Order of the Sinking Star is a huge puzzle game with four worlds you can tackle in any order. This page covers where to go first, what each world teaches you, and how the Gold Rooms that join two worlds open up, without story spoilers.
What to know first
- The order is up to you. From the Crossroads where you start, you can head North, East, South or West.
- You can always go back. According to Polygon, you can return to the overworld from the menu at any time. If one puzzle has you stuck, the basic way to play is to make progress elsewhere and come back. Japanese outlets AUTOMATON and Denfaminicogamer describe it the same way: when you hit a wall, move to another world and try again later.
- Use undo and reset freely. Undo is there and the game is built around you using it. Nintendo Life points out that undo and reset are instant, and GamingTrend that holding the button rewinds as many moves as you like.
- There are more than 1,000 puzzles. Per the Steam description, the four worlds and the Gold Rooms hold over 1,000 hand-crafted puzzles. Opening up new places gets you further than spending hours on a single room.
The four worlds and what they teach
| Direction | World | Protagonist | Mechanic | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North | The Hearty Heroes of Hauling (Heroes) | A moving-company party of fantasy heroes: Warrior, Thief, Wizard and more | Sokoban-style hauling: each character pushes, pulls, stacks or teleports objects differently | North |
| East | Mirror Isles | Trader | Magic mirrors swap you or an object with its reflection; where you land depends on the distance from the mirror | East |
| South | Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes | Sailor | Kick stones into the water to skip them, and use lily pads and river currents to reach the islands | South |
| West | Beamcasters (The Promise in the demo) | Explorer | Put gems in sockets so emitters fire colored beams, then stand in a beam to borrow its power | West |
For how each character moves in detail, see Characters and mechanics.
Which direction to go first
According to Polygon, the recording in the middle of the Crossroads tells you to head North or East and to avoid the West. The article’s verdict, in short:
- North (Heroes) and East (Mirror Isles): both open with easy puzzles, so they make good first stops.
- South (Skipping Stones): a little harder than North or East. Building bridges out of lily pads and stones takes timing.
- West (Beamcasters): rated the hardest of the four. It is built like a small metroidvania where you find gems to open new places, and it throws you into the deep end, so leave it for later if you are just starting.
Steam achievement rates (as of 2026-10-14) suggest most players follow a similar order.
| Finished the initial campaign | Unlock rate |
|---|---|
| Heroes (North) | 40.8% |
| Mirror Isles (East) | 37.5% |
| Beamcasters (West) | 23.5% |
| Skipping Stones (South) | 15.9% |
The South is even lower than the West. Maybe many players put it off, or maybe its initial campaign simply takes longer; we don’t know which. Either way, if a world isn’t clicking, move on to another one.
Controls tip for the South
Timing matters in the South. On PC, hold Ctrl to slow time down and hold Alt to fast-forward through waits. A lily pad pauses for a moment before it starts moving, and that is your chance to step on. See Skipping Stones solutions for more.
Watch out in the West
Players have reported getting stuck in the West after carrying a gem into another room or pushing an emitter into a corner. If something feels wrong, undo back past the mistake or reset the room (Explorer guide).
How the Gold Rooms open
Once you have made some progress in the worlds, Gold Rooms that join two worlds open up. There are six in total, one for each pair of the four worlds (Heroes × Mirrors, Heroes × Beamcasters, Heroes × Skipping Stones, Mirrors × Beamcasters, Mirrors × Skipping Stones and Skipping Stones × Beamcasters). A glowing seam splits the screen in two, and the protagonists on each side work together, each following their own world’s rules.
The exact unlock conditions have not been officially explained. But on Steam, Gold HxM, the Gold Room most players open first, sits at 28.1%, below both Heroes (40.8%) and Mirror Isles (37.5%). Every Gold Room has a lower unlock rate than the initial campaigns of the two worlds it joins, so it is safe to assume each one opens after you have progressed in both of them.
For each of the same six pairs there is also a teleporter to the Antipode (Steam achievements such as “Antipode HxM”). Its unlock rates are lower still, making it the next goal after the Gold Rooms. Step-by-step solutions for all six rooms are in Gold Rooms: all 6 solutions.
How far have players got?
Steam-wide unlock rates as of 2026-10-14 show just how long the game is.
- Initial campaigns: North 40.8% → East 37.5% → West 23.5% → South 15.9%
- Gold Rooms: 28.1% for the first, Gold HxM, down to 6.5% for the last, Gold MxS
- Antipode: 2.6% to 11.9%
- Endgame completed: 2.4%
- Completionist (every puzzle in the overworld): 0.1% (the lowest value Steam’s page shows)
Six days after launch, only around three in ten players on Steam have opened even the first Gold Room. Take your time and play at your own pace. Every achievement is listed in All 32 achievements.
When you get stuck
- Before moving anything, walk around the whole room. Note where the gems, mirrors, boulders and exit are.
- Look for the new rule the room is trying to teach. There is usually one new idea per room.
- Undo early. Mistakes carry no penalty.
- If that still fails, go to another world. GamingTrend’s review describes the same experience: being stuck in one place and needing to move something somewhere else.
- If you really can’t solve it, check our solution pages: North (Heroes 1) · Heroes 2 · Heroes 3 · East · South · West (Vault of the Beamcasters) · Cart, Rod · Torc · Gold Rooms.
After the Endgame (spoilers)
What follows touches on how the late game is structured. It does not cover the story, but don’t open it if you’d rather not know the area names.
Show what comes after the Endgame (spoilers)
The names of Steam’s hidden achievements show that the game continues after the Endgame: “Ascend” and “Descend”, a “High” achievement for each world (four), a “Low” achievement for each pair of worlds (six), and “Endgame High” and “Endgame Low”. As of 2026-10-14 all of them are at 2.1% or lower, and only Ascend is above 0.5%, so hardly anyone has got there yet. We will add guides as we confirm them.