Cragne Manor Complete Guide and Walkthrough

People have been going to the Cragne Manor hint thread with specific questions, and everyone there has been awesome about helping out. It’s a terrific resource for a nudge in the right direction, but if you are looking for something more than a hint or just want to jump straight to the help you need, this will be the place for you!

I’m currently working on a comprehensive guidebook to Cragne Manor, so I’ll be publishing it here in stages as I update and replay the game, but for now, the below map and notes will get you started! I want this to be pretty exhaustive, so this will be a lot of work. I definitely invite others to join in and make additions, suggestions, or just help me edit this. :wink:

The map is HERE, but to see the full document you will need to open it in draw.io (which is free). I will post PDFs later. (edit: I cannot upload PDFs.)

Well, I wanted to upload some PDFs and share a sneak peek and get some feedback for the type of document I’m creating, but neither .doc nor .pdf file types are allowed. Suggestions? How would people like to see the walkthrough? A large interactive thread with hyperlinks to solutions for each room?

You can upload at least certain types of zipped file, if you want to post a sneak peek. Though that might not be as satisfactory for the final work. Interactives and hyperlinks sound nice though also like more work for you!

Cool map, yo. Is there a master list of library books?

@Matt W - Yeah- I may just zip a PDF and let people see it for feedback. When it’s complete I can provide that as a full document. Or maybe host it on my own website. Hmm… I love the idea (but not the workload) of doing it all as a thread here with linkable table of contents. Because that’s what I’ve already got going in my Word doc. I’d hate to redo that, but I guess I could. Especially if there’s willing helpers. :slight_smile:

@MTW - I plan to do a list of all books, not just the library ones, but I need to finish it up. I didn’t document that like I should have the first playthrough. Not just a list, but you want to know where each one came from, right? It would be part of the appendix of the guide.

Hi Shabybelle and mattw, I am happy to contribute to this project – I have not quite completed the game yet (but not far off I think :smiley: ). I have a trizbot map with fairly extensive embedded notes about objects and play in each room so should be able to help with some content or editing once there is a structure. I’d be happy to share the map, but as a walkthrough it is unsequenced and VERY spoilerish (pop-up solution on mouse-over of each room essentially), so probably not a good format for someone who just needs a pointer to the next step when they’re hopelessly stuck.

A spoileriffic master list of library books.

Library Books
  • To Have, and To Have Knots: An Illustrated Guide: Church Lobby/Narthex
  • LVPB: Mausoleum
  • The Dollmaker’s Journal: Shack Exterior
  • Twin Hearts Between the Planes: Estate Office
  • Backwater Personalities (1915-1925 edition): Drinking Fountain
  • Tolerating An Asinine God: Backwater Jail
  • Lives of Roman: Cragne Family Plot
  • De Zeven Testamenten van de Krijsende Zeeworm: Landing at the Bottom of Stairs
  • Venator in Tenebris: Top of Stairs
  • 'Pataphysical Approaches to Quantum Superfluids: Hallway South
  • Legends of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River Valley: Library (Mike Spivey, upstairs)
  • A Rudimentary Taxonomy of Known Scent and Grotesque Reactions: Disheveled Studio
  • Life Beneath Nightmares: Invasive Library
  • Randomized title: Cragne Library Forbidden Annex, a hidden room off of Basement (Ivan Roth).
    • The Conservative’s Cookbook
    • A Diver Swims Through It: Stories From the Sea
    • Buried Tales of Old Vermont
  • The Seven Gaunts: Workroom
  • New England and the Bavarian Illuminati: Boiler Room
  • ANCHORHEAD. A What-do-I-do-now Book Based on the Works of MICHAEL GENTRY: Small Chamber, off of Tunnel Entrance

All of the library books are hidden in self-contained rooms, except for the Drinking Fountain, which just requires you to have read and returned a certain number of library books first.

A spoileriffic list of rooms that need stuff from other rooms. (“transportation imagery” in the coffee)

Reveal List

This should at least be a useful reference for folks providing hints on the main hint thread.

train exterior: insect, train restroom
bridge: flashlight, churchyard

under bridge hatch: hefty iron key, shambolic shack (under gloves)
family plot (crypt): white key, court
church exterior/tiny windowless office: long wooden key, crypt
mudroom: large brass key, church office (under papers)

railway platform: id card, river walk
old well: eyepiece, railway platform

chapel: cash, circular room (under old well)

kitchen: rusty iron key, study
laboratory: dagger, chapel
hallway south (south door): red triangle key, wine cellar
upstairs hall (east door): sturdy key, balcony
shadowy closet: mirror, laboratory
shambolic shack: sausage, attic

rec room: tiny brass key, shambolic shack (in soil)
curiosity shop: red herring, science tower
subterranean tunnel / amorphous tunnel: nasty key, steeple
narrow straits: ancient key, curiosity shop

carol’s room: teapot from mudroom; back and forth with Christabell, hillside path
town square: decaying picture, carol’s room
church basement: amulet, town square
pantry: clue about jar, church basement
steeple: clue about song, pantry

train station lobby: slimy key, disheveled studio
shack exterior: tarnished brass key, station security

meatpacking plant: meat cleaver, rec room
greenhouse: whetstone, invisible worm
invisible worm: secret menu, meat packing plant
abandoned nursery: vacuum component, greenhouse
sitting room: letter opener, abandoned nursery
inside the shack: chime, sitting room

court: all puzzles
library: all library books
observatory: horn (court), cyst (narrow straits), memory (inside the shack), de vermibus (library), sign (steeple)

Also, see matt w’s Variegated Court reference post which is easy to overlook in the giant hint thread.

Here’s a “spoiler-free walkthrough.” It’s a list of rooms in a solvable order, with no explicit hints on how to solve the puzzles when you arrive. If you solve the puzzles in this order, you shouldn’t have to deal with any “transportation imagery” from the coffee; you won’t have to trek all over looking for puzzles you’re ready to solve.

Rooms

train restroom
train exterior
milkweed
estate office
churchyard
mausoleum
dim recesses of the forest
shack exterior (partial)
bridge

outside pub
backwater jail / padded cell

river walk
railway platform
old well

outside the plant
dusty office
bathroom of the meatpacking plant

back garden
shambolic shack (partial)
under bridge
tunnel entrance / small chamber
tiny windowless office (partial)

mudroom
court (just visiting; can’t solve yet)
landing at the bottom of stairs
gallery
music room
top of stairs
hallway south (partial)
library (mike spivey, upstairs; not the town library)
family plot
crypt

church exterior/tiny windowless office
church lobby/women’s restroom/narthex
chapel

study
kitchen
basement (ivan roth)
cold storage
cragne library forbidden annex
workroom
boiler room
wine cellar
laboratory
hallway south (south door)
balcony
carol’s room/hillside path
upstairs hall
shadowy closet
science tower
disheveled studio
invasive library
branching corridor

curiosity shop
shambolic shack (again)
rec room

drinking fountain

town square
church basement
pantry
steeple
subterranean tunnel / amorphous tunnel
narrow straits

train station lobby
shack exterior

meatpacking plant
invisible worm
greenhouse
abandoned nursery
sitting room
inside the shack

court
library
observatory

Good stuff but Tolerating An Asinine God isn’t in the Padded Cell. It’s in the locker in “Backwater Jail”. You have to complete the Padded Cell to finally obtain it once you go back into the office after escaping the padded cell, but the book’s actually still in the locker in the office.

Awesome list, thanks! In addition to MTW’s correction, a couple of clarifications (spoileriffic of course, including the location of hidden rooms):

Summary

[spoiler]The Narthex, where To Have and Have Knots is found, is called something like “The Church Lobby” when you first enter it

The Library where Legends of Lake Champlain… is found is Mike Spivey’s room on the upper floor of Cragne Manor, not Carl Muckenhoupt’s Library where you return the books

Small Chamber is a hidden room off Tunnel Entrance

Cragne Library Forbidden Annex is a hidden room off Basement (Ivan Roth’s room in Cragne Manor, not Sean M. Shore’s room above Tunnel Entrance)

The title of the book found in Cragne Library Forbidden Annex is randomized from about three choices

And, just to repeat what MTW said, Tolerating an Asinine God is in Backwater Jail[/spoiler]

I’ve updated my library book post.

Hi dfabulich, thanks for your very useful lists.

I have one query re the room sequence and precedents required:

I used the black pen from the Hallway South to resolve the Mausoleum, so would have put the Mausoleum later in the sequence. Or possibly there’s another solution I didn’t find?

That room is self-contained.

Just keep taking the journal. Eventually, it works.

Thanks dfabulich - clearly I don’t have sufficient perseverence!

Another possible transfer requirement:

I think the teapot from the mudroom is needed to access Carol’s Room - hopefully not another coincidence :slight_smile:

This is true but I think the transportation sign might appear in a different room.

Summary

If I remember correctly you can’t even get into Carol’s Room without the teapot. So the transportation imagery should appear in Upstairs Hallway, North End, which is where you access that from. I’m not sure if it does, though–to test it we’d have to unlock the door to the Master Bedroom without having the teapot.

(Which I suspect is something that doesn’t happen that often, because I put a very loud message on the teapot saying THIS IS THE THING YOU NEEDED TO TAKE after some of my testers got confused by all the optional stuff you can do in the mudroom. Maybe I should have had the house strike you dead if you didn’t wipe your feet before you went inside.)[/spoiler]

Aha! Game save file #74!

Summary

[spoiler]It shows the Upstairs Hall (north end) as complete prior to accessing the Nursery, and without the teapot in inventory.

I was quite late accessing the nursery even though I’d picked up the teapot – IIRC Mr Snortles kept saying I didn’t have the teapot. Eventually resolved by taking it from the backpack, dropping and retaking, but after I’d finished everything else in the Upstairs Hall. I don’t know whether this may have affected the coffee cup status, but I tried dropping it in another room and rechecked the status - still shows complete.

Despite this, wouldn’t it be helpful for walkthrough purposes to have it on the list of items required in a different location to their source? Perhaps with a note that scrying might not indicate the lack of teapot.[/spoiler]

Yes, if there’s something that is required but doesn’t affect the coffee cup, it would be extremely helpful to have it on the list for walkthrough purposes!

I suspect the issue is that the coffee cup code checks for locked doors when you don’t have the key and this isn’t a locked door per se.

Also about your trouble with the room:

Probably Mr Snortles is checking to see whether you’re directly holding the teapot. Carol won’t take it out of your backpack.

It might be a good idea to compile cases where the coffee cup is potentially misleading (it was added in beta testing and Jenni works very hard but it’s hard to catch all the edge cases). A few I can think of/gathered from the hint thread:

As in this post: Upstairs Hallway, North End shows as complete even if you don’t have the teapot when you need it to access Carol’s room
Nursery (in the attic) gives you a transportation sign if you’ve repaired the vacuum cleaner and you don’t yet have the letter opener
Drinking Fountain may sometimes give a transportation sign when you’ve smashed the fountain but not taken the book from the hole (this may or may not interact with the bug where it’s possible to lose the chill/spark/ghost/cold spot from you inventory in the Greenhouse)
Women’s Restroom may give a transportation sign when you’ve already got the book from the Narthex
Narthex may give “no symbolic image” sign when you haven’t got the book yet because you still have stuff to do in the Women’s Restroom
Greenhouse may give transportation sign when on the mesh walkway or higher even if you’ve already reached the peaceful conclusion to the room

Dan already linked to my Variegated Court roundup, but it might be helpful to have it here! I’ll change it so it starts with the room and spoilers the color. Usually the information will be found in items that can be taken from these rooms. In those cases I’m not going to give the solutions for how to get those items.

Milkweed

To find the color:

read the postcard of Big Ben

Color is:

Cesious

To find the familiar:

read the diary of Phyllis Cragne

Familiar is

silverfish

Under The Bridge:

Color/familiar:

read graffiti until you get a phone number. Dial the number (using the coin you found there and stuff). Something dramatic will happen that prompts you to look at the water, which I think you do in the reflection of the payphone. This will reveal the color and give you a glimpse of the familiar.

The first time I did this in this save, the first phone number I got was a red herring. Not sure why. The one you get should be an upside-down cross.

Color:

Croceate

Familiar is:

eel

Family Crypt:

color can be found:

I think on the plaque or inscription or something on the coffin?

Color is:

Icterine

familiar:

look in the coffin

Familiar is:

weasel

Padded Room:

color/familiar:

examine the trophy you got there

color is

Puce

familiar is

greyhound

Outside the Pub:

Color/familiar can be found:

In the newspaper you got from the newspaper machine (“some yellowed newspapers”). (As someone pointed out in the slack, one of the incongruities is that the VC usually seems pretty secret, but here it’s just straight-up in the newspaper.

Color is:

Fulvous

Familiar is:

Duck

Meatpacking Plant Office:

Color can be found in:

torn notebook

Color is:

Rufous

Familiar can be found in:

the newspaper article you got there, about the dreadful conditions in the plant

Familiar is:

rat

Locked Office (above the basement/tunnel entrance)

Color can be found in:

Journal of Luther Cragne (tiny leather journal you get out of the puzzlebox you find in the locked office

Color is:

Niveous

Familiar is a bit tricky (that is, I totally needed someone to explain it to me):

also found in the journal

but not in the text of the journal

examine the journal. Any other part of it you can examine?

Examine the embossed design.

Familiar is:

wolverine

Music Room:

Color can be found in:

Uh, so this one’s super complicated. If you’ve totally finished this, got a message from Francine and everything, and done everything you’ve needed to do in the whole complex including L’Oreille, then you have this. If not, post if you need more hints.

Color is:

Xanthic

Familiar can be found in:

Again, you have to do lots of stuff to get here…

Have you helped Francine and got a message from her?

Read the police report and keep in mind what she says about her familiar.

The first funeral is the forest you get to if you press all buttons.

The familiar shows up if you visit it after freeing her, I thnk.

Familiar is

peregrine falcon

Cold storeroom with the peaches and the eyeball

Color and familiar can be found

By reading the message on the wall after finishing the room.

Color is:

Griseous

Familiar is:

Cat (or bat, but it’s a cat figurine. At least in my save! Maybe it’s a bat sometimes. Its name is Nifty)

Meatpacking plant bathroom

Color and familar can be found in:

Konstatin’s journal

Color is:

Mazarine

Familiar is:

Firebird

Dark Recess of the woods (Jacqueline’s room)

Color can be found in:

The tintype…

…which is in the locket you got.

Color is

Eburnean

Familiar can be found in:

Well, it was the thing that grabbed you. Also it’s on the locket, I think. Also it shows up with the color any time you examine yourself in a room where the author didn’t write an “Instead of examining yourself in…” rule.

Familiar is:

Kraken

Upstairs hall, north end

Color can be found in:

journal you found in the armoire, or Carolyn’s JogMaster you can get by trying to go northeast when the bricked doorway disappears

Color is

Fuscous

familiar can be found in:

either of the same places (I think both will clue you in to both color and familiar

Familiar is

White Antelope