01 STEP
Position before swapping. The swap is instant; the standoff distance is the only thing you control.
The Trader
The East
DOSSIER
What this entry covers
The wealthy Trader of the East, voyaging across a pristine archipelago where magic mirrors swap him and nearby objects with their reflections. The realm announcement describes him as the realm's centre, with reflection treated as an active tool rather than a copy.
PROTOCOL CHAIN
How to work this entry
02 STEP
Step back from the mirror to project further across the archipelago.
03 STEP
Track which object is real and which is the reflection. They behave identically until one of them is moved.
04 STEP
Pair with the beam worlds once merged: a mirror can redirect light as well as the Trader.
FIELD NOTES
Reading The Trader in play
FIELD NOTE 01
Reading the board before you move
Position before swapping. The swap is instant; the standoff distance is the only thing you control.
FIELD NOTE 02
Working the chain in order
Step back from the mirror to project further across the archipelago.
FIELD NOTE 03
How this entry reads in motion
Track which object is real and which is the reflection. They behave identically until one of them is moved.
PLATE WALL
SOURCES
Where this entry comes from
Each record below backs a specific claim on this page. Tier 1 is the developer or publisher speaking in their own words, tier 2 is established press, and tier 3 is creator coverage. Quotations are rendered in written form; the exact spoken wording from the source is kept underneath each one for verification.
- 01 TIER 1 - OFFICIAL Steam News - Community Announcements VERIFIED 2026-10-11
The wealthy Trader of the East, voyaging across a pristine archipelago where magic mirrors swap him and nearby objects with their reflections. The realm announcement describes him
“The East (The Mirror Isles): Centers on a wealthy Trader embarking on a voyage across a pristine archipelago, navigating islands where magic mirrors instantly swap him and objects with their reflections.”
OPEN SOURCE → - 02 TIER 1 - OFFICIAL Steam store page (Thekla, Inc.) VERIFIED 2026-10-11
Entity identity and official naming for The Trader
“From legendary director Jonathan Blow (Braid, The Witness) comes Order of the Sinking Star, a massive puzzle adventure featuring more than one thousand hand-crafted puzzles designed to put your intellect to the test. You”
OPEN SOURCE →
GRID RELATIONS
Cross-board links
Dossiers reference each other directly, so no entry is a dead end. Outbound links leave this entry; inbound links arrive from elsewhere in the atlas.