Signalis

Signalis is a survival horror game released in 2022, created by the two-person German studio rose-engine and published by Humble Games and Playism. Players control an android named Elster (unit LSTR-512), who wakes up in a dangerous mining facility and must unravel supernatural mysteries. The game deliberately mimics the graphics and gameplay of fifth-generation consoles, taking cues from the *Silent Hill* and *Resident Evil* series. Its visual style also draws from traditional artworks and films centered on memory.

The gameplay combines top-down 2.5D shooting with puzzles that involve switches, dials, and radio frequencies. Resource management heightens both difficulty and narrative: Elster can carry only six items at a time, including weapons, ammunition, and key objects. Safe rooms, similar to those in *Resident Evil*, let players save progress and store items.

The story takes place in a retrofuturist solar system ruled by the totalitarian Eusan Nation, which is at war with the breakaway Eusan Empire. The Nation uses Replikas—biosynthetic clones designed as workers and soldiers—while humans are called Gestalts. Elster, a ship technician Replika, awakens from suspended animation in her crashed shuttle and searches for her human pilot. She explores a vast mining facility, confronting a strange, possibly supernatural plague that has killed most of the staff and left behind corrupted beings. As she searches, she uncovers lost memories and a recursive time loop. The game has yuri themes, revealing that Elster is seeking her female Gestalt lover. Multiple endings depend on player choices.

Development began in 2014 as a university project by Stern and Wittmann, initially a 2D side-scrolling shooter. After positive feedback, they expanded it into a top-down horror game, bringing in external composers. The game was released on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 27, 2022. Narrative and structural influences include *Silent Hill* and *Resident Evil*, while the aesthetic mimics fifth-generation console graphics, especially the original PlayStation, with a CRT mode for added authenticity. Visual inspiration comes from artworks like Eugen Bracht’s *The Shore of Oblivion* and Arnold Böcklin’s *Isle of the Dead*, as well as anime such as *Neon Genesis Evangelion*. Literary influences include H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Festival” and Robert W.