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Life is Strange: Double Exposuredoesn’t have much in the way of traditional puzzles that you’d find in an adventure game, but it does have one notable artifact that you can come across:The Abraxas puzzle box,crafted by the somewhat mischievous and elite Abraxas Society that you’ll encounter parts of. It’s not the most complex of puzzle boxes, but it does have at least one or two notable segments, and given that it’s spread out over two chapters, you could potentially miss out on it.It’s an optional puzzle,but a fun one, so let’s get to solving it…
Review: Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Life is Strange: Double Exposure kicks off a decade after what went down in Arcadia Bay.
The First Puzzle Box
You’ll first come across the Abraxas puzzle boxin Chapter 1’s final scene, “Back to School Blues.“If you aren’t familiar with the scene yet, it’s the one that has the first appearance of the North Quad, which Max can explore. From the beginning of the scene, just walk forward to the rest area next to the graffiti rock,and you’ll trigger a cutscene where a frustrated Reggiethrows the box on the ground for you to interact with, so you can’t miss it.
This is youronlychance to grab the puzzle box and solve its first phase. While you can explore the North Quad in later scenes, if you leave the box behind here, then you can’t come back for it. And you can’t just use the “Explore” option in the Chapter Select to go back to it without affecting anything else, since again, you need to progress to the second chapter in order to solve the second part of the puzzle box, meaning if you’ve already played past that point, you’d need to replay everything else.
After grabbing the puzzle box, you’ll trigger a conversation with Reggie, and from here,select the dialogue option about the boxto discuss it. He’ll mention that it’s a challenge for a potential Abraxas Society member that has goodies inside of it, and that it’s supposed to test certain virtues. Now you’ll get a chance to interact with the puzzle box proper, at which point you may rotate it and examine all of its six faces, the relevant one right now beingthe “Eye for Detail” face,meant to be hint to the first puzzle’s solution.
The hint guides players towards one of the other sides, that being one witha carving of the statue of the university’s founder,Theomas Caledon Jr. But examining it will have Max point out something a bit obvious, especially if you’ve seen the statue near the middle of the North Quad already: Shouldn’t there betwo birdshere on the statue?
Sure enough, rotate the box a bit more, and you’ll finda side with a bird carved into it,and a prompt to interact with it. As Max will now point out, it turns out that there’s wax around the bird, and a cutscene will play where, thanks to some help from Reggie’s lighter, Max will gain a little bird emblem. So now, rotate the boxback to the side with the statue, and a new prompt appears: “Place Bird.”
Place the bird, and out comes a second puzzle box. Reggie will now just hand it off to Max, but we won’t be getting back to it later,in Chapter 2’s final scene, “Photo Finished.“Once you arrive back at Hellerton House with Moses in the “Dead” timeline, you’ll find this second puzzle boxon the counter in the kitchen,in the same timeline. Interact with it to begin solving it, and don’t worry about heading downstairs to see Moses yet (he’ll wait).
If you did go downstairs to Moses and missed the puzzle box, but picked it up earlier, then you can go back to the Chapter Select and use the “Explore” option to safely solve it without affecting the rest of the game, if you’ve advanced past this point. It won’t count towards the list of choices you made throughout the game if you do it this way, though.
The Second Puzzle Box
Examining our new box, Max will find some new faces on it, includinga “Sense of Justice” facethat apparently hints at a secret compartment, according to Max, and one side with a “Commitment to Society” face that seemingly acts as a bit of a red herring. There’s also a face with an Abraxas logo that we’ll get to soon, but for now,let’s focus on the Constellation face,which is our next step.
Interacting with the Constellation face gives us four pegs that can be moved up and down,with the goal being to complete a constellation with them.And if you’re not up on your astronomy, luckily,there’s a star chart upstairsand past Max’s bedroom that shows the relevant one:Libra,the constellation that represents justice. With this new knowledge, go back downstairs to the box, and move the pegs into their correct positions, according to the Libra constellation.
Take the dial that pops out,then place it ontothe side with the Abraxas logo,now allowing you to interact with it and move both dials. With the “Sense of Justice” guide as a clue about what key elements need to be included,move the dialsso that the rod is in the figure’s left hand, and the shield in the right hand.
Finally, remove the lid, and claim your prize:An Abraxas Society pin!Sadly, there’s not much you can do with it, but it will cause some funny reactions later on in the “Living” timeline where Max keeps wearing it, forgetting that she never even saw the puzzle box in this timeline. Whoops. Well, at least you have the"Thinking Outside the Box"achievement/trophy now!
Life is Strange: Double Exposure: All Polaroid Locations
Need help tracking down all the Polaroid pictures in Life is Strange: Double Exposure? This should help you find out where to look.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Life is Strange: Double Exposure sees the return of Max Caulfield, the first game’s protagonist, now attending Caledon University. When her friend Safi ends up murdered, though, Max ends up discovering that her powers now open alternate timelines at will, and now has to use this power to solve the mystery at hand…and maybe prevent a murder.
