- Go through the entire room and open/overturn everything (even if someone's already done it!)
- Big furniture? Go ahead. If they didn't want you to move it, they would have nailed it down
- Books: flip through every one - are there markings, notations, hidden slips of paper in the jackets, dog ears? Is it a reference book that matches up to a code?
- Paintings: Look behind, look inside (if nobody stops you), look at what's depicted on the painting
- Tables: Look in, on, under. Open the drawers and then look on the underside of those drawers. Which drawers cannot be opened? What do they need in order to be opened?
- Cupboards: Check in, check each shelf, check UNDER each shelf, check the very top if you can reach
- Carpets: Floor is fair game! Peel it back where you can, look under
- Walls: look for writing, look behind objects, look low and high
- Ceilings: look up! Check the lighting, check for writing
- When doing any of the above, what am I looking for?
- Anything that's out of place, has a handwritten clue on it, a code to decipher, anything. If it can be picked up, take it to a place where you can consolidate all the clues
Advice for solving puzzles
- Some puzzles can be solved as they are, but a lot of them will need extra clues, and it's up to you to match the clues together, even if they're all over the room. That's when consolidation and note taking will help.
- For example: one clue will read: "yellow house + white horse = ____". That's not solvable as it is. But somewhere else in the room, you can bet there's a yellow house with maybe a number written on it, you see where I'm going with this? If a clue doesn't look solvable with the information you have at hand, you need to go out and get more.
- Ok, I have a ton of puzzles and a ton of "keys" that should go with puzzles. How do I match them up?
- There should be a clue in the flavor text - or at least some indicator somewhere! Let's say you have a locked chest. Is there anything written on the chest? Is anything in that text emphasized, different colored, capitalized? Maybe it's trying to give you a hint. No words? Maybe there's a lock that can only be unlocked with letters, or shapes, or directions. Example: it's a directional lock, now you know what you're looking for. A series of directional inputs. Look through your "keys" (a pile of clues that aren't puzzles themselves). Do any of them say something like "NEWS"? That's a series of directional inputs! Try it!
- Most clues and puzzles won't be used twice. That's not a guarantee! But it's likely that you can set aside both the puzzles and the clues you've already used in a separate area from the ones that have yet to be used.
