The House of Da Vinci 3 Walkthrough: All 9 Chapters and 100% Achievements

The House of Da Vinci 3 is a nine-chapter mechanical puzzle adventure built around observation, inventory combinations, and the Oculus Perpetua. The Oculus does more than reveal hidden parts: it lets Giacomo alter an earlier version of a room so that the present changes around him. This walkthrough follows the complete story route, calls out the puzzles that are easiest to misread, and keeps the game’s 30 Steam achievements in view.

Major spoiler warning: the guide reveals every location, the solution logic for the main mechanisms, several exact sequences, all achievement conditions, and the final chapter. If you only want a nudge, read the short checkpoint for your chapter and stop before the detailed steps.

Route Overview And 100% Plan#

Chapter	Main route	Important cleanup
1. Catacombs	Repair the Oculus, block the rat-filled well, and leave the monastery.	Take the notebook; inspect the suspicious letter immediately; solve the final letter-opener lock without the Oculus.
2. Villa of Luca Pacioli	Open the workshop, complete the models, restore the windmill, and recover the bronze chalice.	Hit every required crossbow target before leaving the range.
3. The Bald Lady	Enter the inn and meet the contact in room III.	Inspect the Signora Calva painting before entering.
4. Borgia’s Hideout	Use the map cannon, enter the laboratory, make the incendiary powder, and escape the trap.	Record the 3:1:5 mixture and trigger all three safe-minigame deaths.
5. Pope’s Chambers	Open the study, solve the room-scale chess puzzle, and collect the three medallions.	Open the study without the Oculus; inspect C3 and F3; collect the secret-passage sketch.
6. Luca’s Villa Again	Release, turn, and time-shift the cart to stop the attackers.	This is a short story chapter with no large cleanup route.
7. Secret Passage	Drain the cave, use the crane weight, repair the rails, and help Leonardo finish the lift.	Take the stepladder for Control Pests; check both letter locations.
8. Castel del Monte	Solve the library, extinguish the roof fire, finish four barrel mechanisms, and activate the old machine.	Inspect changing notes before advancing them; do the Zodiac mistake; collect the last letters and sketches.
9. Ancient Temple	Use the amulet, copy the statue from the diary, and destroy the temple.	Confirm the final location sketch, then read the completed Chronicle from the main menu after the credits.

For a completion run, the diary matters more than a conventional collectible counter. Writer, Artist, Archivist, and The One with All explicitly depend on completing their requirements in one playthrough. Before crossing a chapter-ending boundary, open the diary and investigate every obvious blank: a missing sketch can require looking at a room from a particular balcony, while a missing note may sit beside a mechanism that later changes shape.

Leave the under-5-hour run for a second playthrough. The under-11-hour and under-8-hour achievements are forgiving when you already know the mechanisms, but trying to combine a blind first run, diary hunting, three deliberate deaths, and the strictest speed target is an unnecessary risk.

How To Read The Puzzles#

• Check the inventory icons. A plus sign means that an item still needs another part. A gear means the item itself can be unfolded, rotated, or otherwise adjusted.
• Use the Oculus for structure, not just decoration. Blue rails, hidden numerals, and movable latch parts often appear only through the lens.
• After changing the past, inspect the present again. A repaired rail, stopped fire, moved cart, or blocked drain can create an entirely new interaction.
• When a visual board resists a text solution, solve its rule. Camera angle and starting orientation make some tile diagrams unreliable. Match lines, totals, or the diary sketch instead of copying a vague left/right instruction.
• Let moving targets settle. Several devices only register a shot, token, or alignment after their animation stops.

Chapter 1 Walkthrough: Catacombs#

Inspect the statue near the start, pull down its staff, and unfold the resulting tool. Use it on the skull-decorated door. In the next corridor, pull the wall lever until its handle breaks, then take the lever socket. Walk toward the rats and remove the metal shaft from the chained gate on the right. Combine the shaft and socket, return to the broken control, and lower the repaired lever to position III. Pick up the damaged Oculus Perpetua.

Raise the small control beside the wall winch to lower its ceiling hook. Attach the hook to the chandelier, wind the cable, and release it. Repeat the pull until the impact cracks the wall behind the statue. Push the statue aside and enter the workshop. Take the notebook for Dear Diary, the nearby letter, the screwdriver, and the Oculus lens from the work area.

Back in the corridor, use the screwdriver on the odd screw holding the bent vertical rail. Put the rail into the workshop straightening machine, set the tracing control to the matching line pattern, and pull the machine lever. Reinstall the straight rail and turn the corridor crank to lower the remaining Oculus pieces. The toothed cover also needs straightening: use the circular tracing pattern, then combine it with the cover. Clamp the Oculus body into the bench fixture, add the lens and cover, and take the repaired device.

Shift into the past. Open the hatch beside the well and keep turning the large gear until the chain breaks and seals the opening. That past action prevents the rats from flooding the catacombs in the present and unlocks Pest Control. Continue until Giacomo records the Chronicle of Ordo Iustitialis, and pick up the letter that falls nearby.

At the skull lock, remove the skull and use the Oculus to expose the inner catch. In the old monastery hall, inspect the reading podium. Open its rear compartment, take the letter and the letter opener, then activate the Oculus while the suspicious letter is still your immediate discovery; this is the safe point for Curious Soul.

Return to the remaining exit. For Dangerous Manipulation, keep the Oculus closed while using the letter opener on the lock. The internal gear turns in one direction, so rotate it fully until the mechanism releases. Leave the catacombs to earn Catacomb Crawl.

Chapter 2 Walkthrough: Villa Of Luca Pacioli#

Use the Oculus on the entrance mechanism. Pull the dragon’s mouth, rotate the ring until the square marker is selected, change the dragon’s position with the upper lever, and crank the side handle to light the path. Enter the small house on the left and place the Chronicle on the scales. Take the instruction letter and the oddly shaped crank that appears.

Fit the crank into the garden machine near the stairs and complete its continuous-route puzzle to bring out a cart and open the workshop. Take the ironbound disc from the cart. Inside the workshop, collect the visible letters before operating anything. Turn the desk control to Roman numeral III and take the cart model. Put that model on the left support of the large garden display and operate it. The display supplies an ornamental lever part; combine it with the ironbound disc and use the result on the post beside the stairs.

The desk, belfry, cart, windmill, and Archimedes-screw models form one dependency chain. If you lose track of it, use this order:

1. Use the hidden stair key on the writing desk and align the frame handles with the continuous blue line shown through the Oculus.
2. Take the belfry model, install it on the garden display, and examine the bell until it gives up its small key.
3. Use that key on the cart model. Run the cart and close the rotating locks again to expose the desk’s front compartments.
4. Open the compartments to obtain the full crossbow clip.
5. Recover the lion ornament from behind the garden pots, install it on the entrance column, and rotate it to raise the second staircase.

Crossbow And Target Practice

At the top of the new stairs, take the wooden-handled mechanical part and the letter beneath it. Cross the bridge, shift into the past, mount the handle and full clip on the stationary crossbow, and complete the range before moving on.

The clip contains ten bolts, while the course asks you to register all nine targets and strike the last target multiple times. One line of fire can catch two aligned targets, which is how the ammunition budget works. Pan the sight in several shorter drags to reach the outer edges, wait for each target to stop, and do not forget the target revealed when the bridge moves. The final target needs three confirmed hits. Clearing the full set unlocks Target Practice.

Use the ornamental ring key at the far end of the bridge. Inside the small room, collect the letter and wooden folder. Return to the present and take the bell clapper near the lion mechanism. Put it on the cart outside the workshop, start the cart, and open the wooden folder in your inventory to reveal the windmill sketch. Install that sketch in the workshop frame and align its handles into another unbroken Oculus line.

Archimedes Screw, Windmill, And Chalice

Install the Archimedes-screw model on the main display, send the model cart toward the wheel, and press its red transfer control at the turntable. The model lifts a windmill section into reach. Install the section, operate the mill, and take the round key from the raised tower. Use it on the wall lock near the closed workshop gate to obtain a metal crank.

Take that crank to the far-right garden cart and solve the line puzzle so the route runs continuously between its two arrows. Return to the time-shift point, climb to the upper mechanism, remove its blocker, and turn it until the opposite door opens. Recover the ringed screw, use it at the cone-shaped post, and take the pincers. The pincers lead to the gear for the rotating workshop shelves; turn the shelves until you can collect the hand plane, framed handle, and cutter.

Cut open the workshop gate and send the large screw onto the outside cart. Release the cart, solve the cone-post mechanism for an ornament, combine that ornament with the hand plane, and use the finished handle on the workshop post. Keep transferring the screw along the rail until it connects to the wheel tower, then take the massive counterweight.

In the past, hang the weight on the windmill and start the mill. In the present, close the bridge counterweight’s lower panel and fill it with water; the added mass raises the bridge. Climb to the roof, open the shrub-covered cache, and take the letter and bronze chalice piece. Return to the first house, place the completed chalice on the scales, and recover the Chronicle. Leaving earns All in a Day’s Work.

Chapter 3 Walkthrough: The Bald Lady#

This is intentionally brief. Before entering the inn, look left and upward and inspect the Signora Calva painting. The diary may not visibly change at that instant, but the observation completes the sketch that updates after you go inside.

Solve the small entrance mechanism, enter the inn, and follow the conversation. Go upstairs and choose the door marked III. The following scene completes the chapter and unlocks The Bald Lady.

Chapter 4 Walkthrough: Borgia’s Hideout#

Enter the tavern, shift to the past, and extinguish the candle. Return to the present: because the fire never consumed the building, the chimney now provides a route into Borgia’s hideout. Entering it unlocks Chimney Sweeper.

Move the portrait, take the letter and coat of arms, and fit the crest into the mechanism beside the large map. Use the new pointer to select the cities in this order:

1. Bologna
2. Imola
3. Firenze
4. Forli
5. Cecina
6. San Marino
7. San Vincenzo
8. Perugia

Take the lock pick and open the basement hatch. Recover the oil lamp beside the printing press, bring it upstairs, and install it in the globe-like projector near the map. Once the light marks the map, take the rotary-handled tool behind the newly revealed panel and use it to unlock and aim the cannon barrels.

The opposite control gives you a beaded screw. Install it in the basement box and take the metal card. The diary has already recorded the map’s red-cross pattern; punch that same pattern into the card with the press. Put the card into the rear of the cannon, load the weapon, and fire. Refill the powder bottle before leaving the cannon because the laboratory needs it later. Arrange the ball-track pieces so the ball reaches the red cross and opens the laboratory.

Laboratory And Powder Ratio

Upstairs, take the bent wire from the doll mechanism. Solve the display-case puzzle and recover the resin-covered key. Heat the key in the recessed furnace, retrieve the metal part that drops, and use the bent wire on the red-marked cabinet to obtain impure charcoal and a switch. The metal part opens the bin under the stairs; empty it and take the metal lattice.

Return briefly to the cannon, install the switch, and fill the small flask. Back in the laboratory, exchange it for the powder container. Put the container into the separator, combine the incomplete filter with the metal lattice, and run the machine again. Filter the impure charcoal. After the separation, inspect the marked flasks or the nearby board until the diary records the mixture. The important ratio is:

Ingredient	Color cue	Parts
Sulfur	Yellow	3
Charcoal	Black	1
Saltpeter	White in the inventory	5

Use the iron weight on the cylindrical-box apparatus to open its compartments. Take the letter and rotary switch, install the switch beside the furnace, and enter the safe minigame. For Makes You Stronger, deliberately fail to all three hazards before completing it: the spikes, the spider, and the lava. They must be distinct deaths, not three repeats of the same trap.

Finish the minigame for the wing nut and powder flask. Use the wing nut to open the remaining cylinder compartments, then collect the sulfur crystal, small hook, and crumpled letter. Combine the hook with the weight at the scales, use the resulting symbol on the dome, and take the saltpeter crystal and unusual grinder key. Grind the sulfur and saltpeter, measure sulfur/charcoal/saltpeter at 3:1:5, mix them, and fill the powder flask.

Put the incendiary mixture into the furnace to free the resin key. Use it on the upstairs display. The apparent reward is a trap; after Borgia’s scene, solve the cage mechanism and escape to complete Devil’s Bargain.

Chapter 5 Walkthrough: Pope’s Chambers#

The evening Angelus is a story deadline, not a real gameplay timer. Take the bookmark from the book in the audience room and work on the locked study door. Normally the Oculus reveals the two internal latch points. For I Could Do This Blindfolded, leave it closed, drag the bookmark against each catch, and listen for two distinct clicks. Once both catches are engaged, open the door.

Inside the checkered study, inspect the floor coordinates C3 and F3 before going upstairs. Take the stone rosette from the chessboard and use it on the Caesar bust. Collect the letter and rider piece from the opened desk. Complete the horse statue, operate its wheel, and obtain the tower model from the upper level.

The room itself explains the chessboard. The horse table represents the knight, Caesar’s bust represents the king, the upper entrance represents the rook, and the floor emblem represents the bishop. Look from the balcony so the diary records the whole room, including C3 and F3, then place the pieces according to those spatial clues. The solution moves the SPQR shelf and exposes the way into the hidden chamber.

Three Medallions And The Final Sequence

Use the Oculus on the door beside the moved shelf. Route the green, blue, and red handles through their respective disc tracks. In the secret hall, take the shrine model, key, and letter from the altar. Solve the lower altar mechanism for the armed cylinder, combine it with the shrine, and hang the completed censer from the Pope statue.

Each lit side of the chamber follows the same broad rhythm: solve a mechanical container, recover a medallion, place it in the central sun model, and watch two scenes appear in the censer smoke. The first route yields the Medallion of Dawn through the shrine and relic mechanisms. Its scenes reveal the eye/vision and kneeling-congregation symbols.

The second route uses the ceremonial plate, tower, jeweled disc, and clock to produce the Medallion of Noon. Its scenes reveal the sword/siege and broken-temple/destruction symbols. On the number board, use the Oculus values rather than the decorative Roman numerals alone: circles and squares must be moved so the visible values agree with their target positions.

In the third area, take the stone bowl and the letter with a drawing. That sketch is the requirement for Collector of Secrets. Solve the saint-symbol container, place the red bust and green bowl in their matching recesses, and recover the Medallion of Dusk. Its final two scenes represent mercy and fulfillment.

The last pedestal asks you to arrange the six recorded symbols in story order. Use the diary if the icons are hard to distinguish. The spoken order is Vision, Congregation, Siege, Destruction, Mercy, Fulfillment. Pull the lever, take the amulet from the Pope statue, and return to the audience room. The escape completes Man of Faith.

Chapter 6 Walkthrough: Return To Luca’s Villa#

After the scene, go outside and shift into the past. Break the spring on the right-hand reel so the cart is no longer anchored. Push the cart onto the circular platform, use the platform lever to rotate it, then activate the cart’s own mechanism. Its time shift sends it into the attackers in the present. The short sequence ends with Uninvited Guests.

Chapter 7 Walkthrough: Secret Passage#

Take the lever from beneath the cross-marked stone and use it with the Oculus door mechanism. After the story scene in the cave, turn back toward the small right-hand alcove and collect the letter and dagger. Move the crane cart forward and lower its hanging bag to form the first bridge. Solve the wall track to lower the second bridge.

Beyond it are two water hatches. Close the open hatch with the dagger, remove the handled metal shaft from the other, and turn the jug wheel until the drain assembly breaks. Move the crane cart back to its starting side and use its free hook to pull up the floor grate. Take the plank beside the barred passage, descend through the opening, and lay the plank across the gap.

Pull the handled chain on the left path to release the arquebus support. On the right path, open the exit grate, detach the crane hook from the floor hatch, and reposition the cart so the hook can reach the flooded stone. Return to the alcove and retrieve the released support. Fit it into the broken drain below; it braces the pipe so the water system can work again.

Reinstall the handled shaft at the hatch control and use the jug wheel to distribute water into both storage sections. The divider between them determines which side fills. Once the room drains, descend and attach the crane hook to the heavy stone. Raise it, center it over the cart’s path, move the crane forward, and lower the weight. The impact drops the cart and gives you a rail route into the upper hall.

Upper Hall And Leonardo’s Lift

Shift into the past and take the mace from a frozen soldier. Put it into the arrow control so you can change the old rail direction, then set the points to the left. In the present, enter the newly accessible side area, take the key and bent rail, and straighten the rail on the nearby machine. Pick up the letter lying on the block beside that machine.

Return to the past, set the points straight, and install the repaired rail. Back in the present, collect the stepladder for Control Pests and give it to Leonardo. Straighten the bent metal shaft beside him and hand that over too. Leonardo gives you tongs; use them from the upper level of the unlocked room to recover the oil lamp. Give him the lamp, ride the repaired lift, and finish the chapter for Cave Exploration.

Chapter 8 Walkthrough: Castel Del Monte#

Library, Zodiac Table, And Three Books

Open the brick-disguised lock, follow Leonardo, and enter the library above. Pull the column lever near the window, solve the hanging cage, and pass its key to Leonardo. When you are shut inside Frederick’s room, take the ruby from the robe and place it in the lower-right cross on the large portrait.

Inspect the portrait’s dates so they enter the diary. Check the note beside the castle model before operating that table; the note changes as the mechanism advances. At the astrology table, take the nearby letter first, enter 1194, and turn the wheel.

Before solving the Zodiac minigame normally, earn Mistakes Were Made by deliberately arranging all Sagittarius discs on the left and all Capricorn discs on the right. The board’s side controls make the deliberate wrong arrangement possible. Once it registers, complete the intended opposing arrangement and take the long wooden handle from the lowered section.

Move the rolling ladder to reach the blue book, then roll it toward the open window for later. Use the long handle to move Frederick’s portrait and enter the hidden section. Put the blue book on its shelf, take the falcon medallion, and solve the bird mechanism by fitting the falcon with the correct bell and hat. Take the green book.

The castle-model table now presents two symbol grids. The first uses the Oculus clue on the lock. The second behaves like a symbol Sudoku: every row and column needs a non-repeating set. As intermediate states change the note beneath the model, inspect it again. When the red book finally appears, inspect the last note before taking the book. Bring the red and green books to the blue one, then stack the two ladders at the window and climb out.

Roof Fire

On the roof, shift into the past and enter the room with three knights. Take the scroll from the middle figure. Return to the present for the key already sitting in the door lock, then go back to the past and use that door to reach the roof machine. Remove the broken gear, repair it with the loose parts on the nearby box, and reinstall it. Move the rail cart beneath the smoke column. Return through the knight room and pull the water control outside its left exit. Extinguishing the old fire unlocks Fireman.

Four Barrel Mechanisms

The next chamber contains four linked barrel stations. Each solved station exposes a palm control that activates the next one. The set includes:

• a colored-token wheel where chosen tokens must land on matching segments;
• three layered colored pictures that must combine into complete images;
• a rope-cutting arrangement where the outside pictures must match; and
• a ship-routing board that reaches each marked point in five moves.

These mechanisms are unusually dependent on animation, initial orientation, and visual state. A universal text string is less reliable than watching the current board: let the token wheel stop completely, compare the outer pictures before cutting, and plan all five ship moves before committing. The four rewards are the eagle, goat, lion, and calf reliefs. Install all four on the large door.

The video above is Blue Brain Games’ official Chapter 8 walkthrough, independently verified through YouTube’s oEmbed metadata. Use it when the barrel board’s current orientation makes a static description ambiguous.

In the fresco room, take the letter before operating the pedestal. Use the portal to turn the rough block into a smooth one, move the portal to the cutter, and recover the missing rail from the floor corner. Insert the rail into the shared path, push the fresco mechanism to its endpoint, and enter the new room through the portal. Pull the control below, return to the main hall, and activate the familiar cauldron machine. The chapter ends with Secrets of Justice.

Chapter 9 Walkthrough: Ancient Temple#

The final chapter is short because the diary is the solution. After the scene, wait for Giacomo to record the unusual location; this is the condition for Seeker of Mysteries. If the entry does not appear, do not rush down the stairs until the sketch animation has finished.

Descend, insert the amulet into its receiver, and study the symbol blocks that rise around the statue. Open the diary and copy the statue sketch, matching the figure’s form rather than trying to read the blocks as a text code. When the statue agrees with the recorded image, the upper lever becomes available. Climb back up, pull it, and press the exposed button. The destruction of the temple completes Ancient Enigma.

After the cutscene and credits, return to the main menu and open the Chronicle book on the right. Move to the final bookmark and read through the completed ending pages to unlock Short History of Time Travel.

All 30 Achievements At A Glance#

Group	Achievements	Practical rule
Chapter completion	Catacomb Crawl; All in a Day’s Work; The Bald Lady; Devil’s Bargain; Man of Faith; Uninvited Guests; Cave Exploration; Secrets of Justice; Ancient Enigma	Complete Chapters 1 through 9.
Route actions	Dear Diary; Pest Control; Target Practice; Chimney Sweeper; Collector of Secrets; Control Pests; Fireman; Seeker of Mysteries	Take the notebook, do the named chapter interaction, and inspect the relevant diary clue before leaving.
Special challenges	Curious Soul; Dangerous Manipulation; I Could Do This Blindfolded; Makes You Stronger; Mistakes Were Made	These require a specific method, not merely story completion.
Diary and epilogue	Writer; Artist; Archivist; The One with All; Short History of Time Travel	Complete records, sketches, and letters in one run, then read the final Chronicle in the main menu.
Speed	Slow and Steady; Healthy Moderation; Feel the Rush	Finish under 11, 8, and 5 hours respectively.

Common Sticking Points#

• The Chapter 2 target course will not complete: move the bridge to reveal the last target, wait for moving targets to stop, and remember that the final target requires repeated hits.
• The Chapter 4 diary lacks the powder ratio: inspect the separator’s marked containers after filtering the charcoal. The usable order is sulfur 3, charcoal 1, saltpeter 5.
• The Pope’s chess puzzle seems abstract: the furniture is the clue. Identify the room’s knight, king, rook, and bishop references, and make sure C3 and F3 were inspected.
• The Chapter 7 crane hook rises without the object: attach the hook at the object itself before returning to the crane control. Moving the cart alone does not make the connection.
• The Chapter 8 model note is missing: the paper changes as the castle mechanism advances. Inspect it before each major solve and again when the red book appears.
• A past/present change appears to do nothing: close the Oculus and revisit the physical object in the other time. The changed state is often several steps away from the place where you caused it.

Sources & Credits#

Game metadata and all six images come from the official Steam listing. Feature and developer information comes from the official Blue Brain Games site. Chapter routing and diary timing were cross-checked against readable community walkthrough references. The embedded Chapter 8 video is the developer’s official walkthrough.