Puzzles and minigames

Though Everspace 2 is primarily a space shooter with action RPG mechanics, it also features a number of puzzles and minigames which can be discovered in various locations.

Puzzles

Puzzles across the Beltegrades can involve some of a number of common mechanics. These mechanics appear on the heads-up display once the player comes within close proximity, regardless of whether a sensor is equipped, but will disappear from the display once their related puzzle has been solved.

Power Mechanics

• Power Core Sockets must be filled with small Power Cores, usually hidden nearby, or Unstable Power Cores, produced by a specialized dispenser.
• Generators must be filled with medium-sized Batteries.
• Connection Sockets must be filled with large, rail-shaped Power Units.

Sphere Mechanics

• Energy Sphere Sockets must be filled with blue Energy Spheres produced from an Energy Sphere Dispenser.
  • Carrying an Energy Sphere protects the ship from electrical arcs and provides unlimited weapon and boost energy. Absorbing an electrical arc refreshes the sphere's duration.
• Protector Sphere Sockets, often located near radiation clouds, must be filled with yellow Protector Spheres produced from a Protector Sphere Dispenser.
  • Protector Spheres produce an aura that grants condition immunity to all entities within its radius.
• Heat Sphere Sockets must be filled with red Heat Spheres produced from a Heat Sphere Dispenser.
  • Carrying a Heat Sphere grants a weapon damage boost.

Electrical Mechanics

• Shield Generators can be destroyed to shut down shield walls or remove other obstacles.
• Flashing red buttons can be shot with a weapon, turning green upon successful activation and potentially opening a nearby door or Sealed Container.
  • Conditions for success depend on the puzzle involving the button. In more complex puzzles, buttons must be activated in a specific sequence which may require wire tracing or trial and error to ascertain.

Concealment Mechanics

• Select panels, fuel tanks, crystals and other objects in the environment can be destroyed to reveal hidden areas or elements required for other puzzles. These destructibles show up on the HUD with a crosshair once they have been revealed.
• Puzzle elements may be hidden behind Debris of varying sizes and shapes, ranging from shipwreck pieces to boxes of cargo.
• Some containers are almost wholly invisible and cannot be looted outside of an extremely short interaction range. Tracking down these Cloaked Containersis only feasible by following their periodic HUD and audio pings.

Mining Puzzle Mechanics

Interacting with the following puzzle elements may grant bonus ore:

• Rigged Asteroids can be blown apart by triggering all of the attached Detonators within a short time, typically yielding 5 units of Clygon.
  • More complex variants may require the player to first fill Detonator Sockets with the required detonators before they can be triggered.
  • The detonator timers change based on selected difficulty and location. 'Very Easy' has the longest timers and 'Easy' has a longer timer. The rest of the difficulties all have the same standard countdown timer.
• Glowing weak spots on rocky surfaces may reveal a high concentration of ore deposits upon their destruction by a secondary weapon.
• Hardened Ore Patches can only be shattered by using a Reflecting Panel to redirect a beam from a nearby beam drill onto the patch, typically yielding 5 units of Clygon.
  • More complex variants may require the beam drill to first be activated using two Power Cells. They may also require Debris or other obstacles to be removed from the beam's path in order for the beam to extend to a more advantageous position.

Other Mechanics

• Certain Ancient structures can be repaired by focusing on a nearby yellow crystal with an Ancient Lens, potentially allowing an Ancient Jar to manifest.
• Sealed Ancient Structures and some other Ancient secrets must be opened by aligning Powered Ancient Runes with the help of nearby markings.
  • Ancient Runes can be converted into Powered Ancient Runes by transporting them to any ??? location.
• Shadow Creatures hate sunlight and will retreat to their origin point with prolonged exposure. Successfully bringing two of them together lets them mate, producing Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Picking up one Shadow Creature will automatically create a waypoint towards its partner.
• Organic barriers are impervious to onboard ship weaponry, but can be broken open by dislodging and throwing a nearby Acid Pouch.
• Gas Tanks can be thrown into Vents to destroy them from the inside. They can also be used to blow up Shield Generators underwater, where other means of dealing damage are rendered non-functional.

Minigames

Racing

Entering Prescott Starbase for the first time and obtaining the side mission Citizens of Velocity allows the player to join races hosted by Maurice at specific locations by interacting with their race gates. While a race is active, the player is tasked with reaching the end of the course as quickly as possible while passing through as many hoops as possible and is free to use everything at their disposal in order to do so.

• Missing a hoop adds a 10.00-second penalty to the player's race time, and the race ends prematurely if the player strays too far from the hoops (Disqualified) or is unable to meet the bronze time threshold (Timed Out).
• Setting a new personal record on a race which is within at least the bronze time threshold logs the ship's class icon, the number of hoops traversed versus the total number of hoops, and the record time on the star map tooltip for the race's location.

Racing tracks can be found at the following locations:

• Charybdis Bowl (Ceto): Scraprace
• Alcyone Station (Ceto): High Voltage
• Ghost Fleet (Ceto): Racing from the Dead
• Prescott Starbase (Union): Underground Raceway
• Ayres Relay Station (Union): Loophole
• Zharkov Border Control (Union): Border-Crossing
• Gas Field (Zharkov): Race to Rockbottom
• Okrot Trading Station (Khaït Nebula): Okrot Rollercoaster
• Letho Starport (Drake): Course Carnage
• Alpha Draco Claim I (Drake): Hellride

Race starts will be marked on the HUD with a light green colored version of this icon:

Finishing all races with the platinum rank awards the "Ludicrous Speed!" achievement.

Ramen Delivery

Completing the main mission Running the Wheel grants access to the ramen delivery minigame, playable by taking a Ramen Delivery job at Kato Palace within Prescott Starbase. Interacting with the marked ramen drone control terminal while on one of these jobs starts the minigame.

• During this minigame, the player is tasked with moving goods from the restaurant to one of several possible locations within the time limit by piloting a ramen delivery drone.
• Full payment for the delivery job is only awarded if all three deliveries are made on time. Exceeding the time limit reduces the reward for a delivery while destruction of the drone nullifies it entirely.