Quern – Undying Thoughts

Quern – Undying Thoughts is a first-person puzzle-adventure game about conducting fantasy research on a mysterious island. You explore and manipulate mechanical structures that incorporate magical crystals, figuring out their properties and leveraging their powers. The setting and gameplay of Quern make it a close companion to the Myst series, but it stands out by fostering a systematic approach to puzzle solving within the classic adventure genre.

Like its spiritual predecessor, Quern takes place on an uninhabited island covered in steampunk-styled mechanical devices. Your character has been trapped by an archaeologist who came to the island to study the remains of an ancient civilization, only to discover far more powerful secrets. The archaeologist guides you through letters he left around the settlement, but his motives are ambiguous. You’re instructed to explore the island, figuring out how to operate the various devices in order to unlock new areas.

Many puzzles involve interacting with switches, levers or combination locks. You often have to gather information from the environment first, and then process that information with logic to get the relevant machine to run the way it should. Specific objects can be picked up and stored in your inventory, so that you can fit them into the correct spots later. There’s also a couple of audio puzzles in the mix.

Additionally, some devices make use of glowing, colored crystals that can be found around the island. Their properties are left to be discovered as you progress through the game; there are different properties attached to each color of crystal. This is where Quern stands out from other puzzle adventures. While Myst features individual puzzles that all work differently, the crystals of Quern have consistent behavior throughout the island, and keeping track of their combining properties is essential for progress. Other puzzles involve attributes like weight or refraction, which are similarly consistent from one area to the next.

This systematic design enabled the studio to build puzzles on top of each other, eventually driving the game’s length past the ten-hour mark. Quern’s worldbuilding has received contrasting reactions, but the gameplay should feel engaging and rewarding to puzzle-focused players.

This description was written by Gwen C. Katz and edited by Oriane Tury.