Getting started

The first minute

On your first visit, a skippable six-page world guide and an approximately one-minute tutorial appear. The tutorial takes three actions: Focus → a story choice → the first attack. You can reread the world guide from Settings. The tutorial can be restarted there only while the current story has an unchosen choice.

The basic loop

• Focused Recording: Press to gain roughly four seconds of current Essence production; wait 20 seconds after use.
• Buy Scribes, Editors and Chronicle Engines to increase passive Essence production. When unsure, buy the producer marked Recommended: it has the shortest payback time.
• A story choice grants a run-long effect and increases one of six tendencies.
• Fight enemies in exploration areas and defeat the chapter ruler, the last enemy in each chapter, to advance.
• Automation unlocks as you progress. Defeating one chapter ruler unlocks automatic combat and looping cleared maps; two unlock automatic skills; three unlock automatic recovery from defeat. In the first run, automatic combat and skills turn on after you first defeat the bosses of chapters 1 and 2 respectively. Automatic producer purchases, quest claims, and previously read choices unlock and turn on after your first rebirth.

Chapter readiness

Each chapter has readiness requirements, including Essence, producer counts, and level. Exploration cannot begin until they are met. The combat screen shows what is missing and the top priority so you can improve production, level, or party. Requirements are checked again at the next encounter: exploration pauses in place until they are met.

From the second run onward, previously cleared chapters have lighter requirements.

Until the first rebirth

Defeating the chapter 4 boss unlocks rebirth. To enter Act II for the first time, reincarnate and purchase one permanent upgrade level. Rebirth resets the current run, but grants Memory Points and retains permanent upgrades, discovered choices, Echoes and more. Later rebirths are optional.

More details: Rebirth and permanent upgrades.

What unlocks later

• Echoes: Defeated enemies may join and help with idle production and expeditions.
• Expeditions: Send a three-Echo squad and receive rewards and memories after time passes. Expeditions continue with the game closed.
• Bindery and stamp cards: A stamp card arrives after the first boss; bookmark spirits appear at milestones.
• Endless Archive: Uncapped floors unlocked after recording the chapter 12 ending.

Common difficulties

• If exploration will not start, check Chapter Readiness on the combat screen. Often producer count or Essence is insufficient.
• After defeat, use Recover and Retry to fight the same enemy again. Only the encounter position is retained; the enemy returns to full HP. If you cannot win, improve production, level, equipment and party before retrying.
• Much automation is unavailable in the first run. If progress is not automatic, check the unlock order in The basic loop above.
• Production and loops while away are settled on return for at most 24 hours.
• If motion is tiring, use Reduce Motion, Impact Effects and Background Pages in Settings.