notes // light spoilers, no ending names

Survival tips

The game is not hard because the enemies are hard. It is hard because the building is rationing you.

The six slots

Elster carries six items, total — weapons, ammunition and puzzle keys all compete for the same space. That single rule drives most of the game's decision-making:

• Leave a slot for keys. A door that needs a key you left in storage is a wasted trip, and the map is not small.
• Dump, don't carry. Safe rooms give you storage. Ammunition you are not going to use this wing belongs in the box, not in your pocket.
• Carry the radio. Several puzzles are solved by frequency, not by force.

Save rooms are the real map

Saving happens in safe rooms, manually, and there are not many of them. Treat each one as a waypoint: before you push into a new wing, save; after you find a shortcut that reconnects two floors, save again. If a corridor loops back to a safe room, you have found the wing's shortcut and can stop being careful.

Fight less than you want to

• Avoidance is a strategy. You can walk past most patrols, and the corridors have enough corners for it.
• Staggering beats killing. A stunned enemy is a doorway; a dead enemy is ammunition you no longer have.
• Count your kills. Kill counts and damage taken feed the ending logic, and so does time spent healing. Playing carefully is not just safer, it is a different narrative.

Read the walls

Documents, posters, medical records and scribbled notes carry puzzle hints, room codes and a fair share of the plot. The game rarely repeats itself, and almost never repeats a hint. If something has a number on it, write it down.

Audio and display

• Headphones. There are audio cues for things that are almost off-screen, and the ambient mix carries information the visuals do not.
• CRT mode. The in-game CRT filter is optional. Turn it on at least once; it is part of the design argument, and you can toggle a similar overlay on this page with the button in the footer.
• Resolution and text. If the tiny inventories blur on a modern display, check the display options before blaming your eyes.

Three things not to do

1. Do not save in a room you have not cleared. The game will let you.
2. Do not assume a locked door is the wrong door. Sometimes it is the only door.
3. Do not trust the photograph. Watch it.