Return of the Obra Dinn is a masterclass in visual storytelling and deduction. Its minimal guidance and open-ended structure can be overwhelming at first—but with the right strategies, unraveling its mystery becomes deeply rewarding. This guide will give you essential tips to help you succeed, without spoiling any solutions.

---

Master the Observation Tools

Observation is your greatest weapon.

• Zoom In (default ‘E’): Use this while looking at a character in a frozen scene. It highlights their face in the crew illustration in the book, helping with identification.
• Book Access (‘Tab’): The book is your case file. While dense at first, it’s where you’ll track every clue, identity, and fate. Refer to it often.

---

Learn the Book’s Layout

Understanding the book’s structure will significantly speed up your investigations:

• Deck Maps: These populate with body markers as you investigate. Use them to track where and when deaths occurred.
• Crew Manifest: This is your roster of suspects. Names, ranks, and nationalities offer critical context. Use ranks like “topman,” “gunner’s mate,” or “captain” as starting points.
• Event Index: Every memory is cataloged and linked, allowing you to jump directly between scenes as you trace characters.

---

Use Context Clues for Identification

Obra Dinn never hands you direct answers. Instead, you’ll need to think like a detective:

• Cabins & Personal Spaces: Explore living quarters—nameplates, bunk numbers, and items like pipes or books can indicate ownership.
• Uniforms & Gear: Hats, sashes, tools, and weapons often reflect rank, job, or origin.
• Language & Speech: Pay attention to accents, formal titles, or interactions in dialogue to link people by role or region.
• Group Dynamics: Who a character is seen with repeatedly can help confirm relationships or shared nationalities.

---

Strategic Guessing with the Rule of Three

Identities and fates are confirmed in sets of three. This mechanic allows for some flexibility:

• When you’re confident in two people, use a well-reasoned guess for the third to get confirmation.
• Avoid brute-forcing—stick to informed guesses based on clothing, behavior, or context.

---

Understand the Triangle Difficulty System

Each character’s entry in the book shows a difficulty rating:

• One triangle (▲): You’ve likely seen everything needed to solve their identity.
• Three triangles (▲▲▲): These require more deduction, subtle context, or connections across many scenes.

Revisit one-triangle individuals often—you may already know more than you think.

---

Bookmark Characters for Easier Tracking

The bookmarking feature is vital when dealing with overlapping timelines:

• Bookmark a character to follow them through each memory.
• Look for them in the background of other scenes—their movements and companions can be just as telling as their moment of death.
• This makes it easier to trace fates, identities, or relationships over time.

---

Find Unexplored Leads

Stuck? The book offers helpful signals:

• Circled memory pages indicate unfinished fates—these scenes hold more information than you’ve uncovered.
• Revisit early scenes with new knowledge—what once seemed like background detail may now be the missing link.

---

Final Tips

• Take notes: If you’re playing without spoilers, keep your own log of deductions, nicknames, or theories.
• Slow down and observe: Sometimes standing still in a memory and simply watching characters’ body language or movement is the breakthrough you need.
• Zoom out often: Don’t just focus on the person who died—look at everyone in the scene.

---

By using these strategies, you’ll gradually become more confident in your deductions—and solving the fates aboard the Obra Dinn will feel like a true investigative triumph. If you have non-spoiler tips of your own, feel free to share them with other first-time investigators.

Good luck—and happy deducing!