Bad Reception is an audio-based computer game made in 12 hours at Museo Game Jam in Tampere, Finland, on 7-8th November 2018. The player tries to tune into the frequency of Finland's first broadcast radio station "3NB" operating in Tampere from 1923 to 1928. The mission is to find the right frequency, adjust the knobs to keep the signal clear, listen to the newscasts and answer questions that your neighbours have sent you.
The Museo Game Jam brought together 45 game developers and museum professionals to create games based on archive material and historical stories. For Bad Reception we used reception reports and letters sent to the radio station by listeners as well as local news items published at the time. We recreated and recorded four newscasts that are "broadcasted" in the radio stream together with music samples of the era and original channel ID's. On the band one can also tune into four other channels (Berlin, London, Stockholm and St. Petersburg) that play music and make the gameplay harder.
Programming: Lauri Kosonen, Henri Sarasvirta
Graphics: Simo Kontiokorpi
Audio Design: Matias Harju
Scriptwriting: J.E. Halkola, Riina Linna, Outi Penninkangas
Museum experts: Riina Linna, Outi Penninkangas
Audio Sourcing: J.E. Halkola
Voice Acting: J.E. Halkola, Simo Kontiokorpi, Outi Penninkangas, Henri Sarasvirta
Font: Splendid 66 by Johan Holmdahl
Museum material used:
Archive of Tampere Radio Association
Siiri Database siiri.tampere.fi
Other source materials:
Finnish National Library kansalliskirjasto.fi/en
Raita collection doria.fi/raita