EDIT: Spoiler discussion of Signs of The Sojourner is now open. Say whatever you want unmarked in the comments.

Post before edits below:

Welcome to the Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club. Our Sixth game is Signs of the Sojourner. The target completion date is April 11, 2022.

We ask that until that date you use the forum software to mark any spoilers, either story based or mechanical, in the discussion below. Ideally the bulk of the discussion will occur after April 11, but if you want to comment before then you are welcome to so long as the spoilers are marked. We ask that if you leave a comment before that date you also come back to the thread after it to read other people’s comments and respond to them, though of course we cannot force you to do so.

All are welcome to participate regardless of whether you have stated a preference to or not and there is absolutely no commitment. You do not have to finish the game to participate but please let us know if you have not.

You can find out more about the Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club or suggest future games for it here.

What is Signs of the Sojourner?

It is a deck builder based on social connection instead of combat, focusing on conversations and commerce instead of violence.

How long is Signs of the Sojourner?

How long to beat lists it as 4 hours long but it is meant to be repeatable with multiple endings.

Is this the first game we've chosen that you haven't already completed?

@noboners: No. I had not completed Gorogoa, Record of Lotus War (I had started it but not finished) or Infernax. I just tended to finish them quickly after they were selected.

I started this last night and am already really enjoying it. Just completed the first "trip," and I just love the way the dialogue flows throughout. It's wild how much communicating with these symbols makes sense for me and allows me to understand the nuance and expression with the characters it introduces.

I'm really curious how the rest of the UUGPCers are going to feel about this style of game.

I suppose I'll reinstall this and give it another whirl, and maybe have a discussion with you Game Pass Game Clubbers.

I'm curious what you all think of it, assuming you're mostly getting it through Game Pass. I bought it in a late 2020 Steam sale, and as much as I was into the chill vibes of the art and music and what it's saying about conversation/socialization, the actual game part felt thin for something that is $22.79 CDN. Nothing against what the game is going for, but I'd almost consider it a visual novel with light mechanics more than anything.

It's definitely cool, and maybe I'm in a better headspace now to appreciate it.

Spoilers are open!

This is the first game that really did not jibe with me. The narrative stuff was fine, if a bit gentle and kind of like Sable instead of high stakes dramatic, at least for the most part, but I really did not like the game play. I found the card game boring and basic, and I hated the fact that you would often have dead draw cards and a deck that had to be specialized to certain towns or just kind of frustrating to use. I just really did not like the card game aspect here. It was too abstract and removed from the concept of conversation, too monotonous, and too frustrating when your deck wasn't built properly.

I stuck around and really enjoyed this! I wouldn't call it much of a game though. Even the gamified portion of it (the cards) never felt too high stakes. It might be because I have a lot of trouble communicated with people in real life, so the idea of a conversation not going the way I would like really hit home. So if a conversation didn't allow me to get my point across, or ended with a miscommunication, it didn't seem like failure as much as just not having the words to explain myself properly.

But there were some points where I expected more from characters. Like some sort of "person will remember that." Early on I didn't make it back in time for your friend's talent show, and he was pretty bummed about it right then and there, but it didn't really come up again for me. I was still pretty disappointed in myself for missing it by one day because I got distracted by a robbery, but I would've liked it to carry over a bit more.

All in all, I think it's a solid 3/5 for me that I would only recommend to someone if I knew they played slower niche games.