Tutorial
The game starts with a tutorial explaining basic movement and interaction in the VR setting. It is very straight forward (just follow the directions) and you'll get two achievements for completing it. First, part way through you will get the
You get this achievement for picking up four items, which you have to do just as part of the tutorial.
At the end of the tutorial you will also get the achievement:
After the tutorial, you will find yourself standing in an open area with what looks almost like an altar in front of you. This is essentially the main menu. Blink forward to the table and you'll find a couple of items you can interact with, including a cassette tape for the first chapter "The Beach". As you unlock further chapters, cassettes for those will appear here as well, allowing you to restart at any chapter. To start the game, pick up the cassette and place it in the player. Note the almost amulet or locket-looking item you pick up here as well. It'll be important later in the game.
The Beach
The first major part of the game occurs on the beach and half of the achievements in the game are earned on this first level.
You start inside the edge of a cave. You can exit in one direction toward a beached ship with a hole in its side. As you head toward it, note a pair of starfish on the rock wall on your right [1-2 of 6]. Ignore them for now, but they'll be important for an achievement before we leave.
As you enter the ship, a metal box on the table in front of you will raise out of reach. Ignore it for now. On the table are a couple of bottles. One of these is a bit larger and is labelled as Rum. Pick it up and break it by smashing it against something or throwing it. This is the first special bottle you need to break to earn one of the more difficult collectible achievements in the game [1 of 15]. If you don't want to break it now, don't worry about it, there's a good chance you'll need or want to go on a special bottle breaking run after you complete the game.
Also on or near the table are a couple of candles. Take each one of these and drop into the pool of water by your feet to snuff it out. This will start building toward another achievement.
Turn right from the table and head through the ship. Again, note the starfish on the wall on your right [3 of 6].
When you exit the back of the ship, turn left toward the campfire. There are a couple of optional achievements you can earn here.
First, notice the radio near the fire. Pick it up (preferably in your off hand) and just keep holding it as you explore and/or work on other achievements. Once you've held it for three minutes, you'll unlock
This achievement appears to be cumulative, so if you accidentally drop it and pick it back up, you should only need to get to three minutes total for it to unlock. One you get the achievement feel free to abandon the radio.
Also by the fire, you can find a small ball encrusted with barnacles that looks like kind of like a volleyball. On the side of the ship next to the fire you'll also notice a basketball hoop. The next achievement requires you to toss the ball through the hoop 5 times. This may be harder than it seems since a lot of it requires getting used to the feel of throwing the ball in VR, but the hardest part is actually chasing down the ball after each throw. This also unlocked for me on a toss where I'm fairly positive it didn't actually go through the hoop, so it's measure of success may be fairly loose. After 5 "successes" you'll unlock
Next to the hoop you'll notice another rum bottle. Hit it with the ball to break it [2 of 15].
Again, by the fire, you can find three roman candles (fireworks). Take each of these one at a time, light them in the fire, and point them at whatever you want while they go off. There is an achievement for lighting off five of these [1-3 of 5]. This achievement is cumulative, so one option is to light these three now, then replay the chapter and light two of them again to unlock the achievement. It is also possible to pick up the other two in the next chapter (see below).
There are additional things you can do and explore here, e.g., try putting the popcorn in the fire, and I encourage you to do so, but continuing on directly with achievements and the walkthrough, there is one more immediate achievement to earn. Pick up a piece of driftwood and stick it in the fire to set it aflame. Now carry it through the rock arch away from the ship and you'll see another unlit campfire. Use the driftwood to light this second fire and you should unlock
It may also be possible to light this fire with one of the roman candles.
You should now be standing by a tent. Note two more starfish, one outside the tent [4 of 6] and another inside the tent [5 of 6] (which you'll have to duck down and crawl inside to get). Also, next to the tent is a fence, beyond which is the ocean. There is an achievement for tossing all six starfish into the sea, and that water past the fence is the place to do it. Note that it is possible to throw one so that it becomes unreachable, but fails to land in the water. If that happens, you'll have to replay the chapter and start over (all six have to be thrown into the water successfully in a single play of this chapter). You can start throwing them into the water now (including going back and fetching the three we've already passed) or wait until later in the chapter.
The tent is also the site of the strangest and most irritating (if not technically hardest) achievement in the game. You technically can get it as part of a single playthrough, but realistically you'll want to come back on a reload later and deal with it then.
This achievement literally requires you to spend seven consecutive (not cumulative) hours "sleeping" in the tent. With the game running (there's no "go to sleep in the tent, turn everything off, then turn it back on" option). Some people have gotten it by just lying down in the tent for a few minutes (which isn't supposed to work), while others have failed to get it after seven hours of actual sleeping because they found themselves drifting or teleporting out of the tent. A bugfix seems to have solved the latter issue. Assuming you do not want, or are not capable, of sleeping in your VR headset, my recommendation is to crawl into the tent, lie down as if you are going to sleep, then remove the VR headset and prop it up on a pillow. If you get it set right, you can then go away for 7 hours (real time) with the game running and when you come back the achievement should unlock.
This achievement, and this achievement alone, ends up taking up 70-80% of the time required to get all of the achievements in this game.
When you're done with the tent (one way or the other) you'll see an entrance to a cave with another mini-tutorial in front of you. Pick up the flashlight and follow the brief instructions about using the backpack. As you enter the cave, you pass beneath an upside-down rowboat. Look up into the rowboat to find another rum bottle, which you should take and break [3 of 15].
Head up the stairs to find a small table in front of you, with a note and a cassette tape. Read the note. Pick up the cassette tape and listen to it, from beginning to end [1 of 11]. You can listen to cassettes during the game by combining them with the cassette player in your backpack. All cassettes are stored in the backpack, so you can listen to one again whenever you want.
Look up to see a metal box, precariously sitting on a shelf above you. Throw something in its general direction to knock it down. Pick up the flare gun and flares from the box and load the gun (there are spare flares nearby, so don't worry if you want to shoot things).
To the left of the top of the stairs you just came up are a bunch of shelves. The final starfish [6 of 6] is sitting on them. When all six have successfully been thrown in the water (as mentioned above) you'll unlock.
As a reminder, the locations of all six were:
- On the right-hand wall, right after you leave the starting cave, before you reach the metal box which gets raised away from you.
- Immediately next to the first one.
- On the right-hand wall when you pass through the shipwreck, after the box and before the lit campfire.
- Outside the tent.
- Inside the tent, toward the back.
- Inside the cave on the shelf just opposite the top of the stairs.
and you want to toss them into the sea past the fence by the tent. All six have to be done successfully in a single play of the chapter.
Back inside the cave, past the spot where you found the flare gun, there is a workbench. On the workbench is another cassette tape [2 of 11] for you to collect and listen to. To the right of the workbench is an opening/window out of the cave. Sitting on the cliff outside the window is another rum bottle [4 of 15]. Throw something at it or shoot it with the flare gun to break it.
Head through the corridor to the left of the workbench to go out onto a balcony. There is an unlimited supply of flares here. Reload your gun if necessary, turn around to face the opposite direction from the sea and look at the wall with the end of a pipe coming out of it and a grate covering it. It's hard to see, but there's another rum bottle inside the pipe. Use the flare gun to shoot it and break it [5 of 15].
The next step in advancing the story is you need to shoot three different bells with the flare gun. The first (and hardest) is on top of a pole near the shipwreck, left of the lighthouse in the background. The second is lower to the ground, on a buoy, more-or-less directly between you and the lighthouse. The third is behind you, just to the right of the entrance of the cave. Don't just start shooting them yet, though, because there is an achievement to be earned here if you do it correctly. The achievement requires you to shoot all three on a single clip (each clip has only three shots).
You want to start with the most difficult bell, the one high on the pole next to the shipwreck. It'll likely take you several attempts to figure out the angle. In order to get the achievement, you'll need to hit it with the first shot of a clip, so if you miss with the first shot, just keep practicing with the other two. Even if you hit it with the 2nd or 3rd, retry with the first shot in a new clip.
Once you've hit it with the first shot of a new clip, aim for the second bell, on the buoy. You need to hit this with the second shot. It should be substantially easier than the first, but not automatic. If you miss it with the second shot, take a new clip and go back to the first bell.
Once you've hit the first two with the first two shots of a clip, the third is right behind you, just above and to the right of the cave entrance. You should easily be able to hit this with the third shot to get the achievement
You can always come back and replay this later to try again if you don't want to take the time to practice the shooting on the first play through.
After you shoot the third bell, the light on the lighthouse shifts to point back at the shipwreck you walked through earlier. You'll want to head back that way. Before doing so, note that there are candles scattered throughout the cave. Grab two of them (one in each hand) and head back out toward the shipwreck. When you get back to almost where you started, that metal box from the beginning has now lowered back down. Before dealing with it, drop the candles in the water by the box to put them out. There is an achievement for dowsing six candles in the game. You've probably done 4 or 5 already. Head back to the cave to get a couple of more and once you've put out six you'll unlock
There are additional candles in other chapters, but it makes sense just to complete this here. Note that not all water in the game is created equal when it comes to putting out flames; throwing the candles into the ocean (where you threw the starfish) does not douse them.
Once you're ready look in the metal box. You'll find another cassette tape [3 of 11] and a door handle. We're almost done with this level, so if there are any achievements or additional exploration you want to do before ending it, now is the time to do so. Remember, that you can always replay the chapter later. Once you're ready to proceed, grab the handle and head back out of the shipwreck in the direction of the fire. Instead of turning toward the fire, straight ahead of you is an opening in the wall which leads to a metal fence with a door missing a handle. Use the handle on the door, open it, and watch/listen to the short cutscene to end the first chapter and unlock
The Sewers
This chapter starts with you standing at the start of the sewers, just past the door you entered at the end of the last chapter. It's dark...you are likely to be eaten by a grue. Ok, maybe not. It is dark, though, so pull open your backpack and get out the flashlight. I suggest holding it in your off hand so you can use your main one to grab or manipulate stuff.
As you move forward you'll almost immediately hear the professor start talking and he'll shoot some fireworks at you. Don't worry about it, you can't actually be harmed. He'll quickly realize who you are and give you some vague, worthless instructions before disappearing. The goal of this chapter is just to work your way through a fairly small maze. We'll also work on some of the collectibles as we go.
Head straight down the corridor until it ends and you have to turn right. Go down the slope to a somewhat lit area where you can see a crate on your right with a cassette tape [4 of 11] and a map. Look at the map; it's not the most useful map around, but it gives you an idea of the layout. One area is marked "wishing well". This is entirely optional, but there are some items there that may be useful for getting other achievements.
Just past the crate where you found the tape and map, look at a pipe coming out of the ceiling with a grate on it. There's another rum bottle in it [6 of 15]. You can't reach it, so you have to throw something at it or shoot it with something. One option is the flare gun if you still have any flares left in it (unfortunately, you cannot store flares in the backpack), although I'd save those for an even more difficult bottle if you can. Another option is to fetch some fireworks further along in the sewer and come back. If you want to throw things, there isn't a lot in this immediate area, but one of the glowsticks can work if you're a bit lucky.
Go forward to the intersection, and follow the path until you hit the first fork where you can actually make a choice. To your left is an overturned shopping cart, ahead of you another fork. Head forward and look down and to the right. You should see a green arrow pointing through the rough passage on your right. This is the direction you want to go to continue through the maze. Ignore that for a second.
Go back to where you saw the shopping cart and head toward it, following the path until you see a hole in the wall, followed by a chamber with a bucket hanging through a hole in the ceiling. This is the (bottom of the) wishing well. Of primary interest are a lighter (which you can store in your backpack) and the last two roman candles (which you cannot store in your backpack). You can use the lighter to light these to unlock
As mentioned in the first chapter, these are optional, you can also get the achievement by just replaying the first chapter and relighting the fireworks there since the achievement is cumulative. Regardless, I would not light them immediately. If you were unable to break the bottle in the pipe mentioned earlier, head back to it with one of the fireworks, use the lighter on it, then use it to break the bottle. Much easier than trying to throw something.
Head back to where we saw the arrow pointing to a rough passage and face it, but again do not go through it yet. Instead head left. You'll quickly go around a corner to a dead end. Look carefully in the water and you should find another rum bottle floating in it [7 of 15]. Grab it and break it. (Because of the way the bottle floats around, it may be possible for it to float away and be somewhere else, but usually you can find it here).
Now we can head through the rough passage where the arrow was pointing. Go forward until you find a barrel with a fire in it. Another rum bottle to break is on the ground behind it [8 of 15]. Keep following the passage until you come to another crate with another cassette tape [5 of 11] and a note. Keep going forward and you'll come to some stairs. Pause for a moment.
Down the stairs and straight ahead there is a round hatch. The chapter will automatically end when you get close to the hatch, so we want to grab the last few collectibles before you blunder into it (not sure why they didn't require you to actively pull a lever or open a door). First, before heading down the stairs, look at the pipes above your head. Another rum bottle is here [9 of 15]. Again, throw something at it or use one of the roman candles or flare gun (not recommended) to destroy it.
Head down the stairs into the water. There is one more rum bottle here [10 of 15], but it can be really hard to find. It's floating around somewhere and moves around. If you listen you may hear it banging and rattling around. On at least one occasion I simply could not find it and had to restart the level.
Before heading to the hatch, move toward a mattress on your left. There are a bunch of pieces of paper floating about, but most importantly, another cassette tape [6 of 11].
With all of those found, head to the hatch to end the chapter and unlock
The Lair
Before doing anything else, immediately look to your left and on the ground, behind/inside of a tire, you will find another rum bottle to break [11 of 15]. Walk forward to the end of the platform you're on. The professor will appear on the other side and start telling you things. Listen to him for a while, then he'll start throwing vacuum tubes at you while keeping up a running commentary. Catch one (if it hits the ground it will break) and place it in the circuit box to the left. He'll continue to throw more tubes, as well as lots of other random objects at you, but ignore all of these for a moment to explore.
First, look to your left on the ground, underneath another tire, to find another cassette tape [7 of 11].
Second, look across the gap to where the professor is throwing things at you from. On the right-hand side on the roof (you might need to use the flashlight to find it) is another rum bottle [12 of 15]. Before trying to break it, look to the left and down. There is a large pipe with water pouring from it coming straight down out of the ceiling. Toward the bottom of the pipe there is a lip with yet another rum bottle [13 of 15]. There are two ways you can try to break these. The flare gun, if you still have flares in it, or throwing things. The good news is you have no end of objects to throw since most of the things the professor is tossing your way (e.g., frying pans and screwdrivers) can be thrown at the bottles.
Start with the one on the right first; it is by far the hardest one to actually break. This is the one to try to use the flare gun on if you can. If not, just keep catching or fetching from the ground the various objects the professor is tossing your way and keep throwing them at the bottle. With a lot of perseverance, luck, and practice you should eventually break it. Repeat with the second one down on the lip of the pipe, although I found it substantially easier to hit.
Once both of these are broken (or skip them if you want to come back later and replay for the achievement), catch two more tubes from the professor and place them in the circuit box. Once all three are in, pull the lever next to it to call the elevator. The professor will stop throwing things at this point, which is why you want to take care of the bottles first.
Get on the elevator and pull the lever in it to be lowered down.
Once off the elevator, circle around the pit until the professor kicks down the bridge. Before crossing, note another bottle [14 of 15] on the ground next to a barrel. Cross the bridge and find the last bottle on a shelf on your left [15 of 15]. If you've managed to break all 15 you'll unlock
You can always replay to focus on the bottles later.
There are also two more cassette tapes right here, one on the table in front of you as you cross the bridge [8 of 11] and one on a nearby shelf [9 of 11]. As you are collecting the cassettes and the last bottle, also grab any electrical components outlined in blue to store in your backpack.
Eventually the professor will say something about starting the water wheel. Turn to the right (from the bridge) to see a station with two levers with a view of a large bucket on a chain in front of you. One moves the bucket/wheel left and right, the other backwards and forwards. Manipulate these until the bucket is in the stream of water flowing from on high and the wheel will begin to spin.
This will cause the electrical board behind you to short-circuit and the components to spit out. Go back to it and start placing the components you've collected into it. Some of them have to be placed back before others (the diagram on the left of the circuit board has some hints). The components are color-coded to the wires, so it's a fairly simple puzzle to solve.
Once it's all working again, an elevator on the far left will open. Go get onto it and wait for the cut-scene to end, you to descend, and the achievement for finishing the chapter to pop.
The Lab
After going down the elevator, you are presented with the containment unit and the machine. Lots of stuff is floating around, including a cassette tape [10 of 11]. Because this tape is floating around, its position may move and you might find it on the upper platform rather than right in front of you. Walk around the platform and up the stairs, where you will find a large circuit board.
Before dealing with the circuit board, open the drawer to its left to find the last cassette tape [11 of 11]. If you have all 11 tapes and the achievement has not unlocked, you probably haven't listed to all of them all the way through. Replay each of them, one by one, and eventually it will trigger
In order to open the cage, you need to fill all of the spots on the board with vacuum tubes. Tubes come in two value: 5 and 10 (the 5 are yellow/green and shorter, the 10 are blue and longer...you can see the number on the base). Tubes are floating around everywhere and can be picked up, or you can get the tube fetcher device on the table to the left of the circuit board and use it to fetch them. Just point it in the general direction and pull the trigger and a bunch of them should come flying at you. Sometimes they'll disappear when you try to pull one off the device. Also...try not to point it at your panel or you can pull tubes you've already put in place off of it.
The trick with the panel is that there are 4 bars blocking the path and each has to have a specific value of vacuum tubes in its path (you can see the paths by tracing the different colored cords from the bottom to the top). There are clues about what values you need to get scattered around the room, but the values, from left to right, are 65 60 55 65.
If you can't figure out how to solve this puzzle, there is a quick hint (virtually a cheat) which you can find on the bottom of the tube fetcher device. Essentially, just place a tube with a value of 5 on any slot that covers only a single wire and a tube with a value of 10 on any slot that covers multiple wires.
Once the bars are all lowered, you can open the door to the containment unit. Pull your half of the locket/hexagon thing (from the very beginning of the game) out of your backpack and put it in the slot.
Once the elevator rises get onto it and enjoy the view as the achievement for this short chapter pops.
The End Game
This is mostly one long (very impressive) cut-scene, although on two occasions you will have to interact with the panel in front of you (just put your hand into it when it opens up and shows you a hand) and toward the end (after the long speech from the person you meet here is done) you have to point your hand to the stuff above you and pull the trigger for a few moments. The cut-scene will continue into the closing credits and the achievement for completing the first episode will unlock.