Hollow Tide Expedition: the puzzles people get stuck on

Hollow Tide Expedition never holds your hand, which is part of its charm and also why certain puzzles leave people staring at the screen. I got stuck twice hard enough to walk away and come back later.

The first common wall is the water-level ruin. The lever you need is deliberately placed off the obvious path, tucked behind a fallen column you can climb. If you're circling the same room, look up and behind you rather than ahead.

The second is the mirror puzzle in the third area. The solution isn't about aligning the beam perfectly first try, it's about realizing you can rotate two mirrors at once by standing between them. Once I noticed that, it fell apart in a minute.

My general advice: when you feel stuck, stop pushing forward and re-read the notes you've collected. This game hides more hints in its scattered journals than in the environment, and I missed several the first time through.

And take your time. Rushing this one defeats the entire point of it.