---
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
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
---
# Restricted communication channels

id: voice-audio--family-25
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/voice-audio--family-25
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/voice-audio--family-25/

A rule limits audibility, vocabulary, time or message count. Players must still communicate enough information to act.

## At a glance

![The defuser sees modules that must be described to an expert](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-keep-talking-00.webp)

[Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes](https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Modules require exchanging precise information

- Make the channel constraint meaningful while preserving an accessible alternative.

- [Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes](https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/)

## How it works

Transmit enough information through a channel constrained by game rules.

## Variants

### Capacity

<a id="family-25-branch-1"></a>

- Fit a word count or transmission-duration limit. <a id="family-25-branch-1-variant-1"></a>
- Send messages during rare communication windows. <a id="family-25-branch-1-variant-2"></a>
- Choose among competing channels. <a id="family-25-branch-1-variant-3"></a>
- Send urgent information before secondary details. <a id="family-25-branch-1-variant-4"></a>

### Distortion

<a id="family-25-branch-2"></a>

- Restore a message with gaps and interference. <a id="family-25-branch-2-variant-1"></a>
- Work with delayed and outdated reports. <a id="family-25-branch-2-variant-2"></a>
- Relay a message through intermediaries. <a id="family-25-branch-2-variant-3"></a>
- Distinguish an original order from a distorted retelling. <a id="family-25-branch-2-variant-4"></a>

### Radio rules

<a id="family-25-branch-3"></a>

- Take turns on a shared channel. <a id="family-25-branch-3-variant-1"></a>
- Use code words and acknowledgments. <a id="family-25-branch-3-variant-2"></a>
- Send information an opponent cannot understand. <a id="family-25-branch-3-variant-3"></a>
- Determine which sender or channel to trust. <a id="family-25-branch-3-variant-4"></a>

## Context and limits

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.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.

- [Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes](https://keeptalkinggame.com/) (id: source-3217e8fcb703381f)
- [Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes](https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/) (id: source-909400af9fbfca32)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors