Search For The Needle Chapter 2: Basement walkthrough

Your escape route at a glance

1. Start a Basement run

In the lobby, select Basement, choose Normal, and press Create. If Basement is locked, follow the unlock requirement on its selection panel before starting. This walkthrough covers Normal mode.

When you arrive, locate the haystack and the Sell Hay cart, where you empty your bag. Find the DO NOT ENTER door and the colored floor wires leading to its levers.

Locate the exit ladder while you're looking around. It leads to the trapdoor, where the lasers block your way out. You'll return with the key after finishing the puzzles.

2. Search the haystack for the Basement Key

Collect hay until your bag fills, empty it at the Sell Hay cart, then return to the pile. Work through the remaining hay and check the areas you expose.

The key's position can vary, so another player's location may not work in your run. Keep searching until the game confirms you've found it; an empty-looking section or several selling trips won't confirm that.

You can pause the search to work on the levers or puzzles, then return to the remaining hay. Once you find the key, stop clearing the pile and finish any outstanding puzzles. Keep the key for the trapdoor; you'll equip it when you're ready to leave.

3. Find all three levers and open the puzzle room

Follow each colored floor wire to its lever. Signs or objects can hide it from your approach, so use the wire and these landmarks together.

Pull the nearest lever, then follow a different color. Walk around the Sell Hay sign to reach the red lever; it can be hidden from the cart's front.

The DO NOT ENTER door opens after you've pulled all three levers. If it stays shut, retrace each wire and make sure you interacted with the lever at its end. Finding the key won't open this door.

Go inside once the door opens. There are three puzzles: a picture made of rotating tiles, colored crystal counts, and a keypad with a paper code. You can solve them in any order.

4. Rotate the picture to match the reference

The picture puzzle is to the right of the room's entrance. It has 16 tiles and a smaller reference image beside it. Click a tile to rotate it until that part of the large picture matches the reference.

Start with a corner whose lines are easy to recognize. Find that corner in the small image and match its orientation on the large tile. Work around the outer edge before tackling the middle, leaving correctly oriented tiles alone.

Where a line crosses two tiles, compare both pieces with the reference before changing either. Rotate the piece that faces the wrong way. Turning both can undo a tile you already had right.

With the border in place, check the inner tiles one at a time against the reference. Look closely at small marks: a tile can seem correct while one still faces the wrong way.

Check the puzzle counter when the picture looks complete. If it hasn't advanced, revisit the tiles you were least sure about, then check the remaining pieces. Once the game accepts the picture, move to another puzzle.

5. Count the crystals and set the matching numbers

The three colored crystal pedestals are on the left side of the puzzle room. Each needs the number of matching crystals around the walls and ceiling. Use a pedestal's color to identify the crystals you need to count, including the ones high above you.

Count one color at a time. Choose a starting wall and scan around the room in one direction, checking high corners before moving on. Record that color's total, then repeat for the others. Keeping a steady direction helps you avoid counting the same crystal twice.

Each number control starts at zero. Click the matching pedestal once at a time and read the new value after each click. In the recorded interface the values cycle 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 0. If you click past your confirmed total, keep clicking that same pedestal through 5 and back to 0, then stop when you reach your total again. You can correct the entry without restarting the run.

The totals can vary between runs. Use the counts from your room and keep each total beside its color; the right numbers entered under the wrong colors will not solve the puzzle.

When the counts are accepted, the crystals lift off their pedestals, the solved indicator turns green and the puzzle counter advances. If it has not counted, compare each displayed value with your notes. Recount uncertain colors and leave matching values alone; use the wraparound above for an entry that is too high.

6. Find the four-digit code and solve the keypad

The keypad is opposite the picture puzzle. Its code is on one of the loose papers scattered across the floor. Click papers to turn them over until you find one showing four digits. An X paper gives you no code, so keep looking for the numbered one.

Open the keypad, click the four numbered buttons in the order shown on your paper, then click the green check mark at the bottom right to submit. A successful entry has a green display border and advances Solve Puzzles. Filling all four slots alone does not mean the code was accepted.

Record the digits before leaving the paper. If you picked it up without reading it, check your inventory for the clue.

The code can vary between runs. Use your current paper even if you remember a previous answer or notice a four-digit number on the wall. The crystal totals belong on their pedestals, not this keypad.

If the submitted entry turns red and the counter does not change, return to the numbered paper and compare all four digits in order. Reopen the keypad and check its display before entering the corrected sequence. In the recorded retry at 11:39, the reopened panel showed ----; the player then entered the current paper’s 4813, clicked the green check and reached 3/3. The rejected 5831 came from the wall’s example, so use your own paper instead of copying that number.

For more detailed checks on any of the three puzzles, use the Basement puzzle guide.

7. Clear the lasers and escape through the trapdoor

Before leaving the puzzle room, check that the counter reads 3/3. This releases the alien and removes the exit lasers. At 1/3 or 2/3, finish the puzzle that has not been accepted; keep the solved answers as they are.

If you still need the key, return to the haystack and continue the collection and selling loop from step 2. With the puzzles finished and the key found, head for the exit ladder.

Equip the Basement Key before climbing the exit ladder, then use it to leave through the trapdoor. If you can't get out, check that the lasers are gone and select the key if it isn't equipped.

Leaving through the trapdoor takes you to the ending outside the Basement and completes the chapter. Its completion badge is Finished Chapter 2!.

If you're stuck

For persistent problems, use the common problems guide. Include your chapter, difficulty, puzzle counter and key status when asking for help.