OneShot looks gentle from a distance, but it is easy to miss achievements because several puzzles depend on files outside the game window, a few items change state permanently, and the best ending route only opens after you finish the game once. This guide is written for the Steam version as a practical walkthrough, achievement checklist, Solstice route guide, and safe reset reference.
Spoiler warning: this page explains the main route, both first-run ending choices, the Solstice route, file-system puzzles, and achievement triggers. If you want a blind first playthrough, read only the completion plan and the achievement table, then return when you are stuck.
Best Completion Plan
- If you want the OneShot achievement, do not close the game manually during the first run except at beds and at the mandatory red X before the Tower. Steam lets you close the game safely for progress, but the achievement route is stricter.
- In the Barrens, grab Chaotic Evil at the crusher and Shock after restoring power. These are quick, early, and easy to forget.
- In the Glen, protect Ram Whisperer by solving the ram puzzle without ringing the reset bell. For Extreme Bartering, attempt the trader interactions before you consume or transform key items.
- In the Refuge, start Rebirth immediately by planting Maize’s seed. Finish it before the Tower and choose to return the sun at the end of the first run.
- Before entering the Tower, clean up We Ride at Dawn, Secret, Bookworm, and Pancakes. Once you are deep in the ending sequence, it is simpler to finish than to backtrack.
- After your first ending, use the fake save-file step to unlock Return and begin the Solstice route. Back up files before deleting anything if you care about preserving old states.
- Treat Solstice as a story route, not an achievement sweep. Steam guides agree it does not add a normal set of new achievements, but it is the route that resolves the game most completely.
Quick Puzzle And Code Reference
| Point | What To Do | Important Note |
|---|---|---|
| House computer | Use the TV remote at the window and enter the colored number sequence into the computer. | The number order is generated for your run. Write it down. |
| Barrens safe | Restore power, read the file the game places in your Documents folder, then enter that code at the safe. | The code is external to the game window and changes by playthrough. |
| Glen ruins | Use the clue the game places on your desktop background to rescue Alula. | This is another outside-the-window puzzle. Do not brute force it. |
| Refuge elevator film | Repair the button, use the strange film, and drag the game window partly off screen to expose the code. | Community route notes commonly list 63014, but verify your own film if the elevator rejects it. |
| Photo lenses | Use the vendor clues and arrange the lenses as thick, concave, thin, convex. | This gets you the photo needed for the library card. |
| Tower clover route | Open the black clover program from the OneShot folder and line up its hint with the clover in the game. | This is required after the game tells you not to return. |
| Solstice vault | Enter SOLSTICE at the big vault door in the Refuge clock room. | The hint points you back to the Documents/OneShot folder. |
| Solstice portal folders | Move the key files from Portal 1, Portal 2, and Portal 3 into Big Portal. | Use the files the game creates in Documents/My Games/OneShot. |
First Run Walkthrough
The House
Start by learning the controls, then collect the remote and use it at the window. The window shows a colored number code for the computer. Enter it to unlock the next room and begin the first conversation with the Entity.
Before leaving the house, take the branch from the dried plant. In the kitchen, collect the bottle of alcohol and combine it with the branch. Use the soaked branch on the TV spark to make a torch, light the fireplace, pick up the basement key, and go down to collect the lightbulb. From this point on, the lightbulb is the sun, so do not treat it like a disposable puzzle item unless you are intentionally triggering an achievement warning.
The Barrens
After leaving the starting house, head toward the outpost and talk to Prophetbot. If the game guessed your player name wrong, this is where you can correct it. Before solving the area, visit the nearby building at the end of the tracks and take the metal rod.
Go to the factory and use the metal rod in the powered crusher to turn it into a crowbar. For Chaotic Evil, try to use the sun on the crusher, or try to combine the sun with the crowbar. Niko will refuse, and the achievement should pop. Do not worry; you are not actually allowed to break the sun.
Use the crowbar on the glowing box in the outpost to get the broken battery. At the lookout point, meet Silver and take the screwdriver from the shelf. Enter the mine with Silver, collect the camera, and use the screwdriver on it to remove the lens. Combine the lens with the broken battery, then charge the battery with the sun and install it in the generator. Once the generator is running, interact with it for Shock.
With power restored, use the computer. It points you to a real file on your computer, usually in the Documents area, that contains the safe code. Read that file, return to the safe near the cliffs, and take the gas mask and strange journal. The gas mask lets Niko pass through the smoky area automatically.
In the gas zone, collect the rubber gloves from the factory and use the crowbar to reach the sponge. In the dormitory area, take the plastic syringe from the medical building. Fill the bottle with gas at the vent, fill the syringe with blue phosphor at the bubble, combine those to make acid, then apply the acid to the sponge. Clean the rowbot at the docks, talk to Silver for the amber pendant, sleep in the bed if you are preserving OneShot, then give the amber to the rowbot and leave for the Glen.
The Glen
On arrival, go south into the forest and meet Calamus, then keep exploring until you reach the research station. Collect the tube or vial of water here, because you will need it later for Rebirth. Continue to the ruins and meet Maize. Leave the sun with her so the vines recede, then use the computer clue that changes your desktop background to solve the floor-symbol puzzle and rescue Alula.
Do the ram herding puzzle carefully before touching the reset bell. For Ram Whisperer, all rams must end up on the marked patches on the first attempt. If you are unsure, pause and plan each push. There is no time pressure, and ringing the bell is what ruins the achievement attempt.
After returning Alula to Calamus, collect the golden feather. Return to Maize, take the sun back, and pick up the seed she leaves behind. Before using the feather or seed, handle Extreme Bartering. Talk to Magpie and attempt trades with the sun, strange journal, wool, amber, water, feather, dye, T-shirt, seed, and the feather pen once it exists. Most importantly, when Magpie first offers only dye for the wool, refuse so you can receive both the dye and the novelty T-shirt. You need that shirt for Secret later.
When you are ready to leave, combine the dye with the golden feather to make the feather pen, sign the guardian robot’s scroll, sleep if you are preserving OneShot, and enter the Refuge.
The Refuge, Upper City
At the start of the Refuge, equip Maize’s seed so the guardian lets you pass into the garden, then plant it in the central pot. This starts Rebirth. You still need dirt, medicated water, and the correct ending choice later.
Talk to Plight at the elevator and begin repairing the button. In the apartments, collect scissors, fridge magnets, and dirt from the plant-filled room. Ride the little vacuum in the apartment for We Ride at Dawn. In the cafe route, pick up the empty coffee can. In the office route, use the tape dispenser to finish the button after cutting the can and magnetizing it.
The elevator asks for a code after the button is installed. Use the strange film from the computer and move the game window partly outside your desktop bounds until the digits are visible. If the commonly reported 63014 does not work, trust the film in your own run. Sleep before using the elevator if you are maintaining OneShot.
The Refuge, Surface And Library
After riding down with Plight, head to the library and learn that you need a library card to reach George. Before making the card, clean up two missables nearby. In the back alley, find the ram graffiti and interact while wearing the novelty T-shirt to enter the club and unlock Secret. In the apartments and library areas, read every glowing or golden book you can find; the George room books matter too, so do not expect Bookworm to unlock early if you have not met George yet.
For the card route, collect the lenses, take a photo of Niko, and solve the lens order as thick, concave, thin, convex. Complete the factory color puzzle for Kip; the configuration is randomized, so use the nearby hint and change one color at a time rather than copying a fixed pattern. Kip gives the library card, and the glitter glue on the shelf lets you attach Niko’s photo to it.
Return to the library, show the card, meet George, and give her the strange journal. She decodes it while Niko sleeps. Before leaving the library section for good, finish Bookworm by checking the special books in George’s room.
After George returns the decoded journal and die, Niko becomes hungry. Go back to the cafe and order pancakes for Pancakes. Then finish Rebirth: get the water pill from Vendor Street, combine it with your water, return to the garden, and add both dirt and medicated water to the seed.
The Tower And First Ending
Enter the Tower route from Vendor Street. When you reach the room with the large red X, close the game. This is the required close and should not break the OneShot achievement. When you reopen, Niko is isolated from you. Walk until the computer sequence sends Niko to sleep, then go to the OneShot folder in Documents/My Games and open the black clover executable.
Reopen the game and use the black clover program as an overlay clue. Equip the journal or clover when prompted, line up the glowing clover symbols, and follow the path it reveals. This section is more about obeying the external clue than memorizing a long door list. If you lose the path, reset your view, realign the clover, and continue from the last clear instruction.
At the top, OneShot asks you to choose between returning the sun and sending Niko home. For Rebirth, choose to return the sun after fully growing Maize’s seed. Either first-run choice can complete the story, but returning the sun is the achievement-safe choice if you followed the garden quest. If you avoided all manual quits except beds and the red X, OneShot should unlock during the ending flow.
Achievement Checklist
| Achievement | Area | Trigger | Missable Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chaotic Evil | Barrens | Try to put the sun in the crusher, or try to combine the sun with the crowbar. | Low, but easiest before leaving the Barrens. |
| Shock | Barrens | Interact with the powered generator or a valid powered cell until Niko is shocked. | Low. |
| Extreme Bartering | Glen | Attempt Magpie trades with the major inventory items, including wool, shirt, dye, feather, pen, journal, amber, water, seed, and sun. | High. Refuse the first wool offer so you receive the novelty T-shirt. |
| Ram Whisperer | Glen | Solve the ram puzzle without ringing the reset bell. | High if you reset the puzzle. |
| We Ride at Dawn | Refuge | Ride the small vacuum in the apartments. | Low, but do it before the Tower. |
| Secret | Refuge | Wear the novelty T-shirt at the ram graffiti door in the back alley. | Medium. Requires the shirt from Magpie. |
| Bookworm | Refuge | Read all glowing or golden books in the library and George’s room. | Medium. George’s room books are easy to forget. |
| Pancakes | Refuge | After Niko becomes hungry, take them to the cafe. | Low. |
| Rebirth | Refuge and ending | Plant Maize’s seed, add dirt, add medicated water, then choose to return the sun. | High. The ending choice matters. |
| OneShot | Full first run | Finish while only saving by beds and the mandatory Tower close. | High if you close the game manually for convenience. |
| Return | After first ending | Remove the fake save file the black clover instructions point to, then begin the Solstice route. | Medium. Back up files first if you are uncertain. |
How To Start Solstice
After completing a normal ending, go back to the Documents/My Games/OneShot folder and read the black clover instructions. Community route notes describe the required file as the fake save file, commonly save_progress.oneshot, though older or short guides may name it differently. The safe method is to back up the OneShot folder, then move the exact fake save file the black clover note identifies. When you launch the game again, you should get a new start with altered dialogue and the strange journal already important.
If your goal is simply to replay from scratch rather than trigger Solstice, be more careful. Steam Cloud can restore persistent data. The safest reset procedure is to back up your AppData/Roaming/OneShot folder, disable Steam Cloud temporarily, and only then remove the relevant save/persistence data. The exact folder path can vary by platform, so do not delete broad Steam folders unless you know what each folder contains.
Solstice Route Walkthrough
Solstice Barrens
Play through the early house and Barrens setup until you reach the mine near Silver. This time, the strange journal reacts near the clover. Stand on the clover and use the journal to reveal a minecart route into the deeper mine. Inside, meet Prototype and solve the memory-disc security puzzle by matching the building purposes you can verify in the dormitory area. The cross-check used for this guide maps the medical/cross building to 112, robot buildings to 110 and 118, electricity to 119, and leaves empty buildings blank.
After the disc is restored, the cave collapse sequence pushes the route forward. You receive the memory disc and move into the altered Glen. Do not try to preserve the normal first-run logic here; Solstice is deliberately breaking the old route.
Solstice Glen
Talk to the guardian, then go through the ruins toward Alula and Calamus. Use the glowing journal/clover interaction again to open the boat route to the graveyard and meet Cedric. Cedric needs a battery and gears. Ask Maize to reconnect the islands, take the battery from the robot research area, and get the music box/gears from Magpie. Return both to Cedric so he can repair the flying machine and move the story toward the Refuge.
This section has a lot of irreversible story movement. If you are using the route only for cleanup, accept that Solstice is the wrong place to farm first-run achievements. Use the post-Solstice replay option later instead.
Solstice Refuge
In the Refuge, the normal elevator repair fails. Go to the clock/vault room and enter SOLSTICE. The right elevator lever is too high for Niko, so bring Plight to help. After reaching the surface, follow the route through the library shelter, then find Rue in the back alley and bring her to the clock room.
When the red, green, and blue portal sequence begins, place Rue, Cedric, and Prototype on the matching portals. The game creates folders in Documents/My Games/OneShot: Portal 1, Portal 2, Portal 3, and Big Portal. Move the key files from the three smaller portal folders into Big Portal. When the door appears in-game, continue through the Author’s room and close the game at the X when instructed.
The World Machine
Reopen the game and follow the World Machine route. This section is more dialogue and commitment than item puzzling. Move through the arrow paths, meet the Entity in Niko’s reflection, and continue through the credits-room encounters. Solstice resolves both major first-run desires at once: the world is restored and Niko can go home.
Common Mistakes
- Closing the game too freely on an achievement run: normal progress is safe, but the OneShot achievement expects bed saves and the required Tower close only.
- Taking Magpie’s first wool offer: refuse it once so you get the novelty T-shirt. Without the shirt, Secret becomes a problem.
- Using the feather, seed, water, or other trade items too early: complete Extreme Bartering before transforming or spending key items.
- Ringing the ram bell: that resets the puzzle and voids Ram Whisperer for that attempt.
- Skipping George’s books: Bookworm needs the special books in both the main library and George’s room.
- Finishing without Rebirth setup: the seed needs dirt and medicated water before the ending, and you must choose to return the sun.
- Deleting too many files for a reset: back up the OneShot folders and account for Steam Cloud before removing persistent data.
What To Do After Solstice
After Solstice, the main menu can offer a special replay option marked with an ellipsis. This lets you revisit the world without undoing the true ending. If you missed achievements, use that replay or a careful reset depending on what you need. For most players, the cleanest path is first run for achievements, Solstice for the complete story, then replay only if a specific achievement failed.
If OneShot did not unlock, the usual reason is an unapproved manual close during the first run. If Rebirth did not unlock, check whether you returned the sun after completing the seed, dirt, and medicated-water steps. If Extreme Bartering did not unlock, you likely missed an item state at Magpie, most often the T-shirt branch or an item you transformed before attempting to trade it.
Sources And Credits
Game metadata and official screenshots are from the official Steam page for OneShot. Route, achievement, Solstice, and restart details were cross-checked against readable Steam Community walkthrough and achievement references supplied for this article; unrelated, joke, or thin pages were not used for gameplay facts.