Return of the Obra Dinn

It all began in 1802, about 60 years toward the end of the Age of Sail, and maritime transport across the Atlantic Ocean via ships was in full swing and at its peak. One such ship was called the Obra Dinn. Built at around 1796, and insured by the London office East India Company, the Obra Dinn had weighed about 800 tons and had an 18-ft. draught, and contained about a crew of 51 men and nine passengers, one of which was the leader, Captain Robert Witterel. On one such occasion in late 1802, the Obra Dinn started her voyage with over 200 tons of her trade goods, starting out from London, England and expected to make it onto her rendezvous point, the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, on her way to China and then back again in a few months. But in 1803, about a half-year later, the ship failed to make her rendezvous point. With no sighting or contact anywhere, the Obra Dinn was declared lost at sea, and would never be seen again.

Then, in the early morning hours of October 14, 1807, almost five years after her disappearance, the Obra Dinn finally made her way toward port at Falmouth in Cornwall, England, but with minor damage to the structure and sails, and not a living soul in sight. What kind of fate must have befallen the ship and her crew? Was it a blessing? A curse? Or something else...?

That is where you come in. As the insurance investigator of the East India Company, you must make your way through to the Obra Dinn in the middle of the night to find out what happened to her crew and passengers, and if there are any dead or survivors. Armed with only a passenger log and some sort of magical pocketwatch, you need to find out who they are and how they died or survived. It won't be easy, though, as there are very few easy answers, and you need to use your brain to piece together exactly who everyone was. Keeping track of everything from their names to their ethnicity to even what they look like and what their role was onboard is essential to uncovering what occurred onboard the ship. Their fates depend on you, and you alone. Good luck.

This section provides essential advice for players tackling Return of the Obra Dinn. It covers general gameplay mechanics and strategies to help you piece together the ship's tragic events.

General Tips:

• Pay close attention to dialogue and environmental clues.
• Use your Memento Mortem to revisit death scenes and gather information.
• Keep a detailed log of your findings, including names, causes of death, and relationships between crew members.
• Don't be afraid to revisit scenes multiple times as new information may become available.
• The order in which you identify crew members can be make-or-break.
• Deploy the ship's manifest and crew portraits to aid in identification.
• Experiment with different theories and deductions; the game rewards logical thinking.

Keyboard Controls:

Exploring:

• Up Arrow: Move forward
• Down Arrow: Move backward
• Left Arrow: Turn left
• Right Arrow: Turn right
• Spacebar: Confirm action
• Tab: Open logbook
• "E" Key: Hold in to zoom in on a person's face during a memory; brings up the fullscreen information when pressing Tab
• Esc: Brings up the menu settings
• Alt+Enter: Enter/exit Windowed Mode

Reading (Logbook):

• Tab: Close logbook
• "D" Key: Page Right
• "A" Key: Page Left
• Esc: Back
• "Q" Key: Back to Table of Contents

Mouse Controls:

• Move mouse up or down: Move forward or backward (world map)
• Move mouse left or right: Turn left or right (world map)
• Left-click button: Confirm action; activate memory with the pocketwatch (first click) when near a corpse; abort the memory process while entry animation is running (second click)
• Right-click button: Zoom in on an object or person in a memory