Source basis: synthesized and rewritten from multiple independent walkthroughs — the Steam Community “100% Achievement Walkthrough” and the showgamer.com text guide, cross-checked against corroborating community guides — which agree on the puzzle chain and the fixed answers. Official details are from Wikipedia and the Steam store page. Where a puzzle is randomized per game (eyes, paintings, books), this guide gives you the method, not a fake code; nothing here is invented.
What is We Were Here?
We Were Here is a two-player co-op puzzle game from the Dutch studio Total Mayhem Games, originally built as a student project. It launched on Steam on February 3, 2017 and is completely free (it later came to Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch). It won Best Indie Game at the 2017 Indigo showcase in the Netherlands.
You and a friend play two Antarctic explorers who get separated inside an old castle called Castle Rock. One of you is trapped out in the freezing dungeon; the other is stuck in a warm antechamber. The only thing connecting you is a walkie-talkie — and that radio is the whole game. You cannot see each other's rooms, so every puzzle is solved by describing what you see and trusting what you hear.
This is strictly online two-player co-op: there is no solo mode and no split-screen. A full playthrough runs about 1.5 to 2 hours. This guide walks through every puzzle in order, from both sides of the radio.
How the game works (read this first)
Before the first puzzle, decide who plays which role — the game splits you automatically once you're inside, but it helps to know what each side does:
- The Explorer is out in the cold castle. You physically walk through every room, see the puzzles up close, and operate the levers, symbols, valves, and pieces. You describe what you see to your partner.
- The Librarian stays in the Antechamber — a warm room with a fireplace, a desk, a book, and a map of the castle. You look things up (paintings, books, valves, the map) and radio the answers to the Explorer.
- Hold the walkie-talkie button to talk. Only one person can transmit at a time, so keep messages short and confirm each step before moving on. Agree on words for colors and shapes before you're under pressure.
- Several puzzles are randomized. The eye colors, which painting appears, and the book symbols can differ between playthroughs — so there is no universal code for those. What never changes is the method, plus three fixed answers: the color-mixing valves, the maze lever order, and the final theater scene order. Those are spelled out below.
Full walkthrough video
Quick-reference: the answers that are fixed
Most of We Were Here is communication, but three puzzles have set answers worth bookmarking. Everything else is solved by describing and matching (see the full steps below).
| Puzzle | Fixed answer |
|---|---|
| Color valves — Purple door | Red + Blue |
| Color valves — Orange door | Red + Yellow |
| Color valves — Green door | Blue + Yellow |
| The maze — lever order | Blue → Green → Blue → Red → Blue → Green |
| Theater — scene order | See the five acts below |
The eyes, painting, book, and chess puzzles are solved live by communication (and the chess board is read off an in-game film), so they have no universal code — the steps below tell you exactly what to say and do.
Puzzle 1 — Eyes & symbols
Right after you're split up, the Explorer reaches a locked door with a row of symbols on the wall, each topped by a colored eye.
- Explorer: read the eye colors from left to right and radio them in that order.
- Librarian: you have a key that maps each color to a symbol. Read back the matching symbols in the same left-to-right order.
- Explorer: press the symbols in that order to open the door.
The colors are randomized, so there's no single code — just keep the left-to-right order exact and you're through.
Puzzle 2 — The painting
The Explorer finds a painting with empty symbol slots beneath it.
- Explorer: describe the painting in detail — the subject, the animal, the scene, the colors.
- Librarian: browse your gallery of paintings and find the one that matches the description. That painting shows the symbols the Explorer needs.
- Explorer: place the relayed symbols into the slots beneath your painting.
Which painting appears is randomized, so the match-by-description is the whole puzzle — take your time getting the description right.
Puzzle 3 — Color valves (the water room)
The Explorer reaches a door marked with a color, and a room that starts filling with water if you dawdle.
- Explorer: radio the color shown above the door.
- Librarian: go to the three valves — Red, Blue, and Yellow — and open the combination that mixes to that color:
- Purple = Red + Blue
- Orange = Red + Yellow
- Green = Blue + Yellow
If the door asks for a primary color, just open that single valve (Red, Blue, or Yellow). The right mix opens the way forward.
Puzzle 4 — The maze
The Explorer enters a dark labyrinth lined with colored levers, and a creature prowls the halls. Don't panic: the creature can't actually hurt you — it's there to rush you.
Pull the levers in this exact order:
Blue → Green → Blue → Red → Blue → Green
That sequence opens the path out of the maze.
Puzzle 5 — The chess room (freezing)
This room is freezing, and the Explorer will freeze to death if you're too slow — so move with purpose.
- Start the generator first. The Explorer powers it up — per the guides, strike the green gap on the right side about three times, then turn the handle clockwise on the left to get heat and power running.
- Cross the giant chessboard. The Librarian watches a projected film of a chess game and talks the Explorer through moving the pieces — guiding the main piece past (and capturing) the two Knights, then using pieces to reach the two rooks / towers.
- When the pieces are placed correctly the board drops and the door opens.
Because the layout is read live off the in-game film, there's no fixed move list — the Librarian calls each move, the Explorer executes it fast before the cold sets in. If you freeze, you respawn; just warm up at the generator and try the moves again.
Puzzle 6 — The book room
The Explorer reaches a room with symbols — on a book cover and/or marking a set of platforms to cross.
- Explorer: describe the symbols on the book cover to your partner.
- Librarian: find the matching book in the antechamber; it tells you the safe route / movement pattern across the platforms.
- Explorer: follow the relayed path exactly to cross safely.
Like the eyes and the painting, the symbols are randomized — the match-and-relay is the solution.
The finale — the theater
The last puzzle is a stage performance, and it's a race. The Librarian climbs onto the stage and plays the recording on the gramophone — but a marionette creeps toward the Librarian, so the Explorer has to work quickly.
- Librarian: listen to the gramophone — it tells you which scene the stage needs next.
- Explorer: use the five levers to slide the cardboard cut-outs into position. When the figures are right, a sound plays; then pull the scene lever to lock that act in.
Build the five acts in this order:
- Castle + People (Crowd)
- Castle + King + Queen
- Castle + King + Queen + People (Crowd)
- Castle + Mad King (the king holding a sword) + Queen + People (Crowd)
- King + Blood Light
After the fifth act locks in, a trap door opens behind the props.
The ending — only one of you escapes
The trap door is the way out, but only one player can leave. One of you must stand on the pressure plate to hold the gate open while the other goes through the hatch.
That choice decides each player's ending: the game gives a different final achievement to the one who escapes and the one who stays behind. If you want both, play it twice and swap who goes through — it's a short game, and the second run flies by once you know every puzzle.
Frequently asked questions
How long is We Were Here?
About 1.5 to 2 hours for a first playthrough. With this guide and good communication you can finish faster, and a second run (to grab the other ending) is much quicker.
Is We Were Here really free?
Yes — the original We Were Here has been free since launch in 2017 on Steam, and it's also on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch. The sequels (We Were Here Too, Together, Forever) are paid.
Can I play We Were Here solo?
No. It's strictly two-player online co-op — there is no single-player mode and no local split-screen. You need a partner and a way to talk (the in-game walkie-talkie, or any voice chat).
Why don't the eye, painting, and book puzzles have a fixed code?
Those puzzles are randomized per session, so the symbols or colors you see can differ from another player's game. The reliable “answer” is the method — one player describes, the other matches and relays. Only the color valves, the maze lever order, and the theater scene order are the same every time.
The creature in the maze — can it kill me?
No. The maze creature is there to pressure you, but it can't actually hurt the Explorer. Stay calm and pull the levers in order: Blue, Green, Blue, Red, Blue, Green.
Do both players get an achievement at the end?
The ending splits: one player escapes and one stays behind, and they earn different final achievements. To collect both, replay and switch who goes through the hatch.
Prefer a second run to watch? Here's an alternative full-game walkthrough with all achievements on YouTube: We Were Here — 100% full game. And you can grab the game for free on its official Steam page.