Quern. Вечные мысли

The story and graphics are really good and it is fun and challenging.

If you like Myst/Riven, you'll like this.

As close to Myst-like immersiveness I have seen yet. Great exploring, object gathering, puzzle solving and gorgeous landscapes. Better than Cyan's latest abominations.

The graphics combined with almost totally free 3D movement allows you to immerse yourself into the environment and focus on solving the puzzles. As others have said the solutions can require much thought. I am avoiding using online guides because it is nice to have something you can leave and come back to.

Wow, wow, WOW!
I know I'm late to the party... but boy am I glad I joined. The graphics are great, the puzzles are awesome, it leaves you wanting MORE!
Yes I got stuck and decided to find help, but I was careful not to see anything I did not need to solve my current problem, I am so glad I did that, TOTALLY worth it.

Thank you, it was a great experience (even tho I got stuck a couple of times, the feeling of accomplishment when you come back later and find the solution is fantastic).

Off topic:
I found this one guy doing a walkthrough on YouTube, pretending to be playing the game for the first time. I say "pretending" because this dude was commenting on the puzzles, and predicting outcomes. Every time he just happened to have the correct item in his hands exactly when that item was required, looking at the correct place just before needing the clue, never repeating a single puzzle. He seems to be a Master puzzle solver, but I just laughed at him in the end, what a FAKE. OK, enough rambling just one comment Sir, I never used your videos to help me beat the game! (no, I'm not going to name and shame).

A puzzle game similar to Myst. It was made later, so the genera had a lot of time to grow and develop since then; Thus, I imagine the casual puzzle enthusiast would enjoy this quite a bit.

It's as good a challenge as the Myst family of games. The puzzles are clever, the graphics are detailed and the transitions are smooth. Love it! Hope there is more to come!!

Interesting puzzles to say the least. Without the "walk through" helps the solutions would be next to impossible. Maybe just my age, but there seems little that is intuitive.

8/10 - Very reminiscent of Myst, but with more chaos as far as types of puzzles you will solve.

The story is a nice addition to the world you are placed in and the puzzles are mostly connected to discovering more about the story, but there are a bit too many trial and error puzzles for my liking. For the first half of the game, you will spend a ton of time going back and forth between locations until you try every combination of items to see what works on an interact-able object. Often times, you are just meant to try everything until the uninformed solution presents itself.

With that being said, you will still find everything you need to know about a puzzle within the game and never use outside knowledge to solve any of these puzzles besides your own math skills. The second half of the game is much more focuses and that brought my score up quite a bit.

For hardcore puzzlers, you will enjoy this. The difficulty is around an 8/10 for a somewhat puzzle main like me.

I querned all over the place

If you're looking for a Myst-like, lateral thinking puzzle game, it's good. I don't think any of the puzzles felt like they couldn't be worked out which is nice.

The controls and the movement are a bit clunky. I'd turn off head-bobbing and be wary around ladders if you get motion sick. The in-game screenshot system is cute, but doesn't do colour, making it unhelpful in some puzzles.

I enjoyed it! Very heavily Myst inspired in design. If you like that sort of thing (I do!) you might enjoy this too.

Some of the puzzles are really involved multi-step processes, which might be rough if you make a mistake, but usually you know the solution by the time you're moving towards it.

There's a couple of bits that were a bit more obtuse that I ended up needing to get outside help for, but that only happened twice, and I might have had an aha moment about those if I was a bit less tired at the time :)

Worth playing!

Better than Myst!

Terribel game play. No intuitive control. Takes too long to get used to controls. $20 wasted.

too obtuse

I have played other puzzle walk about games and this is the most confusing game I have ever played. There are very few clues, if any, to lead to the next puzzle. The map is useless in my opinion. I had to go for help so many times that it became part of the game. If you like this game then I think that's okay, but I cannot recommend getting this without looking at a walk through first.

The only "Myst-like" that i played before Quern was "Obudction" that i got free on Epic sometime ago. I played through it with quite alot of outside help, after finishing Obduction (which i definetly enjoyed) i felt in need of more such games. I came across Quern through some reddit post about games similar to Obduction. I beat the whole game in 2 sittings each about 4 hours. I used no outside help other than the ingame hints (exception being some of the sound based puzzles since my hearing sucks i just had to google a walkthrough for them). The game starts really well, some simple puzzles that still challenged me, The problems started after about the 2 - 3 Hour mark, The mass hoarding of items in this game is insane. I never thought i would carry on myself 6 different pots, a battery, a cog wheel, sand bucket, spoon, herb collecting scissor things. the list goes on. The performance also wasnt the best, i had steady 60FPS at High but my GPU was literally boiling itself the whole time, No idea why. The writing in this game is really good i liked the proffesor guy, but i hated the blue orb british woman. She was so annoying, making me listen to a 10 minute powerpoint about some imaginery tribe in somewhere-far-away land. I understood nothing from it, literally felt like i was back in highschool at a math class. The ending well, it wasnt bad. The choices just didnt feel impactful. Like no matter what i would choose it would end the same.

TLDR: Game is good, Puzzles are really well done with some "bad fruits" thrown in. I hate Gamana, I like proffesor guy. Game also comes with frying pan mode for your GPU. Cool game made me feel something.

I bought this game several years ago. I started to play it, but set it aside very quickly -- I was put off by the opening, and the processing required a little too much for the platform I had at the time. With a larger monitor and beefier cpu, I am able to get into the story and puzzles.

Overall an engrossing experience. There are a LOT of puzzles, deliberately set up by the narrator. The setting opens up into quite a large map, with several dozen multi-use working areas. These areas overlap and at times merge, and many of the tools you use to resolve the puzzles are multi-purpose, so pick up your stuff when you need to move on!

It's a great game! beautiful graphics, awesome background music. My only complaint is that it was frequently difficult to know what the goal of a particular puzzle was. There were many instances of not knowing what questions I should ask in order to know what to do next. But that's probably just me. Myst wasn't half as difficult as Quern but that's not an indictment of either game. It's definitely a great buy, especially when iit's on sale. Loved it!

Me like puzzle.

The most interesting and sophisticated puzzle game I ever play! I can even say that this game is better then the talos principle!

Come for the Puzzles, Stay for the Puzzles

Quern is inspired by Myst, but you knew that or you wouldn't be here.

First thing I noticed, the environment is rather drab compared to the vibrant Myst games. But there are some moments of spectacle, and the music is very pleasant. Most of the hours on my playtime are due to leaving the game open for the ambience.

The story does just enough to pique your interest, culminating in a rather pointless final decision with no consequence.

But I play these games for the puzzles, and Quern does NOT disappoint. Banger after banger, the puzzles of Quern are creative and satisfying. I especially love how previous puzzles get re-integrated into later puzzles.

Be sure to pay VERY close attention to the environment. Several times you will find yourself stumped with no idea what to do next. There aren't seperate worlds in Quern, the entire game takes place on one island that progressively unlocks, having you criss cross back and forth until you know it like the back of your hand. Thankfully there is a map, and an option to highlight interactibles (highly recommend).

Loved it and it challenged me.

az hülye apja meg tolószékes

This game is crazy good and never ends. You think it's almost over and then you're at the half way point. Extremely good puzzles. Very Myst and Riven like, but with more inventory items. You can't fuck up or die or anything. Just pure puzzle goodness. This game is hard too.

Manages to be legitimately challenging without becoming frustrating

Compared to Myst, which this game seems to draw inspiration from, this game is appreciatively both longer and harder. It often requires pen and paper. Not too hard though, I only had to look up something once, but it was because despite looking up multiple times in the necessary area I didn't see the thing I needed to.

I like it a lot but it can be bogged down by requiring players to hunt around for what to do next.

I'm not a huge puzzle fan, so take that into account. I would say the start and the middle parts of the game were good, but it overstayed its welcome at the late stage where it became more and more difficult where I had to resort to guides to pass them despite trying my very best.

Overall I liked the music, the vibes, the ambiance, the puzzles were cute, and the story was alright. But it was a long game, the 20 hours it took me to pass felt like ages.

I would recommend

A great little atmospheric puzzle game. Some fantastic music, cool puzzle elements, and a decent smattering of world-building lore.

Even after completing the game a few times, some of the puzzles feel a bit clunky to piece the clues together. But, if you don't stop and do some workings out on paper it can end up being brute forced by guesswork. A lot of the puzzles are really good fun though, and many of them use recurring elements that you gather or improve along the way. Some of them seem a bit under-utilised, but never to the extent that it's disappointing.

My biggest gripe is the voiceovers. The letters can just be played in the background while you keep exploring, but the spirit voice that shows up partway through completely locks you down so you can't even keep moving to the next destination. Plus, a few spots in the story have voiceover "prompts" to do something or make a choice, but they come absolutely rapid-fire which can be a bit jarring for the otherwise calm and tranquil experience of the game.

I love the MYST games and this one is very similar. Very intuitive and fun.

One of the best Myst-clones I've ever played, and I've played many. It avoids a lot of the pitfalls others have fallen into, and I found it really satisfying

Great Game

Yes, this game shamelessly steals from the Myst series. But so far, it measures up well in every aspect except the narrative. The look, complexity, and most importantly, the puzzles of this world impress me. There's just not much imagination or drama in the storytelling.

Lots of ingenious puzzles, be prepared to spend sometime thinking!

Extremely similar to Myst in its conceit, this game involves the player wandering around a deserted island unraveling clues and puzzles left by a previous inhabitant.

Quern contains two main types of puzzles. One type of puzzle is strictly logical, where you encounter a device and have to figure out its rules to get past it. These are almost uniformly well-constructed and satisfyingly difficult without being unfair. (There is one sound-based puzzle that I had trouble with, though that might be the fault of my hearing more than the game.)
The other type of puzzle is a type of lock, where you need to use the correct tool in the correct location to proceed. I got stuck on a couple of these (always because I'd simply overlooked the key or the lock), and it's somewhat frustrating to repeated walk back and forth across the island trying to figure out what you haven't noticed before. Overall, though, the game is beautifully constructed and it's well worth the investment.
I should also note that I am finally playing the game some four years after originally purchasing it, because it would not run on my original computer and only a recent upgrade allowed me to play it. The game seems to be more resource-hungry than it seems like it should be.
9/10

A fantastic first person adventure game.
I've had Quern in my library for quite a few years, but I cancelled my first attempts to play because it didn't run smoothly. Now I've tried it again with a newer computer. And I'm glad I did.
What a beautiful journey this was.

Positives:
- The overall atmosphere is great.
- The puzzles are varied, not illogical and are usually fun to solve.
- They mostly are also not too difficult (I was able to crack everything without help - although it really took a while in some places).

Negatives
- Some puzzles, especially in the Deep Underground, were quite annoying and time-consuming.
- Sometimes there was a lot of running back and forth - luckily you can run quickly.
- The music wasn't really my cup of tea. Not as atmospheric as in other games. It felt really repetitiv as it plays constantly and changes the track when you get to different places. As you are running back and fourth quite often, you always get to hear the same bits of music over and and over. The soundtrack could have either be more ambient-like or the music just comes on whenever you make progress, for example. That would have been much better imo.

I'm looking forward to Dimhaven and hope that the developers pay more attention to a balanced performance this time.

Extremely well done. Puzzles are logical and make sense, and they did a good job making areas interesting by going back to some of the same places previously visited to find new things later as the game progresses. A lot packed into a somewhat compact area.

Was so confused for the first few hours until something just clicked...

I think this game might be the closest any developer has ever gotten to capturing the essence of what made Myst so good. Quern is a fantastic puzzle game that I recommend anyone wanting to test their skills should play. No two puzzles are the same and some of them will really push you to your limits. Highly recommend.

fun and good game

Quern is an incredibly atmospheric, challenging, escape-room type game. It is set up like an escape room on purpose--a character in the game has set up a linear collection of puzzles for you solve, revealing bits of story as you reach new areas and go deeper into the world. If I could play an escape room like this IRL I would be over the moon--it's so cool! And the puzzles are really fun to solve. The music is really cool too--I actually listen to the soundtrack on its own all the time. It can be a little overbearing in a few rooms, though, so if I was taking extra long to solve a specific puzzle or needed more concentration, I would turn the volume down or pull my headphones off for a spell.

Personally, I don't think the endings are obviously split into a "good" ending and a "bad" ending, even if it seems like the game favors one over the other. It's really up to you what you think is the better choice.

I recommend immediately turning on the setting that makes the objects you can interact with sparkle--otherwise you might end up pixel hunting a bit. The puzzles can be difficult, but the game gives you all the information you need to solve them (no moon logic). There were a few times early on that I got impatient and looked up hints, but if I had just been a little more patient, and wandered around looking for clues again, I don't think I would have needed any hints. (Except one time I had the right solution, but mirror-image... I would never have figured that out on my own...) That being said, you should play the game however feels right to you. If finding the solutions on your own is oh-so-satisfying, then be patient, and play the game in small chunks so you don't get overwhelmed or frustrated. If getting stuck on a puzzle makes you put a game down forever, then look up hints when you need to! Because the game is definitely worth playing through to the end.

EDIT

I thought of one more thing! If you have two monitors, it's easier to screenshot clues that you're working from and open them on your second monitor than to use the in-game photo feature. You could also take pictures of them with your phone.

Decent puzzle game, somewhat similar to The Room 2 and The Room 3.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Very nice, remembers to MYST

Really Cool puzzles. I love the way It loops in on itself

Good game, poor ending, poor performance optimization.

I was only able to get 100fps at any given point in this game which is kind of wild for a game from 2016. My 4070 and i9 setup should not have any issues running this and it struggles at many points.

The puzzles in this were a lot of fun and pretty reasonably contained in size, where games like myst or riven can feel like a lot more of a pixel finder comparatively. You get a nice feature which allows you to create particles around interactables which goes a long way for games like this which paint them into the scenes very well.

The movement mechanics and puzzle interaction was usually pretty good and intuitive, with logic helping in figuring out what most of them were without outside help.

The largest downsides to this game is the audio mixing, which is extremely loud for certain ambient sounds like boards creaking or chasm echoes(? not sure what this sound is actually called it just feels large), and the ending. I felt the entire game had a somewhat interesting plot but the ending shoehorns you into the "good" ending with guilt but never provides a great reason to that good ending. Maybe if there was some form of post portal scene that shows the consequences of your choice I'd care more but as of now it felt like a massive lack of reward for finishing the game.

Solid puzzle game. No extreme leaps of logic.

You want to buy it? You must really like puzzles
If you want a quick game, or to finish it on a weekend, this is not for you, this game requieres to be patient, some puzzles are very hard, sometimes you will need to be looking all over the place for a missing piece, it can be frustrating, but if you like old school hard puzzles that are a real challenge, this is for you

Sometimes you will need to use a papaer, or some external means to help you with the puzzles, this can be bad or good depending on your taste, for me it was kind of a nostalgic experience that I enjoyed.

This is a awesome game for puzzles, the design is really good, everything comes full circle, everything is connected, and I really like it, many times you will be at a place you feel it was over, and then you will have new things to discover, it's hard but it´s also rewarding.

You spend most of your time on a kind of circular map, and there is obviously backtracking, but the map is easy to navigate, you will visit the same places over and over, but everything keeps changing.

The story was okay, a moral dilemma of sorts, not the most complex stuff, but the level design is the best, you can se they put a lot of love and effort into it

Chef's Kiss

This game was EXACTLY what I was looking for in a mystery game. So puzzling. So unique and still derivative. The story was great. The gameplay was smooth. The visuals were shiny and pleasing. And the voice acting. THE VOICE ACTING. That was some phenomenal work. I really believe they both need more work in voice acting (if they don't have it already) cause they were GREAT.

Overall, I really, really enjoyed this game and I highly recommend it to other puzzlers like me.

A beautiful and intriguing game for lovers of puzzle-story rich games such as Myst, The House of DaVinci, and The Room. Playing through the game takes a decent amount of time (It took me 11.6 hours), so it's work the money. There are varying degrees of challenges, from quite simple to fairly difficult. I admit I cheated and read a walkthrough for a puzzle or two, but probably wouldn't have if I'd had a notepad nearby and taken the time to work things out myself. I played on my MacBook Pro with M3 Max chip with 36g memory...it ran beautifully.

Great adventure/puzzle game. Nothing too hard that I had to look up hints, but I had to think and revisit areas. Very fun.