Return of the Obra Dinn exploration guide: memory entrances and revisits

Edition: PC Steam full game (AppID 653530), primarily Japanese display with PC keyboard/mouse controls. Console buttons and development demos are excluded.

Verification scope: References the official history's default version 1.2.122, history updated September 20, 2022. The distributed build and Japanese in-game inputs on October 4, 2026 were not verified.

Sources checked: 2026-10-04

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What this guide covers

This article covers routes into the next memory and revisiting discovered scenes. Fate entries are in a separate article. Chapter names, remaining scenes, and late-game conditions can themselves be clues, so specific procedures are closed by segment.

Check the most recently recorded scene in the book.
Open the exploration segment containing that scene.
Distinguish present-day entrances from past locations seen inside memories.
At each segment's end, confirm its scenes are recorded in the book.

This is one possible exploration order. Branching entrances may be visited in either order. Numbers follow the game's chapters and parts.

Exploration answer 01

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Exploration 01: boarding and the first area

This segment opens Chapter X, The End, Parts 1–4. Identifying everyone is not required to proceed.

Look at the boarding ladder and interact when the hand reaches out to climb aboard.
When called by the boatman, descend the same ladder and take the book and watch from the luggage.
Climb back up and use the watch on the bones outside the stern captain's quarters. Record Part 1 and return through the exit door.
Examine the two bodies in the opened captain's quarters in turn to record Parts 2 and 3.
Enter the rear bedroom and record Part 4 from the floor body. The bed body opens a different chapter, so the floor is not the end of exploration.

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Exploration 01: boarding and the first area: 3 entries
Present-day landmark	Prerequisite	Watch target	Record to check
Bones outside the captain's quarters	Receive the book and watch	Bones on deck	X-1
Two bodies inside the captain's quarters	View X-1 and return to the present	Examine each set of floor bones	X-2、X-3
Rear bedroom floor	Investigate the room and open the door	Floor body	X-4

Finish first-visit instructions and wait for the exit to open. Passage access and correct fate entries are separate conditions.

Exploration answer 02

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Exploration 02: down from the main deck

Chapter VII, The Doom, has several present-day entrances rather than one continuous chain. Starting at the bed follows Parts 8 → 7 → 6.

Use the watch at the body on the captain's bed to view VII-8.
After recording, if the watch shakes, highlight the body in the scene, approach, and examine it.
Release the mist in the present and inspect the body where it settles for VII-7. Continue similarly to VII-6.
After recording and leaving VII-6, use the newly opened stairs from the main deck to the gun deck.

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Exploration 02: down from the main deck: 3 entries
Memory chain	Present-day entrance or destination	Intermediate landmark	Exit check
VII-8→7→6	Bed → near the stern mast → near animal cage or lifting equipment	Shaking watch and white mist	Stairs to the gun deck become usable
VII-5→4→3	Start at bones beneath a gun on the gun deck	Bodies where mist stops around the guns	The chain ends at an exit door
VII-2→1	Newly opened small area toward the gun deck's bow	Follow mist from its body to the bench area on the main deck	Check Chapter VII discovery progress

Using the watch repeatedly at VII-6's location does not lead to VII-5. Return to actual gun-deck bones. VII-2 also has a separate entrance.

Exploration answer 03

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Exploration 03: the small room with bloodstains

Chapter IX, Escape, begins at a body in the gun-deck midshipmen's room and runs backward from Part 6 to 1.

Find the gun-deck room with bloodstains leading to its doorway and open it.
Record IX-6 from the body inside, then examine another body indicated by the watch.
Follow mist to IX-5 and then nearby IX-4.
When mist moves upward, pass through the main deck to the raised stern deck for IX-3 → 2.
Finally return below, record IX-1 in the officers' mess, and exit.

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Exploration 03: the small room with bloodstains: 4 entries
Current location or record	Next location	Action	Next record
Midshipmen's room / IX-6	Rear gun deck	Examine the body revealed by mist	IX-5
Rear gun deck / IX-5	Nearby floor	Wait for mist to stop fully before using the watch	IX-4
IX-4	Raised stern deck	Climb stairs following the mist	IX-3→IX-2
IX-2	Officers' mess on the gun deck	Descend and examine the body	IX-1

After IX-1, the first mate's cabin and lower deck open. Exploration 04 and 05 are branches that may be done in either order.

Exploration answer 04

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Exploration 04: the entrance outside a window

Chapter III, Murder, begins at the leg visible from the first mate's cabin on the gun deck. Discovery can continue without entering names or killers.

Return to the present after IX-1 and enter the opened first mate's cabin.
Approach the leg hanging outside the window and use the watch for III-3.
Follow the discovery mist back to the main deck to open III-2.
Examine the next highlighted body for III-1. Although the present-day entrance appears on the main deck, the event occurs on another level.
Record III-1 and leave through the door.

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Exploration 04: the entrance outside a window: 1 entries
Entrance	Access prerequisite	New scenes	Revisit caution
Leg outside the first mate's cabin window	View IX-1 to enter the cabin	III-3→2→1	Check the book's corpse location; do not search only where death occurred

Present bones, mist-recreated bodies, and the original death location do not always coincide.

Exploration answer 05

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Exploration 05: lower-deck wall and infirmary

Chapter II, A Bitter Cold, begins at the cow skull on the lower deck. Looking only for human bones can miss this entrance.

After IX-1, take the newly accessible stairs to the lower deck.
Use the watch at the wall-mounted cow skull near the animal pens for II-3.
Examine the indicated body in the memory, then follow present-day mist into II-2.
After recording II-2, find and examine the wrapped body. Reach its present-day entrance to open II-1.
Observe hammocks, belongings, and dialogue in II-1, then return through the exit door.

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Exploration 05: lower-deck wall and infirmary: 3 entries
Location landmark	Action	Record	Avoid overlooking
Lower-deck animal pens / wall skull	Use watch on skull	II-3	Animal remains can also be entrances
End of the mist trail	Use watch on body	II-2	Enter the infirmary memory
Wrapped body	After discovering it in a memory, use the watch at its present-day entrance	II-1	Check that a discovered memory has also been visited

This article does not reveal identities. For individual hammock or other correspondences, open that manifest number's evidence in the character guide.

Exploration answer 06

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Exploration 06: through the narrow passage to the lowest deck

Chapter VI, Soldiers of the Sea, runs from Part 7 backward to 1, then uses a separate entrance for Part 8. That branch explains why 7 → 1 does not complete the chapter.

From the lower deck's stern side, enter the narrow port passage and follow bloodstains.
Use the watch at the bones at its far end for VI-7.
For each highlighted body, follow mist in the present to open VI-6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → 1.
Use stairs when mist moves upward. VI-1 enters the rigging in memory; you do not need to keep climbing a present-day mast.
After leaving VI-1, descend from the lower deck into the cargo hold via the newly available stairs.
In the forward starboard storeroom, use the watch at the large creature's remains to record VI-8 and exit.

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Exploration 06: through the narrow passage to the lowest deck: 4 entries
Chain segment	Visible area	Next action	Completion check
VI-7	Port passage	Look through walls and windows as visible, then examine the watch-indicated body	VI-6 entrance appears
VI-6→5→4	Lower deck	Follow mist and use the watch where the body outline settles	Each scene is recorded in the book
VI-3→2→1	Gun deck → main deck → rigging memory	Check stairs when mist moves vertically	Exit to the present after VI-1
VI-8	Forward starboard cargo storeroom	Use watch on creature remains	Part 8 is recorded

If a visible body does not produce the watch, you may be trying to enter an unvisited memory from inside another. Official troubleshooting is to return to the present and examine the mist-placed body.

Exploration answer 07

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Exploration 07: the other forward storeroom

Chapter I, Loose Cargo, begins at a barrel in the storeroom opposite VI-8. Being first in the book does not mean it is discovered first.

Descend into the hold and open the forward port storeroom.
Approach the fly-covered barrel and use the watch for I-2.
Examine another body in the scene, then use the present-day mist entrance for I-1.
Record I-1 and exit; confirm both Chapter I scenes are present.

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Exploration 07: the other forward storeroom: 1 entries
Present-day landmark	Scene entered	Afterward	Check
Barrel in the port storeroom	I-2	Watch chain leads to I-1	Scenes without a manifest-entry slot still count as memories

Not every memory corresponds one-to-one with a manifest person's fate entry. A scene remains useful even if it adds no new face slot.

Exploration answer 08

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Exploration 08: backward upward from the rear hold

Chapter V, Unholy Captives, begins at a leg near the locked rear storeroom. Follow Parts 4 → 3 → 2 → 1.

Move aft through the hold and find leg bones near the back of the stairs.
Use the watch for V-4 and find the next body in its memory.
Follow mist on each return to the present, reaching lower-deck V-3 and gun-deck V-2.
Continue to main-deck V-1 and check the book for multiple recorded subjects in the same scene.
Another watch-indicated body in V-1 chains into the next chapter. A chapter boundary does not end exploration.

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Exploration 08: backward upward from the rear hold: 4 entries
Entrance or record	Movement guide	Next check
Rear-hold leg / V-4	Follow upward mist	V-3
Lower deck / V-3	Continue upstairs	V-2
Gun deck / V-2	To the main deck	V-1
Main deck / V-1	Examine another body in memory	Chapter IV entrance appears

Do not keep trying to open the locked storeroom. The next entrance at this stage is bones outside its door.

Exploration answer 09

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Exploration 09: memories leading beyond the ship

Chapter IV, The Calling, follows V-1 backward through Parts 6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → 1. You do not need to jump off the present-day ship.

Examine the body discovered in V-1 via its outline on the present-day main deck for IV-6.
Examine the next body in IV-6, then use the main-deck present-day entrance for IV-5 and IV-4.
Where the chain stays within an at-sea memory, use the watch on the next bodies in boats or nearby to follow IV-3 → 2 → 1.
Compare boat occupants and people who fall overboard as numbers change between scenes.
After IV-1, return through the exit and check for the chapter's missing-person pages.

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Exploration 09: memories leading beyond the ship: 4 entries
Current state	Next target	Control caution
Immediately after Chapter V	Present-day entrance of the body indicated in V-1	Continue the chain across chapters
IV-6〜4	Body placed by mist on the main deck	Distinguish the memory's sea location from its present-day entrance
Tracing backward before IV-4	Bodies in the memory's boats	Do not search for a present-day way into the sea
After recording IV-1	Missing-person records at chapter end	Use book evidence even when someone has no death scene

A person disappearing overboard does not necessarily have an undiscovered body aboard. Fate evidence is kept in the character guide.

Exploration answer 10

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Exploration 10: check missing chapter scenes

Book order organizes events; this entrance list aids revisits. After following discovery order, use the table to check missing chapters.

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Exploration 10: check missing chapter scenes: 10 entries
Chronological chapter	Scene count	Main present-day entrance	Specific gap to check
I: Loose Cargo	2	Barrel in forward port storeroom	Did I-2 chain into I-1?
II: A Bitter Cold	3	Cow skull on the lower deck	Do not stop at II-3; also visit II-2 and II-1
III: Murder	3	Leg outside the first mate's cabin window	Chain from III-3 to 2 and 1
IV: The Calling	6	Entrance revealed from V-1	At-sea chain and chapter-end missing people
V: Unholy Captives	4	Leg at the rear of the hold	Continuation from V-1 into IV
VI: Soldiers of the Sea	8	Port-passage bones and creature in the starboard hold storeroom	Only VI-8 has a separate entrance
VII: The Doom	8	Bed, beneath a gun, and forward small room	Three chains: 8 → 6, 5 → 3, and 2 → 1
VIII: Bargain	5	Separate from ordinary ship exploration; see next section	Wait until final requirements are met
IX: Escape	6	Body in the midshipmen's room	6 → 1 and chapter-end missing people
X: The End	4	Outside, inside, and rear of captain's quarters	Distinguish floor body from bed body

This is an index of 49 scenes, separate from the 60 manifest entries. Scenes involving animals, people outside the manifest, or multiple fates mean scene count is not a count of solved people.

Exploration answer 11

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Exploration 11: before departure and the final entrance

After all discoverable scenes, the boatman's storm warning is not an immediate timeout. Confirm the 58 fates solvable aboard before leaving to reach the remaining chapter.

Check missing discoveries and unconfirmed fates. After 54 confirmations, normal groups of three change to groups of two.
Confirm 58 aboard. You do not need to force the locked storeroom open for the remaining two.
Descend the boarding ladder from the main deck, look at the boatman, and proceed with departure.
In the later scene, open the delivered package and inspect both book and parcel.
Use the watch on the wrapped remains for VIII-5. Follow bodies within memories through 4 → 3 → 2 → 1.
Enter the remaining fates and check book completion. Specific entries are under the relevant numbers in the character article.

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Exploration 11: before departure and the final entrance: 4 entries
Situation	Check	Next action
The storm warning has arrived	Whether to continue investigating or depart	Revisit needed memories if entries remain unresolved
Fewer than 58 confirmed	Missing names, causes, killers, or destinations	Use beginner entry checks or character hints
You left too early	Select that profile from the title screen	Use Rewind to return just before departure
Package after 58 confirmations	Have both book and parcel been examined?	Use the wrapped remains for the final chapter

Do not confuse later life or death in the epilogue with fate entries for the voyage. Rewind is a progression feature, not a procedure for deleting every save.

Frequently asked questions

Must I explore in book chapter order?

Discovery order differs from chronology. An empty chapter beginning may be found by tracing backward from another entrance.

The watch does not react to a body in a memory.

For an unvisited memory, enter through the body placed by mist in the present. Past and present locations can differ; check the book's corpse location.

Why do chapter scene counts differ from person counts?

Memories and manifest people are not one-to-one. Some scenes record several people; others add no entry slot. Check discoveries and confirmed fates separately.

Must I leave immediately after the late-game warning?

It does not immediately terminate the investigation. The closed exploration section at this article's end explains pre-departure checks and the return feature.

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