Toby Fox is a bit of a troll. If you’ve played Undertale, you already knew that. But when Deltarune dropped out of nowhere back in 2018, people weren't quite sure what to make of the shift in tone. The puzzles felt... different. Honestly, if you go back and look at deltarune chapter 1 puzzles, they aren't just there to slow you down. They're basically a narrative tool used to show us exactly how Kris, Susie, and Ralsei are (or aren't) working together.
Most games use puzzles as a "brain break." In the Dark World, they’re more like a character study.
The Weird Logic of the Card Kingdom
The first time you step into the Field of Hopes and Dreams, you’re greeted by these block-pushing tasks that feel almost too easy. It’s intentional. You've got the basic "box on a switch" trope, but it’s flavored with the card-deck aesthetic that defines the world. Lancer, the "bad guy" who is actually just a confused kid, tries to "stop" you with puzzles that he barely understands himself.
Remember the one where he just draws a picture of himself? That’s the joke. But beneath the humor, there’s a mechanical introduction to how the party interacts.
In Undertale, Papyrus’s puzzles were elaborate deathtraps that failed because of his incompetence or kindness. In Deltarune, the puzzles often require you to juggle the personalities of your teammates. Susie doesn't want to help. Ralsei wants to do everything by the book. Kris is the one stuck moving the soul around. It’s a messy dynamic.
The Card Suit Symbols
You're going to see a lot of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. Most of the early-game hurdles involve hitting switches to cycle through these symbols.
Take the Great Board. It’s a massive grid where you have to dodge Ponman while trying to navigate. It’s not a "puzzle" in the traditional sense of "solve a riddle," but it's a spatial awareness test. If you’re looking for the actual solutions to the symbol-swapping gates, you’re usually just looking for a nearby hint—often hidden in plain sight or told to you by an NPC who is tired of their job.
The Forest and the Maze of Doom
Once you hit the Forest, things get a bit more interesting. This is where deltarune chapter 1 puzzles start to lean into the "persistence" mechanic.
You’ve got the maze with the dancers. If you move while they move, you get reset. It’s simple rhythm. But then there’s the Bloomers. These are the spinning, flower-like objects that you have to hit in a specific order.
Honestly, the hardest part of the Forest isn't the logic; it’s the distractions. Toby Fox loves to put a hilarious piece of dialogue right next to a switch so you forget what you were doing.
That One Password Puzzle
The puzzle that actually trips people up involves the three symbols near the bake sale. You’ve got the Spade, Diamond, Heart, and Club switches. To find the combination, you have to explore the side paths.
- The first symbol is found by checking the mural.
- The second is tucked away in a corner near the NPCs.
- The third is often guessed by players because, let's be real, there are only four options.
But did you know the symbols actually correspond to the hierarchy of the Card Kingdom? The Spade is at the top because of the King. The others are relegated to the side. It’s world-building disguised as a locked door.
The Mystery of the Broken Key
If we’re talking about deltarune chapter 1 puzzles, we have to talk about Jevil. To even face the secret boss, you have to solve a multi-part fetch quest that involves the most "traditional" RPG puzzling in the game.
You need three key pieces.
Piece A is given to you by Seam (the shopkeeper) after you talk to him enough.
Piece B is in a chest in the Forest, but you have to dodge a gauntlet of spinning scythes to get to it.
Piece C is behind a symbol puzzle in the Field.
The combination for Piece C is: Diamond, Heart, Club, Spade.
Why that order? It’s the order of the floors in the castle. It’s right there in front of you the whole time. Once you get these to the smith, Malius, he "fixes" them by hammering them into a usable key. This isn't just a puzzle; it's an endurance test. It forces you to backtrack through the world you’ve already seen, noticing things you missed the first time because you were too busy trying to keep Susie from eating the enemies.
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Card Castle: The Final Test
The puzzles in the Card Castle are less about symbols and more about stealth and timing. You’ve got the elevators, the guards, and the Rouxls Kaard encounters.
Rouxls Kaard is the "Duke of Puzzles," but his puzzles are intentionally terrible. He gives you a puzzle where you just have to move one box an inch to the left. He’s a meta-commentary on game design. He thinks he’s a genius, but he’s providing the most basic obstacles possible.
The real "puzzle" here is navigating his dialogue.
But wait, there’s a serious side. The "prison" section requires Kris to solve a light-beam puzzle while the others are locked up. It’s the first time the game truly isolates you. It forces you to rely on the mechanics you’ve learned—moving boxes and hitting switches—without the safety net of your party’s banter.
Why Do People Struggle With the Symbols?
I’ve seen streamers spend twenty minutes on the symbol gates. The trick is usually looking at the color.
- Hearts are Red.
- Diamonds are Blue.
- Spades are Black.
- Clubs are Green.
The game uses color-coded cues in the environment to hint at the solutions. If the trees in a certain area have a slight reddish tint or the path is shaped like a diamond, pay attention. It’s subtle, but it’s there.
The Philosophy of Toby Fox’s Design
Unlike Slay the Spire or Portal, Deltarune doesn't want to make you feel stupid. It wants to make you feel like you’re part of a world that is slightly broken.
The puzzles are "diegetic." That’s a fancy way of saying they exist within the logic of the story. They aren't just menus; they are obstacles placed by characters who live there. When Lancer places a bucket on the ground and calls it a trap, that is a puzzle. It’s a character-driven puzzle.
If you're stuck on any of the deltarune chapter 1 puzzles, the answer is almost always "talk to everyone" or "look at the walls." Toby rarely hides the solution in a menu or a separate guide. He hides it in the flavor text.
Actionable Tips for Your First (or Fifth) Playthrough
If you’re heading back into the Dark World, keep these things in mind to make your life easier:
- Check the Mural: In the Field of Hopes and Dreams, the mural isn't just art. It literally tells you the symbol order for the next three gates.
- Interact with the Scenery: Many puzzles "solve themselves" if you interact with the NPCs nearby. They’ll often complain about the solution, inadvertently giving it to you.
- Don't Overthink Rouxls Kaard: When the "Duke of Puzzles" shows up, the solution is always the most obvious thing you can imagine. If it looks too easy, it is.
- Collect the Key Pieces Early: Don’t wait until the end of the game to find Jevil’s key. Grab the pieces as you pass through the areas to save yourself a massive amount of backtracking later.
The puzzles in Chapter 1 are the foundation for the much more complex "city-grid" puzzles we see in Chapter 2. By mastering the symbol-swapping and the box-pushing now, you're training your brain for the logic Toby Fox uses in the later parts of the game.
Go back and look at the symbols in the Forest one more time. Notice how they match the suits of the kings in the throne room? That’s not a coincidence. It’s a hint at the lore that most players miss on their first run. Keep your eyes open, and don't let Lancer's drawings distract you too much.