Who the Trader is
The Trader is the East protagonist, crossing the archipelago of Mirror Isles. Their tool is a set of magical mirrors that swap the character (or an object) with its reflection. Mirror Isles has 27 puzzles in the full game.
How mirrors work
- A mirror stands on a tile and projects two beams at a right angle (for example one going left, one going down).
- When you step onto one beam, the game shows a ghost of you on the other beam at the same distance from the mirror. Activate the mirror and the two positions are swapped.
- The swap is not only for you. Boulders, crystals and bushes standing on a beam are swapped the same way.
- Water is the main obstacle, and objects are the answer. A boulder or crystal pushed or reflected into the water sinks and becomes a walkable tile; most East levels are about building those bridges in the right order.
- Mirrors can be pushed. Moving a mirror changes where its beams reach and how far a swap sends you; you can even push a mirror onto a sunken object out over the water.
- Stand between two facing mirrors and use one: you split into two Traders who move together. Swapping one copy onto the other merges them again. Levels with gold plates need a Trader standing on each plate.
- When the reflected destination is blocked, the beam shows red and nothing happens. That is the game telling you to move something first.
Key levels
| Puzzle | What it teaches | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Your first mirror, two hops. Swap to the small islet, then swap again to reach the big island. | The ghost shows where you land before you swap. |
| 2 | Aiming a mirror. Push it until its side beam runs along the goal’s row. | Moving the mirror moves where its beams reach. |
| 3 | Sunken boulders become bridges. Push boulders into the gaps, then push the mirror across. | Anything pushed into water becomes a walkable tile. |
| 4 | Clearing the far spot. The tile you need holds a boulder: sink it, then stand there and swap. | The useful spot can be far from the mirror, and occupied. |
| 9 | Splitting. Stand between two facing mirrors and use one: you become two Traders who move together. | Each gold plate needs its own Trader. |
| 27 | Merging. Swap one copy onto the other to bring them back to a single Trader on the plate. | Copies can be undone by merging them. |
| 15 | Parking the mirror on water. Sink a crystal, push the mirror onto it, then reflect the second crystal into the water as your landing step. | A sunken object can carry the mirror out over the water. |
| 14 | Reflecting a crystal into the water. Send it down beside the boulders so it sinks into a step to the exit. | Objects can be sunk by reflection, not only by pushing. |
| 24 | A floating bush is a step. Get the bush into the water gap between the walkway and the exit island, then walk across. | Bushes bridge gaps too. |
| 21 | Two Traders, one mirror. Park one Trader on a sunken crystal, move the mirror, then reflect it to the far exit. | With two Traders, one stays behind to work the mirror. |
| 22 | Finale. Sink four crystals as pads and relay one Trader across them while the other pushes the mirror. | Every earlier rule is used at once. |
All 27 puzzles
Solutions for all 27 Mirror Isles puzzles in the full game, each with a timestamped video link, are on the full-game Mirror Isles solutions. The numbers in the table above follow that page.