Don’t panic and prepare.
Winners Tips
All credit goes to Veldstadt!
Starting the Game
- Step 0: In the Title Screen, go to Options and check can win the game. Start the game.
- Step 1: Exit the beginning area by using the key on the lock.
- Step 2: Take the strange artifact near the coffin.
During these steps, press E near any pots that you can find. You might save some time on preparation.
Preparation for the Run
Do not pick up any keys!
Seriously, from this moment forward, picking up any keys will activate Greg to roam. He will bang on his coffin but he won’t be able to come out until you pick up your first key. Below I will list what preparation to do. Mentally note down where all keys are and memorize where to get them.
The Lever Room, 2 keys
In the lever room, switch the levers to this configuration, with orientation being from when you enter the lever room (R means lever pointing to Right, L means level pointing to Left).
LRLRLR
LLRRRL
LRLRLR
From there, you can walk across the bridges starting from the right going forward, then taking left, and forward to the ending ledge of the room. Do not pick up the key. Instead look for a Tome and leave. Note where the second key is, which is on the floor below and maybe under the second bridge to last bridge you cross exiting the room. It glows, so look for a glowing spot.
The Stone Room, 1 key
To the left of the four key holes in the main room is the Stone Room. Here, there are three blocks stacked on top of each other and a correct permutation is needed to unlock the key. These symbols can be found in The Maze, but we’re too busy to be nerds looking at symbols so we’re going to brute force the lock. Spin the top block five times, and if nothing happened, spin the block below it once. If the block below has been spun five times, spin the bottom block. Continue this pattern until the wall behind the stones unlocks. Do not pick up the key. Instead, go to the Maze. If a Tome is in this room, pick it up and head out.
The Maze, 1 key
The maze is very confusing. The maze is 3 layers. Presumably this is supposed to match the Stone Room, but don’t worry about that. Check each layer (searching for the tomb, if you haven’t found it yet) and you will be looking for a little alcove. Inside is a key. If you have not found the tome, search for the tome and make your way back to the key room. Otherwise, it’s time to execute our escape plan.
Escape
Starting this section, you should be in the Maze next to a key, and have grabbed the 3 tomes.
First, grab the key and escape the maze. Easier said than done, but don’t worry as Greg shouldn’t be after you yet. Make your way back to the Coffin Room and insert the key into one of the key holes, then run into the Stone Room. Grab the key there, and go back to the Coffin Room and insert another key. Quickly make your way to the lever room and cross the platforms to the other side of the room and grab the key. Make your way back across the platforms and drop down where you found the other key. Then make your way to the staircase (it should be on the rightmost side of the room, if you’re running back) and make your way to the last keyholes. Insert the keys and don’t stick around, the “exit” is actually a false exit. Greg should be stuck in the lever room at the bottom now, so you can make your way to the maze. Find the door that opened in the maze and escape!
Congratulations, you have beaten the game.
Where do I find the basement exit?
Actually, after experimenting some more, you can check the stone room after you insert all of the keys, but only if you take a peek inside and instantly run out. You should be able to see the lights of the exit room from the hallway, so you don’t have to go inside. If you do that, you’ll be met with monsters in the main room, but they aren’t in the lever room yet, so you should be able to get there if you run past them.
If this helps you, feel free to add the strat to the guide.
Alternative nightmare run strat:
Prepare everything ahead of time. Take the maze key, insert it in the correct lock, then take the bottom lever room key. Chase all of the Gregs out of the room (don’t run into them) and take the other lever room key. Get out, take the stone room key and insert all of the keys as you run back to the lever room. If you ran diagonally the whole time, you should have just enough time to get in without the Gregs bothering you. Check if the exit had spawned on the other side of the lever room. If it didn’t, you might be done for, but try waiting for more Gregs to enter the lever room, then run to the stone room to check it as well.
Using this strat, I’ve managed to reach the lever room spawn point with no problem three times in a row (got lucky and won on the first attempt). I reached the stone room after that two out of three times by kiting the monsters a bit. If you escape the stone room, the middle floor maze looping hallway should be your best bet.
The lever solution that connects everything:
LRLRLR
RLRLRL
LRLRLR
There are four exit rooms in the maze that I’ve found, two on the middle floor and two on the bottom. The two on the middle one seem to both spawn in the long hallway with no forks that loops around the whole maze. You can find the possible spawn locations by hugging the wall with your torch pointing upwards. In the maze, the walls that have a possible exit point look dark where the ceiling touches the wall (though this might not be the case for the low ceiling sections).
I’m pretty sure there are two exits on the bottom floor as well, but I don’t remember where the first one was. Path for the other one: after you go down, turn right, right, right, left, right. I’ve only listed the turns for the forking paths. You should reach a dead end. Do the torch thing and you’ll find the out of place dark wall on the left.