Quests and storylines

The rookie path

Your first steps, in order. The tracker on the screen shows the next one.

Daily goals

A few each day, just for fun: no streaks, and nothing is lost if you skip a day.

The Naturalist's Field Course

Told by Dr. Fernwhistle the Heron, from level 10.

1. Meet the naturalist: Dr. Fernwhistle's camp is on the Primeval Isle. Talk to her.

   Birds are living dinosaurs. The sparrow on a fence and the Velociraptor share ancestors, and scientists have found hundreds of dinosaur fossils with feathers.

2. Study a Parasaurolophus: Get within 12 m of one without it chasing you (a Calm Aura helps) and watch for 5 seconds.

   Parasaurolophus's long crest was hollow, with tubes running from the nose. Blowing air through it probably made deep, low calls, a bit like a trombone, that could carry far across the plains.

3. Bring three fossils: Mine fossil beds (and sometimes bone rocks) and bring 3 fossils to Dr. Fernwhistle.

   A fossil forms when an animal is buried quickly, in mud, sand or ash. Over millions of years, minerals in the water slowly replace the bone, turning it to stone in the same shape.

4. Bring a piece of amber: Amber boulders on the isle hold it (mine them), and old trees drop it. Bring 1 to Dr. Fernwhistle.

   Amber is tree resin that hardened over millions of years. Tiny insects, feathers and even a dinosaur's tail have been found trapped inside, preserved in fine detail.

5. Calm two Velociraptors: They hunt in pairs in the ferns. Calm (cleanse) two of them.

   Velociraptor was about the size of a turkey. Bumps on its arm bones, called quill knobs, are where big feathers were anchored, just as on the wing bones of birds today.

6. Photograph a Pteranodon: Open photo mode (P) and take a picture with a Pteranodon in the frame.

   Pteranodon was not a dinosaur. It was a pterosaur, a flying reptile and a close cousin of the dinosaurs. Its wings were skin stretched from one hugely long fourth finger.

7. Study a Triceratops: Watch a Triceratops for 5 seconds from within 12 m without it charging.

   Triceratops lived at the very end of the age of dinosaurs. Young ones had short horns and a small frill; both grew and changed shape as they grew up.

8. Calm the Tyrannosaurus: The island's Tyrannosaurus rex is too strong for one. Bring friends.

   Tyrannosaurus rex had one of the strongest bites of any land animal ever, and its teeth, as long as bananas, kept growing back all its life. Its small arms were still very strong.

Dr. Fernwhistle pins your notes to her board: "A true naturalist!"

Tales of the Dragon-Keeper

Told by Seraphine the Dragon-Keeper, from level 30.

1. Visit the Dragon-Keeper: Seraphine keeps the old dragon stories. Talk to her.

   Nearly every people on Earth told stories of dragons, from China and Japan to Greece, Scandinavia and Mexico, though they never met one. Each place imagined them differently.

2. A pearl for the rain dragon: Deep-sea serpents carry pearls; river mussels and giant clams hold them. Bring 1 to Seraphine.

   In Chinese tales the dragon (lóng) is wise and kind, a bringer of rain for the rice fields and a sign of good luck. It is often shown chasing a glowing pearl through the clouds.

3. Gold for a hoard: Bring 10 gold nuggets to Seraphine (gold ore, desert ruins).

   In many European stories dragons guard great piles of treasure. In the old English poem Beowulf, a dragon wakes in fury when a thief steals a single golden cup from its hoard.

4. Acorns of the great tree: Acorn Sprouts in the Autumn Woods drop golden acorns. Bring 5 to Seraphine.

   Norse myths tell of Yggdrasil, a giant ash tree holding up the worlds, and of Nidhogg, a dragon gnawing at one of its roots in the dark far below.

5. Feathers of the serpent: Raptors on the Primeval Isle drop feathers. Bring 3 to Seraphine.

   In ancient Mexico the Aztecs honoured Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, a god of wind and learning; the Maya called the feathered serpent Kukulcan.

6. Face a young drake: Calm a Caldera Drake in the Ember Wastes' craters.

   In the Greek myth of the Hydra, each head cut off grew back as two. The hero Heracles won only because his nephew Iolaus sealed each neck with fire. Remember that: heads must be sealed, not just struck.

7. Seven scales for the Seal: The dragons of the Dragonfire Isle drop scales. Bring 7 to Seraphine.

   Japan's legend of Yamata no Orochi tells of a serpent with eight heads and eight tails. The storm god Susanoo set out eight great bowls of a strong drink, and while the monster slept he won. Wits beat many heads.

Seraphine presses the Sevenfold Seal into your hands: "The tower's gate will know you now. Go with seven friends."

The Sky Rower

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 5.

1. Rill's big idea: Rill the Otter is at the pier. Talk to him.

   Leonardo da Vinci drew flying machines in the 1480s whose pilot beat the wings with arms and legs, like rowing.

2. Feathers for the wing tips: Rill asks: could you please bring him 6 feathers? Chickens and bats drop them, and Vesper sells some.

   On the way down a bird's feathers close into one surface that pushes air. On the way up the wing folds a little so the air slips past.

3. Build the Sky Rower: Build it at a workbench: planks, bamboo, cloth, feathers, rope and resin.

   A wing lifts because it pushes air down. Push air down and the air pushes you up.

4. A first hop: Set the Sky Rower down, climb in and row with Space. Fly 30 m in one flight.

   The Wright brothers' first flight, in 1903, lasted 12 seconds and went about 37 metres.

5. Across the bay: Fly 250 m in one flight. Row up high, then glide, and row again in short bursts.

   In 1988 the pedal-powered aircraft Daedalus flew about 115 km over the sea from Crete to Santorini, powered only by its pilot's legs.

Rill: "Every kid who flapped their arms off a porch step was right. We just needed oars!"

The Heron Count

Told by Wren's field journal, from level 2.

1. Read Wren's field journal: Wren's camp is by the river. Press E on her notice board.

   Counting birds is real science. Since 1900, volunteers in the Christmas Bird Count have counted birds every winter, and scientists use their numbers to see how birds are doing.

2. Watch a heron nest: Heron nests are by the water. Watch one quietly from a few steps away.

   Herons hunt by standing perfectly still in shallow water, then striking fast with their long, sharp beaks.

3. Read two explorers' notes: Explorers' camps in the Riverlands leave notes on their crates. Read two new ones.

   Good field notes say what you saw, where and when. Scientists still read nature notebooks written hundreds of years ago.

4. Climb Kingfisher Lookout: Find Kingfisher Lookout in the Riverlands and climb to its deck.

   Kingfishers dive head-first into water to catch fish. Japan's bullet train has a long nose shaped like a kingfisher's beak, which makes it quieter going into tunnels.

5. Leave your count in the journal: Go back to Wren's camp and write your count in her journal (E on the board).

   When many people share what they see, even small counts add up to something big.

Wren's journal: "Forty-one herons this year! Thank you, fellow watcher."

Bones by the River

Told by Professor Pebble's notes, from level 3.

1. Read Professor Pebble's notes: The Otterbank Fossil Dig is by the river. Press E on the notice board.

   A fossil is any trace of ancient life kept in rock: bones, shells, leaves, footprints, even burrows.

2. Brush at the Otterbank dig: Press E on the dig, slowly and gently, until the fossil comes free.

   Fossil hunters work slowly with small brushes and picks, because old bones are fragile. Some digs take years.

3. Brush two more fossils: Fossil digs are scattered through the Riverlands. Brush two new ones.

   Rivers carry mud and sand and lay them down in layers. Animals buried quickly in those layers are the most likely to become fossils.

4. Dig up buried treasure: Look for disturbed earth and little tracks, then dig there with a shovel.

   Archaeologists and fossil hunters write down exactly where each find was, before they lift it: where a thing lay tells half its story.

5. Tell a town keeper about your finds: Talk to the keeper of any town.

   The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, opened in 1683, was one of the first museums open to the public: a place where finds are shared with everyone.

Professor Pebble's note: "A fine collection! Share it, and let everyone learn."

Mending the Footbridge

Told by The bridge-mending sign, from level 4.

1. Read the bridge-mending sign: The Old Mill Footbridge crossing is on a Riverlands river. Press E on its board.

   Bridges carry weight out to their ends: a beam bridge bends a little, and an arch bridge squeezes its stones together.

2. Bring planks, rope or stone: Press E on the sign with planks, rope or stone in your satchel. Everyone's gifts add up.

   The Romans built stone arch bridges so well that some, like the Pont du Gard in France, still stand after about 2,000 years.

3. Cross the mended footbridge: When everyone's gifts have mended it, walk across the new footbridge.

   Before a new bridge opens, engineers often test it by driving heavy trucks onto it and measuring how much it bends.

A note nailed to the sign: "Built by all of us. Thank you!"

Planting Tomorrow's Forest

Told by Juniper's sketchbook, from level 15.

1. Open Juniper's sketchbook: Juniper's Leafy Camp is in the Autumn Woods. Press E on the board.

   One big oak tree can be home and food for hundreds of kinds of insects, birds and other animals.

2. Plant three seeds or saplings: Plant anything that grows: seeds in tilled soil, or saplings in the ground.

   A tree's roots hold the soil together, so forests keep hillsides from washing away in heavy rain.

3. Watch a frog pond: Frogs live by the woodland ponds. Watch them quietly from a few steps away.

   Frogs breathe partly through their thin skin, so they need clean water: healthy frogs are a sign of a healthy pond.

4. Read two explorers' notes: Explorers' camps in the Autumn Woods leave notes on their crates. Read two new ones.

   Squirrels bury thousands of nuts each autumn and forget many of them, so they plant new trees without meaning to.

5. Show Juniper your work: Go back to Juniper's camp (E on the board).

   An oak can live for hundreds of years: some old oaks in England are more than 1,000 years old.

Juniper's sketchbook: a drawing of a tall forest, and underneath: "Ours, one day."

Leaves of Stone

Told by Dr. Bramwell's notes, from level 15.

1. Read Dr. Bramwell's notes: The Copperleaf Fossil Bank is in the Autumn Woods. Press E on the board.

   Shale is made of layers of fine mud pressed into rock. It splits into thin sheets, and leaves and insects are often found between them.

2. Brush at the Copperleaf bank: Press E on the dig, slowly and gently.

   Fossil leaves can keep their veins, and sometimes even the tiny holes insects chewed in them long ago.

3. Brush two more fossils: Fossil digs are scattered through the Autumn Woods. Brush two new ones.

   Sea shells high in the hills show the land was once under water, and was slowly lifted up over millions of years.

4. Climb Russet Ridge Lookout: Find Russet Ridge Lookout and climb to its deck.

   Rocks are laid down in layers, the oldest at the bottom, so reading a cliff from bottom to top is like reading history in order.

5. Report back to Dr. Bramwell: Go back to the Copperleaf Fossil Bank (E on the board).

   Some of the oldest leaf fossils with flowers are about 130 million years old: flowers came long after ferns and conifers.

Dr. Bramwell's notes: "The hills remember the sea. Thank you for listening to them."

The Old Cider Mill Well

Told by The well-mending sign, from level 15.

1. Read the well-mending sign: The Old Cider Mill Well is in the Autumn Woods. Press E on its board.

   A well reaches down to groundwater: rain soaks into the ground and fills the tiny spaces between grains of sand and rock.

2. Bring stone, planks or rope: Press E on the sign with stone, planks or rope in your satchel. Everyone's gifts add up.

   People have dug wells for thousands of years: some of the oldest known wooden wells, found in Germany, are about 7,000 years old.

3. Drink from the mended well: When the well is mended, press E on it for a drink.

   About one person in four in the world still has no safe drinking water at home, and many walk a long way each day to fetch it.

The well-mending sign now reads: "Water for everyone, mended by everyone."

A Warm Meal for Pim

Told by Pim's diary, from level 60.

1. Read Pim's diary: Pim's Snowbound Camp is in the Frostlands. Press E on the board.

   In the cold your body burns more energy just to stay warm, so a hot meal really does help.

2. Cook a warm meal: Cook any meal at a campfire or cookpot.

   Hot drinks and soups warm you from the inside, and holding a warm cup warms your hands too.

3. Leave frost berries in Pim's basket: Pim loves frost berries. Bring 3 to his camp and press E on the board.

   Many berries taste sweeter after a frost: the cold makes the plant turn some of its starch into sugar.

4. Watch the sky from a lookout at dusk: Climb any Frostlands lookout (Northstar Lookout is a fine one) as the sun goes down.

   The northern lights happen most often in the long, dark nights near the poles, when the sky is clear.

5. Tell Pim in his diary: Go back to Pim's camp (E on the board).

   Explorers in the far north looked after each other: sharing food and warmth was how everyone survived the winter.

Pim's diary: "Berries AND a hot supper? I'll never forget this kindness."

Ice Age Giants

Told by Dr. Snowden's notes, from level 60.

1. Read Dr. Snowden's notes: Mammoth Ledge is in the Frostlands. Press E on the board.

   During the last Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago, huge sheets of ice covered much of North America and northern Europe.

2. Brush at Mammoth Ledge: Press E on the dig, slowly and gently.

   Frozen baby mammoths have been found in Siberia with their skin and hair still kept by the cold ground.

3. Brush two more fossils: Fossil digs are scattered through the Frostlands. Brush two new ones.

   Woolly mammoths had small ears and short tails, which lose less heat, and a thick layer of fat under their shaggy coats.

4. Report back to Dr. Snowden: Go back to Mammoth Ledge (E on the board).

   The very last mammoths lived on Wrangel Island until about 4,000 years ago, when the pyramids of Egypt were already standing.

Dr. Snowden's notes: "The giants are gone, but now we remember them."

The Frostpine Well

Told by The well-mending sign, from level 60.

1. Read the well-mending sign: Frostpine Well is in the Frostlands. Press E on its board.

   Water is heaviest at 4 °C, so in winter the deepest water in a lake stays at about 4 °C while ice forms on top.

2. Bring stone, planks or rope: Press E on the sign with stone, planks or rope in your satchel.

   Thick walls of stone and logs keep warmth in: that's why cabins in cold lands have heavy walls and small windows.

3. Drink from the mended well: When the well is mended, press E on it for a drink.

   Fluffy snow is mostly air: a whole bucket of it melts into only a little water, so people in cold lands prefer wells and streams.

The well-mending sign now reads: "Warm hands, cold water, good friends."

Stars to Steer By

Told by Farid's travel log, from level 40.

1. Read Farid's travel log: Caravan Rest is in the Sunscorch Desert. Press E on the board.

   Before compasses, desert travellers found their way by the stars. The North Star stays in almost the same place all night, always to the north.

2. Watch the stars come out from a lookout: Climb any desert lookout at dusk.

   Stars twinkle because their light is bent by moving air on its way to your eyes.

3. Read two caravan notes: Explorers' camps in the desert leave notes on their crates. Read two new ones.

   Camel caravans carried salt, gold and cloth across the Sahara for more than a thousand years.

4. Write in Farid's log: Go back to Caravan Rest (E on the board).

   Some birds, like the indigo bunting, learn the night sky when they are young and use the stars to steer when they migrate.

Farid's travel log: "Now you can find your way home in the dark. Guide someone else one day!"

Bones in the Sand

Told by Dr. Amina's notes, from level 40.

1. Read Dr. Amina's notes: The Sunbone Dig is in the Sunscorch Desert. Press E on the board.

   The Sahara was green about 10,000 to 5,000 years ago, with lakes, hippos and crocodiles. Rock paintings there even show people swimming!

2. Brush at the Sunbone Dig: Press E on the dig, slowly and gently.

   Wind blows sand that slowly wears rock away, like sandpaper, and uncovers the fossils inside.

3. Brush two more fossils: Fossil digs are scattered through the desert. Brush two new ones.

   Some dinosaur nests have eggs laid neatly in circles, which shows those dinosaurs arranged their eggs with care.

4. Report back to Dr. Amina: Go back to the Sunbone Dig (E on the board).

   In the desert's dry air, bones and even footprints can last a very long time before the weather wears them away.

Dr. Amina's notes: "A sea in the desert! Now you know its secret too."

The Oasis Well

Told by The well-mending sign, from level 40.

1. Read the well-mending sign: The Oasis Well is in the Sunscorch Desert. Press E on its board.

   An oasis is a green place in the desert where water from underground comes up to the surface.

2. Bring sandstone, planks or rope: Press E on the sign with sandstone, planks or rope in your satchel.

   Long ago people in Persia dug qanats: gently sloping tunnels that carry groundwater many kilometres to towns and farms. Some still flow after 2,000 years.

3. Drink from the mended well: When the well is mended, press E on it for a drink.

   Date palms need lots of water at their roots and lots of sun on their leaves, which is why they grow round oases.

The well-mending sign now reads: "Water first, for everyone."

One Small Step

Told by Tamsin's notebook, from level 90.

1. Read Tamsin's notebook: Warm Springs Camp is in the Ember Wastes. Press E on the board.

   Volcano scientists study lava up close in heat-proof suits, and they always work in pairs and plan a safe way back.

2. Climb Cinder Lookout: Find Cinder Lookout and climb to its deck.

   Most lava flows move slower than you can walk, so people usually have time to step out of the way.

3. Read two explorers' notes: Explorers' camps in the Ember Wastes leave notes on their crates. Read two new ones.

   Geysers like Old Faithful shoot hot water into the air when water deep underground boils and pushes up.

4. Show Tamsin your map: Go back to Warm Springs Camp (E on the board).

   New land is made at volcanoes every year, as lava cools into fresh black rock.

Tamsin's notebook: "See? One small step, then another. You're braver than you think!"

The Forest Under the Ash

Told by Professor Basalt's notes, from level 90.

1. Read Professor Basalt's notes: The Ashleaf Dig is in the Ember Wastes. Press E on the board.

   Volcanic ash is not soft like wood ash: it is made of tiny, sharp bits of rock and glass.

2. Brush at the Ashleaf Dig: Press E on the dig, slowly and gently.

   In China, scientists found a forest buried by volcanic ash about 298 million years ago, with its plants still where they grew.

3. Brush two more fossils: Fossil digs are scattered through the Ember Wastes. Brush two new ones.

   Layers of ash can be dated very precisely, which tells scientists exactly how old the fossils in them are.

4. Report back to Professor Basalt: Go back to the Ashleaf Dig (E on the board).

   After Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, purple lupine flowers were among the first plants to grow again on the bare ash.

Professor Basalt's notes: "Even after fire, life comes back. Remember that."

The Bathhouse Well

Told by The well-mending sign, from level 90.

1. Read the well-mending sign: The Bathhouse Well is in the Ember Wastes. Press E on its board.

   Hot springs are heated by warm rock underground: rainwater sinks deep, warms up and rises again.

2. Bring stone, bricks or rope: Press E on the sign with stone, bricks or rope in your satchel.

   In Japan, people have bathed in hot springs called onsen for well over a thousand years.

3. Drink from the mended well: When the well is mended, press E on it for a drink.

   Spring water carries minerals from the rocks it passes through, which can give it a strong taste or smell.

The well-mending sign now reads: "Warm water, warm hearts."

Lights in the Dark

Told by Maud's glow log, from level 25.

1. Read Maud's glow log: Lanternmoss Camp is in Glowcap Hollow. Press E on the board.

   Bioluminescence is light made by living things: fireflies, some fungi and many deep-sea animals make their own light.

2. See glowing caps at dusk: Find glowing caps in Glowcap Hollow and look closely (E) at dusk.

   Firefly light is cold light: almost all of its energy becomes light, and very little becomes heat.

3. Read two explorers' notes: Explorers' camps in the hollow leave notes on their crates. Read two new ones.

   Most animals in the deep sea make their own light, to find food, to hide or to signal to each other.

4. Write in Maud's log: Go back to Lanternmoss Camp (E on the board).

   Some glow-worms in caves in New Zealand hang sticky threads from the ceiling and glow to lure insects, like a sky full of stars.

Maud's glow log: "You found the light in the dark. Now you can share it!"

The Giant Fungus

Told by Professor Fennimore's notes, from level 25.

1. Read Professor Fennimore's notes: Spore Hollow Dig is in Glowcap Hollow. Press E on the board.

   Fungi were among the first living things on land, helping to turn bare rock into soil.

2. Brush at Spore Hollow: Press E on the dig, slowly and gently.

   Fossil fungi are rare because they are soft, but scientists have found fungus threads in rocks hundreds of millions of years old.

3. Brush two more fossils: Fossil digs are scattered through the hollow. Brush two new ones.

   Much of the world's coal formed from ancient swamp forests of giant club mosses and horsetails.

4. Report back to Professor Fennimore: Go back to Spore Hollow Dig (E on the board).

   Without fungi breaking down dead wood, fallen trees would pile up for ever.

Professor Fennimore's notes: "The oldest forests weren't trees at all. Thank you for helping me prove it!"

The Lantern Well

Told by The well-mending sign, from level 25.

1. Read the well-mending sign: The Lantern Well is in Glowcap Hollow. Press E on its board.

   Mushrooms are mostly water: many are about nine parts water to one part everything else.

2. Bring stone, planks or glass: Press E on the sign with stone, planks or glass in your satchel.

   Glass is made by melting sand, mostly tiny grains of quartz, in a very hot fire.

3. Drink from the mended well: When the well is mended, press E on it for a drink.

   Underground, water can travel slowly through rock for years before it comes up in a spring or a well.

The well-mending sign now reads: "A light and a drink for every traveller."

Hatchling Watch

Told by The hatchling watchers' board, from level 35.

1. Read the hatchling watchers' board: Hatchling Hollow is on the Primeval Isle. Press E on the board.

   Some baby dinosaurs grew very fast: a few kinds went from the size of a cat to many tonnes in just a few years.

2. Watch a Parasaurolophus nest: Watch a Parasaurolophus nest quietly from a few steps away.

   Parasaurolophus babies had only a small bump on their heads: the long crest grew as they grew up.

3. Watch a Triceratops nest: Find a Triceratops nest on the isle and watch it quietly.

   Scientists can tell how old a dinosaur was when it died by looking at growth rings inside its bones, a bit like tree rings.

4. Add your notes to the board: Go back to Hatchling Hollow (E on the board).

   Some dinosaurs sat on their nests like birds do: fossils of Oviraptor have been found sitting on their eggs.

The hatchling watchers' board: a new drawing of two babies, and your name under it.

Amber and Bones

Told by Dr. Fernwhistle's dig notes, from level 35.

1. Read Dr. Fernwhistle's dig notes: Amber Ridge Dig is on the Primeval Isle. Press E on the board.

   Amber starts as sticky resin that trees make to seal their wounds, like a plaster.

2. Brush at Amber Ridge: Press E on the dig, slowly and gently.

   Amber is so light that some of it floats in salty sea water, and it washes up on beaches round the Baltic Sea.

3. Brush two more fossils: Fossil digs are scattered through the isle. Brush two new ones.

   Ammonites were so common and changed so much over time that geologists use them to tell how old a rock layer is.

4. Find what the rain uncovered: After rain, look for fossils the water washed clean.

   Mary Anning found many of her famous fossils after winter storms washed the cliffs at Lyme Regis in England.

5. Report back to Dr. Fernwhistle: Go back to Amber Ridge Dig (E on the board).

   Insects trapped in amber can keep their colours, their hairs and even the patterns on their wings.

Dr. Fernwhistle's dig notes: "Splendid work! A true naturalist."

Crossing Fern Creek

Told by The bridge-mending sign, from level 35.

1. Read the bridge-mending sign: Fern Creek Crossing is on the Primeval Isle. Press E on its board.

   The Inca built rope bridges from woven grass high in the Andes. One, the Q'eswachaka, is still rewoven by the villagers every year.

2. Bring planks, rope or bamboo: Press E on the sign with planks, rope or bamboo in your satchel.

   Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world: some kinds grow nearly a metre in a single day.

3. Cross the new bridge: When everyone's gifts have built it, walk across the bridge.

   Rope bridges sway because they hang from their ends, so walking in step can make them swing: go steady, one at a time.

A note tied to the bridge: "Now nobody gets wet boots. Thank you!"

Keeper Brand's Logbook

Told by Keeper Brand's logbook, from level 115.

1. Read Keeper Brand's logbook: Keeper's Rest is on the Dragonfire Isle. Press E on the board.

   Maleo birds bury their eggs in warm volcanic sand. The chicks dig their way out and can fly on the very day they hatch.

2. Read two keepers' notes: The isle's camps leave notes on their crates. Read two new ones.

   Komodo dragons can smell food from kilometres away with their forked tongues, which pick up smells from the air.

3. Climb Ember Watch: Find Ember Watch and climb to its deck.

   Most volcanoes in the world are under the sea, hidden along long cracks in the ocean floor.

4. Write in the logbook: Go back to Keeper's Rest (E on the board).

   Real 'dragons' like the Komodo dragon are protected in national parks, so they and their islands stay safe.

Keeper Brand's logbook: "You've learned the first rule: respect. The isle knows you now."

Bones of Legend

Told by The fossil hunter's notes, from level 115.

1. Read the fossil hunter's notes: The Scorched Bone Dig is on the Dragonfire Isle. Press E on the board.

   In 1935 a scientist found a giant ape's tooth for sale as a 'dragon tooth' in a Hong Kong medicine shop. It belonged to Gigantopithecus, the largest ape that ever lived.

2. Brush at the Scorched Bone Dig: Press E on the dig, slowly and gently.

   Ichthyosaurs, the sea dragons, gave birth to live babies in the water instead of laying eggs.

3. Brush two more fossils: Fossil digs are scattered through the isle. Brush two new ones.

   Mary Anning was only about 12 when she and her brother dug up an ichthyosaur skeleton that made scientists everywhere take notice.

4. Report back: Go back to the Scorched Bone Dig (E on the board).

   Some historians think fossil bones seen long ago helped inspire the stories of griffins and dragons.

The fossil hunter's notes: "Legends begin with real wonders. Now you know both."

The Keepers' Watch

Told by The keepers' board, from level 115.

1. Read the keepers' board: Ember Watch is on the Dragonfire Isle. Press E on its board.

   For hundreds of years, lighthouse keepers climbed their towers every evening to light the lamp and keep ships safe.

2. Keep watch at dusk: Climb any lookout on the isle as the sun goes down.

   The island of Surtsey rose from the sea off Iceland in 1963; scientists have watched plants and birds arrive there ever since.

3. Visit Keeper's Rest: Find Keeper's Rest and read the note on its crate.

   Seabirds often nest on volcanic islands, where there are no foxes or rats to reach their eggs.

4. Sign the keepers' board: Go back to Ember Watch (E on the board).

   Lighthouse lamps were made to shine for kilometres using big glass lenses, invented by Augustin Fresnel in the 1820s.

The keepers' board: "Every watch kept is a promise kept."

Lights for the Refuge

Told by The lantern-keepers' log, from level 70.

1. Read the lantern-keepers' log: The Lantern-keepers' Camp is in Zombie Land. Press E on the board.

   A candle doesn't burn its wick: the flame melts the wax, the wick draws it up, and it is the wax vapour that burns.

2. Bring resin for the lanterns: Bring 3 resin to the lantern-keepers' camp and press E on the board.

   Long ago people made torches from wood soaked in pine resin, which burns slowly and brightly.

3. Read two refuge notes: Camps in Zombie Land leave notes on their crates. Read two new ones.

   Many lighthouses flash in their own pattern, so sailors can tell at night which lighthouse they are looking at.

4. Watch the mist from a lookout at dusk: Climb any Zombie Land lookout as the sun goes down.

   Glow-worms are beetles: on summer nights the females glow green to call a mate.

5. Write in the log: Go back to the lantern-keepers' camp (E on the board).

   Lanterns were once lit by lamplighters, who walked the streets every evening with a long pole.

The lantern-keepers' log: "Every lantern you helped light brought someone home."

What the Bog Keeps

Told by Dr. Moss's notes, from level 70.

1. Read Dr. Moss's notes: The Bog Oak Dig is in Zombie Land. Press E on the board.

   Peat grows very slowly, only about a millimetre a year, so a bog 5 metres deep can be around 5,000 years old.

2. Brush at the Bog Oak Dig: Press E on the dig, slowly and gently.

   Bog oak is so hard and dark that people carve it into jewellery and fine furniture.

3. Brush two more fossils: Fossil digs are scattered through the bogs. Brush two new ones.

   Bogs store huge amounts of carbon in their peat, which helps keep the world's climate steady.

4. Watch the bog frogs: Watch frogs by a bog pool quietly from a few steps away.

   Wood frogs can freeze almost solid in winter and thaw out alive in spring.

5. Report back to Dr. Moss: Go back to the Bog Oak Dig (E on the board).

   Pollen grains are so tough that they last for thousands of years in peat, like a diary of the plants that grew nearby.

Dr. Moss's notes: "The bog is a library, and you just read a page."

The Refuge Well

Told by The well-mending sign, from level 70.

1. Read the well-mending sign: The Refuge Well is in Zombie Land. Press E on its board.

   Bog water is often brown because of tannins from the peat, the same stuff that colours tea.

2. Bring stone, planks or rope: Press E on the sign with stone, planks or rope in your satchel.

   Sand and gravel make a good filter: water that seeps through them comes out much cleaner.

3. Drink from the mended well: When the well is mended, press E on it for a drink.

   Deep wells draw water that has been filtered through layers of rock, so it is often cleaner than water from a pond.

The well-mending sign now reads: "Clean water for the refuge, from all of us."

The Blanket Fort

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 5.

1. Rill's blanket fort: Rill remembers: "When I was a pup, I built forts from sofa cushions and blankets, with a torch inside. Mira could use one now."

   Blankets keep you warm by trapping still air between their fibres. Still air carries heat away very slowly, so your warmth stays close to you.

2. Mira's grandkids: Talk to Mira at the kitchen. Her grandkids (their pictures are on her wall) are scared of storm nights.

   People have lived in tents for thousands of years. Many herders in Mongolia still live in gers: round homes of felt stretched over a folding wooden frame.

3. The Cosy Lantern: Make a Cosy Lantern at a workbench: a glass jar, a resin candle and a cloth ribbon.

   A candle burns its own wax. The flame melts the wax, the wick draws the liquid up, and the heat turns it into a gas that burns. That's why a candle gets shorter as it glows.

4. Build the fort: Make Blanket Walls, a Blanket Doorway and Blanket Roofs by hand (C) and put up 12 pieces outside the village. Roof it over!

   Cushions and quilts are soft because they are full of air: feathers, wool and cotton fluff trap tiny pockets of it, and the air squashes and springs back.

5. A cosy night in the fort: Set the Cosy Lantern down inside the fort and stay in there through a night, till morning. A bed inside makes the night go faster.

   Thunder is the sound of lightning: the flash heats the air so fast that it bursts outwards with a boom. Count the seconds from the flash to the boom and divide by three: that's roughly how many kilometres away the storm is.

Mira: "The grandkids won't be scared of storms now. They'll be asking for them! Thank you, dear."

The Crate Rocket

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 6.

1. Rill's moon rocket: Rill remembers: "I once flew to the Moon in a fish crate with a control panel drawn on. It took all afternoon, and I never left the garden!"

   Twelve people have walked on the Moon, all of them between 1969 and 1972, on NASA's Apollo missions.

2. Build the Crate Rocket: Build it at a workbench: planks, copper for the nose cone, cloth for the flag, rope and sticks.

   Real rockets carry their own oxygen to burn their fuel, because there is no air to breathe in space. A plane's engine would stop up there; a rocket's keeps going.

3. The highest peak: Carry it up the highest mountain in this land. Every so often you hear which way it is and how far.

   The higher you climb, the thinner the air. On top of Mount Everest, 8,849 m up, each breath holds only about a third of the oxygen it would by the sea.

4. The moon landing: Stand the Crate Rocket on the summit, so the whole village can see its flag.

   Apollo 11 planted a flag on the Moon in 1969. The Moon has no wind, so the flag had a rod along its top edge to hold it out.

Rill: "I saw your flag from the pier! The whole village was waving up at you!"

The Tin-Can Telephone

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 7.

1. Rill's string telephone: Rill remembers: "My best friend and I had two cans and a long string between our bedroom windows. We whispered goodnight every night."

   In a tin-can telephone your voice shakes the bottom of the can. The tight string carries the shaking to the other can, whose bottom shakes the air again, and out comes your voice.

2. Two cans and a string: Make 2 Tin-Can Telephones at a workbench.

   Sound travels much faster through solid things than through air: about 343 m a second in air, but over 5,000 m a second along steel.

3. From house to house: Hang one can by Tiberius's workshop and one by Mira's kitchen: hold a can near each house and use it.

   The string has to be pulled tight. A slack string wobbles and soaks up the shaking, and the voice fades away before it arrives.

4. A message from Tiberius: Talk to Tiberius at his workshop: he'd like to try the telephone.

   Alexander Graham Bell received the first telephone patent in 1876. His first words on it were to his assistant: "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you."

5. Mira's answer: Talk to Mira at her kitchen and hear what she says back.

   Your ears never stop hearing, even while you sleep. Your brain quietly decides which sounds are worth waking you for, like your own name.

Rill: "Two cans and a string, and now nobody on our street is ever alone. Best gadget I never invented!"

The Garden Knight

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 7.

1. Rill's garden knight: Rill remembers: "With a stick sword and a pot-lid shield, I guarded Mum's vegetable patch from dragons. Well, from the neighbour's cat."

   Knights in the Middle Ages made promises called chivalry: to be brave, to keep their word, and to protect people who couldn't protect themselves.

2. The Stick Sword: Make a Stick Sword by hand (C): two sticks, rope and a cloth grip.

   Real swords were made by smiths, who heated steel until it glowed and hammered it into shape, again and again.

3. The Pot-Lid Shield: Make a Pot-Lid Shield at a workbench, and wear it in your off hand.

   Viking warriors carried round wooden shields about 80 to 90 cm across, often painted in bright colours.

4. Guard the garden: Bunnies and sparrows are nibbling Mira's garden. Wear the Stick Sword in your Hand slot and swing it near them: they hop off home. Nobody gets hurt!

   A rabbit's front teeth never stop growing, about 2 mm a week, so rabbits nibble and gnaw all day to keep them short.

5. Report to Mira: Tell Mira her garden is safe.

   Farmers have used scarecrows for thousands of years: in ancient Egypt and Greece they stood in the fields to keep birds off the crops.

Mira: "My carrots thank you, Sir Knight, and so do I!"

The Treehouse Club

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 8.

1. Rill's treehouse: Rill remembers: "We had a treehouse with a rope ladder and a 'no grown-ups' sign. Then Dad climbed up with lemonade, and we let him in."

   Some trees live for thousands of years. A bristlecone pine in California's White Mountains is more than 4,800 years old.

2. Up in the branches: Build a treehouse: 10 building pieces at least 6 m above the ground, up in a big tree. A platform, rails and a roof!

   A tree grows a new ring of wood under its bark every year. Count the rings on a stump and you know how old the tree was.

3. The rope ladder: Make a Rope Ladder at a workbench and stand it against your treehouse.

   Sailors climbed rope ladders up the rigging and over the sides of ships: a rope ladder is light, it rolls up, and it never slips off.

4. The club sign: Make a Treehouse Club Sign at a workbench and put it up at your treehouse.

   Sign languages are full languages. British and American Sign Language are quite different from each other, even though both countries speak English.

5. Lookout for Bramble: Stand on your treehouse and look out: face a far landmark for a moment to spot it for Bramble's map. Spot 3.

   The higher you stand, the further the horizon. From 2 m up it is about 5 km away; from a 6 m treehouse, about 9 km.

Bramble: "Three new places for my map, all found from your treehouse! May I visit the club? I'll bring lemonade."

The Treasure Map

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 6.

1. A map with an X: Rill remembers burying a tin of treasure as a pup. Talk to him at the pier.

   The famous 'X marks the spot' map comes from a storybook: Robert Louis Stevenson drew the map first, then wrote Treasure Island (1883) around it. Real pirates almost never buried their treasure.

2. Draw the map: Make a Treasure Map at a workbench: bamboo pressed into paper, and a lump of coal to draw with.

   Paper was first made in China about 1,900 years ago: plant fibres were soaked, beaten to a pulp, spread thin on a screen and dried. Cai Lun, an official at the Han court, made it famous in the year 105.

3. Bury the chest: Build a Kids' Treasure Chest at a workbench and set it down somewhere fun to find. Your map marks the spot with an X.

   A squirrel can bury thousands of nuts in one autumn and finds many of them again by memory and smell. The ones it forgets can sprout into new trees.

4. Three gifts inside: Open your chest (E) and put in three gifts a kid would love to find: a seashell, a feather, a sweet treat.

   Geocaching is a real treasure hunt: since 2000, people all over the world have hidden millions of little boxes for strangers to find with a map and a GPS. The rule is to leave something as good as what you take.

5. Give Bramble the map: Bramble the Squirrel loves a riddle. Please take him your map, so he and the village kids can go hunting.

   Most maps put north at the top, but that's only a habit. Many old European maps put east at the top, toward the sunrise, and that is where the word 'orient' comes from.

6. X marks the spot: Bramble and the kids are following your map. Meet them at your X!

   Real treasure does turn up now and then: in 2009 a man with a metal detector found the Staffordshire Hoard in a farmer's field in England, over 3,500 pieces of gold and silver. He shared the reward with the farmer.

Rill: "Did you see their faces when the lid came up? Best treasure hunt the village ever had. Thank you for giving it to them!"

The Snow Fort

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 60.

1. A letter from Nils: Rill has a letter from the Frostlands, and a memory of snow forts. Talk to him at the pier.

   Fresh snow is mostly air, often more than nine parts in ten. All that trapped air keeps the cold out, which is why animals sleep snug in snow dens.

2. Visit Nils: Nils the Snow Hare keeps the shop in the Frostlands' towns. Please go and ask him how you can help.

   Snowshoe hares have huge furry hind feet. They spread the hare's weight like snowshoes, so it runs across soft snow instead of sinking in.

3. A snow-block mould: Build a Snow Block Mould at a workbench: a little plank box with a rope handle.

   Inuit builders cut igloo blocks from firm, wind-packed snow and lay them in a rising spiral. With a small lamp inside, an igloo can be tens of degrees warmer than the wind outside.

4. The windbreak: Out in the Frostlands, use the mould on snow to pack blocks, and place 16 Snow Blocks as a wall.

   A windbreak doesn't have to stop the wind, only slow it. A fence or a hedge shelters the ground behind it for several times its own height.

5. Three snowman guards: Build 3 Snowmen (3 snow blocks, 2 sticks, a carrot and 2 pebbles each) and stand them by your wall.

   The oldest known picture of a snowman is in a prayer book from about 1380, kept today in a library in The Hague. People have built them for more than 600 years.

6. Hold out through the blizzard: The blizzard is coming! Stay by your fort until it passes, so the hares stay safe behind the wall.

   Weather experts call a snowstorm a blizzard when the wind blows at 56 km/h or more and blowing snow hides everything beyond about 400 m, for three hours or longer.

Rill: "Nils wrote again: every hare slept warm behind your wall. He says thank you, and there's cocoa waiting whenever you visit!"

The Sandcastle and the Tide

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 40.

1. Faster than the waves: Rill remembers racing the tide with a bucket and spade. Talk to him at the pier.

   Damp sand holds together because thin films of water between the grains pull them toward each other. Bone-dry sand pours like sugar, and soaking-wet sand slumps.

2. Zahra's wish: Zahra the Fennec Fox keeps the shop in the desert towns. She has never built a sandcastle by the sea. Please go and tell her your plan.

   Desert sand is often too smooth for castles: the wind rolls its grains until they are round, and round grains slide off each other. Rougher, damp beach sand holds a shape much better.

3. Build the castle: On a shore, just above the water, place 8 Sand Towers and Sand Walls (made from sand, by hand).

   The tallest sandcastle ever built stood over 21 metres high, in Binz, Germany, in 2021. Its builders shaped thousands of tonnes of sand.

4. Dig the moat: Dig into the sand around your castle with a shovel: 6 scoops for the moat.

   Many real castle moats were dry ditches, not water. A deep ditch was enough to stop siege towers and ladders reaching the walls.

5. Hold back the tide: Stay by your castle and watch one high tide come in and go out again (about a quarter of a day).

   Most coasts get two high tides a day. The Moon's pull, and the Earth swinging round with it, raise one bulge of ocean on the side facing the Moon and another on the far side, and the Earth turns through both.

Rill: "It held! Well, mostly. I'm sending Zahra a drawing of it. She says it's the best castle she's ever seen."

The Creek Dam

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 10.

1. A pond for the meadow: Rill remembers damming a stream with sticks and stones. Talk to him at the pier.

   Beavers build dams of sticks, stones and mud. The ponds behind them become homes for fish, frogs, ducks and insects, and a drinking place for deer.

2. Build the dam: Make Creek Dams by hand (4 stones and 3 sticks each) and place 8 of them in a closed ring round a dry hollow.

   Beaver ponds soak into the ground around them and raise the water under the land, so the meadows nearby stay green through dry summers.

3. Fill the pond: Set Rill's Spring Stone inside your dam and let the water rise: a hand deep (20 cm) over about 8 square metres.

   Water always runs downhill and settles level. However bumpy a pond's bottom is, its surface lies flat.

4. Thirsty visitors: Deer and rabbits have found your pond! Open photo mode (P) and take a picture of one drinking.

   A deer's eyes sit on the sides of its head, so even with its head down to drink it can see almost all the way round it, about 310 degrees.

Rill: "Look at them drink! Nobody will ever know who made that pond. That's the best part, isn't it?"

The Floor Is Lava!

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 90.

1. The floor is lava!: Rill remembers leaping from cushion to cushion. Talk to him at the pier.

   Real lava is very hot: runny basalt lava, like Hawaii's, pours out at about 1,100 to 1,200 °C, hot enough to glow orange-yellow.

2. Cinda's worry: Cinda the Salamander keeps the shop in the Ember Wastes' towns, and she needs help. Please go and ask her.

   Salamanders are amphibians, not fire creatures: they breathe partly through their thin, moist skin, so they love damp, shady places.

3. Stepping stones: Build 12 Lava Stepping Stones at a workbench (3 at a time): basalt slabs with a cushion tied on top.

   Basalt is cooled lava. When a thick flow cools slowly it can crack into tall six-sided columns, like the 40,000 of the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.

4. A path across: Place 12 stepping stones on the lava, from the shore out to Pip's rock (the map shows where). The stones are safe to stand on; the lava isn't!

   Pumice is lava so full of gas bubbles that it floats. Rafts of pumice from undersea volcanoes have drifted across whole oceans.

5. Reach Pip: Hop across your stones to Pip's rock and pick Pip up.

   You keep your balance with three tiny fluid-filled loops in each inner ear. They feel every tilt and turn of your head and help your body steady itself.

6. Carry Pip home: Carry Pip back across the stones to solid ground.

   Salamanders can grow back a lost leg or tail, bones, muscles and all. Scientists study them to learn how healing works.

Cinda hugs Pip tight: "You crossed the lava for my little one. Thank you, thank you!"

The Leaf-Boat Regatta

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 5.

1. Rill's regatta: Rill the Otter remembers racing paper boats down the gutter after the rain. Talk to him.

   A regatta is a series of boat races. The word comes from Venice, in Italy, where people have raced boats along the Grand Canal for hundreds of years.

2. Fold five leaf boats: Make them by hand (C): a big leaf for the hull, a stick for the mast, fiber to tie the sail.

   A boat floats when it pushes aside as much water as it weighs. A leaf is so light and wide that it only needs to push aside a tiny bit of water.

3. Race them down the river: Set your boats on a flowing river (left-click) and follow them. Otto keeps score: three must reach the finish pool.

   A river runs fastest in the middle, away from the banks and the riverbed, which slow the water that rubs against them. Boats set mid-stream go furthest.

Rill: "Every boat was brave today. Otto says the river hasn't heard that much cheering in years. Thank you for racing with me!"

Kite Day

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 5.

1. Mira's lost goats: Mira's goats wandered off into the next valley and can't find the way home. Rill has an idea: talk to Mira in the village.

   Goats have wide, sideways pupils that give them a huge view around them, so they can spot things far away across the hillsides.

2. Build a kite: Build a Diamond Kite at a workbench: cloth, bamboo, rope and fiber.

   People in China were flying kites of silk and bamboo more than 2,000 years ago, long before paper was common.

3. The windiest hilltop: Climb a high, open hilltop with the kite in your hand.

   The wind blows harder high up and over hilltops, because the ground, trees and houses slow the air near the bottom.

4. A whole minute aloft: Launch the kite (left-click) with the wind at your back. Keep it high for 60 s, and tug the line (left-click) when a gust comes.

   A kite flies because the wind pushes on its tilted face while the string holds it back, so part of the push turns into lift, like a bird's wing.

Mira: "All three of my goats came home, safe and sound. Thank you, dear. And thank you, Rill, for the idea!"

The Stargazer's Moon Base

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 5.

1. Rill the astronaut: Rill remembers wearing a pot for a helmet and a tube for a telescope. Talk to him.

   The Moon is about 384,000 km away. Its light takes just over one second to reach your eyes.

2. Build a telescope: Build a Bamboo Telescope at a workbench: bamboo, glass for the lenses, copper and rope.

   In 1609 Galileo built his own telescope. Pointing it at the sky, he saw mountains on the Moon and four moons circling Jupiter.

3. Set up the moon base: Build a Moon-Base Camp at a workbench and set it up on flat, open ground.

   Twelve astronauts walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. Their footprints are still there, because the Moon has no wind or rain to wipe them away.

4. Chart three star patterns: On a clear night, look through the telescope at your moon base (left-click, or E at the camp). Hold a pattern in the circle.

   People everywhere joined the stars into pictures to find their way and to know the seasons. Astronomers today divide the whole sky into 88 constellations.

5. The Starmane Pegasus: Keep watching near the Moon through the telescope. The Starmane Pegasus flies past on clear nights.

   Pegasus is a real constellation too: four bright stars make the Great Square of Pegasus, easy to find on autumn nights.

Rill: "The village star chart has your name on it now. Every astronaut starts in a back garden!"

The Washtub Boat

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 6.

1. A laundry-tub pirate ship: Rill is at the pier, and he has a favour to ask. Talk to him.

   People have floated in round boats for thousands of years. Coracles, little round boats of woven branches covered in hide or tar, are still paddled on rivers in Wales and India.

2. Build the Washtub Boat: Rill: "When I was a pup, the laundry basket was my pirate ship and the kitchen floor was the whole wide sea!" His plans: a tin tub, a broom for a mast, a tea towel for a sail. Build it at a workbench, please.

   A boat floats because it pushes aside water that weighs as much as the boat. A tin tub is heavy, but its hollow shape pushes aside a lot of water, so it floats.

3. Launch the tub: The storm washed Pico's mail sack out across the water. Hold the tub and press left-click on water to launch it.

   The side the wind comes from is called windward, and the sheltered side is leeward. The flag on your broom always points leeward.

4. Across the water: Sail to Pico's red flag: Rill marked it on your map. Keep the wind behind you. Into the wind, Space paddles with the spoon.

   A sail pushed from behind carries a boat along with the wind. Nobody can sail straight into the wind: sailors zigzag across it, and that is called tacking.

5. The post comes home: Sail home and give the mail sack back to Pico, please. The whole village is waiting for its letters.

   Before aeroplanes, every letter that crossed an ocean went by ship. Ships that carried the post had 'RMS' in their names: Royal Mail Ship, like the RMS Titanic.

Rill: "Every kid who sailed a laundry basket across the kitchen floor was a real captain. Thank you for bringing the post home, Captain!"

The Barrel Diver

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 10.

1. Nana Purl's ring: Rill has a letter from Nana Purl. Talk to him at the pier.

   About 2,300 years ago a Greek book from Aristotle's school described divers breathing from a cauldron lowered upside down into the sea: an early diving bell.

2. Build the Barrel Diver: Rill: "When I was a pup, the bathtub was my submarine and a snorkel was all I needed!" His plans: a barrel, a glass porthole, stones for weight and a long rope. Build it at a workbench, please.

   Push an upside-down glass into a bowl of water and the water can't fill it: the air trapped inside has nowhere to go. A diving bell works the same way.

3. Lower it in: Take it to water at least 3 m deep, hold it and press left-click to lower it in. Climb in with E.

   Water is heavy. Every 10 metres down, it presses on you as hard again as all the air in the sky above, so divers go down and come up slowly.

4. The bottom of the deep: Hold Ctrl to sink to the bottom where Rill's pin is, at least 4 m down. Keep an eye on the bell's air!

   Sunlight fades as it goes down through water. Red light is soaked up first, in the top few metres, so deep water looks blue and green.

5. Nana Purl's ring: Look for the glint on the bottom, reach out of the bell with E, then bring the ring to Rill.

   Gold never rusts. A gold ring can lie in water or mud for hundreds of years and still shine on the day it is found.

Rill: "Pico will fly it straight home to Nana Purl. Every kid who played submarine in the bath was a real explorer. Thank you, from both of us!"

The Soapbox Racer

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 8.

1. Rill's racing cart: Rill the Otter is at the pier. He'd love to tell you about his old racing cart.

   The first All-American Soap Box Derby was raced in Dayton, Ohio, in 1934. The carts had no engines at all: they rolled downhill by gravity alone.

2. Build the Soapbox Racer: Build it at a workbench: planks, logs for the axles, rope, a cloth cushion and resin.

   A wheel rolls with far less friction than a box sliding on the ground. That's why a cart on wheels coasts easily where a crate would scrape to a stop.

3. Vesper's honey tonic: Mira has a tickly cough. Please ask Vesper, by the wardrobe, for the honey tonic she made.

   People have soothed coughs with honey for thousands of years, and studies show a spoonful can calm a child's cough at night. But babies under one year old must never have honey.

4. Race the market bell: Take your cart to the start flag on the hill, climb in (E) and roll down to the village square before the market bell.

   Rolling downhill turns height into speed. With no friction at all, a drop of 5 metres would give a speed of about 10 metres a second, whether the cart is light or heavy.

Rill: "Every kid who raced a cart down the steepest street knew it: a hill and some wheels are all the engine you need!"

The Great Ball Machine

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 12.

1. Rill's marble run: Rill has a worried look. The river is rising upstream. Please talk to him at the pier.

   A machine where each step sets off the next is called a Rube Goldberg machine, after the American cartoonist who drew silly inventions doing simple jobs the long way round.

2. Three chutes: Make 3 Ball Chutes at a workbench. Set them down on a river bank, end to end, starting beside where a waterwheel will turn.

   A ball speeds up down a slope because part of gravity's pull points along it. The steeper the slope, the bigger that part, so marble runs keep their tilts gentle.

3. The seesaw: Make a Ball Seesaw and set it down with its cup under the end of your last chute.

   A seesaw is a lever. Archimedes explained levers more than 2,200 years ago, and said that with a place to stand he could move the Earth.

4. The bell: Make a Ball Bell and stand it beside the seesaw's high end.

   A bell rings because its metal shivers after it's struck, hundreds of times a second. Each shiver pushes the air, and those waves reach your ears as sound.

5. Set the wheel turning: Stand a Waterwheel in the river's current, about knee deep, right beside your first chute.

   People have used waterwheels for more than two thousand years. The ancient Greeks and Romans used them to grind grain into flour, with the river doing the hard work.

6. Ring the flood warning: Press E on any part of your machine. The wheel lifts the ball, and the bell rings out for the fishers.

   Before telephones, towns rang big bells to warn everyone of floods, fires and storms. A large bell can be heard several kilometres away.

Rill: "Every kid who ran marbles across the living-room floor was an engineer. And look what yours did today!"

The Fizz-Pop Jetpack

Told by Rill the Otter, from level 20.

1. Rill's rocket summer: Rill has a story about a summer he spent as a rocket. Talk to him.

   In 1961 a rocket belt carried a man about 34 m through the air, for 13 seconds. It was so hard to fly that only a few people ever learned how.

2. Bottles from the beach: Rill: "When I was a pup I was a rocket-otter all summer! The bottles never lifted me an inch. But here, I know where the Skyfizz bubbles." Old pop bottles washed up on three shores near the village (Rill marked them). Pick up 6, and the beach is cleaner too.

   Rubbish in the sea drifts with the currents for years. Every bottle picked up is one less for the turtles.

3. Mira's old satchel: Rill: "We need straps. Mira kept her old school satchel. Would you ask her, kindly, if we may borrow it?" Talk to Mira at the kitchen.

   Backpacks spread weight across both shoulders. That's why two straps beat one.

4. Follow the bubbles: Rill: "Follow the fizzing creek uphill from the village. Where the bubbles start, that's a Fizz Spring!" Find it.

   Some real springs bubble on their own: gas from deep underground dissolves in the water and fizzes out when it reaches the air.

5. Bottle the Skyfizz: Set your bottles in the spring with E. Skyfizz wants to go up, so keep an eye on them! Fill 6.

   Gas squeezed into a bottle pushes hard on every side. That's why fizz rushes out when you open it.

6. Build the jetpack: Rill's plans: the 6 Skyfizz bottles, Mira's satchel, rope, two copper pot-lid fins, cloth and a red petal for the streamer flames. Build it at a workbench.

   Every push has an equal push back: a rocket pushes gas down, and the gas pushes it up. Isaac Newton wrote this down in 1687.

7. The first hop: Rill's real advice: "Real bottles could never lift a gator. In real life, we launch bottle rockets from the ground with a grown-up, and nobody ever rides one. But Skyfizz is a wonder of our islands." Strap the jetpack on (left-click), hold Space to lift, then let go of the keys and hover for 3 s.

   Real jetpacks are hard to balance. The pilot leans gently and never jerks, a little like riding a bike.

8. Light the way home: The beacon on Gull Stack went dark in a storm, and the ferry captains sail home at night by guesswork. Nobody can climb the stack. Fly out to it by the ferry harbour (Rill marked it) and light the beacon with E.

   The lighthouse of Alexandria, built about 2,300 years ago, was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Its fire could be seen far out at sea.

Rill: "Every kid who strapped pop bottles to their back and made the rocket noise was right. You just needed the Skyfizz! Fly safe, and light the way."