Order of the Sinking Star is built from four distinct worlds, each with its own heroes, rules and story, joined by an overworld that is open to explore from the start. The worlds begin like four separate puzzle games and can be played in any order. After several hours, characters from different worlds start combining their abilities to solve puzzles none of them could solve alone.
The four worlds at a glance
| World | Where on the map | Hero | Signature mechanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hearty Heroes of Hauling | North | Valens, Tif and Isidore (a druid joins later) | Pushing, pulling and swapping blocks and crystals |
| The Promise | West | An explorer | Gems that emit coloured beams to unlock abilities in a maze-like mine |
| Mirror Isles | East | A wealthy trader | Mirrors that swap him with his projected reflection across a waterlogged archipelago |
| Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes | South | A marooned sailor | Redirecting rivers among giant stones and lily pads |
This layout comes from the PlayStation Blog hands-on report, which also notes that Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes was not playable in the demo build it covered.
The overworld and the Queen
You begin as the Queen, lost in a palace that opens onto the overworld. The overworld has puzzles of its own and, according to launch coverage, the entire overworld is free to explore from the start. The Queen's puzzles introduce the basics: pushing blocking objects around grid-like locations, and a rewind mechanic that lets you go back to an earlier point if you get stuck.
A tiled, palace-style courtyard puzzle room. Most rooms are viewed from above on a visible grid, which is what makes block pushing readable.
The Hearty Heroes of Hauling
This northern world is the clearest introduction to the game's Sokoban-style logic. Valens pushes blocks and crystals, Tif can only pull them, and Isidore swaps places with them within line of sight. A druid who can transmute blocks joins the group later. Enemies add new constraints here: goblins kill a character on an adjacent square, beasts shoot fire within line of sight, and some gates only open once enemies are defeated. The same report says there is no combat, so these enemies are puzzle pieces rather than fights. See the heroes and abilities page for the full cast.
A fire beam crossing a gap between two platforms. Previews describe beasts that shoot fire along their line of sight, so positioning decides what is safe.
The Promise
In the western world an explorer moves through a maze-like mine. Giant gems emit coloured beams of light, and the colour of the beam determines which ability the explorer can use.
Mirror Isles
In the east, a wealthy trader navigates a waterlogged archipelago. A mirror lets him teleport his reflection and swap places with it, and Wikipedia notes that multiple mirrors create clones that move at once. Early puzzles are 2D; later ones are 3D.
Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes
In the south, a marooned sailor redirects rivers among giant stones and lily pads.
How the worlds collide
The PlayStation Blog report describes the moment several hours in when characters from different worlds interact, for example switching between the merchant and the wizard across realms. Steam's description says the worlds collide and puzzle systems intertwine, creating new gameplay possibilities. If one world stalls you, you can leave and return later: you can explore at your own pace and revisit worlds and challenges as you see fit.