Quick Links
· The Tumble
· West Island
· The Volcano
· East Island
· The Mountain
· The Old Man
Unlabelled Map
Labelled Map
Instructions: Find the question that most closely relates to the area you are stuck at. Highlight the area to the right of each number to get as many hints as you need on that problem. The hints under each question are ordered from general hints to a full solution.
Note: Red numbers correspond to hints that only apply if you have selected "puzzle mode" at the end of Chapter One; you can ignore them if you are in "story mode."
If you're having trouble matching the map of the island with the individual rooms, try looking at the labelled map to get your bearings.
If you can't find or use the answer you need here, you may also contact the author for hints.
1 Most importantly, learn who you are, where you've come from, and where you're going.
2 Explore everywhere and examine everything you can. Or, just be on your way. It's up to you.
3 If you're confused or want to know more about who you are, you can read the Preludes at lacunastory.com or within the game by typing MENU.
1 Type the emphasized keywords "itch" or "call" when they appear to learn more about the feeling.
2 You wayfare through your painting. Have you found a canvas?
3 From your bed, type STAND UP to get to your feet, then DOORWAY, DOWN, and PAINT.
1 Try examining it by typing PAINTING.
2 It is not quite finished. Type PAINT again until it is.
1 None of them.
2 Seriously. Blue Lacuna is an inventory-less adventure game.
3 (Well, almost. There's at least one thing you can find and carry around with you: the compass.)
1 Have you examined it thoroughly? Maybe tried to touch it, push it, or kick it?
2 It sounds like there's something inside. Maybe there's a way to open it.
3 Have you noticed the carvings on it? Have you noticed the indentations? What does the pattern remind you of?
4 Try touching the indentations.
1 First you'll need to explore everywhere you can get to.
2 You'll also need to be observant. Watch the animal life. See what things change with time and tide.
3 Conclude your observations by taking careful note of the components of the door.
4 There are six bands of color and some buttons with things around the island printed on them. What could the connection be?
5 The bands of color are associated with the symbols on the buttons somehow. The things in the Studio might provide a hint as to how. Asking the old man about the door might provide another hint.
6 Some of the buttons represent things on the island which were used to make the six colors of paint. See the separate questions below for hints on specific colors. By examining each color on the band, you'll get a more precise description of the color, which may be helpful. (Ditto for the buttons.)
7b If you need a hint as to how many buttons are important, try asking the old man.
7c If you need a hint as to which buttons are important, try touching a few of them.
9 The old man might be able to help you match at least one color, though his memory is a bit shoddy.
10 Once you've matched the colors to the buttons, it should just be a matter of pressing them in the right order.
11 What you tried first probably didn't work. Have you seen anything else-- anything manmade-- which might suggest a different order?
12 The writing in the sketchbook runs from right to left. The old man also writes right to left in the sand if you guessed his name (try asking him about himself).
13 Press the buttons in this order: crystal, mussel, snail, manta, tree, berry.
1 Have you seen anything this color on the island?
2 Anything near where you first arrived?
3 Any plants?
4 Fruits even?
5 Red matches the berries.
1 Examing the yellow band on the door for a particularly strong hint.
2 Something else has been described as that shade of lemon-yellow. Hint: very near where you first arrived.
3 The leaves of the tree you painted are lemon-yellow, hence, the tree button.
1 Have you seen anything this color around the island?
2 Have you wandered around the island at night?
3 Near the beach?
4 Did you notice the glowing lights out in the lagoon? Did you investigate them?
5 Did you try touching, attacking, or just watching the mantas for a while?
6 The black paint is made from their ink, so black equals manta ray.
1 Have you seen anything this color around the island?
2 Specifically, near the stumps and the ropeway?
3 Hint: very low to the ground?
4 The white snail shells are crushed to make the white paint, hence white = snail.
1 Have you seen anything this color around the island?
2 Specifically, near the rocky part of the beach? (boulders and tidepool)
3 You may have to visit at low tide to see them.
4 The mussel shells are crushed to make the blue paint.
1 Have you seen anything this color around the island?
2 Specifically, near the secluded waterfall? (by the Rise)
3 The green crystals are used to make green paint.
1 Technically speaking, you don't need to do anything with it to advance the story. But it can be useful to decipher writing you'll find, useful if you're interested in backstory or need more hints.
2 Have you played with it enough to figure out how it works and what it was probably meant to do?
3 To become fully useful, it looks like you'll need to find the other ear. But that part of the game hasn't been released yet, so don't sweat it for now.
1 Have you tried manipulating the lever?
1b Note that you can both push and pull it.
2 Have you examined the mechanism closely?
3 It looks as if it needs power of some sort. If you haven't gotten to the floor of the volcano yet, you won't be able to power it.
4 Have you figured out how the boiler and pipes work, and which pipes are connected to what devices? (If not, see seperate question).
5 Have you given the ropeway the correct amount of power, then gone back and tried pushing the lever again? Did you examine the pressure gauge at the ropeway after doing so?
6 Did you notice anything on your way to or from the ropeway? Note: if you're landmark-going, you might miss it.
7 The blue pipe by the stumps is cracked and jetting steam, so you'll need to send more power down the blue pipe than the ropeway technically requires.
8 You'll probably have to get that power from one of the other pipes.
9 Set the ropeway to 7 or more units of power (or turn the lever to the blue pipe in "story mode") and it will operate.
1 In terms of puzzles, it's not so much significant in and of itself, but because of where it is positioned.
2 The sculpture is involved in an alternate solution to a later puzzle.
1 Have you found the sketchbook?
2 The sketchbook is in the wooden cube in the front room of the cabin. See that question for help opening the cube.
3 Have you seen the page in the sketchbook that includes one of those trees?
4 Have you noticed there is a place to sleep near each tree?
5 When it gets dark, try to SLEEP under one of the trees.
1 See the previous question.
1 The locations of the five obvious windsigh trees are: at the Fork (where you first arrived), at the treehouse just south of there, in the volcano caldera on the cinder cone, on the rockslide south of the hive, and in the rainforest (from the hive, go east, southeast, then north).
2 Two more trees are not as easy to find. See "Is there anything of interest in the rain forest?" and "How can I get to the tree on the mountain spur?"
1 Why would you want to?
2 Okay, okay: you can break it by trying to jump over the chasm east of where you started, or trying to climb above the Ledge by the marsh.
3 (There's also a way to break your leg at the Tumble, if you're really mean to Rume.)
4 The game is still winnable with a broken leg, but you'll have less options for how to proceed: no more climbing.
1 Have you examined the boiler and all its parts? If you're playing in "story mode" it should be self-explanatory.
2 Have you turned the different wheels in different directions and observed what happens to the pressure gauge, the temperature of the pipes (try to TOUCH them), and the outflow of steam?
3 The numbers underneath each wheel tell how much power the aparatus on the other end of the pipe needs. Have you worked out which apparatus goes with which pipe?
4 The red pipe goes to the stairs/bridge across the chasm, the blue pipe to the ropeway, and the yellow pipe to the pyramid on top of the mountain.
5 Turning the wheels right opens the valve to the associated pipe wider, sending more power to that device but reducing the amount of power in the system.
6 There's only so much steam power available, though. The gauge at the boiler shows you how much is currently unused. The gauge at each device shows you how much power that device is getting.
7 You'll notice there doesn't seem to be enough power to run all three pipes at their required level at once. Comparing the number etched on the boiler gauge to the total output when everything is turned off, you might assume that the amount of steam output has changed since this system was set up.
8 For the time being, you'll need to be selective about which devices get what amount of power.
1 First of all, you may not need to. Have you explored alternate solutions to your problem?
2 If you've broken your leg, you won't be able to pursue alternate solutions.
3 Think about where the power from the system is coming from, and where it goes.
4 The steam vents southwest of the boiler are venting a lot of wasted power. Is there anything you can do about that?
5 Is there something prominent near the steam vents that might be useful?
6 The sculpture looks precarious, and its perched above a potential rockslide above the steam vents.
7 But it won't give if you try to push it. Why not?
8 Have you lived through one of the island's frequent afternoon rain showers yet?
9 Try pushing the sculpture during or after a rain storm. You'll be able to knock it off and cause an avalance that will cover the steam vents, increasing the amount of steam power available to the boiler.
10 If you're willing to destroy a beautiful work of art, that is. In this story, that kind of thing might have repercussions.
1 First, figure out how the power system works (see previous question).
2 The staircase only needs a tiny amount of power. Have you examined the workings, both from above and below?
3 Have you pulled on that thing with a handle on the east side of the ravine while the staircase has power?
4 The staircase/bridge is apparently a safety mechanism. A timer will lower the bridge back into a staircase after a short while, presumably to prevent anyone from crossing over from the west side. You can turn the handle to lock the bridge in place instead.
0 Have you encountered other references to the bees around the island? (Hint: the sketchbook and dreams)
1 Have you watched what they do?
2 Have you seen what goes on inside their hive?
3 You can climb the hive to look in the windows. Try that and watch for a while (during the day).
4 The dancer bee seems to be doing something important. Have you watched him for a while and noticed the variation in his movements?
5 Have you followed the bees to see where they go when he dances?
5b Have you noticed the drawing in the "Grassy End" near the beehive?
5c Have you noticed the carving on the tree in the rain forest east of the beehive?
6 Have you noticed any correlation between the bees' destination and the dancer bee's dance? (Hint: the compass from the cabin may be useful.)
7 The dancer bee does a sequence of moves that tell the bees what seqence of directions they need to move in to get to a cluster of flowers.
8 The angle of the wings represents northiness (straight down is south, angled down is somewhat south, flat against the body is neutral, angled up is somewhat north, and straight up is north.
9 The direction the bee walks represents westiness (clockwise is west, counter-clockwise is east, and a line is neutral.)
10 By combining these two points of data, and watching the sequence, you should be able to predict where the bees are going. For example, a clockwise circle with wings angled up corresponds to northwest, or the room to the northwest of the hive. The next move in the bees dance would equal the direction to proceed from there.
1 Yes. The map in the sketchbook, the view from the top of the volcano, and a few other clues point to that being the case. But you'll need to learn how the bees communicate before you can find it.
2 You'll also need the compass from the cabin on the beach.
3 One of the places the bees go to is deep within the rainforest. Follow the path to make a discovery.
4 From the hive, open the compass, then go EAST, SOUTHEAST, NORTHEAST.
1 Wait till low tide.
2 Try watching the moon for a while to see if you can correlate its movements to the tides, if you want a quick indicator of whether it's low or high.
1 See previous question.
2 The top of the ravine may not be a dead end. Can you swim?
3 Once you get to the top, try pushing the loose vine to make a shortcut.
1 The ropeway looks like the obvious choice.
2 There may be an alternate method too, if you're in good shape. (see next question)
3 Get power to the ropeway, get in the crate, push the lever, and ride it to the top of the mountain.
1 There is, but you can't have broken your leg, and you'll have to be very observant.
2 Have you determined where all three pipes are going to?
3 Have you found the crack in North Marsh and figure out what it's good for?
4 Have you discovered you can climb higher than the ledge? (But be careful.)
5 Something is preventing you from climbing higher. What is unusual about it?
6 Have you noticed what a large amount of steam power whatever is on the top of the mountain is using?
7 Does anything about the water change when you fiddle with the power system?
8 The water coarsing down the crack is runoff from the device on top of the mountain.
9 If you turn off all the power to the yellow pipe, the crack will dry up and you'll be able to climb all the way to the top.
1 You may be able to address a future problem (see Powering both devices).
1 You'll have to wait for the full release to do that.
1 There are a few different ways to go about this. Both involve a certain degree of lateral thinking.
2 First of all, are you sure you need to?
3 If you can find a way to get to the top of the mountain without using the chairlift, you can sidestep the problem. (see Is there another way to the top of the mountain?)
4 Of course, that method has its own complication, but if you examine the source of the problem, you should be able to come up with a solution. (See next question).
5 Another option is to increase the amount of power available, so both devices would have enough to function. See "Is there any way to get more power to the system?"
6 Once you've done that, you can just activate both the ropeway and the pyramid at once.
1 This solution won't work if you've broken your leg. See "Is there another way to the top of the mountain?"
2 Theoretically, you should be able to avoid the chairlift entirely and just climb the crack to the mountain summit while the pyramid is powered, but something prevents you from doing so.
3 When the pyramid is powered, the scalding runoff from the huge amounts of steam runs down the crack, preventing you from climbing it. But when it's not powered, you can't open it.
4 Trace the path of the steam from the pyramid to the crack.
5 If you could find a way to divert the flow of the runoff water, you could climb the crack all the way up.
6 Push one of the boulders from the lawn It will roll into the streambed and divert the stream.
1 Try asking him about himself (by typing SUBJECT when he isn't asking you a question, then HIMSELF.)
2 If you keep typing NAME, you should eventually learn what it is.
1 Have you asked him about HALLUCINATION, FIGMENT, or any other similar topic when it comes up in conversation, and then insisted that you were real?
2 Well, that didn't work. Maybe if you can make some physical change around the island, he'll believe you aren't just a figment of his imagination.
3 You'll need to open the door in the shack. See that question above. Breaking your leg will also get through to him.
1 Have you noticed signs of him spying on you?
2 Have you figured out where he sleeps at night?
3 If you're quick, you may sometimes be able to FOLLOW him. The chairlift ride also provides a clue.
4 If you haven't broken your leg, you can climb the crack in the North Marsh up to the ledge where he sleeps. If you have, wait to trap him cleaning the South Beach and them follow him to Among the Boulders. In either case, say HELLO to get things started when you arrive.
