Fragmentation - A Talos Story | Community Puzzle Spotlight

Heya folks, last few episodes have been a combination of workshop creations but recently the workshop got a massive campaign that released so today we are putting the spotlight exclusively on it and we are talking about"Fragmentation - A Talos Story"Fragmentation - A Talos Story is a massive, story-driven workshop campaign featuring over 90 puzzles and collectibles. Taking place alongside the events of The Talos Principle, it tells the tale of a player who falls through a literal crack in a familiar simulation, only to find themselves in uncharted, crumbling territory. There is a mystery waiting to be uncovered and a looming threat that will soon consume the entire system. Can you stop it? Will you?

This campaign truly offers something for every type of player, blending an elegant difficulty curve with a massive variety of content. The journey begins with fresh, accessible gimmicks that eventually ramp up to unapologetically challenging late-game trials for the puzzle purists. Lore hunters will find a fully fleshed-out story with multiple characters and terminal entries, while explorers are rewarded with hidden sigils, secrets, and breathtaking vistas perfect for photo mode. From Talos 2 inspired mechanics like Accumulators to completely unique, never-before-seen power-overload puzzles and riddles, Fragmentation is a masterclass in workshop creativity. So what are you waiting for? Grab the campaign and immerse yourself in this incredible world NOW! View on Steam

We sat down with the creator, Dayo, to talk about how this project grew from a single puzzle into a community-polished masterpiece.

BASEMENT CHATS WITH YASEN

⚪Hey Dayo, glad to have you here in the basement! While we often see a lot of veteran creators in these spotlights, we love highlighting new faces, and you’ve already made a massive impact with such an ambitious project. Could you tell us a bit about when you joined the community and how you first got started with modding?

Dayo: Hi, thanks for featuring me! I first got into making maps for Talos Remastered in April 2025, where I spent the time making a single puzzle for some mates who also really enjoy playing all the Talos games and DLCs. When I finished making the puzzle in late April, I uploaded it to the workshop, and we spent the evening playing through it together. I woke up the next day to see that it had 15 other people subscribed to it, and multiple comments on the workshop page. For some reason, I didn’t think anyone else would play it – I thought they would be too busy playing everyone else’s quality maps!

I spent the next few days fixing up exploits and implementing suggestions people were giving me. By the end of this period, I think the map totalled 40ish subscribers. Whilst not a big number by any means, I was still rather surprised, overwhelmed and proud that there were 40 other people out there who had played and enjoyed something that I had made. This puzzle that started everything was called ‘Smooth Criminal’ and is my only other workshop contribution other than ‘Fragmentation’.

After leaving ‘Smooth Criminal’ in a state that I was proud of, I then moved on to creating puzzles for the Croteam Connectorless Puzzle Jam competition that started and finished in March of 2025. For this competition, I had made the puzzles ‘Inversion’, ‘Family Reunion’, ‘Reflection’ and ‘Repetition’, but decided against submitting them because I wasn’t fully happy with how they turned out and thought people would not enjoy them.

Whilst I missed the deadline on this competition, I did have 4 new puzzles sitting unreleased. It was here that I decided to combine them and the already released ‘Smooth Criminal’ into the one world. This process saw me run into many various problems which I was able to solve by joining the Croteam Discord and being a fly on the wall for the next few months, seeing how other workshop creators fixed these same problems I was having.

I hadn’t had any workshop/modding experience before this, and it was only because of how my first map ‘Smooth Criminal’ was received that I kept making more maps. The community really helped me find my feet early and helped me solve all these problems that I was having when starting out, even if none of them knew it yet!

⚪How did the idea for Fragmentation come about? It’s really interesting that the story takes place right in the middle of the main Talos Principle campaign. Did you map out all the lore first and build the puzzles around it, or did you design the puzzles first and then weave the narrative into them?

Dayo: The idea for Fragmentation came about when I was on holiday in England in June last year. Before travelling, I had completed my first full world (which is now the Medieval world in Fragmentation, called The Forgotten Keep). On this trip, I had found a couple of beautiful places and sections of architecture that absolutely fascinated me and served as foundational points for which my imagination could run free. I used the small windows of downtime I had on this holiday to construct the layout of the Rome world of Fragmentation (The Crumbled Forum) on a notepad and then started drafting a mystery that could be uncovered within the Medieval level I had created and the Rome world I had conceptualized.

For the rest of the trip, I worked on drafting the story, as I wanted this campaign to feel as Talos-like as possible. This would mean I’d need a proper fleshed out story with multiple characters with differing personalities, satisfying and challenging puzzles and worlds that feel beautiful and mysterious and the same time. It was also during this conceptualizing phase that I decided to plan on making worlds that use the Egyptian, Wooden and Metal architectures that are available in the editor.

So, the Medieval world came first, then the Roman one, then the story, and then all the rest.

⚪Beyond using the "Useful Shenanigans" assets, it sounds like you really utilized the community to bring this project to life. Between the heavy testing and feedback from players like Darky, Shlam, and Nazario, and using the community-testing channel to proof the puzzles. How did that collaborative environment change your approach to building and finalizing the game?

Dayo: I had everything completed, except the 3 ending levels, when I finally worked up the courage to put my passion project up onto the Croteam discord for community testing one November evening. I woke up too many screenshots of people climbing up on every wall and reaching places I didn’t think were possible! Fragmentation stayed here for community testing for two months, while these early pioneers explored and helped me improve all aspects of this campaign. When I finally uploaded Fragmentation publicly, it was with multiple hundreds of quality-of-life improvements and major changes to some particularly problematic puzzles. And honestly, multiple hundreds of changes that people suggested is likely underselling the number and effect it had on the Campaign. Having so many different perspectives play through Fragmentation meant that everyone was finding silly little things that were possible that only they could find with their unique playstyles.

Community testing didn’t just help with small quality-of-life improvements or constructive feedback regarding frustrating puzzles or sections of each level though. It also helped me make sure my goal of creating a campaign that was just pure Talos. From this testing, it was obvious that Fragmentation lacked a motivation to explore. There were no easter eggs, rewards or motivation for reaching the top of that massive mountain in front of you, or running around the outskirts of each level, looking for a hidden passageway or anything on the ground. Fragmentation was missing that.

It was only through utilizing the collaborative environment that the Croteam discord provides that I was able to get this feedback (that I never would have thought of otherwise). Now in Fragmentation, there are almost 20 easter eggs to find (some of them being assets from Talos and others being completely new and unique creations), as well as special white sigils that are extra sneaky and tricky to find. This was done to reward the people who aren’t just there for puzzles, but to appreciate and explore the foreign environments they find themselves in.

Probably the most unique way that collaboration occurred in Fragmentation is with the help I got with the ‘Power Overload’ mechanic, a type of puzzle unique to Fragmentation! This mechanic seems simple when you play the puzzles but has some complex logic operating in the background and is very taxing on the 200-device limit for each level. Nazario took the logic I did for this mechanic and was able to simplify, optimise and make it more stable so that rewinding wouldn’t break it. This took him weeks, and the result was a contraption that acts as a ‘counter’ with pressure plate memory. It can be used by anyone and can be seen in the ‘Useful Shenanigans’ pack that many workshop creators use.

⚪As someone overseeing this community, it makes me incredibly proud to hear how helpful and collaborative everyone has been, it really speaks to the fantastic spirit our creators have built here! Looking ahead, what’s next for you? Are you already dreaming up another massive campaign, or are you thinking of tackling some smaller-scale projects for a change of pace?

Dayo: I’ve still got some stuff to finish off with Fragmentation – mainly a few bonus areas and easter eggs to reward the most dedicated of explorers. I’ve already got some ideas for my next project though. It will be smaller in scale and will have a much larger focus on the environment and overall layout, with the puzzles being designed to fit the surrounding scenery. My goal for this new campaign is to place the player in scenarios and worlds so unique and foreign that they’ve never even considered what they are seeing was possible. Current lines of inspiration can already be seen in the worlds of Fragmentation, such as the Clockwork Citadel or any of the 3 ending levels within Fragmentation. I also want to make the puzzles much easier than Fragmentation but still satisfying to complete. This would be to allow more people to play through all the puzzles and see all the amazing worlds that will soon be created. This project is still in its early days, but I am very excited to start chipping away at it!

⚪Thank you so much for joining us in the basement and sharing all that fantastic behind the scenes info! It’s been wonderful to highlight just how supportive this community can be, and hopefully, your story inspires even more people to jump in and start creating. For the finale, the floor is yours, feel free to give a shout-out to anyone who helped you along the way or share anything about Fragmentation that we might have missed!

Dayo: Thank you for taking the time to interview me! I absolutely must first take the time to shout out Darky, Shlam and Nazario. These three have had their contributions mentioned and featured in many other Community spotlights, but for good reason. Their assistance and playtesting through the last few months have been invaluable. Others that have taken time out of their days to help make Fragmentation even better include Mr _Pipicz, Chamdresser, inZka, Joost and HardyP. Also a shoutout to Sarge, HicalebiH, Porphyrios as well as all the others who helped play test Fragmentation once was sent to the workshop. Massive thank you to all these people (and all the others who had a hand in the playtests). Many of these community members all have quality maps that they themselves have made, and I’d recommending checking out their catalogues and giving those Campaigns a go as well.

Lastly, I’d like to give a shoutout to Spoot, Lomma and Emily. These were the people that I made my first puzzle for, and the reason that this journey started in the first place.

If anyone reading this is thinking about making their own puzzles, but is hesitant for whatever reason...just go for it! Making these puzzles has been an absolute blast and very rewarding for me. I'm sure this process will be as satisfying for you future puzzle makers as it was for me.