Order of the Sinking Star Beginner Guide Basics

Order of the Sinking Star stands out with its blend of exploration and intricate puzzle-solving, developed by Jonathan Blow, the mind behind Braid and The Witness. It’s easy to get lost among its vast puzzle worlds, so understanding the early game choices and why the flow of exploration matters can save hours of frustration.

For those diving deeper into the game’s mysteries, various resources exist beyond this introduction, but learning the core mechanics here will prepare you for what lies ahead.

Table of contents

• The Four Worlds at a Glance
• Where Should You Go First?
• North: The Hearty Heroes of Hauling
• East: The Mirror Isles
• South: Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes
• West: Vault of the Beamcasters
• How the Worlds Combine
• Beginner Tips
  • Never grind on one puzzle
  • Everything you see is there for a reason
  • Don’t assume an area is locked
• The World Map Is a Puzzle Too

The game world is divided into four main areas, each originally a standalone puzzle experience. The central starting point, known simply as the Crossroads , branches out in each cardinal direction, inviting a distinct puzzle journey in every path.

From the Crossroads, here’s what each path offers:

Direction	World	Core Idea
North	Heroes of Hauling	A quirky party of fantasy heroes with unique push/pull abilities
East	The Mirror Isles	Manipulate mirrors to teleport across islands
South	Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes	Push stones to bridge waters with the aid of a talking boat
West	Vault of the Beamcasters	Gather gems to power beams that grant abilities

Interestingly, these worlds are inspired by classic puzzles created by various designers. However, even with this heritage, the game delivers fresh challenges and new twists on these concepts that you’ll want to experience firsthand.

Although you can pick any direction from the Crossroads, the game’s audio hints direct beginners toward the North or East routes, cautioning against the West on your first run.

The North and East worlds ease you into the mechanics with approachable puzzles that get progressively complex, while the West is a tougher, maze-like Metroidvania experience best saved for later. The South route offers a moderate difficulty but features timing puzzles that can be overthought due to its open layout.

Choosing a path doesn’t lock you in; the game encourages hopping back to the Crossroads whenever you want to switch things up. This flexibility is crucial — it prevents the frustration of getting stuck and encourages a pacing that suits your style.

Therefore, “hardest” doesn’t imply “worst.” It implies that it would be best to get there after practicing somewhere else. You are also not restricted to going in one direction all the time. You can escape to the overworld from the menu at any point in time and go back to the Crossroads to select another path. This is the single most important habit that you should have in this game.

In the North world, you command an adventuring party led by the enigmatic Magistrate Reynard . The core gameplay revolves around switching between heroes to use their unique powers for manipulating objects and solving puzzles.

Your starting team includes:

• Valens: The warrior who can move any number of blocks or units.
• Piff: The thief who steals items directly behind her.
• Isador: The wizard who swaps place instantly with any object he moves.

As your journey unfolds, more heroes enhance your toolkit:

• The Bard: Charms nearby enemies within a two-tile radius.
• The Druid: Turns all living entities into crystals, even allies.
• The Cleric: Grants invincibility to companions standing close.

Expect to face hostile goblins and dragons threatening your heroes, raising the stakes of positioning and timing.

The East world, The Mirror Isles, challenges you to use mirrors as portals, reflecting yourself and objects across water to new islands. This world eschews complex gimmicks for pure teleportation puzzles.

Early on, you’ll experience the bewildering moment when you can create duplicates of yourself by reflecting through mirrors. The puzzles quickly ramp up in difficulty as you adjust mirrors and manipulate objects like rocks to create the desired pathways.

In the South world called Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes, you embark as a sailor piloting a talking boat among an archipelago. This level blends open-world exploration with precise timing challenges, often requiring multiple stones to be moved simultaneously to build paths.

The gameplay centers on moving stones to create bridges across water and cleverly using lily pads and water currents for travel. A handy slow-motion button assists in managing the timing puzzles, relieving the pressure of twitch reflexes.

Push stones strategically to build paths. Create bridges by sliding stones into place. Manipulate lily pads via stone pushes to navigate currents. Solve puzzles involving simultaneous stone pushes across islands. Use the slow-motion feature to master tricky timing issues.

The West world, Vault of the Beamcasters, presents an expansive open area centered on powering colored beams with gems. Your character wears a gem-studded vest that enables interaction with these beams, unlocking various abilities.

Each colored beam grants a unique power while standing inside it:

Beam	Ability
Yellow	Break objects
Red	Disable red energy gates
Green	Walk through walls
Orange	Teleport over a tile, even across obstacles
Cyan	Push objects (since the caver cannot normally)
Violet	Zoom straight to beam end (be cautious, no safety)
Dark blue	Unknown effect, rarely used even after extensive play

When beams overlap, you receive multiple powers simultaneously, creating rich puzzle complexity. A key detail: your bulky vested caver requires an open tile to turn sideways, adding an extra layer of spatial reasoning to your movement.

Artifacts collected in this world further enhance your capabilities:

The Rod : Allows you to push the beam emitters themselves. The Torque : Enables you to rotate the direction beams are emitted.

As you invest about 10 hours completing the introductory missions in each of the four worlds, the gameplay evolves. The separate mechanics begin to intertwine—expect puzzles that blend beams with mirrors, heroes with stones, and a dizzying variety of combinations that push your problem-solving skills to the limit.

Beam	Ability
Yellow	Break objects
Red	Disable red energy gates
Green	Walk through walls
Orange	Teleport over a tile, even across walls and obstacles
Cyan	Push things (the caver cannot push normally)
Violet	Whoosh straight to the end of the beam (dangerous if nothing is at the end)
Dark blue	Unknown. One player had logged 100+ hours without ever using it

If beams overlap, you gain several powers at once, which opens up a great deal of puzzle complexity. Also remember Because of the bulk of the mechanical gem vest, the caver needs an extra empty space to turn sideways. He cannot change direction in place, which adds a further layer of planning.

Artifacts

Two artifacts add even more options:

• The rod lets you force-push the beam emitters themselves.
• The torque lets you change the direction of the emitted beams.

How the Worlds Combine

However, the four worlds are unique only at the beginning. When you complete the starting missions for each quadrant, which will take you about 10 hours, the worlds will start to blend in together, along with their mechanics. Prepare yourself for puzzles involving beams and mirrors, heroes and stones, and anything else possible.