Clever, satisfying puzzles
Mentioned in ~1 in 2 positive reviews
“Every puzzle I encountered felt logical, grounded, and fair.”
Steam review · 27.9 h played ↗
Quern - Undying Thoughts
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 91%Very Positive · 91%Zadbox Entertainment2016Mystery · Adventure · Puzzle
$24.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 2 h ago
The verdict
A large, challenging Myst-like puzzler with strong puzzle design and atmosphere on a gray island. Skip it if you dislike backtracking, obscure puzzles, or need colorblind support.
Great for
Myst and Riven fans who like notebook-and-pen puzzle solving at a slow pace
Main risk
Obscure puzzles and constant backtracking can leave you lost, leaning on walkthroughs.
What players love
Faithful Myst/Riven-like experience
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“Quern is possibly the most Myst-like of all the Myst-Like games I've played”
Steam review · 16.8 h played ↗
Atmospheric world, music and sound
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“the atmosphere and music here is top notch and the story keeps you always guessing”
Steam review · 4.2 h played ↗
Good difficulty that's challenging but fair
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“The puzzles were fun and neither too easy nor too hard, just the right amount of intriguing to be fun”
Steam review · 20.9 h played ↗
Useful in-game notebook and UX helpers
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“it's a fantastic tool that helps with keeping track of various puzzle elements you can't take with you”
Steam review · 13.4 h played ↗
Long game with lots of content
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 positive reviews
“Really long gameplay, seemed to just go on and on.”
Steam review · 102.7 h played ↗
What players complain about
Obscure, unintuitive puzzles needing walkthroughs
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews
“The difficulty in the puzzles felt like it came from obscurity rather than providing a fun, creative challenge.”
Steam review · 9.1 h played ↗
Constant backtracking and not knowing where to go
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“You solve one puzzle and somewhere on the island some door openes that you need to find, runnning to and fro across the island dozends of times searching.”
Steam review · 12.7 h played ↗
Weak, generic story and flat ending
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“You make a Big decision ooh ahh and see no further.”
Steam review · 8 h played ↗
Tedious busywork puzzles (14-note Simon, alchemy)
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“There's like 50 steps to the solution! That's easily hundreds of clicks and lots of walking back and forth!”
Steam review · 9.8 h played ↗
Drab gray visuals and repetitive music
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 negative reviews
“The whole world is gray, the sand is gray, the buildings are gray, the rocks are gray.”
Steam review · 1.3 h played ↗
No colorblind or hearing accessibility
Mentioned in ~1 in 17 negative reviews
“I'm colourblind so cannot progress past the alchemy lab area.”
Steam review · 4.8 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable9 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 7 or higher
ProcessorIntel Core i3-2100 or AMD equivalent
Memory3 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GTX 650 2GB or AMD HD7770 2GB
Storage9 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 7 or higher
ProcessorIntel Core i7-3770K or AMD equivalent
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GTX 950
Storage9 GB available space
OSWindows 7 or higher
ProcessorIntel Core i3-2100 or AMD equivalent
Memory3 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GTX 650 2GB or AMD HD7770 2GB
Storage9 GB available space
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