A safe collectible run in WILL: Follow the Light is a chapter sweep, not four separate category hunts. The tracked set contains 15 model boats, 5 tea tins, 9 model planets, 4 Ila tapes, and 4 Jack tapes. Chapter 7 also contains four research recordings worth taking for story and journal coverage, but the captured Steam achievement list does not give that group a separate all-tapes unlock.
Save boundary: this route was checked on July 19, 2026. A May 16 official update added a completed chapter selector, so launch-week claims that the game has no selector are obsolete. Two readable completion guides still warn that category achievements may require the full set in one continuous playthrough. Because the official patch notes do not explain counter carry-over, use the selector for inspection and recovery, not as proof that a partial category will merge across saves.
Audit the run by chapter before leaving a region
| Chapter | Boats | Tea | Planets | Achievement-linked tapes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | – | 1 | – |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | – |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 Ila |
| 4 | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 Jack |
| 6 | 1 | – | 2 | – |
| 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Total | 15 | 5 | 9 | 8 |
Chapter 4 is the fog-only sailing leg and contributes nothing to these four counters. That makes the end of Chapter 3 a clean audit point: you should have eight boats, two counted tea tins, four planets, and all four Ila tapes before sailing into the fog.
Chapter 1 places three boats around one work shift
Do the weather-cabin item first, then sweep the keeper’s house and lighthouse while the story sends you through them:
- Model boat 1: after the radio conversation with Cassandra, stand up and check the weather cabin’s far-right corner shelf.
- Tea Time interaction: go behind that cabin to the campfire and brew the available Black Tea. This is the separate Tea Time action, not one of the five tins collected into inventory.
- Model planet 1: in the keeper’s house, check the bookcase to the left of the refrigerator.
- Model boat 2: take the small boat from the dresser in Will’s bedroom.
- Model boat 3: in the lighthouse, climb the first ladder and turn right. The boat is on a box opposite the next ladder.
The third boat is easy to lose in the vertical route because the story immediately pulls attention upward to the fuse box and beacon. Take it before finishing the storm sequence.
Chapter 2 is the densest sweep, with nine permanent pickups
The first two are available before Will reaches the evacuation tents:
- Model boat 4: on the hospital’s upper floor, move behind the counter and look on the lower shelf at its right side.
- Model planet 2: while following the mudslide path toward Will’s bright red house, scan the large rock on the left just before the house.
The church cemetery holds one boat and one planet. Read the church notice and hymnal, then enter 1-3-5 on the outside gate. The model boat is beside a lit grave near the middle. The planet box is in front of another illuminated grave along the back-right path. Inspect Ila’s grave in the back-left corner before leaving if you also need I Miss You.
At the port, collect the next three items before the workshop tasks scatter the route:
- Tea tin 1: Green Tea on the shelving in Joe’s shop, back-right corner.
- Model boat 6: on the dock opposite Joe’s shop, behind the fisherman.
- Model boat 7: in Abe’s workshop storage, on the shelf immediately beyond the rack that holds the replacement fuse; it is below the yellow crate area.
Counting the hospital and cemetery finds, Chapter 2 ends at seven boats, one counted tea tin, and three planets. The grave boat is number 5 in the run; the dock and workshop boats are 6 and 7.
Bird Island is the complete Ila tape route
Before using the crane at the loading area, walk past the dock to the cliff edge:
- Model boat 8: on the long crate to the right, recognizable by its red sails.
- Model planet 4: on the crate pressed against the tall rock near the bird cages.
The four Ila tapes follow the climb and the later fuel-pipe descent:
- After lowering the movable crate and climbing the wall ladder, follow the path to the supplies beside the stone steps. The tape rests on a white cloth.
- Past the broken bridge, reach the two red ladders and take the downward ladder first. The second tape is on a crate below.
- From the lighthouse, follow the fuel pipes downhill. At the fork, take the short right-hand dead end and inspect the red cloth among the supplies.
- At the refueling/loading level, descend beside the lift and open the dock gate. The last Ila tape is on the floor to the right of that gate.
Tea tin 2 is inside the Bird Island lighthouse, on the shelves to the right in the room with the fuse box. Collect it before powering the beacon and returning to Molly. At this point, In Ila’s Memory should be eligible to unlock, and the category audit should read eight boats, two counted teas, four planets, and four Ila recordings.
Chapter 5 puts three boats and every Jack tape behind the fog-town gates
At the first harbor, reveal the red-lit drawing near the warehouse route and take its key. Before using it at the guard post, pick up Jack tape 1 from the bench beside the satchel, just to the right of that drawing.
After crossing the opened barrier, use the second guard-post key on the parked car and read 826 from the plate. The trainyard cluster contains:
- Model planet 5: on the right side of the sheltered train-stop bench.
- Model boat 9: on a crate to the left of the staircase leading toward the drawbridge.
Repair and ring the station bell, cross the drawbridge, pass through the Institute, and enter the residential maze. Before chasing all four red lampposts, take Jack tape 2 from the second rubbish bin on the left near the entrance poster board.
When the changing gates open the residential yards, make one full side sweep:
- Model boat 10: inside the doghouse in Nash’s open yard.
- Model planet 6: under the front-door mat of the blue house across from Nash’s yard.
- Model boat 11: after unlocking the district exit, go behind the boarded blue house and check the metal barrel on the left side of its dock.
Continue toward the houses to the right of that blue house. Tea tin 3, the Sea Buckthorn tin, is in front of the shoreline memorial. Jack tape 3 is on the large crate with a red rag just before the long dock by the blocked house.
After Bert’s ride, enter Jack’s cabin and take tea tin 4, Rooibos, from the fireplace mantel. Chapter 5 therefore contributes two separate counted tins: Sea Buckthorn at the memorial and Rooibos in the cabin.
Jack tape 4 is in the sled shed to the right of the cabin, immediately on the right after entering. Once it is collected, A Keeper Like Me should be eligible. Repair the sled only after the shed has been cleared.
Chapter 6 hides two planets at opposite ends of the snow route
During the avalanche escape, preserve enough lantern power for the blue drawing in the ice cave. As you climb the rocks beside that drawing, take model planet 7 from the ledge. It sits on the route but below the sightline of a player focused on the exit.
Repair the first cable car, stop at the mid-line tower for a gear, and solve the four-date cabin lock. Once the second winch works, ride to the snowy lighthouse. Before melting the lighthouse door, walk to the bench at the cliff edge for model planet 8. Inside the tower, model boat 12 is on the left windowsill during the stair climb and has visibly torn sails.
The two research landings finish every counted category
At the first research station, enter 684 on the red-building door after inspecting the marked shapes. Clear the area before taking the relay device:
- Tea tin 5: on the side table by the bunk beds in the red building.
- Model boat 13: on the left shelf inside the blue shed.
- Research recording 1: on the crate beside the red building’s door drawing.
- Research recording 2: on a central table inside the red building.
- Research recording 3: on the roof crate at the top of the stairs.
- Research recording 4: on the right-side barrel inside the blue shed.
The exact research-tape numbering differs between readable chapter routes, so use the four physical locations rather than a printed sequence. They are not counted as Ila or Jack tapes in the captured Steam achievement descriptions.
At the second station, walk right around the exterior and look below the relay tower for model boat 14. Inside, model planet 9 is on the desk to the right. Install the relay, drive off the whale, and sail to the final lighthouse.
The last collection actions are easy to separate accidentally:
- Climb the exterior lighthouse stairs and take model boat 15 from the floor.
- Inside, reveal the final lantern drawing if Collector of Stories is still open.
- Use the desk in the back-left area to assemble all nine planets. Picking up planet 9 does not by itself complete Infinity Isn’t the Limit.
If a counter is short after the final lighthouse
- For boats, recheck Chapter 1’s lighthouse box, Chapter 2’s hospital shelf, and Chapter 5’s doghouse; those are the three easiest off-axis placements.
- For tea, verify Green Tea in Chapter 2, Oolong in Chapter 3, both Sea Buckthorn and Rooibos in Chapter 5, and Berry in Chapter 7. Brewing Black Tea by the Chapter 1 campfire triggers Tea Time; it does not enter this five-tin inventory count.
- For planets, do not forget the mudslide rock in Chapter 2 or the two separate Chapter 6 ledges. Assemble the set at the final desk.
- For Ila and Jack tapes, all four of each set live in a single chapter: Ila in Chapter 3, Jack in Chapter 5.
- Use chapter select to inspect a location, but keep a same-playthrough save until the relevant collection achievement has actually unlocked.
Count evidence and official image provenance
The official Steam record supplied the game identity, AppID 3144860, release date, update boundary, and the three untouched 1920×1080 JPGs used here. A dedicated readable collection list supplied 15 boats, 5 teas, 9 planets, and the two four-tape achievement sets, while its own Chapter 5 route exposed both counted tins and clarified the campfire interaction. A visible Steam guide independently labels its model-boat route as 15 locations, although that page carries a removed/incompatible warning and was therefore used only as a count cross-check. A separate full-route article numbers only 13 boats while also stating that nine planets exist; its incomplete numbering was not used to reduce the supported 15-boat route. The page contains neither externally sourced artwork nor a video whose identity was not verified.