Full written walkthrough and achievement guide, true ending included.
Guide Contents
Introduction
Note: Credit goes to Bioticmuffin
This guide is supposed to be as straightforward and as spoiler free as possible. It will tell where to go and how to find specific items without delving too much into the story, so you can be the one to discover it in case it’s your first playthrough. This game is filled with lore and enjoyable small details, so my first advice is to take a look around and examine things, even if I don’t specifically state it: those might give you some additional insight about the personal story of each character.
Once the Prologue is completed, the chapter room will open up for you, serving as a lobby. Each chapter can be freely selected by interacting with the framed butterflies above the fireplace. The completion order makes no difference at all, however, for this guide I am gonna go through each chapter by following what I consider their “difficulty range”, which is Blue → White → Black. No matter your order of choice, each section will be listed down below.
World of Ashes is the game’s true ending, obtainable by picking up four Chunks of Ash, one in each chapter of the game (excluding the Prologue), to make a key. There are specific coditions needed to trigger the spawn of these items, and how to get this ending is included in the guide. For the various achievements and endings, for easy reading, I listed the ones obtainable in each chapter in their appropriate section, including the conditions needed to get the missable ones.
Prelude
You can take a look around the beach to gather some informations about the Girl’s family, then head over to the path. Take the right, you can get into the first house, there is a love letter into the old drawer. Once out, head towards the lighthouse by following the same path. Once inside the lighthouse, there will be a letter under the couch right next to the entrance. Head in the tree room, and then up the stairs. Once at the very top, open the door and walk towards the Tall Man.
The Girl and the Fish
Complete the Prelude.
This is a story achievement, and as such, it is unmissable.
You will then wake up in the chapter selection room, so just walk towards the fireplace, select it, and choose a framed butterfly. I would advise picking the Blue one first, but the choice is yours!
The Blue Butterfly: Marie
My personal advice is to start with this specific chapter as, especially if you are new to the game, the Forest map is the easiest to read and navigate compared to the other chapter’s areas.
Follow the path until the crossroads: there is no point going towards the left at the moment as the path to the Caves will be blocked, so head right instead, and keep going until you meet up with Marie, standing in front of the Big Tree. Remember to pick up her doodles along the way, they are easy to spot and will give you extra hints about the plot.
After a short cutscene, keep going and pick up the Map. After picking it up, keep following the path by staying on the right, you will soon see another doodle on the ground, and the same Blue Bird Marie just spoke to you about. The Bird will fly away, so pick up the doodle. Follow that same path to the Flower Field where you will be able to talk with Marie, then keep going: the Blue Bird is waiting for you right behind the Arches. Since you are close to the Dollhouse, go there and read the book, then trail back to the previous crossroads where the Bird is now waiting, ready to fly away once more. Follow its direction, towards the Big Cage. At the moment it’s locked and empty, but you can pick up the doodle nearby.
You can now speak to Marie once more, she will be at the Pond. She won’t have much to tell you, but as you walk away, bird noises at the Pond will hint to go back to her. She is need of help, so talk to her once more. You can get into the Pond by walking close to the old boat. Pick up her Birdcage, give it back to her, and after the cutscene just trail back to see the Bird: follow it. The Big Cage won’t be empty anymore, but it will still be locked.
Head towards the Fallen Tree Trunk, and you will see blue feathers on the ground. Follow them, they will lead you to Marie. After talking to her, follow the noise to the Arches, there’s an Axe left on the tree stump, pick it up. Now, remember at the very beginning of the chapter, when I mentioned the Caves? It’s now time to go all the way back there, by using the Axe you can now break the planks blocking the way. You can take a look at the Desk, there is a journal to read.
Head to the Ruins, there is another journal right inside on the chair. Marie will be at the back of the house, you can talk to her again. Head up the stairs on the back, examine the gramophone, then walk through the blue door. Follow the way and examine what you find at the end, you will obtain the Clover Key.
Back through the blue door, pick up the doodle close to the wall where Marie was drawing, and then to the Big Cage. Talk to Marie and unlock the door, read the book, then examine the bed (and take a look at the blue bird’s book) and the cage, to get yourself a Caged Bird. Get out of the Big Cage and follow the feathers to the doodle, it will hint at your next stop, the Dollhouse. Once there, drink from the teacup.
Feel free to take a look around while in the flashback sequence, there isn’t much to explore other than the room, just follow the feathers through the house to find out about the Bue Bird’s secret.
Once out of the sequence, it’s time to go get the first Chunk of Ash: head to the Pond, pick up the Blue Dye Bottle on the desk you’ll find at the Flower Field while on the way. There will be a little encounter with the Blue Bird too. Once at the Pond, you will notice a toy boat in the water, the Chunk of Ash is right on it, pick it up.
You now have to create our own Blue Bird, so you will need to go back to the Ruins. Not mandatory, but you can interact with the Fireplace to discover a Record that will give some insight when used at the gramophone. You can also pick up a letter at the Desk in the Caves, it will be in the puddle right next to it. Once at the Ruins go through the same door up the stairs, and interact with the table at the end of the area. Pick up the Cage before you leave, then walk back through the door and follow the blue featers to the grave behind the ruins. Interacting with it will give you a Blue Key. You can use it to open the other door there, the one that is downstairs. There is a book in the room that will hint at what happened to Marie’s family. Marie herself can be found at the Big Tree, meet up with her to complete the chapter.
The Blue Bird
Complete Marie’s chapter.
This is a story achievement, and as such, it is unmissable.
The White Butterfly: Charlotte
The Sanatorium is a good choice as a second map as it is not particularly complicated to navigate, however it involves two big floors, a basement and a vast number of doors. Some will be locked at some point in the game and accessible at another time, others will never open. Specific areas will be marked on the map, but there are other unmarked doors that are open and home to curiosities and lore. Don’t be afraid to explore, you might discover details about what happened to Charlotte.
As soon as the chapter starts, pick up the Unsealed Letter on the floor, you will soon need it. There is another document in the adiacent room too, on the hospital bed. Leave and walk through the corridor and the big hall, to the opposite side, to get into the Nurse’s Room. There is a letter on the desk, remember this place because you will need to come back here more than once. Don’t leave yet, because in the adjecent room, there’s your Map on another desk. It’s now time to go meet Charlotte, she is in the Sanatorium’s garden, you can reach it by walking through the corridor right next to the Nurse’s Room, you will see a door leading outside.
You will now be able to give the Unsealed Letter back to her, it’s the one she is looking for.
Leave the garden through the same door you used to enter, then go through the one immediately at your right. Our first stop is the Day Room, on one of the benches on the left there is a Card (a 7 of ♠) and a diary with a doodle: remember the order of the suits (♠ ♥ ♣ ♦), you will need it later on. Next stop is the Male Ward, where you will find a card on the 3rd bed on the left. At the end of the Ward, you will also find another Card in the helmet (this time it’s a 8 of ♣). Now you need to go upstairs, you can use the stairs next to the Nurse’s Room and the Document Room as those are the only available stairs at the moment. Take a look at the map and head to the Bath Room marked on it, the next Card (1 of ♥) is next to the bath tubs. Next stop is Carol’s Room, the 232, there is a doodle on the bedside table and the last Card on the bed (6 of ♦).
To Charlotte’s Room then, the 209, to pick up the letter on her bedside table and exchange few words with her. Head back downstairs to the Day Room to pick up another Card hidden under the table on the right, and once again talk with Charlotte.
Leave the room and head through the door directly in front of you, then through the one on your left. Thanks to the cards, we now have the code to open the padlock: 7186. Head downsairs into the Basement and to the Morgue (you can also take a look to Lucy’s room which is marked on the map, and to the unmarked one on the opposite side of the corridor, there are letters inside both rooms), to pick up the Doll inside the coffin. Bring it back to the Day Room, to Charlotte.
Leave the Day Room and head through the door in front of it, Charlotte is sitting on a bench. Talk to her, then go back to room 209 and share a conversation again. Pick up her letter, and go back downstairs to the Nurse’s Station: you can leave it on Lucy’s desk by simply interacting with it. Before you leave to go back to Chalotte’s room, you can eavesdrop a conversation between Lucy and the Director in the same room, by interacting with the locked door on your right.
Back to room 209, it’s empty, but check her bed to read a letter. There is a new letter you can read, still upstairs, in the Reception Room. Charlotte can be found in Carol’s Room, the 232.
Talk to her, then back to room 209, talk to her again to learn about her new medicine. Don’t leave the room yet, it’s time to trigger the Chunk of Ash. You two need to speak a couple times, until she tells you about the night spent with her dad while he was working: these are the lines needed to actually make the Chunk spawn later in the chapter (if you forget to do this, the door to its room won’t be accessible). Once she tells you, you can leave.
Head downstairs. While you get towards the stairs you will see a door closing, it’s the door to the Reception Room. It is again possible to overhear a conversation between Lucy and the Director, and once that is over, pick up the Dining Room Key that just fell on the floor. Go downstairs to the Dining Room. There is a table with a bouquet of red roses, and on it, a Sweet Recipe.
The door for the Kitchen is open, and there you will find the first ingredient on the counter near the window, the Berry Jam. Open up the Kitchen door that goes to the corridor, and walk to the Female Ward. Near the end of the room, hidden behind the curtain and near the open window, there is the second ingredient, the Honey Pot. Leave and go to the Swimming Pool, the door is now open. There is something on the bottom of the pool but we need to drain the water first, so go to the slightly open door on the left and pick up the Blue Crowbar: it can be used to break the lock of a gate near the pool. Once you do, you will find a valve at the end of the short corridor, interact with it. Get the Document Room Key from the now drained pool, (before leaving, you can interact with the closed stall in the pool’s bathroom, you will need to come back here soon). The door that goes in the Document Room through the corridor is broken, but you can get inside from the Nurse’s Room. Pick up the Director’s Room Key from the box. Leave the Nurse’s Room, there is a letter on the door, so back to the Swimming Pool you go, remember the closed bathroom stall? Get in to obtain some Gin. The Director’s Room is next. The last ingredient, Mint Syrup, is in the desk’s drawer. There is also a letter in the fireplace.
Go downstairs to the Kitchen (you need to go through the Dining Room once again), and interact with the table to make a Sweet Medicine for Charlotte. Bring it to her in room 209.
Once you aquire the Letter to Father, before going back to the Nurse’s Room, go to room 216 to get the Chunk of Ash that has now spawned: it’s on the sewing machine. Head to the stairs, and once you hear gunshots follow the trail of blood to the Operating Room, where you can interact with the white sheet on the window, and with the surgical table.
Start heading to the Nurse’s Room, this time you will need to use the stairs on the opposite side of the corridor and then go through the Exam Room. On the way, examine the suitcase in the big hall to obtain an Old Small Key. Once you place the Letter to Father on Lucy’s desk, use the Old Small Key to open the drawers and do some reading in Lucy’s diary. Leave the room, there are few red rose petals on the floor on the left, follow them into the room and walk downstairs to the Morgue. Pick up the letters inside the coffin.
Back to the fround floor, reach the garden and go back inside the Sanatorium through the open door on the opposite side. Take the door on the left, once in the corridors you will see that the passage in front of you (slightly on the right) that has been closed until now, is open. Go through it and follow the path to Charlotte.
Head through the door, and walk her to the Rose Garden.
Walk through the gazebo and follow the descending path in front of you. Interact what you will find at the end to complete this chapter.
The Rose Garden
Complete Charlotte’s chapter.
This is a story achievement, and as such, it is unmissable.
The Black Butterfly: Ophelia
The Mansion is overall not too far off what you already encountered, but with a twist. This map again includes a vast amount of doors, plus three floors and a slightly confusing unmapped area. When it comes to the “twist”, my main advice is to save often and just be ready to run and hide.
Pick up the note on the table and follow the only available path to the Greenhouse, where you will meet Ophelia for the first time. A cutscene will start, prepare to run as soon as it ends.
Take the right and enter the door. Once inside follow the kitten to the right, then immediately to the left and go through the door to the Pantry. The kitten will hide, revealing you a hiding spot: remember this closet, it’s now your best friend.
Ophelia will chase you multiple times through the chapter. It is never a random attack, each one is triggered by completing specific tasks through the plot. She won’t give up the chase you until you hide, so even if she is far and you leave the room, keep running. There are only three closets in the Mansion, I will list them as they become available, and worry not, once you hide she won’t find you unless you hide right in front of her. She can be a fast runner but her attacks are slow, if there is not enough room to move and avoid her directly know that she won’t kill you instantly, but she will charge an attack instead. Just get out of the way and run to a closet (I pretty much used the same one in the kitchen for most of the game, so don’t be afraid to go to the one whose location is easier to remember for you, even if it’s not the closest).
Once it’s safe, take the door on your left, it leads to the basement. Peak through the Lily Door (always peek through these doors!) on the stairs for a cutscene, then keep going down the steps. At the very bottom, you will find a Brown Key. There is another key on the other side of the gate that can’t be reached, don’t worry about it for now. Back to the Pantry upstairs, there is a Map waiting for you on the table. You can see there are two Pantries, we will call this one the Left Pantry, and the other one the Right Pantry. Leave the room from the same door you used to get inside. The big door to the Breakfast Room is still locked, but peek through it for a cutscene.
Reach the Gallery, and then the Entrance Hall. Ophelia is sitting on the stairs but won’t attack you as long as you don’t get too close. Get to the Right Pantry and unlock its door with the Browk Key. There is a Lily Door, examine it before interacting with the white double door. Head to the basement once more. Walk into the Kitchen and interact with the statue to obtain an Old Saw, then to the Bathroom, pick up the letter on the floor… and there’s another closet can use to hide, try to remember its location. Leave the Bathroom and examine the door to the Servant’s Hall, there is also a letter on the desk next to it. Keep moving to the corridor in front of you, in the open room at the very front there is a letter left on the bed. You can pick up the Breakfast Room Key by following the corridor, and move the barrel to free up the way, so you can easily move back to the Left Pantry. WARNING, as soon as you go through the door, Ophelia will be there and she won’t be happy to see you. This time you can’t hide in the Pantry’s closet as she will see you (if you do, she will kill you and you will have no chance to escape), so run back to the basement and hide in the Bathroom’s closet. There, she won’t find you.
Once she leaves go unlock the Breakfast Room, pick up the note on the table and peek through the Lily Door on the fireplace. On the right, close to the other door to the Pantry, there is a handle: turn it, then open the door that was previously stuck.
Go back to the Servant’s Hall, it’s now open. Read the note and pick up the Dining Room Key, that’s your next stop. Once you get there, you might want to save before unlocking the door. A cutscene will soon start, and Ophelia will be there. One of the eggs on the table looks different, interact with it to start the cutscene, then run. It doesn’t really matter which of the two closets you want to hide into, just go to the one easier for you to reach.
You can safely go back to the Dining Room to pick up the Black Key from the egg, then finally head to the upper floor. First of all, examine the Lily Door, then go towards the Music Room (there is also a small studio next to it, and a book on a desk inside). Peek through the door and get the note, then go downstairs to the Billiard Room as it asks. There is another Lily Door on the billiard table, examine it, then follow the blood trail. There is Ophelia’s father’s diary in the Study, then follow the blood to the Smoking Room, but watch out: Ophelia will be there too. At the end of the cutscene, go hide in the closet that is most comfortable for you to reach (I found the Left Panty one quite handy for this purpose).
Head back to the Smoking Room, where you will find a letter on the table, and the Music Room’s Key on the balcony’s floor. Back upstairs to the Music Room, pick up the note on the piano. As soon as you get into the upstairs area of the entrance hall, Ophelia will once more come for you. Watch out, she will come from the stairs, and there is a high chance you won’t have a lot of room to manouver around. Run to hide where you prefer.
The Nightmare
You died in Ophelia’s chapter.
You can either get hit by Ophelia herself, or by one of the broken dolls roaming the unmarked corridors upstairs. Getting hit will make you wake up in the chapter selection room, and the framed Black Butterfly will be on the floor, shattered. You will be unable to complete the chapter and get “The Confession”, however, getting both achievements is still possible and can be accomplished by completing this one first, then loading a previous save (before getting killed) to complete the chapter.
This achievement is MISSABLE depending on your playthrough!
Go back upstairs, the door on the right will now be unlocked. There is a marked area next to the Sitting Room, go take a look: there’s the third closet, it will come in handy soon. There are also some notes on the small Sitting Room’s balcony. Head to Madam’s Bedroom and peek through the door, you will get a note at the end of the short cutscene.
Walk to the Sitting Room once more and pick up the Hat Box from the table, then leave the area and head towards the bloodied part of the map. The corridors in this section are unmarked and a bit trickier to navigate, as there will be dolls ready to chase you just like Ophelia does.
Once in this area, no panic: start running and take the second corridor on the left, then follow its shape and take right twice whenever there are crossrosads, then just straight to the Lily Door. This one specifically is not to peek through, it is actually Ophelia’s Room and you can open it up by using the Black Key.
Place the Hat Box on the wooden table, then pick up the black book hidden under the other side of the bed. See the kitten running to a door? Don’t go there yet. Leave Ophelia’s Bedroom and go back to Madam’s Bedroom as she asked (to reach it, go through the unmarked areas in reverse: straight, left, left, right), her door will now be open. On the dresser on the left there is a Heart Key, it’s now yours. There is a diary on the bed, then walk towards Madam’s bathroom, the way is a bit hidden behind a partition. Walk towards the bathtub and pull the plug to trigger a cutscene, but now that at the end of it you will need to run from Ophelia: this time, the closet at the end of the Sitting Room is your easiest bet.
Go back to Madam’s Bedroom’s bathroom, pull the plug once more and pick up the Silver Scissors. Start heading towards the upstairs entrance hall, but before leaving the area there is a Lily Door to examine, it’s in a little sitting area next to the entrance door to that section.
Head to the Music Room, use the Heart Key on the piano to obtain some Rusted Nippers. Now, back to the unmarked corridords, this area will look a bit different then usual. Peek through the last Lily Door, then to the actual corridors. This time you won’t go to Ophelia’s Room but to the upstairs Library to get the third Chunk of Ash, but don’t worry, there will be no more dolls.
Take the first on the left and follow the long way, take the left again at the first crossroads (the right is to Ophelia’s Room, but you don’t need to go there yet) and then the right. There is a lighted up door, that’s the Library, and the Chunk of Ash is near the streetlamp, on the hat.
Next is Ophelia’s Bedroom (remember that to leave the Library you have to take right, left, and then go straight), go to her bathroom, where you didn’t go before. Examine the coffin and use the Old Saw on the chains keeping it shut, then open it up. Take a look at the shabby coffin, use the Rusted Nippers to unseal it. Lastly, look at the hat box and cut the ribbon with the Silver Scissors.
On the same spot under the bed, there is now a white book for you to read. Leave the room.
Walk straight to the lighted up lamppost, examine the kitten.
Enter the Cathedral, there is a slightly opened door to the right with a note. Walk to the end of the aisle: behind the confessional there is the kitten, get closer to him, he will walk away. Walk inside the booth and listen, then once Ophelia is done talking, open up the door where she was sitting for a cutscene and the chapter completion.
The Confession
Complete Ophelia’s chapter without getting killed.
If you happen to die, don’t despair! Load a previous save and you will still be eligible for this achievement.
This achievement is MISSABLE depending on your playthrough!
Ending
If you still need multiple achievements from this part of the game, please check out the listed achievements and their requirements at the end of this section for clarification.
Select the Light Blue Butterfly in the Terrarium to start. Examine things on the beach until the Girl shows up. The area is… almost exactly as it was before, your goal is to reach the lighthouse.
There are a bunch of diary pages scattered around, one is at the entrance.
Instead of heading to the tree room, go through the small passage in front of the entrance and open up the trapdoor to go in the basement. Here there is a page next to the stairs, and a diary in the little room to the left. There is also an old can in the same room, examine it. As soon as you turn to leave you will find a Pickle Jar on a couch in front of you, open it to obtain a Can Opener. Use it to open the can and get an Old Key.
Head upstairs to the tree room and open up the stove, pick up the Decayed Key that the fish will spit up. In the little area where there are the stairs to go up the lighthouse, there is another page under the old bed. Now head upstairs.
Get in through the door immediately in front of you to find yourself in the bathroom, here there are two pages and, in the bathtub, water that needs to be drained. Pick up the Rusted Key once you do so. Leave the room and go towards the next ramp of stairs, there is another page. Interact with the metal parts blocking the stairs and use the three keys on the locks, the order does not matter. Head upstairs to find two more pages, and then go through the door.
There are two pages here, one on the right and one on the left next to the desk. Pick them up, but don’t walk to the balcony yet. On the desk there is the last Chunk of Ash, you might want to save before you pick it up if you are still trying to get all the different endings. After you have it (or not, depending on which achievement you are going for), walk to the balcony for a short cutscene and to complete the last chapter.
The Waking Dream
Complete the Ending chapter.
This is a story achievement, and as such, it is unmissable.
Neverending Dream
You’ll get this ending by missing one or more of the four Chunks of Ash.
As long as you save before picking up the fourth and last Chunk (that will be right before walking towards the lighthouse’s balcony), you can get this achievement by completing the game and then reload, pick up the last Chunk, and complete it once more.
This achievement is MISSABLE depending on your playthrough!
The Ash Key
You got all four Chunks of Ash, and are eligible to unlock the true ending!
After the end of the chapter, you will wake up in the chapter selection room, and will be able to open the door to the outside with the Ash Key.
This achievement is MISSABLE depending on your playthrough!
World of Ashes
The True Ending, gotten by collecting four Chunks of Ash to make an Ash Key.
Walk out of the chapter selection room at the very end this achievement and one extra cutscene. You need the Ash Key to open the door.
This achievement is MISSABLE depending on your playthrough!
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