The first serious route problem in The Perfect Pencil is not a boss. It is the handoff between the Soft Forest and the Hotel. The forest gives John several reasons to turn around after he has already found the way forward; the Hotel then sends him up its floors, back outside to mount a Filament, and upstairs again before the reward that changes traversal. If you treat every new door as a one-way objective marker, you leave useful shortcuts and upgrades behind.
This walkthrough follows that connected opening loop. It begins when John receives the camera, carries the Soft Forest route through the Yellow Mine and Project Bomb, enters the Hotel, mounts a first Filament, defeats the Hotel pillow boss, unlocks dash, and uses that movement upgrade on the nearby safe and side passages. Optional pickups are labeled so they do not become false progression requirements.
Control note: action names are used below because the game recommends a controller and supports remapping. On the default PC layout documented by the opening references, Analysis is held with Q, the basic pencil attack uses J, Healing Strike charges with K, Project Bomb uses O, and dash uses L. Follow the prompt shown by your current client if yours is different.
The opening has five gates, not two areas
Soft Forest and Hotel sound like separate chapters, but the useful route is a chain of abilities and return trips. Before trying to force a blocked path, identify the last gate that changed:
- Camera and pencil: Analysis reveals important objects; the pencil breaks ordinary barriers and supplies Courage through combat.
- Shovel and Project Bomb: the shovel opens the Yellow Mine under the quicksand; the mine grants Project Bomb.
- Hotel access: the forest path reaches the Hotel after the mine return, two useful trainer stops, and a bridge encounter that drops a crowbar.
- Filament mounting: the Hotel’s upper floors supply two Filaments, but the cyclist outside teaches the system and turns them into an actual build choice.
- Dash: the Hotel pillow boss opens the room where Analysis unlocks dash. Dash-jump then reaches the safe and narrow passages that were previously out of range.
Map orbs reveal local geometry, not story completion. Break them whenever practical, then use the post-Patch #2 markers to tag the medical box, the forest trainer, the Hotel’s exterior shortcut, and any side passage that visibly needs a movement ability. Those four marks remove most unnecessary full-map searches.
The Soft Forest is two loops joined by the Yellow Mine
Learn the Courage-to-Will exchange before spending anything
Move right from the opening and follow the voice until the first NPC gives John the camera. The camera’s ping becomes louder near something that can be analyzed, so stop and scan when the signal changes rather than sweeping every background prop. Finish the short Analysis exercise, press the red button, and enter the Soft Forest.
The blue-clothed figure with a pencil in his leg is the combat tutorial. Remove the pencil, then fight when he turns hostile. Basic hits build Courage. Once at least one segment is available, charge Healing Strike and connect with an enemy to convert that Courage into Will, the health resource. Studio Cima’s own mechanic explanation confirms the important risk: healing still requires John to confront a target and land the charged blow. Charging safely at the opposite edge of the room is not enough.
At full Will, the same charged action becomes a stronger attack instead of wasting the resource. That makes the first upgrade decision easier later: Healing Strike is both recovery and burst damage, so it is worth practicing on the early caged and wrapped enemies before a rolling pillow body punishes a mistimed charge.
Take the golden letter from the pencil, break the first map orb, and open the map. Continue past the first tree home, scan the pillow display, and cut through the breakable obstruction. When the route drops underground, clear the caged and hanging wrapped enemies before stopping for dialogue; fighting in the narrow platforms while another target is still above John makes the healing hit much harder to place.
Separate the underground detour from the route east
The underground left branch contains an NPC in a moving baby bed, a tea reward, and a cabinet that begins a five-blend tea thread. These are useful discoveries, but the main route resumes to the right. Record the tea cabinet with a marker if the blend set is incomplete and leave rather than searching the same underground screens for an item that belongs later.
On the right route, climb the platforms near the distant Hotel view and break the map orb. The pillow NPC’s alarm clock has pieces scattered around the nearby upper platforms, including one found by scanning the downed caged figure. Return the assembled clock to receive a tool that becomes a Willpower Fragment. This is a contained optional loop: if the quest is not updating, count the visible clock pieces before leaving the pillow room rather than assuming the Hotel gate is broken.
Back at the base of this section, break the left obstruction and defeat the large enemy. Take the First Riddle from the room beyond it, then climb into the mattress area. The Safety Pin below the small book house is a return-to-safety consumable, not a door key. The medical wooden box nearby cannot be opened yet; mark it and continue. A second clue in this area comes from photographing the engraved cradles, while the puzzle pickup at the base becomes another Willpower Fragment.
Use the rolling pillow enemy to test the rule, not your damage
The first pillow boss hides inside a mattress and rolls across the room. Its movement creates the opening:
- stand far enough away to read the roll;
- jump over it instead of attacking into its armored movement;
- land behind it and take a short pencil string;
- charge Healing Strike only when the next connection is realistic;
- reset the spacing before the next roll rather than extending the combo.
After the fight, return to the horn-faced trainer. The first documented purchase costs 150 Balbs and teaches Brave-almost-intrepid-strike, which turns a full-Will Healing Strike into a heavier blow. Finish the training-room test. This is the moment to learn if you actually release the charged attack or merely hold it through the enemy’s next move.
If 150 Balbs would empty the wallet, remember that the route is about unlocks, not clearing every shop on sight. The forest and Hotel contain respawning enemies and later trainers with additional costs. Buy the move when you can still reach the next required interaction; do not grind for every construction or consumable before the systems that use them are open.
The shovel, not the boss, opens the Yellow Mine
Climb into the upper forest and clear the rushing baby-cart enemy. Break the next map orb after removing the pillow thrower that controls its platform. At the base of this upper section, free the captured NPC and exhaust the dialogue to receive the shovel.
Now travel left over the pillow-covered span. Use Analysis on its sheets and tie them into a shortcut before dropping toward the quicksand. The shovel interaction removes the pillow blockage under the sand and opens the Yellow Mine. If the mine entrance still has no usable prompt, the missing state is normally the captured NPC’s shovel dialogue or the sheet shortcut, not another forest boss.
Inside the mine, speak through Geruald’s dialogue to receive Project Bomb. Test it on the nearby orb: place the bomb to weaken the target, then finish the orb with the pencil. Project Bomb is the durable reward of this detour. The mine is not a signal to begin an unrelated underground sweep.
Leave the Forest with the return jobs attached to the route
Backtrack from the Yellow Mine by using the sheet shortcut to regain the upper forest. Continue left beyond the baby-cart enemy and open the route toward the Hotel. Break the next map orb, descend to the musical riddle NPC, and use the answers only if you want the documented rewards:
- Egg answers the first riddle and awards a Bologna Sandwich.
- Water answers the second and awards Bergamasc tea.
The sandwich matters because the Hotel’s service window later lists it among four requested items. Taking it here avoids wondering whether the Hotel contains a second copy. The available evidence does not establish a reliable current route for all four service-window items, so keep that request in the quest log instead of treating it as the boss gate.
Return to the high route and move right into the next combat room. Remove the pillow thrower before climbing around the platform, then build the white-and-blue blanket shortcut on the far side. Continue through the lower combat route to the next trainer. The documented 100-Balb purchase is Super Focused Strike From The Bold, a charged basic attack that briefly suspends John during its release. The hang time is part of the commitment: charge where the target cannot simply walk underneath or hit John before release.
The final forest bridge is also a return trigger. Speak to the NPC there and make the bedsheet shortcut. After the encounter he drops a crowbar. Pick it up, take the shortcuts back to the medical wooden box marked earlier, and open that box for the Plaster Cast. The cast is a pickup, not proof that the Hotel door changed; return by the same shortcuts and continue right through the Hotel entrance.
The Hotel sends you upstairs, outside, and back upstairs
Open the side quests without confusing them for locks
Scan the blue chair in the entrance and exhaust the granny’s dialogue on the right. Her Hot Cocoa becomes a Willpower Fragment. Continue right past the sleeping boy, speak to the figure with a structure over his face, and reach the closed service window beside the plates. Its request contains four items:
- a Bologna Sandwich;
- a pristine funnel;
- a bubble catcher;
- a smouldering fire poker.
Open the quest display and confirm the list. The sandwich can already be in the inventory from the forest riddle. The Hotel route below does not require pretending that the other three have been found. Treat this as a tracked collection job and take the staircase beyond the window.
On the upper floor, scan the wooden structure, clear the washroom platforms, and continue left. Pillow throwers are safer at close range once their projectile lane is clear, but do not rush through a second enemy to reach them. Build one Courage segment on the nearer target, use Healing Strike to repair the approach, then finish the thrower.
The mirror room pays for timing, not exploration
Take the next staircase, cut through the obstruction, and enter the room with purple curtains and two mirrors. The NPC beside the mirrors charges 10 Balbs for the training activity. Stand between the mirrors and jump as the moving rope reaches John. Continue until the flute performance stops. Completion awards the Filament The Grass is Always Greener, Later, Maybe.
Leave through the same door. The nearby balcony is not the boss path yet; return inside and climb the high platforms. After the rolling mattress enemies, the left room contains several NPCs and a bed that can be analyzed. The documented “sleep for 100 hours” choice removes some Willpower. It is not required for the climb, so do not choose it as an assumed rest or heal.
Return to the washroom side, deal with the respawned enemies, and climb to the third floor. Move right and strike the strange flower until its petals spread. Continue to the structure that gives the Golden Seed, then cross back left to the balcony. Drop down the exterior balconies carefully and collect the Filament Carl’s Story before descending out of the Hotel.
Mount one coherent Filament before taking the shortcut back
The exterior drop returns John to the Soft Forest near the trainer. If you have 250 Balbs and want the charged-strike extension, this trainer offers Strike That’s So Bold It Becomes Double: release the first charged strike, wait for the visible glint, then press attack again for the second hit. The purchase is useful for the coming boss, but the route evidence does not make it a mandatory key.
Climb back toward the Hotel and ring the bell. The cyclist arrives and explains Filament mounting. Compare the two known early options as a trade rather than an automatic upgrade:
- Carl’s Story increases pencil damage but lengthens the attack cooldown.
- The Grass is Always Greener, Later, Maybe keeps a charged Healing Strike available longer but makes that strike take longer to charge.
Use Carl’s Story if you can already disengage after short strings and want each safe opening to matter more. Use the Healing Strike Filament if your usual failure is losing a completed charge before the boss becomes vulnerable; its slower charge makes panic-healing worse, so it rewards preparation rather than greed. Mount the choice, then use the newly available shortcut to return to the Hotel’s third floor.
The Hotel boss gives dash when you stop chasing it
Move right on the third-floor route and enter the unusual light. The large pillow enemy fires pillow projectiles and converts into a rolling attack. The reliable damage window comes after the movement, not while it is crossing the room.
- Clear enough space to see the projectile or roll start.
- Take only two or three pencil hits when the enemy is standing.
- Back away before the roll instead of trying to trade through it.
- Let the boss reach a corner and finish the roll.
- Use the recovery window for a charged strike or a short basic string.
- Land a prepared Healing Strike when Will is low; do not begin a long charge under the boss.
If Carl’s Story makes the pencil recovery feel unsafe, shorten the string before replacing the Filament. If the Healing Strike Filament is equipped, charge earlier and preserve the result until the corner opening. The useful test is whether the loadout supports the same timing rule; raw damage does not rescue an attack started during the roll.
After the fight, continue right and use Analysis on the pillows. This unlocks dash. Confirm it in an open section before attempting the next platform: dash on the ground once, then jump and dash across a gap. The second test distinguishes a missing unlock from a mistimed jump.
Cash in dash before following the next region
Use jump plus dash to reach the high platform near the large pink bed. The locker on the left is an Analysis puzzle. Enter 3153, examine the photograph inside, and use the camera on the picture; it becomes a Willpower Fragment. The code is tied to this Hotel safe, not a universal door code.
Continue right, drop to the lower level, and scan the lamp. Take its batteries. Descend farther to the lower trainer. For 150 Balbs, Super-Fast-Almost-Lightning-Fast Strike adds an attack performed during dash. Finish the training test by separating the inputs: begin the dash, then attack while John is still moving. Pressing both without a visible dash state can produce an ordinary swing.
Return upward with jump-dash, break the obstruction, and work through the side passage. At the far narrow gap, use the same two-stage movement rather than trying to gain all the distance from the initial jump. The passage leads to the Filament All (in) on number 5. From there, the documented cleanup path also includes another map orb, the Emergency kit for relaxing, Balbs from the glass beaker, and a Golden paper letter reached from the upper door.
Outside the Hotel to the right, collect The Early Bird Catches The Worm and continue toward the king and gardener. The nearby merchant offers several items, while the lower tree house upgrades the equipped Filament. This is the practical end of the verified Hotel route. It gives you a movement ability, a mounted build component, and marked return targets; it does not establish a room-by-room walkthrough for the later game.
If the route feels sealed, name the missing verb
| What looks blocked | Likely missing state | Recovery check |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow Mine under the quicksand | Shovel dialogue or bridge shortcut | Return to the captured NPC in the upper forest, exhaust the dialogue, then scan and tie the pillow bridge before digging. |
| Project Bomb does not break the mine orb | The orb was weakened but not finished | Place Project Bomb, wait for its effect, then strike the weakened orb with the pencil. |
| Medical wooden box will not open | Crowbar not collected | Advance to the final forest bridge, finish the encounter, take the crowbar, then use the sheet shortcuts back to the marked box. |
| A Filament is in the inventory but has no effect | Mounting tutorial not finished | Leave the Hotel from the third-floor balcony route, return toward the entrance, ring the bell, and speak to the cyclist. |
| Hotel high platform or narrow passage is out of range | Dash not unlocked or jump-dash timing is early | Defeat the third-floor pillow boss, analyze the pillows in the next room, test ground dash, then jump before dashing. |
| Service-window request is incomplete | Optional four-item collection is still active | Confirm the list in the quest display. The forest riddle supplies the Bologna Sandwich; do not treat the incomplete side request as the Hotel boss gate. |
The opening is secure when Project Bomb works, the forest shortcuts are built, a Filament is mounted, the Hotel pillow boss is down, dash works in the air, and the 3153 safe has yielded its photographed Fragment. At that point, unresolved tea blends, the service-window items, unbought constructions, and marked movement locks are controlled cleanup jobs rather than reasons to repeat the entire Soft Forest.
Scope, patches, and credits
The official Steam page identifies AppID 1858810, developer Studio Cima, publishers Studio Cima and Doyoyo Games, and a January 29, 2026 release. It also establishes the Analysis premise and controller recommendation. All three article images are unmodified 1920×1080 JPG files from that official listing. Studio Cima’s February 27 and March 9 changes in the Steam news hub set the current boundary for map markers, Platform and Flower behavior, fast travel, Bubble interactions, and the Altar; the developer website independently confirms the studio. Room order, pickups, Balb costs, boss openings, and code 3153 were reconciled across the two supplied readable walkthroughs. Later regions, every ending, the remaining service-window items, and an all-Fragment pickup route lack equivalent readable support and remain outside this article.