Learn Morse code while fighting a naval war
MORSE is a minimalist, real-time strategy game where you defend against the Kaiser's Imperial Fleet using dots and dashes. The core of the game is a grid of letters and numbers that you navigate by tapping out Morse code. Your two main tools are the telegraph and the artillery: you enter Morse to move around the grid, and you fire shells to strike enemy ships. The German vessels hide in darkness, so you use the flash from your artillery to briefly light up their positions. Land a shot close enough and a ship stays revealed, letting you finish it off with precise follow-up shots. Consistent hits also feed shells back faster, so accuracy matters as much as speed.
How a group plays together
MORSE is listed as a singleplayer game, but it supports Remote Play Together, which lets friends join in over a stream. One person owns and runs the game while others watch and take part through that connection. The game itself is built around one operator working the telegraph and artillery, so a group's shared experience is mostly about taking turns, watching runs, and comparing how far each person gets. There is no local co-op mode or versus mode described in the store text.
What to know before starting
The game teaches Morse code as you play, starting with a handful of simple letters and expanding through a telegraphy tree until you can handle the full grid. Between waves you pick an upgrade card with a dot or a dash, and upgrades stack, so choices carry forward. Each wave brings a new isogram, a taller grid, more units, and tougher ships. You also deploy sea mines as a blockade to catch anything that slips past your artillery, and you can arrange them in bunches or scattered formations.
There are three telegraph types with calibration settings, plus control schemes like Iambic and Sideswiper. You can play with mouse, keyboard, or Steam Deck, and the game also accepts homebrew or commercial telegraph keys for a more authentic setup. Modes include a campaign set during a midnight breach of the Blockade of Germany, a skirmish mode for practicing on different words, an Expert Mode for testing your skills, and a set of modifiers to change up runs. The manual covers both the game and how to apply Morse knowledge to Amateur Radio.