Steam currently lists 35 achievements for WILL: Follow the Light. The dangerous part of a 100% run is not a hard puzzle; it is the collision between Sea Wolf, which requires an undamaged boat for the journey, and You Never Learn, which asks the sperm whale to destroy Molly three times. Protect the clean voyage first, then return to the whale from a separate save or the completed chapter selector.
Verified boundary: this article checked the live achievement names and descriptions on July 19, 2026. The May 16 major update added chapter selection, cloud saves, more checkpoints, and a pause-menu Load Game option. Patch Note #5 on June 20 changed several puzzles. Those updates make cleanup easier, but the official notes do not promise that collectible totals or whole-journey conditions merge across chapter replays.
Split the plan at the whale encounter
A low-risk order is:
- Main collection run: gather all boats, tea tins, planets, Ila tapes, Jack tapes, drawings, and journal notes while keeping Molly undamaged.
- Chapter 4 constraint: cross the fog without switching on the lantern. Move under engine power with the sails down so this does not cost Sea Wolf.
- Finish the journey: complete the final sailing sequence and confirm Sea Wolf before experimenting with intentional damage.
- Whale cleanup: reload or select Chapter 7 on a separate state and allow the whale to destroy the boat three times for You Never Learn.
- Speed cleanup if needed: use a route-only run for Through Any Obstacle instead of rushing a first collection sweep.
A visible Steam completion guide recommends closing and reloading immediately if the boat takes damage because an autosave may exist just before impact. That guide is marked removed/incompatible, so treat this as a recovery possibility, not a guarantee. After loading, inspect the boat state before continuing. A clean backup is safer.
Eighteen route achievements follow the chapter dependencies
| Chapter | Achievement | Required checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Prologue | Wavebreaker | Survive the opening storm sequence |
| 1 | I’m a lighthouse keeper, not a meteorologist | Submit the weather data and complete the shift preparation |
| 1 | Light in the Dark | Place the lantern in the lighthouse beacon during the storm |
| 2 | Compass of Hope | Take Thomas’s compass from the ruined red house |
| 2 | Father’s Legacy | Repair Molly, undock, start the engine, and leave the harbor |
| 3 | Do You Know What Madness Is? | Assemble Ila’s colored lantern |
| 3 | Ghosts of the Past | Reveal the first lantern drawing |
| 3 | A Light of Hope | Refuel and light the Bird Island lighthouse |
| 5 | Station’s Voice | Recover the clapper with code 826 and ring the station bell three times |
| 5 | Not Again | Reveal the lake drawing behind the boarded blue house |
| 5 | Beacon | Reach the signal tower near Jack’s cabin |
| 5 | The Furry Express | Finish the sled repair and depart with the dogs |
| 6 | Along the Snowbound Path | Escape the avalanche into the ice cave |
| 6 | Back on the Road | Plot the next route after the snowy lighthouse and sail onward |
| 7 | Hunter or Prey | Use the relay-and-buoy system to drive off the whale |
| 7 | Master of the Arctic | Keep the flare facing the polar bear until the route clears |
| By 7 | A Story from the Heart | Complete Will’s journal, including the clue notes that do not enter automatically |
| By 7 | Collector of Stories | Reveal every colored-lantern drawing, ending inside the final lighthouse |
The June 20 patch reworked the Chapter 3 lamp assembly and simplified Chapter 6 and 7 puzzles. Achievement conditions are attached to the completed object or route event, not to an old switch sequence. If a launch guide’s diagram no longer resembles the current board, solve the highlighted current layout and continue.
Seven collection achievements share one inventory sweep
- Woodcarver: pick up the first model boat. The weather cabin in Chapter 1 provides the earliest one.
- Model Boat Master: reach five model boats.
- Keeper of Traditions: collect all 15 model boats.
- Fancy Some Tea?: collect the five inventory tins: Green Tea, Oolong, Sea Buckthorn, Rooibos, and Berry. Brewing Black Tea at the Chapter 1 campfire unlocks Tea Time instead; it is outside this five-item counter.
- In Ila’s Memory: take all four Ila tapes on Bird Island in Chapter 3.
- A Keeper Like Me: take all four Jack tapes along the Chapter 5 town-and-cabin route.
- Infinity Isn’t the Limit: collect all nine model planets, then assemble the system at the desk in the final lighthouse. The ninth pickup alone is not the final action.
Two visible completion references warn that a category may need to be completed inside one playthrough. One of those Steam pages is now marked removed/incompatible, and the chapter selector was added after both guides were written. Until the current client visibly confirms cross-save counters, keep one continuous collection save and wait for each achievement to unlock before overwriting it.
Finish the small missables before they become another voyage
Tea Time and A Game of Chess – Chapter 1
Behind the weather cabin, use the campfire setup to brew the available Black Tea for Tea Time. In the keeper’s house, inspect the chessboard and its score sheet on the coffee table for A Game of Chess. Neither action advances the lighthouse repair, so they are easy to walk past.
I Miss You and The Strange Girl – Chapter 2
Use 1-3-5 on the cemetery gate beside the church. Ila’s grave is in the back-left section; inspect it for I Miss You. For The Strange Girl, first speak with the girl in the church. Pick up the colored pencils near Joe’s shop entrance, then bring them back and start a second conversation with the priest. The achievement resolves through that exchange, not merely by collecting the pencils.
The Call of Birds – Chapters 2 and 3
Talk to the biologist sitting across from Joe’s shop before leaving town and accept the bird call. On Bird Island, place it at the camouflage observation tent. This two-chapter dependency is one of the few missables whose required object is obtained well before its use point.
I’ll Manage Without the Light – Chapter 4
After the radio warning, leave the lantern off for the entire fog crossing. Lower the sails, use the engine, move slowly, and route by the horn, compass direction, and silhouettes of rocks. Turning the lantern on even briefly invalidates the condition. If the boat touches a rock, reload before continuing if Sea Wolf is also part of this run.
You Never Learn – Chapter 7 cleanup
Before solving the research-station relay, keep trying to sail toward the father’s lighthouse and let the sperm whale destroy Molly three times. Do this only on a state that no longer needs Sea Wolf. After the third registered death, return to the red-buoy route and complete the normal whale solution.
Sea Wolf and Through Any Obstacle need run-level discipline
Sea Wolf requires the journey to end without boat damage. Treat each sailing leg differently:
- In the Prologue and Epilogue, turn the bow toward major waves and make the requested sail changes before fighting the helm.
- Near docks and rocks, lower the sails and use the engine at low speed.
- In Chapter 4 fog, prioritize a slow line over the shortest line; the lantern-free achievement does not impose a time limit.
- In Chapter 7, do not approach the final lighthouse until the relay has driven off the whale.
- When a collision is audible or the condition looks doubtful, load the last clean checkpoint rather than carrying uncertainty into the finale.
Through Any Obstacle requires a finish under five hours. A route-only second run is safer than combining it with first-time exploration. Skip optional conversations and collection branches, use the game’s sailing-skip prompt when offered, and keep the fixed answers nearby: 150.4, 75/16.52/65, 314, 826, the four calendar dates, and 684. A readable achievement guide reports that pausing does not add to the measured time, but the official record does not document timer behavior; do not rely on extended pause sessions if the run is close to five hours.
Use chapter select according to the achievement’s memory
| Achievement type | Chapter-select expectation | Safe action |
|---|---|---|
| One interaction | Likely suitable for cleanup | Replay the chapter and confirm the achievement immediately |
| Story checkpoint | Suitable once the required chapter state is available | Complete the event rather than exiting after the puzzle |
| Collection total | Carry-over not documented in official patch notes | Keep all category pickups in one continuous save |
| Sea Wolf | Requires journey history | Use a clean full-game save |
| Through Any Obstacle | Requires a timed completion | Use a dedicated route run |
| You Never Learn | Best isolated from Sea Wolf | Use Chapter 7 or a separate save after the clean finish |
Follow the Light is the Steam meta-achievement for unlocking the other 34. If every visible entry is present but it has not appeared, update the client, restart Steam, and recheck the hidden/missable entries above. Do not begin another full collection run until confirming which single achievement remains absent.
Official list, patch record, and excluded claims
Steam’s official achievement page supplied the 35 live names and public descriptions; changing global completion percentages were deliberately omitted. The official store listing supplied AppID 3144860, TomorrowHead Studio credits, the May 7, 2026 release date, and the three untouched official JPGs. Trigger locations were reconciled against a readable all-achievements guide and matching chapter routes. Trainer claims about stamina, survival meters, alternate endings, upgrades, and secret islands were contradicted by the verified route set and excluded. The article uses only official imagery and does not include any video.