Lunar Software's long-awaited horror game ROUTINE is finally out and on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One devices, and even for a game that was announced more than a decade ago, it has the sensibilities of a game older than that. Needless to say, there are a few things you'll want to know when jumping into it yourself.
This guide will take you through a few essential tips and tricks to ensure you can see everything ROUTINE has to offer, without getting terribly lost.
ROUTINE Tips and Tricks Guide
Have a notebook ready
ROUTINE doesn't give you waypoints, map markers, or a compass to tell you which direction you're going in. It doesn't even give you a map to look at. After Hell is Us, it's the second game in 2025 to make getting around its environment and figuring out where to go next is a constant puzzle, which is part of the game's draw, as you're constantly building a mental map of each area.
You can do that, or you can draw a map of the space in a notebook to help you get around. That could be reason enough to have a notebook ready, but the better reason to have a notebook and pen beside you - or something to take notes with at least - is all the code puzzles you'll need to solve.
Having a notebook to write down every code you uncover is probably the best thing you can do to make sure you have a smooth time with ROUTINE. Instead of risking a moment where you've successfully made it to where you need to enter the code you just solved, and you have to backtrack to where you solved it because you can't remember the code.
Your C.A.T. is everything, but it's got nothing on plain-old hiding
Your only tool and the one thing that lets you communicate with the abandoned lunar base, your C.A.T. (Cosmonaut Assistance Tool), is pretty much your everything in ROUTINE. It's how you save when you find a save point; it's how you scan your environment for otherwise invisible writings that reveal secrets and help you solve puzzles, and it's how you fight back against the robots trying to kill you.
But fighting back will only get you so far. Whoever made these robots made them to last, and while two electric shots from your C.A.T. directly into a robot's chest in short succession can stun them, no amount of shots will actually take them down. Stunning them can give you a window to run and hide, but running and hiding is always going to be what actually gets them off your back, and the chance to progress further in the story.
Not every robot is trying to kill you - at the same time
One of the many things not directly explained to you in ROUTINE is that while you'll see plenty of killer robots on the base, they aren't all trying to kill you - at the same time. No more than one robot is activated at any time, so as you start learning where the robots are in the rooms you're exploring, if you know which one is active, you can walk right by another with no fear.
Unless, of course, it activates right in front of you. In that case, you might be screwed if you can't run away in time.
There are safe rooms, but no safe pausing
Capcom's Resident Evil series is known for its safe rooms, the areas you reach where any of the horrors you're shooting at can't get to you. They're accompanied by their own music and a few repeating hallmarks so that when you find one, you know you can breathe a sigh of relief.
ROUTINE doesn't have safe rooms in the same way Resident Evil has safe rooms, but they are there. You just have to look closely. What you can't do is pause the game and think you're safe.
All pressing the pause button does is bring up the game's menu; you can still die if you pause and leave yourself directly in the patrol path of a robot. So if you do need to adjust something in the menu, or step away for a moment, make sure you're actually safe before doing so.
Really look around, and then look again
As stated earlier, ROUTINE doesn't include any of the modern gaming comforts, like an in-game map. Figuring out where to go means you have to look around you and see what the environment is telling you.
That setup can, and probably will, make it easy for you to feel like you're lost. But Lunar Software's limitations on what kind of assistance you get means that you only have to look in a few places to figure out where to go next.
While some chapters include bouncing between different areas on different floors, most of ROUTINE will involve you navigating a large section of the base connected with hallways and, in some cases, through vents and backdoor entrances. If you really feel lost, keep looking around and zoom in on everything you see. Taking your time to do this will likely result in you figuring out where to go faster than if you tried to speed to the answer.
For more on ROUTINE, you can check out our review of the full game here, and for more help on a wide variety of games, you can check out all of our guides here.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
