{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/voice-audio--family-25","type":"mechanic","id":"voice-audio--family-25","lang":"en","title":"Restricted communication channels","summary":"A rule limits audibility, vocabulary, time or message count. Players must still communicate enough information to act.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/voice-audio--family-25/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-25.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-25.md","aliases":["Communication under channel limits"],"tags":["Voice and sound","Communication between players"],"sourceIds":["source-3217e8fcb703381f","source-909400af9fbfca32"],"sources":[{"id":"source-3217e8fcb703381f","title":"Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes","url":"https://keeptalkinggame.com/","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-909400af9fbfca32","title":"Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Transmit enough information through a channel constrained by game rules."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Capacity\n\n<a id=\"family-25-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Fit a word count or transmission-duration limit. <a id=\"family-25-branch-1-variant-1\"></a>\n- Send messages during rare communication windows. <a id=\"family-25-branch-1-variant-2\"></a>\n- Choose among competing channels. <a id=\"family-25-branch-1-variant-3\"></a>\n- Send urgent information before secondary details. <a id=\"family-25-branch-1-variant-4\"></a>\n\n### Distortion\n\n<a id=\"family-25-branch-2\"></a>\n\n- Restore a message with gaps and interference. <a id=\"family-25-branch-2-variant-1\"></a>\n- Work with delayed and outdated reports. <a id=\"family-25-branch-2-variant-2\"></a>\n- Relay a message through intermediaries. <a id=\"family-25-branch-2-variant-3\"></a>\n- Distinguish an original order from a distorted retelling. <a id=\"family-25-branch-2-variant-4\"></a>\n\n### Radio rules\n\n<a id=\"family-25-branch-3\"></a>\n\n- Take turns on a shared channel. <a id=\"family-25-branch-3-variant-1\"></a>\n- Use code words and acknowledgments. <a id=\"family-25-branch-3-variant-2\"></a>\n- Send information an opponent cannot understand. <a id=\"family-25-branch-3-variant-3\"></a>\n- Determine which sender or channel to trust. <a id=\"family-25-branch-3-variant-4\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A working design-space map: 27 families, 81 branches and 324 variants. Voice control, audio-based play and communication can combine or exist separately. Released-game examples support particular techniques; supplementary combinations are design proposals."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"voice-audio","id":"family-25","title":"Voice and sound","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/voice-audio/#family-25","categoryIds":["social"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Communication under channel limits","description":"A rule limits audibility, vocabulary, time or message count. Players must still communicate enough information to act.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/adventure-keep-talking-00.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/341800/ss_55f22f9996c327c281d241ed09d43c74337d7e30.1920x1080.jpg?t=1699020889","credit":"Steel Crate Games","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"The defuser sees modules that must be described to an expert","alt":"The defuser sees modules that must be described to an expert","markers":[{"x":51,"y":50,"label":"Modules require exchanging precise information"}]},"tips":["Make the channel constraint meaningful while preserving an accessible alternative."],"examples":[{"title":"Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/voice-audio"}}