Game observations (mechanics and tips)

[Mammon & Mirth]

First of all I'd like to say this game is really best experienced as blind as possible for maximum horror, but if you're starting to lean more towards the score-chasing side of things or just want to get farther into the game, these are a few things I've noticed. They may or may not all be totally accurate since this game is really wild, so feel free to add more or correct any errors.

-Stay as far away from the huge ominous teleporting skull as possible. Its vibes are rancid and it makes a lot of ♥♥♥♥ happen very quickly that makes you dead. For example, there's a giant hand that starts beating your ass from the sky, and I'm pretty sure it only appears if you're too close to vibemaster skull. The big man also seems to be invincible as far as I can tell

-If a huge pillar lights up in flame (and it's not a tree you lit yourself), that place is giga dangerous, recommend leaving that area asap as it seems to be the big man's home(?)

-Staring at the orb in the sky will heal you/recharge your light. Same with any floating roses you might find. Your vision will get kinda static-y afterwards, kinda feels like it might be a slow motion effect? Not 100% sure about that though

-If you start floating upwards toward a circle of floating skeletons, shine your dagger at the orb in the sky; if you float past the ring in the sky above the skeletons, you die

-If you find a stone tower and an orb inside, staring at the orb will transport you inside it. It seems to be kind of like a bonus area. You can move freely inside the orb, but the longer you stay, the more skulls will appear and chase you. Once you touch a skull, you're brought back to where you were previously, with a lot less health(?)

-If you're having trouble finding crystals, look at your dagger and slowly pan your vision horizontally. If you see any floating black dots in the distance through the dagger, those are crystals, go get em. I don't know if this is a bug or not but I have no idea how else to find crystals lol

-If you fill up your "sun" meter completely, left clicking brings you to an area where you can choose an upgrade. I've seen choices of a ring, boots, fairy, and crystals. The ring acts like a small permanent flashlight, and the fairy seems to fly around occasionally, lighting the area up. haven't tried taking the other two yet though. I'd assume boots let you run faster, not really sure what would happen if you picked crystals

-eat mushroom, run faster (but also become shorter and unable to pick up crystals while you're Goin)

[Mammon & Mirth]

-Touching a tree will light it on fire at the cost of 25% of your light/health. However, standing next to a burning tree will very slowly heal you

-Lighting too many trees on fire in a small area causes a weird kaleidoscope effect to appear when you look at them, and also seems to summon a huge twitching skull that rapidly teleports around, often towards you. Seems to be killable, not sure what other mechanics it might have other than being ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ scary

-The tiny screechy witch that flies around you seems to steal crystals that haven't been collected. Shining your light at it repels it temporarily

[Luli]

I can confirm that witches don't attack you, but instead they steal crystals right under your very nose. Also, I can confirm that boots make you run MUCH faster (at the expense of a much reduced control). Still, I have no idea about how to defeat the giant teleporting skulls. They immediately teleport away as you hit them with the light, also they start burning a bit, but I don't know if they are truly beatable. They are responsible for 90% of my deaths. There has to be a way to deal with them! Any ideas, guys?

[Bag_of_BOnes]

You seem to move faster at a 45 degree angle ie. W and D held and looking to the left a bit.

Or am i crazy?

[Luli]

Originally posted by Bag_of_BOnes:

You seem to move faster at a 45 degree angle ie. W and D held and looking to the left a bit.

Or am i crazy?

I kind of had the same impression.

[VanVeen]

I originally explained everything I've learned here, but have since deleted the comment in the name of protecting the orb's arcane secrets. I hit first place after much grinding. I continued to see new things during my runs, including a power-up called "Fire Walk With Me" that I only saw once, but did exactly what you think. I believe I understand the orb now, and I have yet to see anyone mention it's true potential. A better run can be done, but I'll need the stars to align before I can do that.

[cianowar]

Any tips for not losing 'sun meter'? Mine seems to keep going back to zero...
Also, what is it with the crows? How do I avoid/fight them?

[Luli]

Originally posted by cianowar:

Any tips for not losing 'sun meter'? Mine seems to keep going back to zero...
Also, what is it with the crows? How do I avoid/fight them?

The sun resets each time you get hit. I have no idea how to avoid crows instead...

[Bag_of_BOnes]

I've entered the orb, I've collected enough stars, then I've no idea what to do next.

[Mammon & Mirth]

Originally posted by VanVeen:

I originally explained everything I've learned here, but have since deleted the comment in the name of protecting the orb's arcane secrets. I hit first place after much grinding. I continued to see new things during my runs, including a power-up called "Fire Walk With Me" that I only saw once, but did exactly what you think. I believe I understand the orb now, and I have yet to see anyone mention it's true potential. A better run can be done, but I'll need the stars to align before I can do that.

would love if you were still willing to share your arcane knowledge

-found out that when you enter the orb, if you collect enough stars to fill your sun meter and then return to the orb, you'll have a full sun meter when you return to the ground

-it's possible to light trees on fire before picking up the weapon. i don't know if this does anything but it's worth mentioning?

[VanVeen]

Originally posted by Illhark:

Originally posted by VanVeen:

I originally explained everything I've learned here, but have since deleted the comment in the name of protecting the orb's arcane secrets. I hit first place after much grinding. I continued to see new things during my runs, including a power-up called "Fire Walk With Me" that I only saw once, but did exactly what you think. I believe I understand the orb now, and I have yet to see anyone mention it's true potential. A better run can be done, but I'll need the stars to align before I can do that.

would love if you were still willing to share your arcane knowledge

-found out that when you enter the orb, if you collect enough stars to fill your sun meter and then return to the orb, you'll have a full sun meter when you return to the ground

One thing I didn't see anyone mention is the sky! All the stars you see are crystals below, following the sky can lead to very good runs of crystals. Late game you start to run out of stars, but if you keep moving you'll find more eventually, or someone will find you first! It seems that later on the crystals/stars are often very close to big man, makes it scary to grab em.

[Mammon & Mirth]

Originally posted by VanVeen:

One thing I didn't see anyone mention is the sky! All the stars you see are crystals below, following the sky can lead to very good runs of crystals. Late game you start to run out of stars, but if you keep moving you'll find more eventually, or someone will find you first! It seems that later on the crystals/stars are often very close to big man, makes it scary to grab em.

i wondered if the stars in the sky meant anything. for some reason i never found any correlation between stars and gems, but maybe i'm a little dum. i tested a run following the stars and got a full sun meter in the first minute of gameplay. amazing how helpful that is lol

[shiferius]

When you find the tower, stare at the orb and hold E to peer into it. You get transported to orb realm. Fly out and start collecting stars, this fills your sun meter (for upgrade). The more stars you collect, the more baddies come after you. To get back, you fly back into the central orb. If the baddie touches you, you get back to the tower with zero upgrades.
Nice mechanic!

[Luli]

I keep dying completely at random because of those damn giant skulls. Has anyone figured out how to deal with them?

[VanVeen]

Originally posted by Luli:

I keep dying completely at random because of those damn giant skulls. Has anyone figured out how to deal with them?

Far as I can tell there is one big man big skull, and you gotta just never walk towards him. Bad noises, LSD vision, trees on fire that you didn't start - all means you're too close. Time to pull a 360 and moonwalk away, eat a shroom to run, or dash/boots away. With enough light/fancy footwork/upgrades I've been able to scare him away for a time, but he'll always be back.

[Luli]

Originally posted by VanVeen:

Originally posted by Luli:

I keep dying completely at random because of those damn giant skulls. Has anyone figured out how to deal with them?

Far as I can tell there is one big man big skull, and you gotta just never walk towards him. Bad noises, LSD vision, trees on fire that you didn't start - all means you're too close. Time to pull a 360 and moonwalk away, eat a shroom to run, or dash/boots away. With enough light/fancy footwork/upgrades I've been able to scare him away for a time, but he'll always be back.

You were right! Turns out the best strategy is to simply keep moving. Even if the skull spots you, you can still get away from him if you keep moving in the same direction, he seems slower than the player (even without the boots).