Dual Protocol Tips: How to Describe Clues to Your Partner

By The Night Desk · Updated October 1, 2026

In Dual Protocol, the hard part is usually not the puzzle. It is getting a symbol from one screen into your partner’s head without losing anything. The store page says it directly: “A single miscommunication or a missing detail… could lead to the case being closed forever.”

These are habits that work for two-screen puzzle games in general, adapted for the agent/analyst split.

The five-part callout

When Eva finds anything worth describing, say it in this order every time:

1. What it is. “A dial lock on the cabinet.”
2. How many. “Three rows of letters.”
3. Shape and color. “Brass, round dials, black letters.”
4. Where. “On the left wall, next to the fireplace.”
5. Exact text. “Top row reads M, E, M, T, M, K.” Spell letters, never guess words.

Miles answers in the same order when describing a diagram or a record. A fixed order means the listener always knows which detail is missing.

Numbers and dates

• Read numbers digit by digit: “one, zero, four, five”, not “ten forty-five”.
• Say the separators: “ten, dash, forty-five, dash, twenty”.
• Ask for the format before typing any date. Demo players lost an hour because nobody knew whether the terminal wanted month-first or day-first. See the demo stuck page.
• The listener repeats every number back before using it.

Directions

Agree on these before the first room:

• “Left” means left on my screen, never “the character’s left”.
• In isometric rooms, name walls by what is on them (“the fireplace wall”, “the stairs wall”), not by compass direction.
• For dials and clock hands, use clock positions: “the needle is at four o’clock”.

When you’re stuck

• Swap who talks. The person who has been describing goes quiet and asks questions instead.
• Inventory call. Each of you lists every item, document and open screen you have. Missing links often show up when you list them one by one.
• Say what you haven’t touched. “I haven’t opened the drawer under the desk” often matters more than what you have opened.

Notes are part of the game

Keep one shared list of every code, date, name and frequency you find, written exactly as it appears. The investigation is built on combining data from two sides, and memory is where details get lost.

Next: decide who plays Eva and who plays Miles.