Cube Escape: Paradox Walkthrough, Achievements, and Endings Guide

Cube Escape: Paradox is a dense Rusty Lake room-escape game, and the cleanest route is not just “open everything.” Chapter 1 teaches the room, the TV, the typewriter, Case 23 clues, and Dale’s memory maze; Chapter 2 adds paid DLC puzzles around new minds, hidden TV channels, film clues, and alternate endings. This guide is written as a practical walkthrough, with achievement cleanup and ending notes folded into the route so you do not miss the awkward one-run details.

Official Steam metadata lists Cube Escape: Paradox as a Rusty Lake adventure, released on September 20, 2018. The main app is free and includes Chapter 1; Cube Escape: Paradox – Chapter 2 is the paid Chapter 2 DLC. Steam also lists 28 achievements for the main app. The walkthrough below is spoiler-heavy by design.

Quick Route Plan#

Part	Main Goal	Things To Save For Cleanup
Chapter 1 opening room	Repair the room, finish the photo, start the typewriter chain, get the wooden cube.	TV access, movie-symbol safe, clock 8:05, channel 749, typewriter phrase THE VANDERBOOMS.
Chapter 1 Case 23 route	Use the projector, file drawer, book order, globe, deer skull, and memory maze.	Harvey’s Song, three cubes, the red vial, Chapter 1 achievement symbols.
Chapter 1 forest	Follow rock maps, collect crow/woman/man statues, pass the shadow, take the black cube.	Tap the moving weak spot on the shadow if it keeps sending you back.
Chapter 2 room and minds	Find the present, past, and future minds; complete the psychological record; solve the chess/statue chain.	TV 726, Movie Dale, Paradise, and the Chapter 2 hidden-achievement symbols.
Alternate endings	Use the Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 hidden-achievement symbol sets.	Do these after the normal chapter endings or on a separate cleanup run.

Chapter 1 Walkthrough#

Open the Room and Start the Typewriter Chain

1. Plug in the uncut TV cable, then turn around the room and collect the first key, cigar, jacket, pencil, scissors, twig, and photo pieces.
2. Open the left red box for the key. Solve the right red box by sliding each tile onto its matching etched symbol, then take the photo piece.
3. Use the key on the lower dresser drawer to get the wooden cube. Put the jacket and cigar on Dale in the mirror, then place the wooden cube in the cube slots.
4. Complete the photo frame. The back gives the typewriter phrase THE WOMAN.
5. Type THE WOMAN. Fill the drawings with the pencil in sequence: Dale, the door, Laura, the cut on Laura’s neck, and the key. Take the key from the paper.
6. Use that key on the upper TV-room cabinet. Take the slide, cassette tape, newspaper article, and projector grip. Add the newspaper and later photos to the Case 23 file whenever you find them.

Projector, Clock, TV, and Phone

Checkpoint	Solution	Why It Matters
First projector screen	Install the slide and grip. Align the screen twice to get IV and V.	Small clock hand uses IV; big clock hand uses V.
Clock for matches	Set the time to 4:25.	Take the matches and light Dale’s cigar in the mirror.
Smoke safe	Use the five smoke symbols in order: O-with-dot, S, square-with-line, Z, spiral.	Take the tape and repair the broken TV cable.
First TV chain	Enter 669, then 012, then 067.	The TV gives the typewriter answer THE LAKE.
Phone call	Type THE LAKE, cut and slide the paper, then call 14335.	The call unlocks the keyhole clue.
Clock after keyhole	Set the time to 12:45.	Take the triangle key.

Files, Books, Globe, and Deer Skull

Use the triangle key on the side-table drawers. You need slide 2, the handkerchief, the file entries that identify the book order, and Laura Vanderboom’s prescription. Arrange the books in this order:

1. First slot: Robert Hill’s False Accusation file.
2. Second slot: Vincent van Gogh.
3. Third slot: A. Vanderboom.
4. Fourth slot: J. Eilander’s My Family.
5. Fifth slot: Ida Reiziger’s The Art of Fortune Telling.
6. Sixth slot: C. Eilander.

Read the book to get the glass eye and iron cube. Install slide 2, raise the screen over the painting, and use TV 588. The TV gives the object order for the next symbol lock: Mr. Crow, Dale, Laura, the vial, corrupted soul. In text-symbol form, the cross-checked order is upside-down T, Z, triangle-with-line, square-with-line, S. Take the globe key.

The globe route is easier if you trust the picture in the lower corner rather than trying to brute force the whole map. The text route is: leave Start toward the woods, move across the woods and below the mountains, go down left of Dark Town, pass between town and theatre, cross the water, move past the home, continue to the center island, go below the cabin, follow the passage toward the mill, move between the mill and trees, then head right to the mountains and down to the end.

Open the globe. Take the newspaper article and cup, then solve the bottle chain: matches break the right bottle for the hook; the twig wakes the caterpillar in the middle bottle; the moth leads you to the couch string; the cup gets water from the jar near the evidence folder; water plus cork, string, and hook pulls out the second glass eye. Put both eyes in the deer skull, then drag the black mass to the skull, clock, typewriter, TV, door, and mirror. Pop the black dots in the mirror to enter the memory maze.

Memory Maze

The memory maze is a layout puzzle, not a code puzzle. Use the frame dot to enter Dale’s current room and the picture-frame dot to exit back to the map. The safe route is:

• Move the yellow room beside Dale, enter it, and clear the first shadow.
• Connect the pink and blue rooms so Dale can reach the birthday scene and return to the frame.
• Use the gear and pipe rooms to spill water, open the valve, and carry the water through the pipe chain.
• Use the submarine/theatre setup to reach the curtained scene, then exit back to the map.
• Move the red room to the nose exit and walk Dale out of his head.

Red Vial and Chapter 1 Forest

After the maze, clean the blood with the handkerchief and pry up the floorboard for the flyer piece. Put it over the mental-health flyer, then use the typewriter chain:

Typewriter Word	Burn These Items	Next Result
BURN	Dynamite, candle, cigar, matches.	LIFE
LIFE	Fish, insect, shrimp.	RED
RED	Rose, pomegranate, strawberry, heart, lips.	TV 910

Use TV 910, look behind the folding screen, and solve Laura’s face puzzle. Most guides describe the movement as opposite her eyes; if your current build tells you that is wrong, reverse the input for that movement and keep going until the one-eye state resolves. Take the dress patch, finish the Case 23 page, and use the evidence order D-B-A-E-C to set the symbol lock. The cross-check text code is triangle-with-line, upside-down T, O-with-dot, S, square-with-line. Take Harvey’s Song, play it, collect the glass cube from Harvey’s cage, place all three cubes, take the red vial, drink it in the mirror, and unlock the door.

In the Chapter 1 forest, follow each rock map rather than wandering. Collect the crow statue, woman statue, and man statue. If the shadow blocks you, tap the moving weak spot on its body until it collapses. Place the three statues at the wall, continue forward, and take the black cube to finish Chapter 1.

Chapter 2 Walkthrough#

Chapter 2 is paid DLC on Steam. It starts in the same room but expects you to understand the first chapter’s logic: TV channels lead to physical clues, the psychological record unlocks later orders, and changing Dale’s mind changes which puzzles can be solved.

Opening Setup and the Present Mind

1. Plug in the TV, solve the windmill light puzzle for a paper piece, solve the symbol box for another, and take the cigar, screwdriver, and remaining paper pieces.
2. Repair the light switch with the screwdriver. Add all paper pieces to the postcard by the clock to get TV 945.
3. Use TV 945, then burn the shadow in the painting with the cigar and take the key.
4. Unlock the cabinet, take the knife, take the eye, stack the books largest-to-smallest, and take the photo and painting label from the book/record route.
5. Place the label on the Arles bedroom painting and move the items into their silhouettes to get the ear.
6. Open Dale’s skull in the mirror and remove the brain. Give the knife to the hand behind the curtain for the heart, then take the knife back.
7. Balance the jars with heart, eye, ear, brain. Cut open the fish and solve its bone pattern for the triangle key.

Use the triangle key to get the magnifying glass and phone directory. Call 36772 for Aldous Vanderboom, then follow the magnifying-glass TV chain:

Channel	Where To Use The Magnifying Glass
412	The Rusty Lake flyer near the phone. It gives 492.
492	The upper-left panel of the folding screen. It gives 879.
879	The red box on the dresser. It gives 278.
278	The fish drawer. Open the hidden square for the globe key.

Use the globe key and follow the second globe map to reach the brain-defense minigame. Defend the center with the small shooters, then shrink and take the present mind. Put it in Dale’s head and meet Mr. Crow.

Present Mind, Coffee, and Past Mind

Take the cup, seed, and cassette tape near Mr. Crow. The tape gives five psychological-test images in this order: moth, crow, murder, fear, corrupted soul. Make coffee by using jar water, the coffee plant, coffee beans ground in the windmill, oil from the projector battery, and the cigar as fuel. Give the coffee to Mr. Crow.

Use the five test images to open the lock under the coffee maker. Then insert the light bulb in Mr. Crow’s machine and sort the printed drawings into this sequence:

Love, Confusion, Confusion, Fear, Love, Love, Fear, Confusion, Fear, Love, Confusion, Fear.

Take the psychological file and the mind of the past. Put it in Dale’s head.

Past Mind and Future Mind

In the past mind, solve the three decoration sets: make the first banner pattern continuous, sort the second from zero dots to six dots, and sort the third from one segment to seven segments. Call Mr. Eilander at 57671, then chase Mr. Rabbit through the keyhole, red sheet, mirror, globe, deer skull, TV 369, folding screen, and birthday-present scene. After the scene changes, collect the newspaper, add it to the record, match the bloody room symbols to the present-box lock, and take the mind of the future.

With the future mind active, take Mr. Owl’s letter, key, seal, and flyer from the table. Seal the letter with wax, then remove Dale’s mind completely and give the letter to the birdcage hand for the owl statue. Use the key for the film reel. Put the film in the projector, repair the film order, and align the screen against the moth wing, Dale’s tie, corrupted soul, dresser corner, Mr. Crow, Dale’s face, mountains, Laura’s upper lip, and Laura’s head. Take the funeral card and corrupted statue, then finish the psychological record.

TV 207, Clock Times, and Chess

Use TV 207 only when the funeral card route tells you to. Community references warn that using 207 too early can leave the TV puzzle unresolved. Follow Laura’s eye/head directions until she disappears and you can take the woman statue.

Clock Clue	Set Time	Reward
Door as minute hand, globe as hour hand.	11:45	Coin
Deer skull as minute hand, vial cabinet as hour hand.	3:00	Sugar cube

Use the coin in the past-mind present box for the man statue. Give the sugar cube to Mr. Crow in the present mind for the crow statue. Return to the future mind and place the statues on the chessboard so none share a row, column, or diagonal. One verified coordinate route uses: A1 Woman, D1 Corrupted, B3 Owl, E4 Man, C5 Crow, then moves Owl to A2, Man to C3, Crow to B5, Woman to E4. If you solve it visually, use the same rule: avoid every red attack line.

The chessboard gives five symbols. The psychological record orders them by Corrupted Soul, Crow, Man, Woman, Owl. The text-symbol code cross-checks as triangle-with-dot, hourglass, S, upside-down T, line. Take Harvey’s Song, play it in reverse, click Harvey until you get Johnsson, then call 54253 to order bird food. Feed Harvey, take the egg, remove Dale’s mind, and give the egg to the curtain hand.

Blue Vial and Chapter 2 Forest

Reveal the man behind the curtain. Cut open his head and use Dale’s three minds to receive the three cubes:

Mind	Form Shown	Cube
Present mind	Mr. Owl	Wooden cube
Mind of the past	Man from the past	Iron cube
Mind of the future	Fish/future form	Glass cube

For the story, the cabinet opens after the cubes are placed. For the achievement clue, place them as wood, glass, iron, then use the magnifying glass on the tiny print to read TV 726. You cannot use the TV at that exact moment, so keep 726 for cleanup. Drink the blue vial in the mirror, click the black moth on each wall, take the key from the door moth, and leave.

In the Chapter 2 forest, follow the arrow trees, take the map, get the knife from Mr. Crow, and follow the running corrupted figures to collect three corrupted statues. Before the final gate, detour to the movie-Dale scene if you want the Movie Dale achievement. Put the three corrupted statues into the wall, proceed through the final scripted scene, and take the black cube to complete Chapter 2.

All 28 Achievements#

Steam confirms 28 achievement records. The names and methods below were cross-checked against the saved achievement guides and walkthrough references.

Achievement	Chapter	How To Get It
The Chapel	1	Use the five film-symbol clues in the safe, take slide 3, project it, then play TV 566.
A New Hat	1	Set the clock to 8:05, unlock the lower cabinet, take the hat, and wear it in the mirror.
What happened to the deer?	1	Play TV 749.
Bob’s Story	1	Use the five numbered movie-credit names in the file drawer, get the tape, rewind/play it, then play TV 247.
The Comic	1	Type THE VANDERBOOMS on the typewriter.
The Green Vial	1	After the five Chapter 1 hidden achievements, enter their five symbols and take the green vial.
Dale’s Fate	1	Drink the green vial and complete the green-vial mind sequence.
Wooden Cube	1	Place the wooden cube during the normal Chapter 1 route.
Iron Cube	1	Take and place the iron cube from the ordered book route.
Escape The Mind	1	Finish the memory maze inside Dale’s head.
Glass Cube	1	Play Harvey’s Song and take the glass cube from Harvey’s cage.
The Red Vial	1	Open the cabinet after all three cubes and take the red vial.
Chapter 1	1	Finish the normal Chapter 1 forest ending and take the black cube.
A new tie	2	Use the Chapter 2 film-symbol set to open the safe, then wear the tie in the mirror.
A bit fishy	2	Set the clock to 8:05, take the shrimp cocktail, and give it to the curtain hand.
Another ending	2	Count the movie objects to get 465, then play TV 465.
A phone call	2	Call 77772, then call director Sean van Leijenhorst at 15334.
The Great Northern Hotel	2	Play TV 315 in Chapter 2.
Dale’s Journey Continues	2	After the Chapter 2 hidden-achievement symbol set, take the diamond eyes and golden cube, use the eyes on the deer skull, and give the golden cube in the elevator.
Movie Dale	2	Find the movie version of Dale in the Chapter 2 forest before finishing the gate route.
Mind Of The Present	2	Complete the globe/brain-defense route and obtain the present mind.
A Cup Of Coffee	2	Make coffee with water, ground beans, oil fuel, and the cigar, then give it to Mr. Crow.
Mind Of The Past	2	Complete the psychological-test machine and take the mind of the past.
Mind Of The Future	2	Solve the past-mind birthday/present box route and take the mind of the future.
The Blue Vial	2	Use the three minds on the curtain figure, get the cubes, open the cabinet, and drink the blue vial.
Chapter 2	2	Finish the normal Chapter 2 forest ending and take the black cube.
The right place	2	Place cubes wood, glass, iron, read TV 726 with the magnifying glass, then play TV 726 on a cleanup run.
Paradise	2	Use the Rusty Lake: Paradise symbol set plus the final circle-with-dot clue to get the owl mask, then wear it in the mirror.

Alternate Endings#

Chapter 1 Green Vial Ending

After the five Chapter 1 hidden/movie achievements, use their symbols in the Chapter 1 safe. In text form, the verified order is upside-down T, square-with-line, S, triangle-with-line, spiral. Take and drink the green vial. The memory sequence is a set of short actions: keep moving toward Laura, hold the cube until it disappears, wrap around by moving left, stop in the breathing spot, lift the cube out of the way, move slowly, tap the crow, continue to Laura, go off the cliff when asked for sacrifice, and touch the cube above Laura.

Chapter 2 Golden Cube Ending

After the five Chapter 2 hidden/movie achievements, use their symbols in the Chapter 2 safe. The cross-checked text order is hourglass, square-with-V, line, triangle-with-dot, circle-with-dot. Take the diamond eyes and golden cube, place the eyes in the deer skull, raise the elevator, and give the golden cube inside. Do this after you have finished the blue-vial route if you also want the normal Chapter 2 completion achievements in the same overall save plan.

Verified Videos#

The two supplied YouTube watch pages did not expose useful article text, but the oEmbed metadata verified both title and channel. They are included here as optional visual references from Positive Gaming Vibes.

Common Mistakes#

• Using TV 207 too early. Wait until the Chapter 2 funeral-card route sends you there.
• Forgetting to rewind Harvey’s Song in Chapter 2. If Harvey does not appear, reverse the tape before playing it again.
• Doing Paradise before the blue vial. Wear the owl mask on a cleanup run if you still need The Blue Vial and Chapter 2.
• Leaving TV 726 until too late without writing it down. Read it after placing wood, glass, iron, then use it after restarting or in a fresh accessible TV state.
• Treating symbol descriptions as art-perfect. If your symbol font or language version looks different, match the source object order first: smoke, TV images, film objects, record order, or chess statue order.

Sources and Credits#

Official metadata and screenshots are from Cube Escape: Paradox on Steam, Cube Escape: Paradox – Chapter 2 on Steam, and Rusty Lake. Puzzle routes, achievements, endings, and video relevance were cross-checked against saved community walkthrough references and verified YouTube oEmbed metadata.