The Talos Principle Guide

It is a first-person philosophical puzzle game. As a conscious artificial intelligence, you solve more than 120 puzzles in a simulation modeled on ruins from human history. It was developed by Croteam, the studio behind Serious Sam, and written by Tom Jubert (FTL) and Jonas Kyratzes. It was released on December 11, 2014, and supports Japanese.

Rethink how you combine your tools. The puzzles revolve around interactions between Jammers, Connectors, Recorders and other devices, rather than individual tools alone. Check what each device can do, one action at a time, to find a way forward.

A Recorder records your actions and plays them back. By cooperating with your past self, you can carry out actions that one person could not perform simultaneously. This becomes a major part of solving puzzles from the middle of the game onward.

You can progress by solving the puzzles alone. However, the text expresses the game's central themes and helps convey its intentions. It is worth reading when you have time.

Among the games covered on this site, FEZ, with its shifting perspectives, Baba Is You, which asks you to question the rules, and the quiet world of COCOON call for similar kinds of thinking.