Ori and the Blind Forest Randomizer: A Player's Guide

What Does the Randomizer Change?

The Ori and the Blind Forest randomizer makes a familiar pickup location exciting again: its reward can change your entire route. Instead of following your usual skill order, you explore Nibel around the abilities and resources you actually find. Whether you want a relaxed replay or a demanding movement puzzle, the Ori and the Blind Forest randomizer gives those discoveries a new purpose.

The central change is shuffled progression. Skill pickups can appear in different locations, so remembering where you originally learned an ability no longer answers where you should go next. Your current movement options become the starting point for planning.

That changes the questions you ask in every area. Can you reach another pickup with Dash? Would an Energy Cell make the next stretch more manageable? Is there somewhere useful to return after finding Climb?

Several formats build on that idea:

Format or option	What it changes
Randomized seed	Shuffles pickups into a new arrangement
Difficulty settings	Changes the techniques expected during progression
Dungeon-key requirements	Can require keys to unlock dungeon access
Bingo	Gives you a generated card of goals to complete
Plandomizer	Uses deliberately placed pickups to create a designed challenge

A seed is an individual randomized game. A plandomizer, often shortened to “plando,” uses the same general framework but puts a person in charge of the placements.

For your opening run, focus on finding routes through familiar spaces with unfamiliar tools. Speed can come later.

Official page: Ori and the Blind Forest (store.steampowered.com)

Choose Your Edition, Difficulty, and Format

Start by separating the original game from Definitive Edition. Ori and the Blind Forest launched in 2015, while Definitive Edition includes Dash and Grenade. The Definitive Edition randomizer uses that expanded set of movement possibilities.

Image: Steam / Moon Studios GmbH

Check the game edition required by the mod you choose before setting anything up. An original-game purchase and a Definitive Edition randomizer are separate compatibility questions.

The Ori and the Blind Forest randomizer also has difficulty options that affect the knowledge expected of you. Classic, Master, and Glitched settings are among the documented choices, and beginner seeds provide another entry point.

Choice	What to understand before selecting it
Beginner seed	Provides a starting option for learning randomized play
Classic difficulty	Appears among the randomizer’s difficulty choices
Master difficulty	Sits toward the demanding end of those choices
Glitched setting	Expects proficiency with glitches
Bingo mode	Requires completing goals arranged on a generated card

Read the option descriptions in the randomizer interface. Its hover explanations help you understand what you are enabling before committing to a run.

Choose beginner seeds while learning pickup locations and randomized progression. Leave Glitched settings for when you want glitches to become part of the expected solution.

Bingo shifts your attention toward a collection of objectives. Because those objectives draw on knowledge of the game, spend time learning Nibel before trying to route a card efficiently.

There is also an Archipelago randomizer mod for Ori and the Blind Forest. It is a separate integration with its own setup and keybind information. Follow the setup process for your chosen project instead of mixing instructions between versions.

Keep your opening session focused on one format. Learning an unfamiliar ruleset and an unfamiliar route at the same time gives you more to untangle when you get stuck.

Track Pickups and Budget Your Resources

Knowing Nibel’s geography helps, but randomized play asks you to separate a location from its usual reward. A familiar Energy Cell location is still somewhere to check; its original contents no longer tell you what you will receive.

Image: Steam / Moon Studios GmbH

The Ori and the Blind Forest randomizer’s map tools can help identify reachable pickups. Use that information to turn a vague search into a specific routing problem.

When a reachable location seems impossible, examine the approach with your current abilities. The missing piece might be a movement interaction rather than another upgrade.

Tool or habit	How to use it
Randomizer reachability map	Identify pickups accessible under the selected logic
Nibel collectible map	Learn pickup positions and regional geography
Map layers	Display selected collectible types or regions
Custom map markers	Mark locations and sketch routes during a session
Current ability check	Reconsider accessible paths after a movement upgrade

A general collectible map helps you learn where checks are located. Keep the shuffled reward separate from the original collectible shown there.

Custom drawings on the interactive Nibel map disappear when the page reloads. Finish using your route sketch before refreshing it.

Plan Energy Before Spending It

Energy management can decide whether a route works in the Ori and the Blind Forest randomizer. Charge Dash consumes energy, and the DashWithFriends plando demonstrates how tightly that cost can shape exploration.

In one Grotto stretch, the route budgets six energy: one to reach a door, four to open it, and one to pass the following gauntlet. That leaves no spare energy for a backup save.

Before entering a demanding section:

• Count the energy needed for the obstacle ahead.
• Include movement costs as well as door costs.
• Identify your next refill.
• Place a safety save where the area and your resources allow it.

Treat experience as part of the route, too. In DashWithFriends, early enemy kills and experience pickups help time level-ups and supply ability points for Charge Dash. Missing that timing creates extra waiting or changes the available resource budget.

When your route slips, stop following the original plan automatically. Recount what you have, then choose the next move.

DashWithFriends: How a Plando Turns Movement Into a Puzzle

DashWithFriends shows how far the Ori and the Blind Forest randomizer can stretch familiar mechanics. Its pickups are hand-placed, and its progression revolves around Dash, Charge Dash, enemy manipulation, and carefully managed resources.

Image: Steam / Moon Studios GmbH

The version showcased at Oriversary 2023 was remade for randomizer 4.0. Its open-world setup includes an already-open lower Valley door, which matters to that particular route.

Early exploration uses Dash before the player has the wall movement tools normally associated with those areas. Collecting ability points leads into Charge Dash, then energy pickups help support its repeated use.

Route element	Role in DashWithFriends
Early ability points	Support purchasing Charge Dash
Energy pickups	Supply repeated Charge Dash use
Efficiency upgrade	Reduces Charge Dash’s energy cost
Climb	Adds wall interaction after the Misty entrance challenge
Charge Jump	Simplifies later traversal and the final escape

These placements create a chain of movement problems. Reaching an upgrade means understanding what the current loadout can already accomplish.

Enemies Become Part of the Route

One Misty challenge uses a frog projectile and Charge Dash to break a floor. The setup requires drawing the frog’s attention, moving outside its range while it continues shooting, and redirecting the shot.

The idea is easy to explain, but positioning and timing make execution demanding. Practice the setup separately before trying to combine it with a tight resource route.

Another puzzle in Sorrow uses a frog, Stomp, and Glide. The frog must be moved into position, and its projectile redirected high enough to break a ceiling. Glide in the wind helps establish the necessary height.

These encounters make enemies useful beyond combat. Watch where they stand, where they fire, and which breakable surfaces their attacks can reach.

Follow the Plando’s Rules

DashWithFriends requires collecting keystones rather than using the duplication shortcut excluded by its rules.

Area	Keystones included in the route
Sorrow	4
Grotto	2
Swamp	2
Ginso	4
Total	12

Count keystones alongside your movement resources. A clever traversal trick does not replace a required door payment.

The run also visits all skill trees, even though shuffled rewards mean those visits do not restore the usual ability order. It finishes without Bash or Grenade in the demonstrated route. Keep tree objectives and actual ability rewards separate when planning a plando.

Build a Practical Routine for Your Opening Seeds

Approach your opening Ori and the Blind Forest randomizer sessions as exploration with a checklist. Your immediate goal is to understand why a location is reachable and what each new pickup changes.

1. Read the Rules Before Moving

Check the difficulty, dungeon requirements, and completion objective. For a plando, read its specific restrictions as well.

DashWithFriends makes the reason clear: its keystone requirements directly affect routing. A shortcut outside the intended rules changes the challenge you are solving.

2. Reassess After Movement Upgrades

When you gain an ability, revisit your list of accessible checks.

DashWithFriends illustrates this repeatedly. Climb supplies wall interaction after an awkward early stretch. Double Jump changes traversal possibilities. Charge Jump later makes routes much more comfortable.

Think about the obstacles an upgrade addresses, then inspect the relevant locations.

3. Allow Room for Recovery

Do not copy a tightly optimized route’s resource budget without understanding its recovery options.

The DashWithFriends route sometimes spends almost everything needed to reach the next section. When experience timing goes wrong, collecting an additional energy refill helps recover the run.

Take a reachable refill before a difficult sequence when your current budget is tight. Save before a demanding enemy setup when possible. A failed attempt becomes more expensive when it also forces you to repeat the approach.

4. Separate Exploration From Trick Practice

Use beginner seeds to learn checks and progression. Practice advanced projectile redirects when you want to work on execution.

If you are stuck, describe the exact problem: your abilities, the pickup location, and the obstacle blocking it. That makes the next question useful, whether you are checking the reachability map or asking other players for help.

After becoming comfortable with randomized exploration, try a plando. Its deliberate placements let you work through a designed sequence and refine the same solutions across repeat attempts.

FAQ

Do I need speedrunning experience to play the Ori and the Blind Forest randomizer?

No. Beginner seeds and difficulty choices give you ways to learn randomized play without starting with advanced speedrunning techniques. Begin by learning pickup locations, using the reachability tools, and understanding your current abilities.

What is the difference between a randomizer and a plandomizer?

A randomizer generates shuffled pickup arrangements. A plandomizer uses deliberately chosen placements to build a particular challenge. DashWithFriends, for example, creates progression puzzles around Dash and Charge Dash.

Do I need Definitive Edition?

The Definitive Edition randomizer is designed around that edition, which includes Dash and Grenade. Check your chosen mod’s edition requirements before setup, and keep its installation instructions together.

What should I do when I cannot find the next pickup?

Check the randomizer’s reachable locations, review your movement abilities, and inspect your energy and key resources. If a marked location still seems inaccessible, focus on its specific obstacle. Ask for help with that location and your current loadout so the problem is clear.