OneShot first-playthrough guide: regional items, puzzles and exits

Edition: OneShot 2016 Steam release, AppID 420530, Windows. Uses the actual Windows desktop and game-generated files. Excludes World Machine Edition, the 2014 freeware version, console releases and The Pancake Episode.

Verification scope: Sources checked on 2026-10-04. Assumes the updated 2016 PC version. Gameplay, installed build number and behavior across Windows environments have not been tested.

Sources checked: 2026-10-04

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Searching does not open answer tables. Choose the answer you want to reveal.

Open only your current location

The first route is divided into house, blue region, green region, red city and final section. Solutions, names, codes and choice outcomes stay inside their collapsed sections.

Open the matching location and compare entry state and inventory.
Once reaching the table's next landmark, close that section.
If numbers or colors differ on your screen, reread the local clue rather than copying a fixed answer.

A source-based route linking normal items and exits. Fixed sheep pushes and every late-floor coordinate remain pending; confirmed action methods are included. It does not guarantee a tested full playthrough.

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First house: remote control to basement key

For a first route before the bedroom terminal opens and before leaving the house. If restarting already carrying a book, use the post-completion guide.

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First house: remote control to basement key: 7 entries
Current landmark	Needed item	Acquire / combine / use	Next landmark
Bedroom floor	Remote control	Take the floor remote, select it and inspect the bright window	Colored numbers become readable
Bedroom terminal	Four colored numbers read at the window	Reorder according to the terminal's colors and enter them	Living room and bathroom become accessible
Bathroom and refrigerator	Dry Branch / alcohol	Take the branch from the dead plant and the bottle from the living-room refrigerator	Both items needed for combining are now available.
Inventory	Branch + alcohol	Combine the two	Wet Branch and empty bottle
Living-room television	Wet Branch	Use the selected branch on the sparking television	Torch
Fireplace	Torch	Light the fireplace and pick up the key visible on the floor	Basement key
Right living-room door to basement	Basement key	Enter with the key and take the lightbulb beyond the stairs	Return left and leave through the exit bearing the lightbulb symbol

Remote positions are not the number order by themselves. Note each color-number pairing. Colorblind mode presents the information differently.

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Early Barrens: gather tools and return a battery to the generator

After entering the blue region, connect the Docks bedroom, Outpost, Lookout point and Mines. The battery is not placed directly in the boat here.

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Early Barrens: gather tools and return a battery to the generator: 8 entries
Location	Item / prerequisite	Action	Result / return destination
Vehicle-like building with a bed at Docks	Metal rod	Pick up the rod on the floor	To Outpost
Prophetbot at Outpost	Conversation	Read the initial questions and finish talking to the guide	To the factory
Outpost factory	Metal rod	Use the rod on the operating press to flatten its end	Crowbar made
Lookout point hut	Conversation with Silver	Inspect the shining object on the shelf for a screwdriver	To the mine entrance on the right
Mine entrance with a rope	Silver accompanying you	Approach the entrance to advance dialogue, then take the broken camera just inside	Disassemble in inventory
Inventory	Camera + screwdriver	Combine them to remove the lens	Return to Outpost
Outpost crate	Crowbar	Pry open the shining crate and take the broken battery	Combine the battery with the lens
Inventory to generator room	Repaired empty battery + lightbulb	Charge it with the lightbulb and use it on the square socket of the central back generator	Power returns and terminals work

Old-guide steps about processing the rod with a dormitory compressor or putting a charged battery into the boat do not apply to this 2016 route.

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Barrens safe: read the document generated for this playthrough

After the generator works, return to the Outpost terminal. Do not copy another player's video number for the safe.

Talk to the powered terminal and finish its outside-the-game directions.
Open Windows Documents and read the generated DOCUMENT.oneshot.txt. With extensions hidden, it may appear as DOCUMENT.oneshot.
Note the six-digit code in its text.
Return to the safe at Cliffs and enter your own code.
Take the gas mask and strange book inside.

If missing, first check that terminal conversation ended and Windows Documents was not relocated. Creating an empty file with the same name does not provide a clue.

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Later Barrens: make cleaning fluid and activate the boat

A gas mask allows entering toxic-gas areas. The 2016 version equips it automatically when needed; there is no need to seek the 2014 equipment slot.

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Later Barrens: make cleaning fluid and activate the boat: 9 entries
Location / inventory	Action	Created item / change	Next check
Old factory Floor 1	Pick up rubber gloves	Acid can be handled	To the boarded passage farther inside
Old factory boards	Remove the boards with the crowbar and go up to the second floor.	Sponge becomes obtainable	To Dormitories
Clinic numbered 112 in Dormitories	Inspect the medical box	Empty syringe	To Shrimp swamp
Low gas vent in Shrimp swamp	Use the empty bottle	Bottle of gas	Tall vents are out of reach
Pool with expanding bubbles in the same swamp	Use the empty syringe	Syringe of liquid	Check that the bottle contains gas
Inventory	Filled syringe + bottle of gas	Bottle of acid	Not a combination with an empty bottle
Inventory	Acid + sponge, while carrying rubber gloves	Wet Sponge	To Docks
Rowbot at Docks	Select and use the Wet Sponge	Rust removed; destination discussion becomes available	Return to Lookout point
Silver→Rowbot	Talk to Silver for amber and show it to the boat robot	Departure to the next region becomes possible	Finish remaining exploration before boarding

If you filled the bottle with pool water first, use it at the low vent to obtain gas and refill the syringe at the bubbles. After departing, no normal route returns to Barrens.

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Early Glen: leave the lightbulb and open the vine-blocked route

After reaching the green region, pass through the building and talk to Calamus in the forest. The gate requires a signing tool, but investigate the eastern ruins first.

Head right from the large gate robot and enter the ruined building.
Descend the stairs, checking the vine-blocked passage and terminal room.
Talk to Maize in the deepest broad area and leave the lightbulb.
Once vines retreat, go back up and read clue directions in the terminal room.
Check the diagram appearing on the Windows desktop, then enter the side path previously blocked by vines.

Having free hands after leaving the lightbulb also matters for the village sheep request. Do not retrieve it before trying to push sheep.

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Glen floor: light the wallpaper pattern and rescue

Stepping on ruin-floor panels toggles them. Returning to a completed part switches it off again, so adjust while checking the target shape.

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Glen floor: light the wallpaper pattern and rescue: 4 entries
Part to check	How to read the finished shape	Check afterward
Windows desktop	Copy the new wallpaper diagram onto the in-game floor	Check after receiving directions from the terminal room
Outer edge	Light the bulb's round outline, leaving its interior dark	Do not light extra corners
Lower part	A central vertical line extends beneath the ring	Do not invert top and bottom
Door	Matching the pattern opens the rear	Talk to Alula and have her accompany you

If the pattern becomes confused, compare only cells that should be lit versus dark. The fixed wallpaper image is not reproduced. Your own screen's diagram takes priority.

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Glen sheep: move five onto dark grass

While Maize holds the lightbulb, speak to the village shepherd. Reward wool can later be traded for a signing-tool ingredient.

Offer to help the shepherd and enter the small southern peninsula.
Compare the five sheep with dark-grass cells.
Stand beside a sheep, face the intended push direction and confirm. This differs from merely walking into it.
Before pushing into a corner or beside a pot, preserve a path to reach the other side.
If blocked, ring the bell to reset the starting layout and retry.
When all five stand on dark grass, confirm receiving wool.

Controls, completion requirement and reward have been checked. A definitive coordinate-based push sequence is pending insufficient comparison with source images. No full input sequence is guaranteed for completing it without ringing the bell.

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Glen exit: sign with feather and dye

After rescue and the sheep request, visit the forest, siblings' home and trader. In 2016, merely reuniting in the forest does not give the feather.

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Glen exit: sign with feather and dye: 6 entries
Stage	Acquire / use	Visible change	Next step
Forest reunion	Bring Alula to Calamus and accept the home invitation	Go with the siblings to their ruins home	Read the home conversation
Siblings' home	Receive the feather from Alula	Feather in inventory	To the trader
Magpie outside the ruins	Select wool and trade	Bottle of dye obtained	Combine with feather
Inventory	Feather + dye	Becomes a feather pen	Retrieve the lightbulb before the gate
Plaza where Maize was	Pick up the lightbulb left there	Carrying the lightbulb	Optionally take the seed too
Gate robot	Use the feather pen and sign the scroll	Gate becomes passable	Through the passage and building to Refuge

For a T-shirt too, refuse the first wool offer once before accepting. Laboratory water and the plaza seed support an optional detour. Once the passage beyond the gate is blocked, Glen is inaccessible; collect needed items before leaving.

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Upper Refuge: make a button with three materials and tape

From the red city's entrance, reach the elevator deck and talk to Lamplighter. Replace the missing GROUND button.

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Upper Refuge: make a button with three materials and tape: 6 entries
Destination	Acquire / use	Inventory change	Return destination
Apartments northwest of the deck	Take scissors beside the hair in the bathroom	Scissors	To the residential common area
Residential common area	Take a refrigerator magnet	Magnet	Return to the deck
Cafe southwest of the deck	Take the empty coffee can	Metal can	Open inventory
Inventory	Can + scissors, then resulting button + magnet	Button with magnet	To Office northeast of the deck
Office desk	Use the magnetic button on the tape dispenser	Button secured with tape	To the elevator
Elevator panel	Use the completed button	Passcode requested	To the Office terminal

If attaching without tape makes it fall apart, fix the remaining you tried item at the tape dispenser. You need not find a new can or magnet.

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Refuge passcode: move the film beyond the screen

After attaching the button and seeing the passcode request, speak to the red terminal in the Office area with stairs.

Receive Weird film from the terminal.
Select the film in inventory to display numbers.
Drag the Windows game title bar so each part of the film moves beyond the screen edge.
Bring the moved-out part back and check the changed numbers.
The answer in this version is 63014. Enter it on the elevator panel.
Finish required conversation and sleep, then descend to the surface with Lamplighter in the elevator.

Distinguish dark areas from highlighted numbers. Comprehensive fixes for multiple monitors or unusual display scaling are untested. Before major OS setting changes, recheck the version and windowed display.

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Surface library: trigger the reception card requirement first

After reaching the surface, visit the library. Triggering the requirement to meet the rear librarian first connects the later factory conversation.

Speak to Bookbot, the robot at the library reception desk.
Read the conversation about being unable to make contact, then try to use the stairs at the back.
When you are stopped because you need a card, leave the library for now.
Head to the Factory from the west side of Vendor street. You can also collect the lenses described below in the Back alley along the way.

If the person in the Factory will not lend you a card, check that you have completed the conversations at the library reception desk and stairs.

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The Factory's five lights: narrow down the changing answer using the match count

Speak to the robot at the entrance, change the colors, then pull the lever to check them. The answer is not fixed: the puzzle tells you how many of the five lights match both the correct position and color.

Number the positions 1–5 from left to right, and note the current five colors and the result.
Checking with all five lights set to the same color first tells you how many times that color occurs in the answer.
Next, change just one light to another color, leave the other four unchanged, and check again.
If the match count rises by one, the new color is correct; if it falls by one, the previous color was correct. If it stays the same, neither of those two colors is correct at that position.
Eliminate candidates for each position. Once a position is confirmed, leave it unchanged while testing the remaining positions.
If a new puzzle starts after ten attempts, begin a new table without mixing in the previous puzzle's notes.
When all five lights match and the door opens, continue inside.

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The Factory's five lights: narrow down the changing answer using the match count: 3 entries
Result after changing just one light	What it tells you	Next action
The match count rises by one	The current color is the answer at that position	Leave that light set
The match count falls by one	The previous color is the answer at that position	Restore the previous color and leave it set
The match count does not change	Neither the previous nor the new color is correct at that position	Consider the remaining colors

This method clarifies how to read the feedback; it does not guarantee that every arrangement can be solved within ten attempts. You are not permanently locked out after ten attempts. Changing all five lights at once makes it impossible to isolate the effect of each change.

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Surface photo and card: prepare a photo of Niko

Meet Kip at the back of the Factory and borrow a card, then take the Glitter glue from the shelf in the same room. The four camera lenses are in the Lamplighter's home in the Back alley.

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Surface photo and card: prepare a photo of Niko: 6 entries
Landmark	Needed item	Action	Result
Kip at the back of the Factory	The reception desk has already asked for a card	Talk to borrow the card, then take the Glitter glue from the shelf	Card and glue
Home in the Back alley	None	Examine the box on the floor and take the four types of lens	Four lenses: thick, concave, thin, convex
Camera on Vendor street	Four lenses	Insert them from left to right in this order: thick → concave → thin → convex, then operate the lever	The camera can take a photo
In front of the camera	The camera is ready to shoot	Take a photo from the spot in front of it, then collect the photo	Photo of Niko
Inventory	Card, glue, and photo of Niko	Apply glue to the card and combine it with the photo. Applying the glue to the photo first also works	Photo ID card
Library reception desk	Completed card	Show it to Bookbot	You can use the stairs at the back

If the lenses are returned, their order is wrong. If you take multiple photos, the sixth one, with Niko's eyes closed, cannot be used for the card; choose another photo.

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From the library to the Tower: finish the translation and sleep

Show the strange book to George at the back. Do not leave as soon as you request the translation: sleep in the bedroom you are shown, then collect the result after resuming.

Select the strange book and speak to George.
While the translation is underway, sleep in the bed in the adjoining bedroom.
Read the conversation after restarting, then return to George to receive the translation and die.
Complete any optional errands in town at this point.
From the west end of Vendor street, take the passage and door toward the base of the Tower, rather than the route down to the Factory.
Stand on the large X at the Tower entrance and close the game window.
Launch the same game and confirm that the scene has changed.

The items needed to enter the Tower are the amber, feather, and die. The final step is a closing mechanic used by the game itself, and is treated separately from ordinary quitting as an exception for the achievement involving how you exit the game.

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Optional detour: gather the seed, dirt, and water

This is not required for normal progression. It is a detour you can pursue before entering the Tower if you collected the seed and tube of water in the Glen.

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Optional detour: gather the seed, dirt, and water: 5 entries
Needed item	Location and conditions	Action
Seed	Where Maize was in the Glen	Carry it to the entrance robot on the upper level of the Refuge, show it to the robot, and plant it in the garden pot
Dirt	After examining the garden pot, visit the room with many plants in the Apartments	Speak to Mason to receive dirt, then put it in the pot
Tube of water	The robot on the right in the building south of the Glen laboratory	Receive water. If the tube is empty, refill it at a sink in town
Water medicine	The water-related merchant on Vendor street	Receive a sample and combine it with water to make medicated water
Medicated water	Pot containing the seed and dirt	Use it on the pot and check that a sprout appears

Plain water alone does not complete these preparations. The first-run Rebirth achievement involves both these preparations and the late-game choice to return the sun. You may decide that final choice for yourself; this detour does not force your decision.

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The Tower bed: launch the generated companion app

Once control returns in the dark area, walk until you find a terminal and talk to it. After sleeping in the bed, the part where the same screen keeps appearing requires an action outside the game.

Walk through the dark area to the terminal, then sleep in the nearby bed after the conversation.
Read the instructions that appear on the Windows desktop.
In the OneShot folder under Documents → My Games, find _______.exe, which has a black clover icon. Its name contains seven underscores.
Keep this game-generated app running and relaunch the main game.
After waking up, select the black clover in the inventory, speak to the terminal, and continue through the new door.

If it is not in the generated location, the legitimate installation folder also includes the companion app. Do not download an executable with the same name from an unrelated website. This guide does not provide instructions for bypassing protection if your OS refuses to run it.

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The Tower's linked puzzles: align the two clovers to read the clues

The clover item inside the game and the companion app open outside it are separate things. This does not mean repeatedly selecting the strange book in the main game.

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The Tower's linked puzzles: align the two clovers to read the clues: 4 entries
Section	Alignment and action	Next check
Branching paths	Select the clover, then align the mark at the bottom right of the game window with the clover-shaped hole in the companion app. Follow the arrows that appear, one section at a time	When the scene changes, check whether the page has also updated
Section with a row of doors	Use the same alignment and choose the door indicated by the overlay. Read the new page in the next room	Do not reuse the previous room's instructions
Floor section	Align the page using the same reference point, then step only on the indicated tiles to complete the pattern	Recheck tiles that change when you walk over them again
After the final floor	Walk to the lightbulb that appears ahead and collect it	The companion app closes, and you return to the starting house

Simply placing the windows side by side does not align the diagram with the floor. The reference point is where the two clovers overlap. A fixed transcription of every floor coordinate is on hold because sources disagree about the number of tiles. The method confirmed here goes as far as using the diagram displayed by the game.

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The end of the first run: go from the house to the summit and confirm your choice

After recovering the lightbulb, you return to a place resembling the starting house. The following section discusses the endings.

Return from the basement to the living room and use the door on the side where you first went outside.
Read the corridor conversation and take the elevator at the end.
Read the options shown at the summit.
Choose whether to return the sun or break the lightbulb and go home, then watch the ending and credits to the end.
If you want to see what comes next, continue to the postgame guide.

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The end of the first run: go from the house to the summit and confirm your choice: 2 entries
Choice	First-run outcome	Connection to the additional story
Return the sun	Light returns to the world, but Niko cannot return to their original home	This choice also allows you to prepare for the next start
Go home	Break the lightbulb and send Niko back to their original home	This choice also allows you to prepare for the next start

Neither first-run choice needs to be treated as a failure requiring you to delete all data. This guide also does not claim that dialogue choices along the way let you achieve both of these outcomes at once.

Frequently asked questions

Which section should I open?

Open the section whose region and listed inventory or screen state match your current situation.

Why does entering somebody else's number not work?

Some puzzles require you to read the clues generated for your run. Check the relevant collapsed section to see whether the answer is variable or fixed.

Can I use this if I collected the tools in a different order?

If you have the items and state required by a table, you can start checking from partway through it.

Does this article also cover what to do after finishing?

Those steps are in the separate postgame guide. You do not need to open it during your first run.