An independent guide
Order of the Sinking Star Mirror Isles & the Foundational Games
Mirror Isles by Alan Hazelden is one of the four foundational games or series officially credited by Order of the Sinking Star. The official description says these works inspire and comprise the adventure's beginning, before their puzzle systems combine. Mirror Isles is also a documented name for the eastern world, so the same wording can mean either the original game or that part of the new adventure. The foundation table and world-label comparison below distinguish those uses; room solutions belong to the opening walkthrough.
- Purpose
- Foundation credits and source-scoped world names. This page does not claim to solve the Mirror Isles region.
- Naming basis
- Official September 23 realm description and October 8 launch announcement, which confirms the western world's rename.
What the official Mirror Isles credit establishes
The official foundation list names Mirror Isles and its author, Alan Hazelden. It describes the original game's core idea as changing places with reflections across islands. This is a specific design credit, not simply a comparison to a broadly similar puzzle game.
The same list credits Hazelden for Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes. Those are two separate foundation entries by one designer. Their shared author does not make them one original game or an extra fifth world.
Sources: Steam — official foundation and design-contribution credits · Official game website — foundation FAQ
The four officially credited foundations
Exact foundation titles or series and authors from the official website and Steam description. These are credit entries; the numbered games within a series do not each identify another world.
Scroll across to read every column.
| Credited title or series | Author | Idea in the official foundation description |
|---|---|---|
| Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes | Alan Hazelden | Use stones in water to make crossing paths. |
| Mirror Isles | Alan Hazelden | Change places with reflections across islands. |
| Promesst 1–3 | Sean Barrett | Explore a cave through an abstract grid-puzzle system involving light beams. |
| Heroes of Sokoban 1, 2 and 3 | Jonah Ostroff | Use fantasy hero classes with different movement and object-manipulation abilities. |
The official description places these foundations at the beginning of Order of the Sinking Star. Its wider premise is to let their mechanics meet and generate different combinations. Additional credited design contributors are listed in the developer reference.
Sources: Steam — official foundation and design-contribution credits · Official game website — foundation FAQ
Which names are also used for worlds?
World names in the official September 23 realm article, with the western-world rename confirmed in the October 8 launch announcement. The original beginner guide maps these worlds to their foundations.
Scroll across to read every column.
| Foundation | Documented world connection | Naming distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Mirror Isles | East — The Mirror Isles | Both the original foundation title and the eastern-world label use Mirror Isles. The official realm article describes the Trader swapping himself or objects with reflections. |
| Heroes of Sokoban | North — The Hearty Heroes of Hauling | The credited original series and the world label differ. The realm article describes heroes with distinct pushing, pulling and teleporting actions. |
| Promesst 1–3 | West — Vault of the Beamcasters | The September realm article used The Promise. The official October 8 launch announcement explicitly confirms its rename to Vault of the Beamcasters, also used by the launch-period beginner guide. |
| Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes | South — Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes | The official realm article reuses the foundation title for the sailor's water-and-stone world. |
A foundation title alone is insufficient to identify an individual room. In particular, a credit for Promesst does not establish that every western puzzle is named Promesst, while the original Mirror Isles credit does not distinguish which Mirror Isles room a player has reached.
Sources: Arc Games — September 23 Explore the Realm article · Into Indie Games — October 8 original beginner guide · Steam — official foundation and design-contribution credits · Arc Games — October 8 official launch announcement
Do the original games supply this game's solutions?
The foundation relationship explains where the mechanics come from. It does not establish matching room numbers or a one-to-one solution list. Mahmud Munazil Rahman's original launch-period beginner guide explicitly says the puzzles are new despite their similarities to the foundation games.
If you are looking for the eastern world's opening room solutions, use the Mirror Isles opening walkthrough. That page covers a stated route in Order of the Sinking Star; this reference helps interpret the design credits and names surrounding it.
Sources: Into Indie Games — October 8 original beginner guide · Steam — official foundation and design-contribution credits · Official game website — foundation FAQ
Sources and scope
- Steam — official foundation and design-contribution credits
History, Foundation & Design Contributions: four exact title/series entries, authors and their relationship to the beginning.
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- Official game website — foundation FAQ
Foundation authors and described mechanics; credit text is distinct from room instructions.
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- Arc Games — September 23 Explore the Realm article
Official pre-release North/East/West/South labels and mechanics; entire original article read through the public first-party news API.
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- Into Indie Games — October 8 original beginner guide
Mahmud Munazil Rahman's source-scoped world/foundation mapping, Vault of the Beamcasters wording and statement that puzzles are new. Exact patch unspecified.
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- Arc Games — October 8 official launch announcement
Official original confirms The Promise renamed Vault of the Beamcasters. Full original announcement read in the Steam news API; canonical article identity from the public RSS.
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