How to Play Submachine 10: The Exit
Welcome to Submachine 10: The Exit—the epic finale of Mateusz Skutnik's legendary point-and-click adventure series. After nine games exploring the vast Submachine network, you've finally reached the Exit, a mysterious location holding answers to the series' deepest questions. This concluding chapter brings together narrative threads from across the entire saga while delivering the most expansive exploration and challenging puzzles yet.
Getting Started
Submachine 10 places you in an apocalyptic splinter world filled with fragments of all previous Submachine locations. The Exit serves as a nexus connecting remnants of the lighthouse, the Core, ancient temples, and other familiar places. Your ultimate goal is finding the true exit from the entire Submachine network—the escape that has eluded you throughout the series. This massive final chapter rewards series veterans with callbacks and references while remaining accessible to newcomers.
Basic Controls
Mouse-based interaction controls everything. Click objects to examine or collect them, select inventory items and click locations to use them, and click navigation arrows to move between the expansive interconnected areas. The interface maintains the classic Submachine feel but accommodates the game's unprecedented scale—you'll traverse dozens of locations, each with multiple rooms and intricate puzzles.
Core Gameplay Mechanics
Massive Open-World Exploration: The Exit is the series' largest environment by far. You'll explore fragmented dimensions containing pieces of previous Submachine locations, navigate karma portal networks connecting distant regions, discover hidden areas requiring specific items or puzzle solutions, and piece together the network's complete history through environmental storytelling.
Complex Puzzle Integration: Submachine 10 features the series' most intricate puzzles, drawing on mechanics from all previous entries. Expect karma portal manipulation reminiscent of Submachine 6, coordinate-based challenges like Submachine 7, dimensional puzzle solving from Submachine 8, and cause-effect sequences spanning vast distances. Many puzzles require synthesizing knowledge from multiple game locations.
Progressive Revelation: The Exit doesn't reveal itself all at once. As you solve puzzles and activate systems, new areas unlock, previously inaccessible locations open up, and the network's true structure becomes apparent. Your early exploration establishes bases and reference points for later deep dives into complex puzzle chains.
Understanding the Exit's Geography
The Exit functions as a collection of inter-dimensional fragments—splinters of reality containing elements from across the Submachine's history. These fragments connect through karma portals, dimensional gateways, and reality bridges. Learning to navigate this fractured landscape is crucial. Create maps noting major hub locations, portal destinations, and landmark features. The geography is deliberately complex—methodical documentation prevents disorientation.
Objectives and Progression
Your primary goal is finding the Exit itself—the true escape from the Submachine network. This requires exploring all accessible fragments, solving major puzzle chains that unlock new dimensions, collecting karma gems and key items scattered throughout the network, activating the central systems controlling the Exit's location, and piecing together the complete story of what the Submachine was, why it exists, and your role in its history.
Progression isn't linear—the game allows exploring multiple areas simultaneously. However, certain regions require specific items or puzzle solutions before becoming accessible. When stuck in one area, explore alternative fragments. Solutions often involve items or information from distant locations.
Advanced Exploration Strategies
Hub-Based Organization: Identify central hubs early—locations with multiple portal connections or geographical centrality. These hubs become your navigation reference points. Understanding which fragments connect to which hubs streamlines backtracking when you need to return with new items or after solving distant puzzles.
Fragment Mapping: Each dimensional fragment has unique visual characteristics. Learn to recognize fragments quickly—distinctive architecture, color schemes, or machinery help identify your location. This recognition prevents getting lost in the Exit's vast, interconnected landscape.
Systematic Clearance: Approach each fragment methodically. Collect all visible items, examine all machinery, document codes and patterns, and note locked areas before moving on. The Exit's scale means missing one item or clue can stall progress significantly later.
Puzzle-Solving Approach
Multi-Location Synthesis: Many puzzles require information from multiple fragments. A code fragment here, a visual pattern there, a mechanical component elsewhere—synthesizing these disparate elements reveals solutions. Maintain comprehensive notes of codes, symbols, coordinates, and observations across all explored locations.
Karma Portal Logic: The karma portal system returns with added complexity. Understanding portal networks—which portals connect where, under what conditions—is essential. Some portals activate only after solving specific puzzles, while others require items to function.
Environmental Observation: The Exit is rich with environmental storytelling. Abandoned equipment, architectural details, and machinery configurations all provide puzzle clues. Pay attention to visual patterns, repeated motifs, and spatial relationships between similar elements in different fragments.
Story Integration
Submachine 10 brings narrative closure to the entire series. Documents, notes, and environmental clues throughout the Exit explain the network's origins, reveal the fates of characters encountered in previous games, and answer longstanding mysteries about the Submachine's purpose. Reading all textual materials and understanding environmental narratives enriches both the puzzle-solving and story experience.
The Exit's fragmented nature reflects the Submachine's fractured state. As you explore, you're witnessing the aftermath of events set in motion across the entire series. Understanding this context adds meaning to your exploration and puzzle solutions.
Tips for Success
Take breaks when exploring the Exit's vast landscape—the game's scale can be overwhelming. Create external reference materials documenting locations, codes, and puzzle states. Return to previously visited fragments after major puzzle completions—new areas often open. Test all inventory items in all locations—the Exit rewards thorough experimentation. Appreciate callbacks to previous games—the finale celebrates the entire series journey.
Submachine 10: The Exit represents the culmination of years of puzzle design evolution, offering the most comprehensive and satisfying conclusion imaginable to this groundbreaking point-and-click adventure series.






























