Ever wanted to achieve something but just couldn’t bring yourself to start? You probably just needed a bit of willpower. And things aren’t much different in Rue Valley. To get Mr. Harrow to begin working on your Intentions, you’ll first need to invest yourself in it. In this guide, we’ll explain exactly how Rue Valley’s Willpower Points work, how to complete Intentions, where to find Inspiration, and everything else in between.
How Do Intentions Work in Rue Valley?
For the sake of simplicity, it’s best to think of Intentions as what you’d typically call quests in a traditional RPG. At their core, that’s exactly what they are: tasks you’ll need to complete (or potentially fail) in order to unlock new clues and progress through the story. They appear once you’ve unlocked enough Memories about certain characters or events, offering hints about your next move to learn more about them.
Intentions begin as Ideas, which appear when you unlock a specific combination of Memories in your Mind Map. To start working on an Intention, you’ll first need to invest a few Willpower Points (or Inspiration Points). Not all Intentions cost the same - some require just one Willpower/Inspiration Point, while others may consume up to five.
Here’s how to start working on an Intention:
- Unlock Memories through conversations and interactions until an Idea appears in your Mind Map.
- Check the Idea to see how many Rue Valley Willpower or Inspiration Points you need to invest in it to become an Intention.
- Click and hold the "Hold to commit…" button to activate that Intention.
- Once activated, dialogue options related to that Intention will start appearing during conversations and interactions.
- Use those options in order to complete (or fail) the Intention.
- Keep in mind that once you invest Inspiration Points into activating an Intention, you will lose them permanently.
Rue Valley Willpower and Inspiration Explained
As you’ll quickly learn, Inspiration and Willpower Points are your primary and most valuable resource in the game. They act as a currency used to activate Intentions (quests), which you can then complete to unlock new Memories, uncover more details, and ultimately progress toward breaking the loop. It goes without saying that you’ll want to earn as many of these points as possible.
What’s the Difference Between Inspiration Points and Willpower Points in Rue Valley?
They’re almost the same thing, but not quite. You’ll use both resources to commit to Ideas and activate Intentions. However, the key difference is that Inspiration Points are consumable, while Willpower Points are permanent. When you unlock a Willpower Point, you can use it to activate an Intention, and it will return to you once that Intention is completed, even if you fail. On the other hand, once you use an Inspiration Point, it will disappear.
How to Get More Willpower Points in Rue Valley
Unlike Inspiration, Willpower Points are much harder to obtain, and understandably so, since they’re a permanent resource. You’ll unlock Willpower through major breakthroughs, such as (minor spoiler!) understanding The Incident dream during a session with your psychiatrist. Completing this dream sequence and discussing it with the doctor will earn you your first Willpower point.
How to Get More Inspiration Points in Rue Valley
As much as it pains me to use this phrase in the context of this game, there’s no way to farm Inspiration Points in Rue Valley. Instead, there are specific locations, interactions, and actions that grant these points. With that in mind, here are a few tips on how to earn more Inspiration Points in Rue Valley:
- Always interact with everything around you (press TAB to highlight interactable objects). Not only will this help you immerse yourself in the world, but it will also frequently reward you with Inspiration Points.
- Choose positive and hopeful dialogue options whenever possible. These choices are more likely to lead to outcomes that reward you with Inspiration Points.
- Some successfully completed Intentions will reward you with Inspiration Points, as well as new discoveries and breakthroughs.
(Minor spoilers ahead.) Some early-game examples of earning Inspiration Points through interactions include appreciating the beauty of the world while watching the valley from the cliff, choosing positive dialogue options when interacting with the cat poster at Max Gas, or finding hope while observing a lone flower growing through the concrete.
What Else Can You Use Willpower and Inspiration Points For?
In most cases, you’ll spend Inspiration/Willpower Points to activate Intentions. However, you’ll also use them to remember major events. For example, early in the game, you’ll need to spend five Willpower Points to remember your The Checkout dream. That's a big investment, but you'll need to make it to move the story forward.
Aside from Intentions and remembering key events, you’ll occasionally (and sometimes unwillingly) spend points on things like Obsessions and other quirks, which will appear in your Mind Map once unlocked. Many of these emerge as a result of your actions and choices, without you intentionally allocating points to them.
So there you have it. Now you know everything you need to know about Rue Valley’s Willpower and Inspiration Points, as well as how Intentions work. I hope you have an awesome time with the game, and remember to check back here for more Rue Valley guides if you ever get stuck or run into something confusing.
Rue Valley Inspiration & Intentions FAQ
No, you can't. Once you commit to it, there's no turning back.
Earn Inspiration Points by interacting with the world and choosing positive dialogue options.
Yes, you can. However, even failed Intentions still hold value, often in the form of new information or by revealing narrative dead ends.
In general, you should always have at least one active Intention, so you have a clear goal to work toward. However, don’t activate every available Idea at once; try focusing on one or two at a time.
Nikola has been playing video games since his father bought him an NES and a Sega Mega Drive in the early 1990s. Over the years, he has mainly become a PC gamer with a love for narrative-driven RPGs, real-time strategy games, and psychological/survival horror titles. Still, he enjoys any game that’s worth his time.
