Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide begins in a mysterious overworld with several ways to explore. The game features more than 1,000 handcrafted puzzles across four interconnected worlds, but it doesn’t demand that you solve them in a fixed sequence. You can leave a difficult challenge behind, learn another mechanic elsewhere and return later.
If you’re playing on Switch 2, PS5 or PC after the October 8 launch, your first goal is to learn how the grid and different heroes work. This Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide covers the early route choices, how to manipulate objects, the undo and restart controls, and the habits that make the tougher rooms less frustrating.
Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide: Where to Start
The overworld offers several routes, with launch reviewers describing an early choice of paths heading north, east or west. The full game contains four distinct worlds. Begin by exploring a path whose opening puzzles make sense to you. You do not need to exhaust every room before changing direction, and the publisher encourages revisiting challenges at your own pace.
Spend a few rooms learning one rule. Watch how characters interact with objects and where blocks can move. Once you’re repeatedly trying the same failed sequence, explore another accessible area. The most useful lesson from this Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide is that leaving an unsolved puzzle is a normal part of progression.
How the Grid Puzzles Work
The gameplay builds on moving characters and objects across tiled boards. Before pushing a block, work backwards from the target: which square must your character occupy to make the final move? Is there room for the block to travel? Could another hero become trapped if you fill a narrow corridor? These questions are more valuable than moving everything at random.
Some rooms include several playable heroes with distinct abilities. A move made by one hero can open a route for another, but it can also occupy the square they need. Plan the order in which objects and characters move, not simply where each object should end up.
Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide: Undo and Restart
Use undo or rewind whenever you make a move that blocks your route. It takes back individual moves while preserving the successful setup you made earlier. Restart is different: it returns the current puzzle to its starting arrangement. Both are useful, and trying a possible solution is much less painful when you can reverse it immediately.
Button prompts vary with platform and your control settings, so use the controls shown in the game. This Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide recommends testing a few moves, undoing them if necessary, and repeating rather than restarting after every minor mistake.
Playable Heroes and Their Abilities
The characters change how the puzzles work. The Warrior pushes objects, the Thief pulls them and the Wizard swaps positions. Other characters, including the Queen, form part of the larger story. Don’t assume each hero can complete another’s puzzles with the same moves.
Start by testing a new hero’s ability on a nearby object, then undo and think about its intended use. When several heroes share a board, consider who must move first and who needs room for the final action. This Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide approach helps avoid blocking a character behind a crate.
Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide: The Four Puzzle Worlds
The game draws on four different puzzle ideas. Heroes of Sokoban inspires the hero-and-block sections; Mirror Isles uses reflections and position swapping; The Promise involves beams of coloured light; and Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes develops puzzles about pathways across water. The developer describes these inspirations on the official Steam page.
These worlds eventually connect, bringing their rules together. Learning a basic mechanic in one world prepares you for harder combinations later. Resist the temptation to memorise solutions without understanding how they work.
What to Do When You’re Stuck
Work backwards from the exit or final target. Decide where the last object must sit and where the appropriate hero must stand. If the planned move is impossible, check which earlier move is blocking it. Undo those actions and try a different order.
Not all of the game’s thousand-plus puzzles are needed to see the main story, although some will open important routes. If you’re stuck for too long, explore another accessible area. Our Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide advice is to keep learning new rules rather than grinding away at one board without progress.
Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide: Best First-Hour Tips
Explore more than one route, practise undo and restart, and learn how your available characters manipulate objects. Pay attention to audio logs and environmental details as well, because they help explain how the worlds and their stories connect. If a room defeats you, remember its location and return later.
The real reward of Order of the Sinking Star Beginner’s Guide is recognising that every complicated challenge is built on smaller ideas. Experiment, keep track of what you’ve learned and take the paths that interest you. The overworld and its puzzles will still be there when you’re ready to try again.
Official game website: Thekla and Arc Games.
