The Room Walkthrough by lenin 17

The Room is Fireproof Games’ puzzle-box adventure: a locked cabinet in a locked room, a strange eyepiece that shows what ordinary sight cannot, and a note from a friend who went too far into the Null. This walkthrough covers the tutorial, the three main chapters and the epilogue of the PC version.

How the game plays

Everything is done with the mouse. There is no walking: you inspect one object at a time by turning the camera round it with the left button held. Double-click to zoom in, right-click to zoom out. The inventory is on the left and always open; the eyepiece, once assembled, sits on the right and toggles a second sight that reveals hidden marks and mechanisms. Hints can be turned off in the options. Progress saves automatically and any chapter can be restarted.

Chapter 1: tutorial

Hold the left button and turn to inspect the cabinet from all sides. Look at the top, pull the letter from the envelope as the arrow shows, and click the small brass key with the animal on it: it goes to your inventory. The camera moves to a round box. Turn the lid until the two halves of the lock line up, drag the key from the inventory onto the lock, turn it, drag the lid up, and take the unusual eyepiece. It sits on the right but does nothing yet; a part is missing. Read the riddle on the note: the answer is fire. The cabinet’s legs carry the symbols of the elements, earth, air, fire and water. Zoom out, find the leg with the fire symbol, press it and take the unusual old key. In the inventory, the key’s end can be rotated to change its shape.

Look at the side with the vertical plate and rivets in the centre. Slide the plate on one section aside and study the keyhole’s shape. Take the key, turn its end to match, close the inventory with the arrow, drag the key onto the hole (it sharpens when in range) and turn. Take the engraved metal plate from the niche. Turn the camera right to the maker’s plaque, use the plate on its screw, turn anticlockwise to remove it, and take the lens, which fits itself into the eyepiece. Click the eyepiece and look at the side panel in the new light: a drawing appears. Click again to return to normal sight.

Turn to the side with the circle in the centre. Zoom on the shuttered window above the circle, slide the shutter, turn the key’s end 90 degrees, insert and turn clockwise. A segmented cover slides off the circle. Through the eyepiece, parts of a drawing show on the rings; turn them to complete it, and the cabinet side opens.

Chapter 2: the three locks

Lock 1

Through the eyepiece, inspect the box; fingerprints show on one edge. Press it and take the ancient leather-bound book. In the inventory turn its rings, top, bottom, centre, right, and take the key from inside, a clock-winding key. The niche the book came from holds a clue. Turn to the side with the square and the combination lock inside it; through the eyepiece, 5 goes in the left window, 7 in the right. Turn the box to see which figures belong top and bottom. Set them and lower the small lever in the window that opens.

You face the side where a device slides out. On its left, flip the hook back, insert the key in the mechanism, turn clockwise; a disc inside begins to spin. At the bottom of the leg right of the box, double-click, turn the rotating part and take the small scrap of cotton that smells of paraffin. On the device’s right, fit the wick in the hole and spin the wheel on the left to strike a spark. Pull out the lever on the right and drag up: the burning wick rises and lights the window from inside.

Turn to the side with the lock in the centre. Zoom on the ring on the leg to the left, turn it, and take the miniature telescope from the part that rises; turn its rings in the inventory to extend it. Set it in the device’s mounts. Look through it: a film. Click the eyepiece and look again for the clue TRIAL. You are taken to the window on the left; eyepiece again, turn the rings to complete the drawing, take the brass plate with the letter L. Back at the lock side, zoom on the windows above it, set the letter in the empty slot and dial TRIAL. One lock open.

Lock 2

The lock side drops open and a safe slides out. Look at it from above, read the note, double-click the projecting part and drag the slider on the lower edge right. Hold and turn the surface until all four lamps in the corner globes light. A shelf slides out on the right with a drawing; eyepiece on, and solve the 3D puzzle by lining up the drawing in three dimensions. A keyhole appears, and you need the key.

The side to the left has four windows of changing symbols. One clue is on the leg left of them, one you saw earlier on the niche wall in that same leg, the third is on top of the box. Set the symbols and take the heavy cast-iron key. Use it on the keyhole and turn: the shelf retracts and the locks on the drawer to the right open. Pull the drawer for the small cabinet key and open the safe with a full clockwise turn. Take the painted brass star. Step back, look at the top of the box and set the star in its place; a niche below holds a note. On the top, find the brass ring with graduations that has appeared on an edge, and fit it to the dial on the safe’s left wall.

Turn the ring’s pointer to the pins in order: left to 6, right to 1, right to 2, left to 5, right to 3, left to 4. On the cylinder that emerges, set the sliders to 2 in the left column and 5 in the right. (If the cylinder shows no numbers, a known glitch, lift both sliders vertical and release.) Take the large oddly shaped key. The keyhole in the safe’s right corner has changed shape; shape the key’s end to match, insert, turn, open the safe and take the round plate with a star. Turn to the side with the circle in the centre and the gear symbol above; set the plate on the circle. Second lock open.

Lock 3

Another device slides from the wall. On its left, move the switch to the left (the lower gear moves with it) and turn the handle clockwise: the top of the box rises. A closed drawer appears on one face. To open it, set the clamps at its corners so the empty quarter of each faces the drawer’s centre; each clamp has its own wheel. Top left, a circle with a dot: on the leg right of the drawer; set the filled area to the second quarter. Top right, a triangle with a line: behind the shutter on the device’s right wall; third quarter. Bottom left, a square in a square: under the figure on top of the box; first quarter. Bottom right, a pentagon: right of the handle on the device’s left side; fourth quarter.

Pull the drawer and take the large gear and the rubber belt. At the chain drive on the device’s left, set the gear on the axle above the big gear and turn the handle; take the small screwdriver from the compartment. On the right side, unscrew the plate’s screws anticlockwise until they drop, and when the moment comes press the button in the mechanism to reach the unusual unfolding key. Zoom on the face of the box top with the drawer marked by an intricate recess; shape the key’s end to match and take the medium gear. At the left-side mechanism, set it on the left axle of the three free ones above the handle. Switch to the right (the drive gear moves right), turn the handle anticlockwise, and at the device’s lower front take another medium gear. Back at the chain: move the first medium gear from the left axle to the lower right, the new one to the upper right, fit the belt at the bottom, turn clockwise.

At the front, press the button top left and take the long narrow steel tube from the upper window. Extend its top for a small key, and pull an old photograph from inside; its back carries numbers. Open the panel on the device’s right with the key, eyepiece on, solve the 3D puzzle, take the small silver shield. Use it on the figure atop the box and take the oval gemstone; set it in the recess on the front. Eyepiece on, set the clock to the time on the photograph, 6:05. Third lock open.

Chapter 3

Zoom on the face with the maker’s plaque, slide it aside, press the lever, take the box with a puzzle on top and read the note. In the inventory: move the ball from the left half to the right by turning the centre disc to choose the groove. Take the ordinary key. At the keyhole side, insert and turn. Turn the disc left to the fifth pin, right to the fourth pin, left to the end, right to the end. A frame with a lens slides out; put the photograph in it, eyepiece on, look through the lens for the clue, and take the small wooden peg from the niche below.

At the side with the circle right of the globe, zoom, eyepiece on. Slide the lower plate to the stop. Turn circle 1 so platform 2 is at position 3; drag plate 4 onto platform 2; turn circle 1 to platform 5 and drag plate 4 onto it; put platform 2 at position 6 and drag plate 7 onto it. Put the peg in the centre hole. On the dial below, spell SIGIL. Take the bright blue crystal and read the note. Turn the box, find the yellow slot and insert the crystal; it sinks and a beam shoots up. Turn the wheel to focus it and take the tiny weighted flywheel from the top. Another slot below takes the flywheel; pull the drawer by its freed handle and take the light-reflecting device. Press the button in the drawer’s floor for the hexagonal map piece. Set the reflector in the slot at the top of the beam: it bends right. At the two-button device, press left, turn the box left, press two buttons in turn, and take the brass key with many hinged parts. Press right, turn left, press two more buttons, take the star-shaped map piece. At the side with the cut-out for the complex key, shape the key and insert it; take another reflector and set it over the beam, which goes left. Eyepiece on, steer the sliders to pass the beam through every reflector, and take the oddly shaped map piece. At the globe, set all three pieces and take the brass handle with a square peg from the top right compartment. Fit it in the matching hole, eyepiece on, solve the 3D puzzle, take the intricate wooden box; turn its base to align the lines with the arrows and it opens. Set it in the hole on top; look through the telescope that rises and note the constellation. On the panel left of the globe, light the stars to match; take the last map piece, read the note, set it on the globe and pull the lever down.

Chapter 4

Zoom on the huge compass; move the turquoise-stoned lever hard right, take the brass handle and read the note. Left, the pale rectangle at the edge of the top: press, insert the handle, turn clockwise. Panels rise; at the control panel press the button and the planets move; a screen appears behind the panels. Eyepiece on, double-click the screen. Turn the sword stand, solve the 3D puzzle, take the ornate antique dagger and set it in the central circle: a model of the planets opens. Look at the screen again for a clue, go left to the panel of squares and press them as shown, then the plate below. Press the control button again, read the second clue on the screen, press the squares, look again, solve the 3D puzzle, take the large gold amulet. Use it on the round rise at the edge; turn it, aligning the arrows on the spinning centre disc one at a time, checking the screen for which squares to press after each. Press the panel under the squares and take the energy source from the centre disc. Press the button, look at the screen through the eyepiece, double-click twice: you travel to the array. Walk round it, find the drawing fragment on the lower ring, turn the others to complete it. Back in the room, set the source in the centre.

Epilogue

Read the note on the desk and remember the hint top right: the notes B and F. The notebook on the left shows the Null element. Eyepiece on, zoom on the handprint and turn the disc to form the palm. Off; on the side of the round platform that rose, slide the runner right and take a small gear. On the desk’s side with a runner, slide it down, set the gear on the axle in the lower panel, press the button beside it. Drive the round runner along the line, turning every ball lamp-side up; grooves open in the top and bottom rectangles; run into the lower one, turn the lever, flip the toggle top left. From the cylinder that rises take the metal sphere: through the window on top, turn the inner sphere button-up, press it, open the top, take a small gear. A clue is on the desk’s side. Left, where symbols are carved, open the small box and set the three sliders: one dot on the second symbol from the right, two dots on the fourth from the left, three dots on the second from the left. Take the coin. At the two panels with two buttons, set the gear on the upper axle, press the right button, pull the handle and take the oddly shaped key from the drawer.

Set it in the recess on the desk box’s side and turn it to lower left; right, take the metal handle from the niche. Key to lower right, lower the slider in the window above; back to lower left; take the key from the upper compartment of the niche. Use it on the keyhole on top: shutters open on a symbol drum. Set the first key to the top position, note the symbols in the two windows; key left, set the drum to the left window’s symbol, an X shape; key right, set the five-notes symbol. Two buttons open; key to top, press them. At the number drums and the three glowing rods, look through the eyepiece from the right and move the rods with the left sliders for the clue: 573. A screen rises but the puzzle needs more parts. On the desk side with the octagon and two holes, fit the handle, turn: a music puzzle. Play B and F, put the coin in the tray, press the button and repeat the tune. Take two metal handles, fit them to the screen, eyepiece on: a cube with empty cells, the upper handle turning it vertically, the lower horizontally; look at the back and steer the four side plates into the cells. Take the red gem in a metal plate. At the right-hand screen, slide the gem to the bottom cell of the diamond with the through-hole, look at the other side, click the gem and take it. With all the gems, set them on the stand so the eyepiece and lens show the symbol top left: yellow under red, green right of red, blue right of yellow. Open the lid; run the puck from the outer edge to the centre, the button turning the discs to change the grooves. Eyepiece on the centre disc, align the two drawings, one more puck run, one more 3D drawing turned with the centre platform too. The game ends.