Antichamber block-gun abilities: controls and multiplication by color
Collecting, continuous placement, multiplication with closed loops, yellow-gun dragging, separating regenerating blocks and red-gun surfaces, organized by controls and failure causes.
Edition: Antichamber for PC (Steam), base game. Normal exploration and block-gun progression. Excludes mods, console commands and speedrun skips
Verification scope: Sources checked on 2026-10-04. PC default controls are included. Installed build numbers and current compatibility with each OS have not been tested
Sources checked: 2026-10-04
10 / 10 rows
Four colors: collect, draw, move and expand
Upgrading the gun adds operations. You are not collecting separate ammunition colors: normal blocks you collect take the color of your current gun.
Wide tables scroll horizontally.
| Gun | Main added operation | Practice situation |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | Right-click to collect; left-click to place | Reuse one block as a key, door prop or step |
| Green | Continuous held-button actions and filling closed loops | Draw lines in narrow channels or increase your supply |
| Yellow | Move connected blocks with the middle button | Rows beyond glass, regenerating blocks and transport |
| Red | Hold at one point to expand a surface | Fill wide gaps or collect many blocks |
No matching entries in this table. Shorten the query or clear it to restore all entries.
Uses PC default controls. The black gun and final changes are separate from the four exploration colors and are covered in the final part of the room walkthrough.
Blue gun: reuse a single block
The blue gun lets you leave blocks as placed objects. A block may trigger a sensor or prop open a raised door.
- Interrupt a sensor yourself and observe which door moves
- Use a block to interrupt it instead, or support the door itself
- After passing, recover supports you no longer need
- At a high wall, use blocks placed on its side as steps
Watch which beam actually needs interrupting rather than trying to match door and block colors.
Green gun: multiply from a basic eight-block ring
A closed ring in one plane fills its interior with blocks. A 3×3 outline is a small practice example.
- On a flat wall, use eight blocks to form a 3×3 outline with an empty center
- Make an unbroken ring connected horizontally and vertically; diagonal corner contact is insufficient
- Check that the center fills, then collect from an end
- Repeat with the extra blocks. Move on when you have enough to open the required door
Filling the center yourself first prevents you from observing multiplication. A huge three-dimensional structure is unnecessary, and source reports of instability make excessive generation inadvisable.
From green onward: cutting the middle can erase connected blocks
Removing a central block does not necessarily put every remaining block into your inventory. Puzzles use the disappearance of separated parts to create timing differences.
Wide tables scroll horizontally.
| Goal | Approach | Where to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Recover as many blocks as possible | Collect from an end to avoid unnecessary separation | Increase your supply from passage blocks |
| Erase a distant endpoint | Build a connected line and remove an intermediate junction | Expose a laser after a delay |
| Erase several endpoints together | Match distances from the starting point to each endpoint | Link In A Chain Reaction |
No matching entries in this table. Shorten the query or clear it to restore all entries.
Disappearance and regeneration are different properties. Do not treat blocks that return to their original position as ordinary removable blocks.
Yellow gun: move rows without collecting
On PC, select a block with the middle button, look in a direction and release to guide its connected section. Check whether the visible end connects to blocks beyond the glass.
- Make a short block row in a safe place, select an end and move it sideways
- Next, trace how the original row connects through passages or beyond glass
- In inventory-clearing areas, transport placed blocks rather than collecting them
- To separate a regenerating row, collect one block and move one side before it regenerates. This is used at The Highest Point
If a row does not move as intended, check whether a connected section meets a wall or another block, and whether the end you selected connects to the row you want.
Red gun: expand a surface, then collect it
Holding left-click on one point expands a surface from it. Holding right-click collects the expanded structure together from the outside.
- Prepare at least two blocks and choose a safe wall or floor as the starting point
- Hold briefly to make a small surface and check its expansion direction
- Collect the surface and use the increased supply as steps or to fill a large gap
- Stop generation before filling places where a laser must remain clear
Bigger is not always better. Stop once the mechanism works and keep your view and passages clear.
When a field causes failure, check what disappears
Sources vary between orange/yellow and purple/red field names. This guide distinguishes their effects on blocks and inventory instead of relying only on color.
Wide tables scroll horizontally.
| Effect | Response | Common misunderstanding |
|---|---|---|
| Only blocks stored in the gun disappear | Place them outside, then move them as objects with the yellow gun | Collecting them again after entering still loses them |
| Placed blocks also disappear | Find a route outside that area | Yellow-gun transport does not bypass every field |
| A block reappears where you collected it | Move before regeneration to separate the row, or move it aside | This differs from an inventory-clearing field |
No matching entries in this table. Shorten the query or clear it to restore all entries.
Changing settings or exploiting bugs to bypass fields is outside this guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can the blue gun collect green blocks?
Normal blocks of another color can be collected. Color mainly indicates the ability associated with that mechanism.
My ring does not multiply blocks
Check that you have the green gun or later, that the ring is fully connected in one plane, and that its interior is empty. Diagonal corner contact does not close the ring.
The yellow gun cannot remove a regenerating wall
Move the wall with the middle button rather than trying to erase it by collecting. To split it, take one block and move a side before the row regenerates.