The Voidtrain combination puzzle solution requires finding a specific vantage point marked by a blinking glint, reading the environmental symbols from left to right, and rotating the stone dials at the puzzle orb to match that exact sequence. These puzzles appear on Witch Islands off the main railway tracks and do not use fixed codes—each island randomizes the required sequence.
Solving a combination puzzle unlocks the protective sphere around a Strange Chest, which you can transport back to your train and open at the next depot for crafting materials, seeds, and mushrooms.
How the Combination Puzzle Works
When you follow trails of fireflies into the void using your winch and throwing rings, you will reach Witch Islands containing floating orbs. The combination variant features a stone sphere surrounded by vertical dials (often three to five stone slats or pyramid-shaped pedestals).
Each dial cycles clockwise through distinct nautical and void creatures when you interact with it (pressing the interaction key, typically E). The symbols on the dials include:
- Squid / Octopus
- Crab
- Fish
- Star / Starfish
Because every island generates a randomized code, copying an answer from another run or video (such as squid-crab-squid-squid or fish-fish-squid-crab-squid) will not work. The solution is always hidden in the physical landscape around the orb.
Step-by-Step Combination Puzzle Solution
- Clear the area: Destroy any wooden boards, barricades, or debris cluttering the sightlines around the stone orb so your view of surrounding floating rocks and ruined buildings is unobstructed.
- Locate the blinking glint: Move away from the central orb and search the nearby floating rocks or open air for a faint flashing light that pulses once every few seconds.
- Stand on the vantage point: Position your character directly on or aligned with this flashing glint. This exact spot provides the intended optical perspective.
- Read the symbols left to right: Look across the surrounding cliffs, island fragments, and ruined walls. From the glint position, scattered stone carvings or painted symbols will align into a horizontal sequence across your field of view. Note the symbols strictly from left to right.
- Adjust for terrain folds: If you only count three symbols when the puzzle requires four or five dials, make small side-to-side strafing adjustments from the vantage point. A pillar or rock face often conceals the missing icon just behind a ridge.
- Rotate the dials: Return to the orb structure. Interact with each stone pedestal in order from left to right until the displayed icon matches your observed sequence.
- Retrieve the Strange Chest: Once the final dial matches, the stone symbols will lower or glow, and the protective sphere will dissipate, releasing the floating Strange Chest.
Witch Island Puzzle Types Compared
Witch Islands host multiple puzzle variants. Use the table below to identify which puzzle you are facing before spending time searching for symbols.
| Puzzle Type | Core Mechanic | Identifying Features | Solution Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combination Dial | Visual alignment from vantage point | Central sphere surrounded by rotating symbol dials (fish, crab, squid, star) | Stand on blinking glint, read left to right, rotate dials |
| Rune / Sound | Audio matching | Sleeping Rofleemo ghost, large blank stone slats, scattered picture tiles (duck, frog, dragon, etc.) | Shoot the ghost to trigger a song, shoot matching picture tiles in sequence |
| Beam Routing | Optical redirection | Totems emitting light beams, path receptors around an orb, breakable obstacles | Rotate powered totems to chain power through receptors; clear blocking wood/debris |
Transporting and Opening the Reward
After solving the combination puzzle, the resulting Strange Chest must be handled with care:
- Carry the chest: You can hold the Strange Chest and still fire your winch to pull yourself along throwing rings. If you switch to a weapon or tool, you will drop the chest. The chest floats in zero gravity where dropped, allowing you to retrieve it after clearing threats or resetting rings.
- Secure it on the train: Return to your train and manually place the chest down flat on a railcar platform. Do not leave it loose or throw it carelessly, as objects not placed firmly can slip off or be lost when passing through void barriers and portal gates.
- Open at the depot: Strange Chests cannot be opened in the void. Drive your train to the next depot, carry the chest to the workstation/anvil area, and interact with it to break it open.
- Loot contents: Depots reward you with bundles of basic resources (such as iron, scrap, and wood), seeds for your train's garden beds, and mushrooms used to feed Rofleemo crew members.
Troubleshooting Combination Puzzles
- The dials do not rotate or register a valid code: If you input a confirmed visual sequence and the orb fails to open, the puzzle state may be stuck. Save your game at the train and reload to reset the dial collision.
- Symbols seem out of order: Re-check your position against the flashing light. Viewing the landscape from even a few paces off the glint point alters parallax, which can reverse the apparent left-to-right order of two adjacent symbols.
- Running out of traversal gear: Always craft at least 10 to 15 throwing rings before leaving your train for a Witch Island. While natural anchor points (red spiky nodes) exist across the debris fields, missed throws or awkward angles can strand you away from the tracks.
