If you want to minimize game spoilers, you should actually start here: Trickery.
"You can't just manifest and cause trouble, there are rules." -Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 5 (The Ball)
Earthly Objects is a findable layered puzzle game in Good Omens overall, but my blog prefers to focus on the version in Good Omens 2. The characters are playing this game. A curious audience member can play it by trying to figure out how the game works.
The game consists of some notable patterns that start to resemble an expected script from the characters. Hence, there are rules. These rules can and will be broken.
Crowley is astoundingly impressive at how he plays this game compared to everyone else. He is the best source for clues on the many complex mechanics, and he plays at such an advanced level, he makes moves across the various time periods. He is this game's GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).
In episode 1, The Arrival, Michael performs an extensive touching sequence on a seemingly ominous matchbox. Once this sequence is done, Uriel says, "That's definitely an earthly object."
This name is meant to be found. Gabriel said "material objects" in season 1, episode 2. Uriel said "material object" earlier in the scene described further above.
It's clear the story cares about the likes of Heaven, Hell, and Earth, so this name is better suited than something like Tangibility Thing or Material Objects. The name Earthly Objects is special and linked to the story of Good Omens itself.
This name also broadens the idea of what can be in play since not every "touch" in this game is physical. Touches depend on context.
Earthly Objects loves the number 3. It is everywhere in the game and everywhere in the story.
Thumbs are most evidently relevant to how Crowley performs his Threshold Tricks, and I generally look to them as a guideline for other parts of the game, especially if I'm trying to find out whose or which touch might get priority.
A standard set of points is 3.
These things are generally composed of 3 points earned in a developed rhythm based on the context within the story.
The characters often aim to have at least one earthly object touch involved between using thresholds and earning dialogue points.
I cannot name all the sets, but I've seen and found enough, that's still my understanding of the main game in play.
One earthly object touch is worth 1 point. Standard dialogue points can be earned through "Hello" or an approved equivalent, questions, names, and numbers.
If two characters interact, the game usually wants each character to earn at least one point. Other scenes are meant to stand out when not adhering to this rule to find the game itself or as part of its broader puzzles.
Solo scenes still often require at least 3 points from that one character.
Points are dependent on context, timing, and placement around thresholds.
Things grow ever more complex with more characters involved
Earth has objects, often thought of by humans as tangible objects and referenced by the story as material objects. In this story, earthly does not strictly mean solid, and touch does not strictly mean direct skin or clothing contact. They are the most easily evident and likely common methods. The touch depends on how it is done and the nature of the object in question. Illusionary touches count for something at some given times, but that is highly advanced play I haven't fully solved.
Checking a watch for the time is an earthly object touch because that is how you use a watch on Earth. Looking through a window is an earthly object touch because people look through windows to see things on Earth.
We see three earthly objects in the show's opening before Earth even exists. Those objects are a crank, a scroll, and a book. One of them, the book, is touched through a supernatural method but still touched.
An earthly object can be held during a character interaction and still count in many contexts.
These are basic earthly objects, for a few examples:
Chairs
Windows
Tables
Walls
Books
Mirrors
Cups
Doorknobs
Bodies of living natural beings (humans and goats for example)
Blurs have multiple functions within the game, and an audience player must consider the surrounding context for their intention.
Among such functions is pass or share. For me, this part became evident in studying how window looks work.
Thresholds are largely understood to be doors.
Doors have earthly objects on them, such as doorknobs, door handles, locks, push plates, shades, windows, mirrors—even the astragal for double doors. The panel serving its function as mainly the door is different. That is the threshold and not an earthly object. This same idea likely applies to a door frame as well or is dependent on the context of how the door frame is touched.
This story has other non-door thresholds, such as the edge of the sidewalk.
Window frames are thresholds and windows themselves have a remarkable threshold component when it comes to looking, with a link explaining such a thing further down.
As noted, Earthly Objects is a puzzle game.
The Threshold Tricks are 6 special findable puzzles that are advanced moves performed by Crowley with various forms of assistance.
Personally speaking, I love them though one in particular, The Pocket Trick, is especially difficult and the source of many frustrated complaints.
These puzzles have at least two rounds of play for an audience member.
Round 1 involves finding the given Threshold Trick. It is complicated. There should be a Single, a Double, and a Triple. It should have a name. Five of the six Threshold Tricks should have a core concept with The Pocket Trick missing one. The core concept is the simple idea the Threshold Trick is based on. In Round 1, an audience member is only required to play the game by checking frame-by-frame during The Perfect Entrance Trick due to its quick movement, blurs, and a thumb tip touching a window pane.
It is still very challenging because a player must be familiar with the events of the story and put a lot of thought into these core concepts to solve the puzzle.
Based solely on my own experience, I admit, Round 2 starts with a second look at The Pocket Trick in case you missed something since there's a decent chance you're missing core concept itself.
To play Round 2, an audience member is definitely required to play the game by looking at things frame-by-frame because you can't discover the Tied Hands any other way. Well, at least you probably wouldn't. The Tied Hands are a Game Changer in season 2. They are just the start of realizing the scale of The Pocket Trick and its giant impact on so much else within the Earthly Objects game.
Here is a post I made about them:
Their names are The Perfect Entrance Trick, The Bigger Thresholds Trick, The Pocket Trick, The Sunglasses Trick, The Door Trick, and The Window Trick.
The Threshold Tricks require a minimum of 6 points due to their involvement with thresholds and even a specified format of a primary Single, Double, and Triple.
Aziraphale may not manipulate thresholds on the same level as Crowley, but he is aware and involved in quite likely all of the Tricks. In fact, at the story's end, he actually has his own part to play with his own special Magic Trick linked to The Door Trick with its own special name of The Door Catch.
Muriel is Crowley's trusted assistant in the last touches of The Bigger Thresholds Trick and The Pocket Trick. The advanced play clues of this game suggest a deep trust between these two characters.
I have never really figured out the player awareness of this game.
Crowley and Aziraphale seem to be more aware of this game's existence than most other characters though Muriel has some well-hidden advanced play.
Generally, the characters play as if doing so sub-consciously.
Context is crucial to understanding the nature of the game and the moves in play. For me, this factor became most evident through studying Crowley's short sideburns. When Muriel arrives, the sideburns stay short despite the lack of actual humans around because the characters themselves are quite literally claiming the word "human" in the dialogue.
Crowley earns 3 special face touch points on his sunglasses over the story because he creates a specific human context allowing him to perform such touches.
The bookshop argument scene of episode 6 is loaded with a contextual puzzle regarding the Metatron presumably looking through a window, how Crowley manages his touches on his sunglasses that are acting as his door, and how both Crowley and Aziraphale avoid touches besides what they are wearing, themselves, or each other.
An audience player must make guesses based on clues, and many of those clues are guided by the context.
Humans are earthly objects. As such, they can do self-touches, such as clasping their hands.
Maggie is the show's prime example as she uses this method quite frequently. She might be a special type of human based on other things we observe in the show, but the story considers her human enough to allow this method nonetheless.
Supernatural beings seem to have some restriction on self-touches compared to humans, but it remains unclear to me how that works.
Miracle touches onto earthly objects are allowed. Crowley changing three traffic lights from red to green at the same time? That's an earthly object touch.
Windows are easy to overlook because once you do take the time to study them in their more complex use, they are by no means easy to understand.
Windows have specific functions on Earth in that people look through windows to see things, so looking through a window itself is an earthly object touch, provided the camera sees that touch in the proper way.
Here's a messy post about mostly a few more complex scenes involving windows:
Earthly Objects Study - Windows
Here is the simplified visual representation of The Window Trick:
The Window Trick - Visual Representation
Pockets are a very advanced mechanic within the game, especially when it comes to how Crowley uses them. They are some kind of special imaginary door to a special imaginary space.
Crowley's imagination goes so far as to give himself Tied Hands based on the tie strands of his tie. It's one of the most bizarre and funny things I have ever encountered in my life. It's also a source of much frustration and headaches due to how difficult it makes the game.
Pay attention to the pockets. It's hard to make sense of them, but there are some laughs along the way should you be lucky enough to catch their meaning.
Dialogue points generally go with hello, names, questions, and numbers.
Singing and speaking in a foreign language are special cases of counting as a touch.
A simple way to reference this one is "Hello," and that is usually the word I use for it. All dialogue points allow variance, and for "Hello," that would include "Excuse me" or "Hi there."
There are also numerous places in the story where a character using a statement of place, such as "I'm back," counts. These statements often include some version of the verb, "to be" or a reference to "here," "there," or "back."
Crowley plays with this idea when he yells, "You are out of order!" at the demons. That is him using the statement of place and using it as a parting since it is the last piece of dialogue said before he leaves the scene.
Things in the game are rarely simple. For example, a question can be nullified if the character answers it themself, such as Crowley saying "It is? It is, yeah."
Is it a rhetorical question?
Additionally, two questions and how many points are credited likely depends on context. "Yes? Was that you?" is probably 1 point because it completes a set overall whereas "Who are you? Who sent you?" is two genuinely different questions where a set might not be fully credited otherwise.
A likely reason this game credits questions as dialogue points is because Crowley is one of the show's two main characters. He is the Serpent of Eden and the first character to question God in the Bible.
Titles in place of names seem to be acceptable.
"I don't know why you invited me, Mr. Fell."
"Officer, I need to report a crime."
"Jim, I'll need eight battery-operated candles."
If the names of places count, I would only use them if I truly cannot find any other prospect, such as Aziraphale saying, "Now, we're going to Edinburgh."
I suspect referencing an animal also counts because in season 1 Crowley says, "My point is...dolphins, that's my point." Naming the animals is something relevant to the early chapters of Genesis in the Bible, as Adam's assigned task.
Crowley's name usage, or lack thereof, is just flat out odd in the whole Good Omens 2 story.
If there is a rule, it's something like neither Crowley nor Gabriel are ever allowed to say Crowley's name. No exceptions.
For Crowley, this theoretical rule applies to all time periods shown in the season 2 story. He clues us in and manipulates this rule to meet a Rule of Three by avoiding giving his name 3 times and the name he avoids giving being different every time. He is allowed to use "Bildad the Shuhite," a human alias given to him by Sitis in the Job minisode.
For Gabriel, I think the story edited out his usage of Crowley's name just before he said to Crowley, "You're really nice."
Maggie and Nina are two other higher profile characters who never say Crowley's name.
For more on just how odd the usage is, please see my post here. Be sure to check my own reblogs to that post as well.
There is a hidden puzzle of Crowley's angel name with a surprising findable answer of Lucifer. Crowley is the core being that Lucifer was, and Satan is an extended manifestation from that core. Aziraphale, in turn, is Raphael. If you watch Good Omens 3, you can see that the story is structured so that it could have given this information away, more explicitly, to the audience but still refused to do so.
"There's only room for one of us in this lane, and it's not you."
"I don't go to the outside, and now I have two friends."
"If anyone asks, tell them we'll be back in five minutes."
Sometimes scenes will have multiple standard sets of points chained together or even having different characters earning their own different sets of chained points.
In episode 1, there is a tutorial for how complex window scenes are done. Crowley is experiencing things and earning his own solo sets in his anger with shooting out lightning from himself. Meanwhile, Maggie and Nina watch from the window. They are also earning their own sets of points for the complex window scene.
To me, the most obvious chain is in episode 5 when Crowley interrogates Gabriel since both characters are ensured physical touches throughout so much of the scene.
One of the most important things you, as an audience player, should know is that this game is set out to trick you as part of its challenging nature.
The story of Good Omens 2 lies, and it lies repeatedly.
The story shows us that the characters featured lie to each other freely.
When Crowley "storms out" of the bookshop, that is this game and this story actively trying to call the audience's attention to the deception in play.
The being leaving the private room is Gabriel pretending to be Crowley. The being passing by a cardboard box and leaving it unquestioned is Aziraphale pretending to be Crowley. Actual Crowley is the one who picks up the sunglasses and exits the bookshop.
If there is one lie you pick up on in this story, I think it should be this one because I don't often see it cited in a lot of other fan theories as the lie it is, but the story has put a lot of effort into making this sequence the most obvious lie of all.
In Earthly Objects terms, the sequence looks like basic Rule Breaking. A cardboard box is left both untouched and unquestioned. A plate of Eccles cakes is left untouched. When Crowley returns later, the plate is gone, and the box is moved out of his line of sight except for one brief moment during the apology dance. Hidden within the lie is a true message on how Crowley's sideburns shorten and lengthen based on bookshop thresholds and character presence.
When I first started playing Earthly Objects by name, I thought the touches could give clues as the tells on the story's deception. More touches would make a scene more real, such as Crowley interrogating Gabriel. This isn't really true. The main thing that's true is that the earthly objects are a good starting place as clues to solve the puzzles while examining the full context of the events within the story.
The game has a lot of tricks. Some are funny. Some are interesting. Many are difficult. Meeting the challenges is among the highest rewards you can get.
Upon discovering the tricks, further ideas are found to build on.
A very impressive trait of this game is that you can tell you have solved some puzzles because they must be solved, at least partly, to find the more advanced ones. It progresses in difficulty, just as some other games do.
As for Good Omens 3, based on what I know of Good Omens 2, deception is largely still in play, especially for the ending.
There is a core principle on the game in play of, "Never do the same trick twice." It is especially true of Crowley's Threshold Tricks..
The characters try to vary how their physical touches go if they use a similar touch in a later set.
The Book of Life is mentioned three times in Good Omens 2, so that makes it significant to this story and this game.
Then Good Omens 3 went wild with this thing.
But let's back up to Good Omens 2 for now.
As my own general theory went, this book was in the matchbox, possibly invisible within the inner box, using the overall matchbox as a disguise. That's a result of some Big Miracle Crowley performed to get it there. Crowley does not work alone in his Threshold Tricks, so it's unlikely this Big Miracle was done alone as well. He, Aziraphale, Gabriel, and maybe even Muriel, have forgotten this action was taken and left themselves clues about it.
Now that was just a theory and certainly one of my more uncertain ones because there was a popular fan theory called The Magic Trick You Didn't See where the core idea was that the Metatron was editing the Book of Life the whole time. This theory, in my opinion, was one of the more plausible ones and it does conflict with my own theory above. It's also a lot easier to say as an idea than this game and its connection with books. And indeed, that is how Good Omens 3 chose to say what happened.
We witness the characters experience the Book of Job both outside of it and while looking at it as the Job minisode itself is conveyed.
Through anagram searches and an entire separate transcript for accuracy, I found clues about a "Book of Lie" in play during Good Omens 2. You can read an older post I wrote about it, before Good Omens 3 was ever released, here: Trickery 2: Going Nowhere - Post #7 - Book of Lie. This information was later used to help decode an entire poem collection titled Magic Lies in Secret.
It required noticing intentional lies from the official subtitles.
Good Omens 3 never named this book, but there is a notable clue about it still being a factor near the end.
In Good Omens 2, the findable anagram for "Book of Lie" pockets the dialogue. It is found first and last when compared to a "Book of Life" anagram.
In Good Omens 3, the findable anagram for "Book of Life" is first in the dialogue. While it is also last in the dialogue, making another pocket, there is a lie from the official subtitles involved.
The official subtitles say a human alternate universe version of Crowley said, "I've never heard anyone use that word in real life before." This version lacks a required "k" for the anagram. He actually says, "I don't think I've ever heard anyone use that word in real life before." Notice that the "k" is for the word "think."
Crowley's sideburn length changes in the present day are another game in Good Omens 2. In fact, the Sideburns Scheme is actually the easier one and a general Clue about the existence of Earthly Objects.
I found The Door Trick and The Bigger Thresholds Trick through the Sideburns Scheme before I found Earthly Objects.
I recommend checking out this post in particular that goes over tutorials for both games:
Otherwise, I don't mention the sideburns much in this entire post on Earthly Objects since I have a whole other extensive post and longer series about them. You can find more here: The Sideburns Scheme.
Note that those posts were written before the release of Good Omens 3.
You can look to one of my older Earthly Objects posts for a more in-depth approach to this part, but the segment with Muriel intruding on Crowley and Aziraphale in the private room looks to be the story's example of Rule Following. Crowley is making an effort to stall and get Muriel to eventually touch something while at the same time passing the keys to Aziraphale without Muriel watching the pass happen.
In motion, he seems to wait until Muriel gets out their pen and notepad. However, if one checks frame by frame, you can see that Crowley actually waits for Muriel's eyes to move to the notepad before the toss by a few frames.
Rule Breaking and High Tier Play - The Final Fifteen
The Final Fifteen is designed to look like Rule Breaking within the full context of the story game due to what is not touched.
However, that is to draw an audience player in to find the high tier play that is happening.
Broadly speaking, the Metatron makes mistakes in his play. So, what Crowley and Aziraphale are doing is taking advantage of the Metatron's complex window mistake to break the rules the way they do. The window look never reached Step 2 where the window sees. That's supposed to be where the game would confirm for us that the Metatron is indeed looking through the window by showing us what he sees and a window frame.
Instead, we can just reasonably guess based on context and character positions, he is doing so. That further tells us that, whatever is going on, both Crowley and Aziraphale are making sure they are seen despite knowing they are being watched.
They only touch what they are already wearing, themselves, or each other. They avoid touching earthly objects, such as the books and the chairs.
Again, you can look to my one of my older posts for more in-depth details on my past play.
Of note, this part of the story has 3 of Crowley's 6 Threshold Tricks. Those are The Sunglasses Trick, The Door Trick, and The Window Trick. Of these 3, The Sunglasses Trick took place over multiple episodes.
The Door Catch is linked to The Door Trick. There are two special mechanics involved called The Pocket Chain and The Rainbow Connection.
Crowley earns point #1 on "Excuse me!" as a Hello.
Crowley earns point #2 for waving the crank since he is more visibly altering his touch on it.
Aziraphale earns point #3 for the combined question set of "Yes? Was that you?"
Aziraphale earns point #1 for touching a magnifying glass.
Gabriel earns point #2 and point #3 for holding a book while he asks the question, "What comes after K?"
Aziraphale earns point #1 for catching the keys tossed to him by Crowley.
Aziraphale earns point #2 for a self-touch through the wink, clued in with some assistance from the music.
Crowley earns point #3 for a special face touch onto his sunglasses with the way he grimaces.
Aziraphale earns point #1 for saying the name "Jim" and point #2 for saying the number 8 in the dialogue, "Jim, I'll need eight battery-operated candles. They're in my desk drawer."
Gabriel, as Jim, earns point #3 due to his physical touches on the platters.
The rain sequence of S2E3 is special. Crowley visibly earns 3 sets of 3 during his hold on the window look for when he is on camera for 9 total cuts. He does not earn dialogue points during this holding sequence. He does not ask questions, say names, say numbers, and "Oh yes. It's working," would not qualify as a hello due to context.
Bonus Round: Me Bragging on Crowley
The below is saved for posterity because I had so much fun with it. I am quite convinced that this part was the first Threshold Trick, The Perfect Entrance Trick, and almost a tutorial because the others don't come, or at least finish, until much later and are far more difficult to recognize.
I have found the oldest version I could of this section and added it back in. Because of that, it lacks a part I later added speculating that this sequence was possible bonus points.
I have added GIFs that were not originally there, for fun.
Look, I obsess over David Tennant being Crowley because he is so beautifully perfect for the role, so I am definitely super biased in everything here.
Allow me to attempt demonstrating to you how mind-blowing Crowley is at this game. We're not going to know if what I think happened, really happened, because I don't understand the rules the way he does. Here is what I think happened. He did three threshold-only touches while entering the coffee shop in episode 1. What does that accomplish? Why would he do that? I don't know!
Am I sure? Absolutely not.
The car arrives, and Crowley places only part of his foot on the edge of the sidewalk. The heel doesn't touch the street, and the toes don't touch the sidewalk. Theoretical threshold-only touch #1.
The camera pans up, and then you see his fingers on the side panel of his door that just so happen to only get maybe the window frame and not the window itself. It's blurry, but that's the best I can do. I also have to check frame by frame because it's too fast otherwise. So, if the window is the earthly object but not its frame, then we're good. Theoretical threshold-only touch #2.
He closes the door, steps forward, does a spin, and then walks toward the coffee shop. When he gets to the door, you know that his hand should be above the lock, and maybe it's a blurry gray thing, but it's so hard to tell. It's blurry. He's moving too fast. Even if he is touching it, he is covering it completely with his hand. Since he covers it up fully, does it somehow not count? If so, then you can tell that his fingers are on the door panel only while his thumb is on the indentation of that panel connected to the window. The thumb is barely touching the window...I think. By all logic, it should because of its position. Does it matter that it's the thumb? How it's positioned to the other fingers? There is a rule on thumbs?! Is that why he does what he does with pockets? We don't know! It's ineffable after all. But Crowley knows! This character knows what he is doing in this game, and that looks like an effort to not be touching earthly objects on his way in. Theoretical threshold-only touch #3.
For some reason, he saves the two points for the arm on the back of the chair and the question, "Right. What's the problem?"
The music and the camera work is really impressive in the whole thing, in my opinion. The story wants us to see that sequence in that way. What a beautiful entrance.
He's playing this game in tandem with his sideburns scheme, and there, he is definitely using thresholds to his advantage.
That's the end of the Bonus Round part and the end of this post.
