The theme of "Capsule"

The development of "Capsule" is inspired by several different books, tv shows, and scientific articles, but the main theme of the game has been firm: the vastness of the universe. In many, if not most, popular science fictions, plot devices to overcome this major obstacle are introduced, which could range from faster-than-light spacecraft to interdimensional warp stations. This way, authors could ensure their interstellar society operates very similarly to ours, with comparable conflicts and wars, social hierarchies, economy, etc. The aforementioned are all interesting complex systems to design a game about, but there are plenty of nice games dealing with them out there, and I wanted to keep my game as small as possible. Also, I was rightfully tired of those space empires and warships without any reasonable explanation. So I ditched all of them and instead focused on the universe without faster-than-light communication. 

Imagine a small settlement, with only a few hundred residents, lightyears away from any nearest human habitat. What will the people think of their situation? Why would they have settled there? Will they be lonely? Now imagine hundreds of such colonies, all separate from each other. How would they talk to each other? Considering the pandemic's effect on our lives right now, the lives of people living in this sparse society would surely be different from ours. But how? Will they spend decades waiting for their friends to respond to their diminishing radio message? Will they miss their distant relatives looking at the night sky? 

Thus, I started designing a game of communication, that takes place in a world where even talking to your neighbor is near impossible.