This Chants of Sennaar walkthrough is written for players who want a practical 100% route without turning the whole game into a copied answer sheet. It covers the order of progression, the major puzzle gates, all five language families, terminals, purple doors, missable achievements, cleanup, and the true ending. Spoilers are unavoidable after the opening sections; use the tables when you are stuck and the route notes when you want to preserve some discovery.
What This Guide Covers
Chants of Sennaar is a narrative puzzle adventure by Rundisc, published by Focus Entertainment, released on Steam on September 5, 2023. The useful way to think about it is not as a point-and-click game with random locks, but as a stack of language exams. Each floor gives you people to observe, murals to compare, signs to read, and small mechanical puzzles that only make sense once you understand the local glyphs.
For 100% completion, your checklist is:
- Reach all five major areas: Abbey, Frontier/Fortress, Garden, Galleries/Laboratories, and Exile.
- Validate every glyph page in the journal for all five languages.
- Activate all 10 teleportation terminals.
- Rebuild all 10 communication links.
- Open the four purple doors, free the hidden Exiles, and finish the true ending route.
- Clean up the missable / optional achievements before starting a second ending if needed.
The game can be completed blind, and it is at its best when you solve glyphs by inference. If you want the least-spoiler route, read each floor section only until you know your next objective, then come back when the journal refuses to validate or a door phrase is blocking you.
Before You Start: How to Avoid Missing 100%
There is no traditional combat build, no permanent bad inventory choice, and no hard fail state. The main things that cause cleanup pain are unvisited side rooms, unactivated terminals, and optional achievement interactions that are easy to walk past once the story pulls you upward.
- Interact with every terminal as soon as you find it. The terminal count matters for Cable guy, and later they become your cleanup network.
- Do not rush out of a floor after the big story gate opens. Check signs, murals, side passages, and conversations until your journal stops offering new validation pages.
- Use the notebook as your progress meter. A validated glyph becomes solid white. If a page will not validate, at least one guess on that page is wrong, even if the broad meaning feels right.
- Take your time with bilingual inscriptions. They are the game’s cleanest proof system: one language you already know usually anchors the new one.
- Leave yourself a save before the ending if possible. Current versions are friendlier than early launch builds, but the normal ending and true ending are separate achievements, so it is convenient to have a route back.
Core Translation Rules
Every language has its own grammar. The trick is to stop translating word-for-word too early. Often the intended answer is the idea of the sentence in that culture’s syntax, not a literal English sentence.
- Plural is language-specific. Some groups repeat nouns, some use a plural marker, and some change the structure around the noun.
- Professions and social labels do not always match. Warriors call Devotees “impure”; Bards and Alchemists later frame each other as “brothers.”
- Directional puzzles use the in-game compass, not the screen edge. If north points diagonally on your screen, west is wherever west lies relative to that arrow.
- Journal validation is grouped. You do not validate one glyph at a time; you validate a page. If one word is wrong, the page stays unresolved.
- Pictures are evidence. Murals, plays, item diagrams, and repeated icon pairs often tell you more than NPC dialogue.
Quick 100% Route Overview
| Stage | Main Goal | Do Not Miss |
|---|---|---|
| Abbey / Devotees | Learn the first language, open the Abbey route, get the coin and lens, enter the Frontier. | Ring the Abbey bell three times, find the preacher’s corpse, activate both early terminals. |
| Frontier / Warriors | Use stealth, build access, get the correct disguise, reach the Observatory and Treasury. | Wrong-disguise achievement, square lens in the Treasury, bell song, fortress terminal. |
| Garden / Bards | Get fruit, tools, theater token, compass, and solve the sewer/cave direction puzzles. | Win both Garden mini-games, collect the compass from the sewers, activate both Bard-area terminals. |
| Galleries / Alchemists | Manage light, elevator controls, restaurant timing, mines, punched cards, lighter, and key forging. | Silver/gold/copper/carbon vocabulary, mine terminal, library/lab terminal, monster and cable-car cleanup. |
| Exile / Anchorites | Learn the final symbolic language, obtain the key, open purple doors, rebuild links. | All four purple doors, all 10 links, final terminal, true ending phrases. |
Abbey Walkthrough: Devotees
The Abbey is a tutorial in observation. The opening lever panels teach that glyphs are not decoration: every pictogram has a use, and the position of a symbol can be as important as the symbol itself. Follow the child-like companion when the game points you southeast; this sequence teaches hiding, following, and using NPC behavior as a clue.
Your early goals are to build enough Devotee vocabulary to understand open, close, door, greetings, you, me, man, devotee, warrior, god, hide, seek, go, up, not, free, preacher, death, plant, key, pot, lens, potion, music, instrument, make, abbey, church, cemetery, garden, talk, help, love, see. Do not panic if those do not arrive in a neat list. The game gives them through murals, conversations, and object puzzles.
Abbey Puzzle Notes
- Abbey door: solve it by understanding the hierarchy and symbols around the Devotees. Playing cards with the monk can help if the hierarchy clue is not clicking.
- Trolleys and coin: move the key trolley into a usable layout, then use the coin interaction before expecting the pot clue to progress.
- Pot puzzle: the relevant order is tied to the clue sequence bottle, crate, small, big. If the trigger feels inactive, make sure you already handled the coin.
- Lens: use the lens where its shape clearly matches the church/Abbey mini-puzzle interface. The lens reveals which symbol to select.
- Statues: the “God is watching” solution is derived from the large Abbey clue, not from trial-and-error statue posing.
For optional achievements, ring the Abbey bell three times for Rascal, and thoroughly explore the underground maze below the graveyard to discover the preacher’s corpse for The Preacher’s fate. The corpse is easy to miss because the game does not force you into that corner.
Frontier and Fortress Walkthrough: Warriors
The Warriors’ floor shifts the game from quiet deduction into stealth and social rules. Their language is harsher and more hierarchical. By the time you are done, your important Warrior vocabulary should include warrior, not, love, death, wait, go, plural, protect, chosen, impure, carry, lay, push, duty, weapon, trolley, big, small, bottle, crate, fortress, treasure, call, help, seek, scientist, vessel, instrument, balance, key, sun, moon, bellman, build, music, fear.
Fortress Route Notes
- Build the bridge: bring the correct tool from the prior room; the spear works as the practical bridge piece.
- Guard stealth: the exact timing varies by room, but the rule is consistent: move between cover only when the guard’s attention is committed elsewhere.
- Disguise: the correct fortress disguise is sword, long helmet, armbands. Once the call has happened, leaving the Armory with a wrong disguise can trigger Fashion victim.
- Observatory: memorize the shape clue. It points you toward the correct treasure choice later.
- Treasury: take the square lens, located on the second row from the top and second column from the left.
- Bell song: the correct tune is the fourth one, represented by balance, instrument, key, vessel, key.
The Warrior area also starts preparing you for the tower’s core theme: the same people who block each other physically also misunderstand each other linguistically. Keep notes on which words the Warriors use for outsiders, because those substitutions matter during terminal translations.
Garden Walkthrough: Bards
The Bards’ language is intentionally slippery. They speak in a more theatrical structure, and several translations only make sense when you accept that performance and identity are part of their grammar. Important Bard vocabulary includes me, you, be, plural, seek, go, find, not, devotee, warrior, impure, chosen, weapon, hammer, pliers, saw, play, ascend, fire, path, windmill, theater, agora, book, monster, brother, compass, north, east, south, west, man, free, abbey, fortress.
Garden and Theater Notes
- Monkeys: feed them fruit from the surrounding trees.
- Tool choice: choose the hammer when the repair sequence asks for the right tool.
- Windmill / torch: follow the path to obtain the torch, then use it at the western door whose shape matches it.
- Mini-games: one is a flight-control game; the other is a fast “find the intruder” game where the odd blue-grey face is your target. Win both for True G4M3R.
- Theater token: the token from the Garden games is your entry into the theater. Study the play and the script because they become direction and password evidence later.
- Sewers: retrieve the compass from the sewer area under the agora.
Cave Labyrinth
The cave after the theater is not solved by walking screen-left or screen-right from memory. Use the compass properly: align the red arrow with north, then choose the requested direction relative to that. The play gives the sequence of turns at symbolic markers. In practical form, the critical direction pattern is west, north, east, south, west, applied at the correct objects.
One nearby route also leads to a purple door you cannot open yet. Make a mental note rather than forcing it; the key comes much later.
Galleries and Laboratories Walkthrough: Alchemists
The Alchemists are the most systems-heavy floor. You will handle light, machines, numbers, substances, punched cards, restaurant timing, and a forge. Their language is more technical, and the number glyphs matter for real puzzles. Key vocabulary includes me, you, plural, find, seek, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, door, fairy, book, alchemist, bard, brother, gold, silver, copper, carbon, library, refectory, laboratory, mine, death, open, close, not, warrior, plant, make, fire, help, transformation, formula, monster, fear.
Laboratory Route Notes
- Monster and light: the monster dislikes light. Use the floor’s light controls to create safe movement and to understand the local fear vocabulary.
- Elevator controls: the large orange panel teaches the first number set. Treat the symbols as an ordered control sequence, not decorative labels.
- Restaurant timing: wait for the clock to show the fork/eating symbol, then follow the scientists inside.
- Mines: after activating the trolley, jump in quickly. Use the mine machinery to process silver cutlery and learn the substance words.
- Punched cards: cards open red-light slot doors. Use them to reach the rescue sequence and obtain the lighter.
- Lighter: return to the candle interaction you likely noticed earlier.
- Door code and forging: the library code uses a Cistercian-style number system. Top-left, top-right, bottom-left, and bottom-right positions represent thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones. Use that structure to set the forge weights instead of guessing.
The Alchemist section is where many players lose a glyph page or a terminal. If your journal is short, revisit the library, mines, refectory, and lab rooms before leaving for Exile.
Exile and Anchorites Walkthrough
The Anchorites’ language is the final grammar lesson. It uses symbolic composition heavily: basic glyphs combine to make more complex meanings. This is why the yellow translation terminals ask you to arrange circles and why late-game door phrases can feel less like vocabulary recall and more like building a sentence from parts.
When you reach the Anchorite area, talk to every seated or virtual figure you can, use each yellow translation terminal, and activate the final teleportation terminal. One important locked door phrase is:
| Lock | Phrase |
|---|---|
| Anchorite locked door | Key, Open, Door |
The key you gain here is what finally opens the four purple doors scattered through the lower tower. Do not go straight to the ending if you want the true ending; first rebuild the tower’s links and deal with those doors.
All Terminal Links and Conversation Solutions
There are 10 terminals total. Some are just travel points, and several include translation calls that rebuild relationships between groups. Activating every terminal earns Cable guy. Rebuilding links earns A good beginning, Half the way, and Peace walker.
| Terminal / Area | Conversation | Use These Meanings |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal 0, Devotees to Alchemists | Garden help | You help me; plants are dying; I do not want plants to die; I help you; I make potion/formula. |
| Terminal 3, Warriors to Devotees | Music and passage | Devotees do not pass; Devotees do not make music; Devotees make music; Warriors love music. |
| Terminal 4, Alchemists to Warriors | Monster fear | Scientists want to help the monster/impure; scientists fear; scientists do not want death; Warriors do not fear monster; Warriors help scientists. |
| Terminal 6, Bards to Devotees | Freedom and Abbey | I greet the man; we are not men; we are not free; Abbey is free; go/pass to Abbey. |
| Terminal 8, Alchemists to Bards | Brothers and book | I seek brothers; Warriors are not brothers; I found book; we are brothers. |
| Terminal 9, Warriors to Bards | Music in the Fortress | Warriors love music; Bards go/pass to Fortress; Bards carry instruments; Bards love playing music; Bards come to Fortress. |
The table gives meanings rather than every culture’s exact glyph order because your in-game interface already shows the glyph set. If a phrase fails, check the target language’s grammar: for example, a repeated noun may replace a plural marker, and “Bard” may be represented through the local word for “chosen” in a Warrior context.
Purple Door Locations and Passwords
After obtaining the late-game key, return through the terminal network and open the purple doors. Each door asks you to describe a scene. These are required for the true ending path and for completing every link.
| Gate | Nearest Terminal / Route | Password Meaning | Stealth Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey | Terminal 2. Go toward the Abbey garden, then into the hidden upper room behind/near the plant. | Preacher, See/Look, Potion, Potion | Simple shutdown after entry. |
| Fortress | Terminal 3. Head through the Fortress route toward the lower-right door. | Plural, Warrior, Carry/Possess, Vessel | One security robot. Move between cover as it passes. |
| Garden | Terminal 6. Return through the sewer-side route to the earlier purple door. | Theatre, Bard, Plural, Go/Pass | Two robots. Wait for both sight lines to clear, then cross decisively. |
| Laboratories | Terminal 9. Head down near the library/lab access. | Six, Book, Plural | Three robots. Use the middle wall and move only after the central robot has passed. |
Inside each gate, your job is to reach the hidden Exile and deactivate it using the post-like control. Once all four are handled and the terminal calls are resolved, the tower is ready for the true ending route.
Normal Ending vs. True Ending
I did it is tied to finishing the game without fully repairing the tower’s hidden problem. In this together is the true ending achievement, earned after freeing the Exiles, rebuilding the links, and completing the post-“The End” sequence.
For the true ending, you should see all 10 lights/links represented before committing to the final climb. After the first ending screen, continue through the altered tower. The important late-game phrases are:
| True Ending Gate | Phrase | How to Read the Clue |
|---|---|---|
| Fortress-style gate | Plural, Impure, Make/Create, Music | Use the broken mural clue and the Devotee/Warrior relationship. |
| Theater / Bard gate | Brother, Idiot, Bard, Find | The altered play implies the Bard finds an Alchemist; Bards and Alchemists frame one another as brothers. |
| Abbey gate | Alchemist, Plural, Make, Formula | Reconstruct the damaged mural showing scientists making the formula/potion. |
The final chase route includes a maze sequence. A verified route through the cemetery-style maze is west, north, east, east, north, west, north, east, east in the longer walkthrough notation; some shorter community notes describe the meaningful turn pattern as up, right, up, left, up, right from the chase context. If you get lost, prioritize moving away from the monster, reorient at each screen transition, and keep following the child when they reappear.
Achievement Checklist
| Achievement | Requirement | Missable / Cleanup Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome to the Tower | Reach the Abbey. | Story progression. |
| The great escape | Reach the Frontier. | Story progression. |
| A new dawn | Reach the Garden. | Story progression. |
| The darkness | Reach the Galleries. | Story progression. |
| One last step | Reach Exile. | Story progression. |
| That’s the spirit | Fill in the first journal page. | Nearly automatic if you explore the Abbey. |
| Scholar | Validate half the game’s glyphs. | Journal cleanup; revisit floors with missing pages. |
| Champollion | Validate all glyphs. | Requires all five languages. |
| Cable guy | Activate all 10 terminals. | Most common cleanup issue. Recheck side rooms on each floor. |
| A good beginning | Rebuild one link. | Use terminal conversations. |
| Half the way | Rebuild half the links. | Continue terminal and purple-door work. |
| Peace walker | Rebuild all links. | Requires all 10, including hidden Exile-related links. |
| Open door | See the Great Door of the Abbey open. | Return after the Devotee/Warrior link. |
| Free at last | Meet a Serf in the Abbey. | Revisit the church entrance after the Devotee/Bard link. |
| Feels like springtime | Visit the revived Abbey garden. | Return after Devotee/Alchemist help. |
| A great audience | Attend the Bards’ show in the Fortress. | Check the Fortress overlook after Warrior/Bard link. |
| For its own good | See the captured monster in the Laboratories. | Return to Lab 1 after Warrior/Alchemist link. |
| A Link to the Past | Meet Bards in the Library. | Return after Bard/Alchemist link. |
| Alchemists Express | Ride the Alchemists’ cable car. | Available after the Bard/Alchemist link; connects Garden/Lab travel. |
| Rascal | Ring the Abbey bell three times. | Do it early or during cleanup. |
| The Preacher’s fate | Find the preacher’s corpse. | Explore the graveyard underground maze thoroughly. |
| Fashion victim | Leave the Armory with the wrong disguise after the call. | Use a wrong set before committing to correct disguise cleanup. |
| True G4M3R | Win both Garden mini-games. | Do both games near the windmill/theater-token sequence. |
| I did it | Finish the game without the full true-ending setup. | Use a separate save/route if you are also aiming for true ending. |
| In this together | Reach the true ending. | Requires all links, purple doors, and final altered-tower sequence. |
Common Sticking Points
“My journal page will not validate.”
One glyph on that page is wrong. Look for near-synonyms that the game distinguishes: seek vs. find, make vs. help, death/dead vs. not living, or a social label like chosen, impure, brother, or scientist. The right meaning is often culturally framed.
“I cannot find the missing terminal.”
Use the distribution: two in Level 1, two in Level 2, two in Level 3, one between Levels 3 and 4, two in Level 4, and one in Level 5. If you are missing one, it is usually a side route near the theater/sewers, mines, or library/lab transition.
“The purple doors still do nothing.”
You need the late-game key from the Anchorite/Exile section. Before that, the purple doors are deliberate foreshadowing, not active puzzles.
“The Bard/Alchemist true-ending phrase feels unfair.”
The missing piece is the terminal conversation where Bards and Alchemists identify each other as brothers. The altered play shows the Bard finding an Alchemist, but the Bard language clue wants the relationship term: Brother, Idiot, Bard, Find.
“Do I need a YouTube walkthrough?”
No. A full video can help with stealth timing, but this article does not embed one because the requested source set only provided a Steam guide pointing to a video without enough public metadata in the fetched text to verify a specific YouTube title/channel cleanly. The written route and tables above are enough for 100% completion.
Sources & Credits
Official game information and screenshots are from the Chants of Sennaar Steam page and the official Focus Entertainment page. Route details were cross-checked against saved community walkthrough and achievement references, including Steam community guides and Into Indie Games walkthrough pages. ProGameGuides was requested as a reference but returned HTTP 403 during fetch, so it was not used as a verified source.