Paper Signal: Unread Chapters

About Paper Signal: Unread Chapters

Paper Signal: Unread Chapters is an illustrated interactive story set on Wren Street, a terrace of houses that has been without power for a week. The neighbours kept a spiral notebook, the Wren Street Book, and passed it from door to door each night, but four of its seven days were torn out and scattered. You moved in on the day the lights went out, and the Book is on your doormat. Knock on four doors: a retired electrician with a battery radio, two twins who share one torch, a widow who keeps her candles in a biscuit tin, and a night-shift nurse who eats cereal from a mug. Each hands you a page, and each keeps a note in their own log. The chapters are restored out of order: you write each page into whichever day you choose, and you can hold two notes side by side on the clue board to find out which day a page truly belongs to. Put a page in the wrong day and the street believes it, and its writer comes to doubt their own memory. After the fourth page you read the week aloud and the lights come back, in one of four versions, from the week as it was to a week that never happened. A new twist each session changes how you can move around the street, and there is a daily challenge. Nothing is timed against you, you can go back to an earlier choice, every line is announced to screen readers, and the text goes up to Largest.

How to play

Press Turn the page or tap the text to read on, and tap a choice (or press 1 to 5) to answer. Z or the Back button returns to your last choice.
Knock on a door to get a page and see what the neighbour keeps in their own log. You can visit the four houses in any order.
Place a page in the Book by choosing a day for it. A day can hold only one page. The street will remember the day you pick, true or not.
Open the loose notes (E, or the Loose notes button) and pick two to hold them side by side. A pair that fits tells you which day a page really belongs to.
Read the week aloud when you are ready. The ending depends on how many pages are in their true day and how many you wrote back at all.
Change the text size with T or the Text button. Your story saves as you go, and Restart begins a new one with a new twist.

Controls

Tap the text, or press Enter, Space or Ⓐ — turn the page
Tap a choice, or press 1 to 5 — choose
Z, Backspace or Ⓑ — go back to the last choice
E or Ⓨ — loose notes; L or Ⓧ — what the Book says so far; T — text size
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How long is a story?

About fifteen to thirty minutes, in six chapters. There are four versions of the week, so you will want to read the Book again and write the pages differently.

What does it mean to restore the days out of order?

You choose which day each page goes in. The street remembers the day you choose. A page in its true day makes the street remember the week truly; a page in the wrong day is believed anyway, and its writer comes to doubt their own memory.

Is anything timed?

No. A few choices show a quick-answer window for a small extra, but a slow answer loses nothing and never removes a choice. You can turn the window off in Settings.

Can I take a choice back?

Yes. Press Z or the Back button to return to your last choice with everything as it was, as often as you like.

Can I play with a keyboard or a screen reader?

Yes. Every line, choice and clue is announced, every button works with the keyboard or a controller, the text size goes up to Largest, and reduced motion shows each line at once.

Does it save?

Yes, in this browser: the story you are in, the endings you have seen and your settings. Nothing is uploaded.