Seems we could use a menu guide for the game, as having no text might be a tad confusing for some. (Though I believe that was done to eliminate any issues with somehow not getting a version with one's native language.) So here are some screenshots with annotations.
So first up, we have the
MENU. This is what you will see once the game is launched. It's the little white star
✪ in the upper-right corner:
Click on that star (you can also press the Esc key) and you'll see three different icons; from left to right you have
LOAD game,
SAVE game, and your
SETTINGS:
And in case it's not obvious, you'll always need to click on the star (or press Esc) again to get out of the
MENU. Also note that there isn't a
SETTINGS icon in the iOS or Android version of the game.
Click on the
SETTINGS gear symbol and you'll see a screen with four different icons; from left to right you have
QUIT,
CREDITS (Info),
FULLSCREEN/WINDOWED TOGGLE, and
SOUND adjustment:
(Again, just to note that there isn't any
SETTINGS gear symbol in the iOS or Android version of the game, though there is a
CREDITS icon located in the main
MENU.)
Back on the main
MENU, click the icon with the
down arrow
↓ to
SAVE the game, and you'll see a screen with several circles, which are your save spots. Click on an empty circle to create a save of your current screen/location. Note that you can overwrite an existing save by clicking the 'x' underneath a save circle to clear it, though the first circle cannot be cleared because it's how you restart the game from the beginning (more on that below). Also note that you do not need to create a save spot when quitting, as your progress is saved automatically; the next time you launch the game, you'll continue from where you'd left off. Furthermore, the game automatically creates a save spot each time a new planet is reached.
Back on the main
MENU again, click the icon with the
up arrow
↑ to
LOAD a game, and you'll again see a screen with several circles (save spots). Click on a circle with a picture to load that particular saved game. Note that to restart the game from the very beginning, click on the first circle (numbered '0') showing the observatory house of the space gnome.
But that's not everything, nope. As you play the game, clicking the star will show you up to three new icons; from left to right you'll have the
WALKTHROUGH BOOK (shows up on its own pretty much immediately),
ACHIEVEMENTS (this icon will show up once you've gotten your first achievement), and what I refer to as the
LORE BOOK (which will show up once the book has been found in the game).
Here is a shot of the front of the
WALKTHROUGH BOOK. There are three concentric circles that can be rotated:
You’ll want to line up the orangish seeds in each circle, like so:
Doing so will open one of the closed eyes in the center; repeat the process to open the other eye and you'll open up the walkthrough book. (Note that the locations of the seeds are random, so the patterns will be different each time you use the book.) Opening up the book reveals pages which show a visual walkthrough for whatever screen you happen to be on.
The
LORE BOOK contains a bit of backstory in pictures (similar to the style of a comic book); it's a visual explanation of several pertinent events that transpired just prior to the beginning of your adventure. The front of the book looks like this:
Note the Roman numeral
I on the bottom of the cover which indicates it is only the first volume—there is a second volume (with the Roman numeral
II on the bottom of its cover) that can be found later on in the game. Once the second volume is discovered, both books will be displayed side by side.
I'm not going to show a shot of the
ACHIEVEMENTS screen because it would be a bit spoilerish, I suppose.
(For those unfamiliar with achievements, they’re basically awards or badges that the player may earn by completing a specific task in the game. But most of the achievements in Samorost 3 are optional, and the rest will pop up on their own automatically as you progress.)
That's it for now. I'll probably be editing this a bajillion or so times over the next day or so…just a heads-up.
And any feedback is welcome.
