There are two broad types of loading-screen hint, chosen randomly from the entire pool of hints every time you move from one screen or area to another: reminders about actual gameplay functions or mechanics, and trivia about the world of the game itself. The second type can be subdivided again into historical trivia about magic and Oxford (presumably true of our world as well, but none of which I have independently verified!), and in-game lore about the main character Sam.

Note: I'm pretty sure there was at least one hint about Lewis Carroll (Dodgson), but it didn't come up in almost 20 minutes of scene-changes. If someone else can find it and type it out in the comments, I'll add it with credit here!

* There are 20 slots available for saved games. Use them to make rollback checkpoints at different stages of your adventure.
* Remember, bonus points can be scored in locations with silver (white) OR gold titles on the Oxford map.
* Refer to the diary in your inventory if you want to go over specific moments.
* Enable the hotspot labels (with Spacebar) if you think you may have missed something.
* Take a look at the items in your inventory to get an idea of their use.
* You can toggle the subtitles on and off in the graphics options.
* Get a closer look at documents by using the zoom function.
* Check the progress bars for the tasks you have completed and what remains to be done.

* The word "angel" comes from the Greek "ángelos", meaning "messenger" or "messenger of God".
* In ancient Greek myth, Atlas held the sky rather than the globe on his shoulder.
* Carfax Tower is all that remains of the original St Martin's Church, built around 1122 and demolished in 1820.
* The girls who took the Cottingley Fairies photos later admitted they were faked, but still claimed they had seen fairies.
* Daedalus flew from imprisonment with his son Icarus. Icarus died when he flew too close to the sun and his wings melted.
* Leonardo da Vinci's designs included one for a batlike flying machine called the ornithopter, perhaps inspired by Daedalus.
* Einstein described quantum entanglement as "spooky effects at a distance".
* The legend of Faust and Mephistopheles was first written down in the 16th century and circulated in small booklets called chapbooks.
* Nothing definite is known about the poet Homer, beyond the works attributed to him. It is possible he never existed.
* A student damaged the original statue of Mercury at Christ Church in 1817. It was replaced with the present one in 1928.
* Oxford has deep historical ties with Christianity, a fact reflected in many of the college names.
* Oxford's first university library was founded at the University Church of St Mary in 1320.
* The word "magic" comes from an Old Persian root. A "magush" was an astrologer-priest. Collectively they were known as the Magi.
* The term "pyrokinesis" comes from the Greek "pûr" ("fire", "lightning") and "kínesis” (“motion”).
* The earliest experiments with electronic random-number generators explored in “The Conscious Universe” were in 1959.
* Oliver Sacks places the beginning of the “scientific study of the relationship between brain and mind” in 1861.
* River Thames is called the Isis in Oxford, after the Egyptian goddess of fertility and motherhood.
* Many of the Oxford colleges started admitting women only in the late 20th century.
* Zoroaster or Zarathustra is considered by many the first magician and astrologer. He was a Persian prophet and poet.

* Sam dated a boy called Antonio in Rome last year. This is also the name of Prospero's traitorous brother in "The Tempest".
* St Alban is considered the first British Christian martyr. Sam visited a church dedicated to him while in Rome last Christmas.