Superliminal

Superliminal is a first-person puzzle game built on forced perspective: an object’s real size is whatever its apparent size says it is, so a chess piece held at arm’s length and then dropped across the room becomes enormous. You are a subject in Dr. Pierce’s dream therapy programme, and the nine chapters take you steadily further from the script. This walkthrough follows the route through all of them.

How the game plays

• Controls: keyboard and mouse.
• Menu: the Esc key.
• Inventory: none.
• Saving: automatic, on quitting the game.

Chapter one: immersion

Turn round. Go to the desk and sign the agreement by clicking the letter with the hand cursor. Turn round again and follow the corridors.

Take the chess piece from the table in the corner and experiment with it: put it down at a distance from yourself and it grows; bring it closer and it shrinks. That is the whole game in one object.

Go through the door and along the corridor. Clear the giant chess piece out of your way, either by laying it on the floor or by shrinking it. Jump over the box and go into the room.

Take the upper cube off the lower one in the far right corner. Set it alongside to build steps, climb them to the door above and go along the corridor. Stand on the pressure plate in front of the second door and it opens. Take the cube from the room behind that door, put it on the pressure plate and go through. Take a cube and enlarge it.

Set the piece under the door above. Jump onto the cube and from it through the door. Look through the small window on the left. Take the chess piece from the table and move to the window on the right. Put the piece on the pressure plate and go through the door that opens ahead.

Take the piece of cheese from the table on the left. Enlarge it and set it under the door at the top right.

Go up the ramp and through the door. Move the big cube on the left aside. Pull the boards off and go through the door. Read the note on the locked door at the end of the corridor, then come back to the room.

Pick up the cube, shrink it, and put it through the small window onto the pressure plate. Go through the door that opens. Pick up the cube, shrink it, and put it through the broken mirror on the right onto the pressure plate. Go through the door that opens. Pick up the cube and enlarge it.

Throw the cube over the wall onto the pressure plate behind the window on the left. Go through the door that opens. Cross the room and follow the corridor to the sign.

In the new room, take the exit sign hanging over the door. Enlarge it and lay it across both pressure plates. Move into the next room and through the open door. Look into the crack in the wall on the left and take out a sign. Enlarge it and throw it at the wall, then leave through the breach.

Go through the door, along the corridor, and fall down the lift shaft.

Chapter two: optics

You are in your own bedroom. Switch off the alarm clock on the bedside table and go out through the door that opens.

Go left, right, then through the door ahead on the left. Interact with the vending machine and you hear a mechanical noise. Go through the door on the left, forward and right, then forward along the corridor. Turn left, then right.

Take the door leaf off, set it aside and go through the opening. Go left, take the door leaf off, and read the note on the brickwork blocking the opening. Go to the far end of the corridor and through the door on the left. Follow the corridor as it stretches out and go into the room.

Take the sign, enlarge it, lay it against the wall opposite the entrance, and climb up it.

In the store room, switch on the radio. Jump onto the boxes and go through the opening. Go forward and through one of the open doors ahead, then into the room on the right.

Forced-perspective assembly

Look at the objects and find the point from which they resolve into a cube. Carry the cube out into the corridor, enlarge it and use it to reach the door above. Go into the room on the right.

“Place” the vase of flowers on the small table. Look at the cube from the point where the vase fills the gap in it. Take the cube and go out into the corridor. Turn the cube and enlarge it, then use the filled part to climb onto the upper platform. Take the cube and carry it into the hall, and use it to climb onto the second-level platform on the left.

Position yourself so as to form a door leaf out of part of the pattern on the column, then take the door leaf off. Jump down and go through the opening. Go up the stairs, switch on the radio, go up again, and into the room on the right.

Look up and form a cube, then enlarge it. Use it to climb onto the upper platform. Stand on the central platform and form a chess bishop, then move the bishop aside. Jump down and go through the opening.

Cross the platform and go through the door ahead. Switch on the radio on the walkway and go forward.

The moon

Through the window, take the moon off the sky and enlarge it. Switch on the radio. Take the section of wall with a door in it off the moon, enlarge it and fit it into the wall.

Go forward, get into the lift, and travel back to your bedroom.

Chapter three: cubism

Switch off the alarm clock and go out into the corridor. Go left, right, through the door on the left, then left and left again.

In the room with the pipes, note the sign. Go through the door ahead and into the room on the right. Take a cube and carry it out into the corridor.

Enlarge the cube and climb it to the upper platform. Take the cube and go forward. Use it as a step to get through the opening above.

In the corridor, take the cube lying on the floor and set it aside, and part of the floor comes away with it. Jump down. Remove the ventilation grille and cross to the other side. Build steps out of cubes and climb them. Go up the stairs and through the door on the right.

Sink one cube into the floor and stretch the second. Use the stretched cube as a step and jump onto the platform.

Take a cube apart and use one of its faces as a ramp to get up to the door above. Take the cube on the right and break it into small cubes. Enlarge one of them and climb onto the platform. Take a cube face off and jump down the shaft. Get into the lift and travel to your bedroom.

Chapter four: blackout

Switch off the alarm clock and go out into the corridor. Go left, right, forward. Switch on the radio. Go through the door on the left, then left, left and left, and follow the corridor.

You end up in complete darkness. Head towards the emergency lighting and go through the door on the right. Cross several rooms, always going straight ahead. Note the trail of blood on the floor leading through the door on the right.

Move one cylinder off the platform. Climb onto it and go forward. As soon as you enter the next room the door slams behind you.

Find the only way available: go into the darkness to the right of the entrance and look left. Follow the blood trail on the floor. Follow the walkway forward, left, right, and cross to the other side. Keep following the blood trail and switch on the radio.

Go up the stairs and along the corridors. You are shut in a room again. Turn round and back into the darkness. Follow the arrow and move right. Go up the stairs, cross the walkway into the corridor, and go into the room with emergency lighting.

In the opening on the left you can see a glowing sign. Take it and go back into the corridor. Move right, using the sign for light.

Make your way between the stacks of boxes into a new room. Put the sign down on the floor and go out through the opening. Take another glowing sign off the wall and enlarge it. Stand the sign by the glass partition and go through the door.

Climb the boxes to the door above. Follow the corridor out to the generator, start it, and the lights come on in the building. Leave through the second door into the corridor. Go forward, get into the lift, and travel to your bedroom.

Chapter five: clone

Switch off all the alarm clocks and leave the room. Go left, right, through the first door on the left, then left and left.

In the corridor, take out a door leaf and carry it with you. Go on to the next corridor and into the room with the pressure plate. Put the door leaf on it and go through the door that opens. Follow the signs on the walls.

Clone steps out of the door leaf and climb them. Jump onto the lamp and from it onto the platform. Go forward.

Build steps out of the alarm clocks and climb to the door. Take the apple off the pressure plate and enlarge it, then go through the door that opens. Go up the ramp.

Clone a chain of apples and lead it onto the pressure plate. Go through the door that opens. Clone the signs, build steps out of them and climb to the door above. Jump down.

Go forward along the corridors and walkways. Switch on the radio. Turn round and go through the open door. Follow the corridor, get into the lift, and travel to the bedroom.

Chapter six: the doll’s house

Switch off the alarm clock and leave the room. Go through the open door opposite the one you came out of.

Go into the hall and “sit” in the armchair. Admire the swirling clouds. Go through the door on the left. Switch on the radio on the table and go forward. You come out into the familiar corridor. Follow the route you already know and jump down the shaft.

Take the doll’s house from the table. Enlarge it and go inside. Pass right through it and out through another door. Enlarge the house again and go in.

Climb the suitcases and go through the opening. Head into the model wall, follow the red cable, come out at a radio and switch it on. Go up the stairs and turn right. Jump over the sparking cable. Come out into the hall with a column in the centre.

Take the fan from the table and enlarge it. Aim the airflow at the column and topple it. Climb into the opening. Take the window off, enlarge it and climb through. Go through the opening in the model wall standing on the floor. Switch on the radio and go forward. Cross the changing room and go into the swimming pool with the model castle.

Enlarge the model and climb it to the poolside. Enlarge the castle model to the size you need and climb inside. Move along the ventilation duct, look down, take the model and shrink it. Place the model on the diving tower opposite. Get out of the duct, go into the model wall and forward. Switch on the radio standing on the stepladder and go outside through the opening in the model. Shrink it, and put the model wall standing next to it onto the platform in the opening, with the door facing away from you. Go into the opening in the model.

Take the house, enlarge it and go inside. Go forward, get into the lift, and travel to the bedroom.

Chapter seven: the labyrinth

Switch off the alarm clock and leave the room. Along the corridors: forward, left, then right through the door with the stain on the floor in front of it. Then forward, right, left, through the door with the sign, right, right. You come up against a bricked-up lift shaft and turn round. Go forward and you are back in the bedroom.

Switch off the alarm clock and go out into the corridor. Left, right, through the door on the left, left, left. You are back in the bedroom again. Switch off the alarm clock and try the usual route once more, and again you are returned automatically.

The third time you find yourself in the bedroom, switch off the alarm clock; it goes dark for a few seconds. Back up, walk up the wall onto the ceiling and go through the door.

You come out in a hall full of desks. Switch off the alarm clock standing on a chair and you are moved to the bedroom, with the clock on the bedside table already off. Take the picture off the wall and go out into the corridor.

Stand the picture across the corridor. Go close and look down, and the surroundings change. Walk round the picture and go forward. Switch on the radio and go on.

Follow the walkways out into a long corridor. Go forward into a gravity labyrinth. Head towards the door below. Jump down into the hall with red walls. Move along the wall with the double door. On the next wall, take the door leaf off. Turn round, take the door leaf off and jump down.

Go through the door ahead. In the next hall, get through the crack in the broken window. Switch on the radio. Go forward into the room with the pipes and through the door on the left.

Turn round and look at the cube. Back up and you fall down. Take the ramp from the table, enlarge it and punch through the floor with it. You fall again, then head for the lift. At the bottom you come up against a wall; turn round and jump down.

The five identical rooms

Look at the sign on the wall and go closer to it. Then look in the opposite direction to the one the arrow points, and walk in the direction of the sign. That gets you through five identical areas. Come out into a wide room and go through the door ahead.

You are at a swimming pool. Use a cube twice to reach the platform on the diving tower. Head for the door of the doll’s house. Switch on the radio on the shelving on the left. Stand on the pressure plate, take the chess knight from behind the door that opens, and put it on the plate. Go through the door.

Follow the corridor and jump down. Take the cube and the colour of the surroundings changes. Use the cube as a step and climb onto the platform above. Go through the door. Take the cube and set it in front of the door, and the surroundings change again.

Move along the corridors with black and white tiled floors. Jump down into an office. Go into the inner office and interact with the alarm clock; you are moved to a lift.

Go forward through lift cars until you see an arrow on the floor. Now move in the direction the arrow points until the next sign, and going from one arrow to the next you come outside.

Switch on the radio. Switch off the alarm clock and get into the lift that appears. You come out on a street with endless rows of streetlamps. Head for the nearest row and move along it without turning off until you see a building. Go in and you are in the bedroom. Switch off the alarm clock on the bedside table.

Chapter eight: blank space

The surroundings change.

Take the section of model from the table. Carry it into the next room, enlarge it and go through the door. Wait for the surroundings to change and head for the building. Go forward and through the door. Keep going through the shifting black-and-white space. Set a cube aside and go through the door.

Switch on the radio and go into the room. Cross it and you come out onto a street. Move between the traffic cones and go through the door. Approach the next door.

Follow the familiar corridor and fall down. Go into the dark opening and follow the sign, to the right. Cross the hall with the black floor and go through the door. Walk round the cube with the window and go out through the window. Approach the door set high up, then turn round, take the cube and enlarge it. Use the cube as a step and go through the door. Switch on the radio.

Move left, towards the ruins. Click the switch. Approach the staircase, pass straight through it, turn round and climb the steps. Go forward, fall through, and pass into the bright rectangle of a door. Follow the corridor into a hall. Pass through the wall, go round the hall from outside and head for the door ahead.

Switch on the radio and go out through the door on the left.

The chess pieces

Follow the cones to the next door. Take a chess piece from the table and put it on the nearest square. Take a second piece and put it on the next square. Move onto the square where the second piece stands and turn round. Take the first piece and put it on the third square. Move onto the third square, turn round, and move the second piece onto the fourth. Carry on leapfrogging the pieces like that until you reach the door, then go through it.

Pick up a cube and go through the door. Put the cube down, take the piece of cheese and throw it through the door. Take the cube and come back through the door. Enlarge the cheese and use it as a ramp to walk up and through the door. Jump down and find the door into a tunnel. Go through the tunnel and in through the door on the left. Set the cube aside and jump down.

Chapter nine: retrospective

Stand still. Watch the changing pictures of the places you passed through during the game, and listen to the commentary.