Return of the obra dinn

Masterclass in Minimalism

February 16, 2024
PC & Steam Deck

What is it?

Released in 2018, Lucas Pope’s first-person whodunit deduction puzzle in the art style of the 1-bit monitor era of the 80s— all with the benefit of modern 3D navigation. As an extra, graphics options include an array of older monitor styles such as Commodore 1084, IBM 5151, and the default Apple Macintosh for the old timers out there.

This article is spoiler free. Some early game mechanics and narrative beats are discussed in general terms only to provide a rough sketch of what players can expect to make an informed purchase. Any details discussed do not extend beyond the 30min mark.

Premise

It’s the early 19th century. Company trading ship Obra Dinn returns after being lost at sea; adrift and empty. Representing the company’s financial responsibility, it is your job to find out what happened to the crew on this ill-fated voyage and issue the proper payments and fines. 

The tools at your disposal include a journal and a curious pocket watch. The book contains general information such as the ship’s layout, route, manifest, and plenty of blank pages for the game to fill in your findings. The purpose of the watch is not entirely clear at first.

Who's it for?

Nearly anyone can enjoy this experience, even non-gamers. The game’s historically popular mystery theme casts a wide net. High accessibility and low performance requirements fall in line with that as well.

Though the art style lowers the gore factor, deaths do get grisly. The game requires deductive reasoning, attention to detail, and revisiting scenes multiple times. Patient players will fare better for their diligence than those prone to skimming and rushing ahead. While some recommend writing notes, it isn’t necessary. Solutions do, however, rely on your memory; don’t expect to know what’s going on if you put the game down for a month. In the 20 hours I spent with the game, most of it was in quiet contemplation while enjoying a drink. If you like uncovering mysteries, crossing off to-do lists, solving logic puzzles, and good ol’ detective work, go no further— you will have a good time.

The loop

Players get their first taste of gameplay shortly after climbing aboard. Outside the captain’s quarters you discover human remains. Opening your pocket watch, it transports you to the past; just before the instant of their death. The screen darkens, you hear shouting, sounds of struggle culminate in their final moment, and then you take in the scene before you, frozen in time. The scene fades out about 30 seconds later, your journal records the event, and you find yourself back in the present left to wonder, “What the hell is happening?”

Fortunately, Pope designed these starting events as a way for players to acclimate to the mechanics and core gameplay loop. It’s seamlessly integrated into the game without breaking immersion. I felt clever and entertained without feeling like I was plodding through a tutorial. Rest assured, things get complicated soon enough. You’ll spend more time looking at scenes and cross referencing records in your journal than you will pushing buttons. 

By the time you step back out to the main deck, you’ve acquired all the tools you need to complete the game. Explore the ship, locate remains, witness a death scene, fill out your journal— rinse and repeat. Move through the ship as you like. Examine frozen moments in greater detail as you choose. You’ll need to piece the evidence and fit the chronology together for the 60 missing souls of the Obra Dinn.

Into the Deep

As I stepped away from the initial area, the flow of clues seemed to dry up. I take in scene after scene, but the journal remains practically empty. The feeling I am missing something (a lot of something), begins to rise from the depths in the back of my mind. Despite retracing steps, scouring previous scenes, and scrutinizing each page of the ledger, the secrets of the ship are not so easily relinquished. Only through continued, methodical observation and logic am I able to claw my way forward to that next assumption. Who could be the ship's bosun? Who in this scene is most likely from India? The task feels truly impossible at the beginning. But the pace of the game is entirely in your hands and in the end, the level of difficulty is what makes the discoveries all the more rewarding. Nailing down a definitive answer, even learning the smallest certainty is truly rewarding. And that feeling is well sustained throughout the experience. Sometimes these discoveries set off an exhilarating cascade of progress and other times they may reveal an earlier mistake that makes your stomach drop. Fortunately, players are kept from building too high on their misassumptions. The game provides confirmation every time you enter the correct information for crew members in groups of three. Overall, I found the positive vastly outweighed my setbacks.

Nitpicks

Reaching for weaker aspects of the game is a real stretch. Low replay value would be the chief drawback, but hardly unique to the mystery genre, much less a reason to stay away from the game in my opinion. If one were to nitpick the initial view of a scene automatically fades in about 30 seconds, whereas subsequent views end at the player’s discretion. Nearly every time, I found that initial duration much too short and would immediately return to explore the scene in greater detail before moving on. Beyond that, there’s really nothing negative to say.

Conclusion

The game presents a satisfying loop and then gets out of the way for the player. As my playthrough continued, I found myself admiring the results of Pope’s self-imposed design constraints.

Having the benefit of minimalism and the simplicity granted therein is a double edged sword— as a player, some initial fumbling can be expected. However, the design accounts for this with each stage of the loop being well indicated. After several loops, I dialed in on the structure and its purpose all well before the first hour. Omitting a discreet tutorial maintains the immersion and is a well executed design choice that also happens to align with my personal preference.

Return of the Obra Dinn does what good puzzles do— strike a balance between fun and challenge without being boring or discouraging. As you delve deeper, the story keeps you engaged and delivers on the sense of satisfaction when solutions are found. It’s a balance that’s difficult to achieve. Moreover, to know the design, art, and music were all done by Pope elevates the achievement even further.

Completing the game feels like an absolute triumph. I was filling out forms and checking boxes, but at the end it feels like I climbed a mountain. I found myself surprisingly attached to some of the crew and appreciated the epilogue. Pope’s economy of design, one trimmed down to the essentials, grants the experience a clarity, concision, and elegance in a medium that so often kneels at the altar of “more.” With Return of the Obra Dinn, Pope has created an instant classic; a title that players and creators will look to and reference for decades. It’s an easy recommendation for nearly anyone. Seriously, buy it. Give it to a friend, your crush, and your mom and dad.