Quill Riddle: Word Trails, a Star-Chart Mystery

About Quill Riddle: Word Trails

The Quill Riddle Academy trains star-cartographers on the rings of Vespera, a coral gas giant that never quite sets. Every evening its cadets run the Ring Trail: a route of star systems where something has gone missing. A tutor’s pocket lantern in the singing rock fields, a choir of radio moths in a violet nebula, the telescope cat who hitched a ride on a moon.

At every stop you get a hexagonal sector chart and a short clue log. Every clue is true of the one sector where the thing is hiding: it touches a comet, it is not in lane A, its sector number is higher than 2. Rule sectors out as you read, then send a probe. Find it first time for 100 points, the second time for 60, the third for 30.

At every junction you choose a short hop or a deep jump: a wider chart worth half as much again. Find something with your first probe and no lens and a comet quill flies up from the chart to ink a star of the Quill, the academy’s own constellation; every star raises your warp and gives the Great Chart at the end of the trail one more probe. Each night has its own rule: a Clear Sky, an Echo Night when one clue is missing but every wrong probe echoes its distance, or a Gravity Well that bends the clues around it. Choose Cadet, Officer or Commander, turn on sector labels, large text or a high-contrast chart, and take your time: there is no clock.

How to play

On the route map, choose a system at each of the four junctions: a short hop, or a deep jump worth half as much again.
Read the clue log: every clue is true of the one sector where the lost thing hides.
Tap a sector and press Rule out to cross it off, as often as you like (X on a keyboard).
When one sector is left, press Probe (Enter): 100 points on the first probe, 60 on the second, 30 on the third.
A first-probe find without the lens inks a star of the Quill and raises the warp, the trail’s multiplier.
The Great Chart ends every trail: every star you inked gives it one more probe and a quarter more points.

Controls

Tap a system on the route map, or press 1 or 2 — jump there
Tap a sector, or move with the arrow keys or D-pad — pick it
X or Rule out — cross it off; Enter or Probe — send a probe there
L or Lens — show up to three empty sectors; Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How do I know which sector it is?

Every clue in the log is true of the hiding place. Cross off every sector a clue rules out; on a Clear Sky night exactly one sector is left.

What are the stars and the warp?

A find with your first probe and no lens inks a star of the Quill constellation and raises the warp, which multiplies your points. Each star also gives the Great Chart one more probe.

What changes from night to night?

Each trail has one rule: a Clear Sky, an Echo Night (one clue is missing, but a wrong probe tells you how many jumps away the find is), or a Gravity Well that some clues measure from.

Can I make it easier or harder?

Yes. In the settings, choose Cadet, Officer or Commander, and turn on body labels, large text or a high-contrast chart. Today’s trail is always Officer, the same for everyone.