New horror game Scorn is launching today on Xbox Game Pass and PC, and there’s a strong chance that you might get stuck on the very first major puzzle.
That’s exactly what happened to us when we tried out Scorn at Gamescom this summer, and luckily we had the developers on-hand to give us some pointers on how to proceed.
Unless you just so happen to have the game’s developers sat on your sofa with you, we’ve got a feeling that you might be looking for a guide to help you through that first puzzle. If so, you can check out our video explainer or keep on reading for the spelt-out version of the puzzle solution.
How to solve the first puzzle in Scorn
So, you’ve put on your creepy bracelet thing and shambled your way into a big chamber with a tower in the middle and mysterious technology dotted around on the floor. What next? You can check out this video to learn how to proceed:
Not a video person? Fair enough. This is what you need to do:
Ignore the tower and the surrounding area for now. Instead, scoot around the outside of the room until you find a tunnel that leads to a room with a lift.
Go up in the lift and look around until you find a room with a puzzle (there should be two control panels in the room and a wall in front covered in weirdly nut-shaped sort of things).
Use the terminal on the right to manoeuvre the nuts using a mechanical arm. Your aim is to get almost all of them out of the way, allowing you to get an upright pair of nuts top left of the board (as opposed to two horizontal nuts or a solo nut) like so:
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/10/Scorn-first-puzzle-fa309c3.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C350" "\"\"")
Now that the vertical nut is in position, move over to the left-hand control terminal and use it to grab that nut which you just put in the perfect place.
Note: there is at least one decoy nut in the wall. A fake out. So if you find that the first nut that you try to move simply disintegrates on impact, head back to the right-hand machine and find another one that’s the right shape (an upright pair of nuts is what you need, as opposed to a horizontal pair or an individual solo nut).
Once you’ve got the right nut in place, use the left-hand control panel to try and move it. It will spin around and reveal that there is a skeletal humanoid figure hiding in the nut – what fun!
The machine will send this unfortunate bloke downstairs to the main chamber for you. You’re now free to leave the puzzle room and head back down to the main chamber yourself, using the same lift you came up in.
Back in the chamber with the tower? Good. Now head over to the machine, near the train tracks on the floor, that is right next to the little chair-shaped carriage. The machine by the carriage will give you control of another big metal claw arm – use it to move your creepy nut man from the ceiling down into the carriage. This took us a few attempts, but it can be done!
Once the creepy nut man is in the carriage, leave him there for a second. Head up to the top of the tower and use the machine there to arrange the train tracks in this position:
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/10/Scorn-tower-train-tracks-2223094.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C347" "\"\"")
With the train tracks in that position, head back down and push your little man, in his carriage, down the train track and into the side-room that it now leads to. Keep going until the track well and truly ends. You’re now in a room with a bunch of different slimy old gizmos.
Using the control panel in the middle of the room, use yet another claw arm to move your creepy nut man into the machine on the right. When he’s in position, leave the control panel and head over to him. Use the gloopy lever in front of him.
There are two possible outcomes here, depending on whether your man is still encased in a nutty outer shell or not: if he is in a shell, the machine will free him from it; if the nutty shell broke during the earlier puzzle, this machine will kill him. Either way, you can still progress.
If your man is still alive, he will follow you around for a bit. If not, you’ll have to drag his corpse. Again, what fun! Either way, head over to the machine and interact with it to get him out.
You’re now free to turn around, facing away from the machines. You’ll see there are two tunnels. Take one on the right-hand side, and pretty much straight away you’ll find a machine poking out of the wall — you need to jam your creepy companion’s arm into it, in order to give him the same bracelet tool that you’ve got (don’t worry, you can do this whether he’s alive or dead).
Once your companion has an arm gadget as well, continue down the tunnel (don’t go back the way you came). When you reach a dead end with a pod in front of you, turn right and go through the door that should now be visible.
You should now be in a room with two control panels and a big door. Force your creepy companion’s arm into the panel on the left and turn it on. The door won’t open. Head to the right-hand panel and jam your own hand into it. Turn on the right-hand machine and the left-hand machine and the door should open. Congrats, you’ve just finished the first major puzzle in the game!
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