown of their actions in the form of a custom moral profile. The workspace can also be customised, including the colour of the console text and the removal of desk items such as a bobblehead.