- Difficulty
- Story, Normal or Nightmare; puzzles Hinted or Normal. Nothing needs more than Story.
- Saving
- Call 100 at any phone. Autosaves cover objectives, not exploring.
- Dying
- The IV bag brings Simon back once per fill; Story has healing to spare.
- Counting
- Every Clue and Document is a Discovery; every kill is a Kill. Their balance is the ending.
- Going back
- No chapter select — a missed item means an older save or a new run.
Decide before you start
The opening, step by step
Chapter 1: Cold Open
Walk the pier; the first document is on the door of the small building to the right after the tarp blows off the St. Amelia sign. The Shorefront map is yours at the Town Square. At the first phone booth, read the Your Local Services flyer and call 900, 010 and 100 — three of the thirteen numbers, and 100 is how you save. The Tourist Center number sits at the bottom of the map.
Chapter 2: Escape
Using the first phone takes you into A Different Place, where the CRTV arrives automatically. Take the Room Service Card, store the two channels around 50 and 60, and set the door wheel to 18 / January / 1996. The Room 204 Key and a document are in the bathroom; the Hotel Reception Notice is behind the desk as you leave, with the hotel's number on it. Welcome To St. Amelia pops as you return to the square.
Chapter 3: A Connection
Zoe's house, west of the square: the flashlight body is in the drawer left of the organ box, the AA batteries upstairs — combine them. The Prepaid Power Card is in the newsagent's till; feed it to the meter in the crawlspace (button A to Card Credit, button B, main switch). Read the three emails, then open the organ box with 956 on the left and 133 on the right for Zoe's Lanyard.
Chapter 4: Searching for Zoe
The lanyard opens the Clinic. The Scalpel from Z Ellis's room opens every rusty hatch door from here on; the reception keypad is 2896; the answering machine marks the Pharmacy. In the Pharmacy back room the radio tunes channel 30, which shows the poster order for the locker code 6539. St. Amelia Park, the back-door key in apartment 1/2 and Jess's house lead to the Broken Stethoscope; back at the scales, place stethoscope, prescription note and lanyard left to right. Resignation, and the part ends.
Discoveries and Kills, from the first document
Habits the reviewers wished they had
- Tune the CRTV at every new area and keep flicking: one creature per frequency, and it can misjudge distance.
- Hold two throwables and one melee weapon — that is the whole carry limit besides ammunition and medkits.
- Lock a door behind you. An enemy chasing you indoors usually gives up at a locked bathroom door and walks back to its post.
- Fill the IV bag and keep it equipped; sterilise gauze with alcohol once alcohol appears after the first Zoe section.
- Save at a phone before exploring a town area. Autosaves fire at objectives, not while you wander.
- Move fast when spotted: enemies lose track of a quick runner. The soft thunderclap in the score is your cue to leg it.
- Read the map somewhere safe — it does not pause the game.
- Leave Pull!, Long-Range Masonry and Pinpoint Inaccuracy for a run where you can save first if you are attempting Reject The Help.