At Caledon University, there’s a mysterious group called Abraxas in Life Is Strange: Double Exposure. While the full details of their activities are still vague, it appears that most of their members are students in the arts. Those involved with Abraxas often have over-the-top personalities, engaging in everything from pranks to intricate puzzles.
One of these intriguing puzzles can be encountered in the final scene of Chapter 1, and you’ll have the chance to crack it. If you’re interested in discovering how to locate and solve this engaging puzzle box to uncover its hidden treasures, keep reading. Don’t worry; we won’t overwhelm you with more riddles from Abraxas!
Locating the Abraxas Puzzle Box
In the concluding scene of Chapter 1, Max heads to Caledon’s campus to chat with Yasmin, Safi’s mother. You’ll begin in the North Quad, and by walking past the Pergola on your left, you’ll trigger a cutscene featuring Reggie.
During the cutscene, you’ll see him frustrated with a puzzle box that he throws onto the ground. After the scene ends, pick up the puzzle box and ask Reggie about it. He explains that it’s an Abraxas Puzzle Box designed to test a crucial principle of Abraxas, known as “The Eye for Detail”.
You’ll then enter examination mode, where you can rotate and interact with the box. You can choose to attempt solving it or walk away.
Solving the First Layer of the Abraxas Puzzle Box
The initial layer of the puzzle box is quite straightforward if you pay attention to Max’s dialogue hints.
As you turn the box, you can interact with three visible sides:
- The eye
- Thomas Caledon
- The crow
The eye doesn’t trigger anything significant, but clicking on the Thomas Caledon side leads to a conversation between Max and Reggie about how he’s missing a bird, since the statue has two birds perched on his shoulders.
Next, turn the box to the side with the crow and click on it. Max will notice wax around the crow, prompting a cutscene where Reggie melts the wax with a lighter.
When the crow medallion drops into Max’s hand, you’ll switch back to examine mode. Turn the box back to Thomas Caledon and interact with it to position the bird on his vacant shoulder.
This action causes the box to open, revealing another smaller box, the second layer of the puzzle. Reggie tells you to keep it, and Max adds the box to her bag.
Solving the Second Layer of the Abraxas Puzzle Box
You won’t get another chance to check the puzzle box until the end of Chapter 2, during a scene where Moses waits for you in the dark room. Before you go downstairs, head to the kitchen where the box is on the counter near the sink.
The second layer of the Abraxas puzzle box is a bit more challenging than the first. You can interact with several faces of the box, but only the constellation face and the Abraxas logo face are needed.
Initially, the dial won’t be usable, so turn the box to the constellations and click on it to get a close-up where you can manipulate the pegs.
Your goal here is to use the pegs to form points of a constellation.
To solve the constellation face:
- Move the first peg down two notches.
- Move the second peg down two notches.
- Position the third peg down one notch.
- Move the fourth peg down two notches.
A panel on the Sense of Justice face will open and a dial will emerge. Take the dial and switch the view back to the Abraxas Logo face, then attach the dial to it. You can now examine this face and adjust the dials.
You can pick either dial and rotate them left or right, but the solution is easier than it seems. Leave the outer dial untouched, and focus on the inner dial you just affixed to the face. Then, turn the inner dial to the right twice.
A new panel will open. Turn the box to the opened panel and remove the lid to reveal a pin associated with the Abraxas Society.
Completing the Abraxas puzzle box will unlock the “Thinking Outside The Box” achievement.
What Happens After Solving the Abraxas Puzzle Box?
Unfortunately, the outcome of solving the puzzle box is somewhat anticlimactic. Max will add the pin to her bag, and while speaking to Vinh and Diamond in Admin during the third scene of Chapter 3, she’ll receive a text from an unknown number in Dead World, commending her on solving the puzzle box and welcoming her into Abraxas.
Max doesn’t seem particularly excited about this, and the topic only reappears at the Krampus party in Chapter 4. After collaborating with Safi, as you walk past two kids by the pirate mural, one will shout, “ONE OF US!”
