The efficient route is three-stage, not one blind all-achievement run. Use your first save to finish the story, open the map, learn every region, and clear the non-timed achievements. Rehearse a fast story path, then take Chasing Time and Defying Time in a dedicated run. Attempt True Virtuoso only after the 100% checklist and the fast route are both familiar. That order protects a long completion run from an early routing mistake.
This roadmap covers the 33 Steam achievements in Constance. It was rechecked on August 9, 2026 against Patch 1.1.2.18256. Patch 1.1 changed the economy, added a completion screen, improved the map, and made narrative minigames and cutscenes skippable; Patch 1.1.2 fixed Steam achievements on Proton. Fixed launch-week prices and timings should therefore be treated as historical, not permanent targets.
Choose the right save for each achievement
| Run | Main target | What belongs here | Reset condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exploration save | Virtuoso and almost every non-timed achievement | All rooms, six Favors, collections, shop stock, Inspiration upgrades, resource totals, NPC and secret achievements | Do not reset for a missed collectible; post-story exploration remains available |
| Fast story run | Chasing Time under 6 hours; Defying Time under 3 hours | Required abilities, four Tears, final sequence, only safety upgrades that save more time than they cost | If the 3-hour pace is gone, continue for the 6-hour achievement or use the run as rehearsal |
| Prepared 100% run | True Virtuoso: 100% under 8 hours | Your practiced story line plus every item, Favor, room, purchase and upgrade needed by the completion counter | If a required dependency was skipped, reroute immediately; do not wait until the final cleanup hour |
The regular story achievements—Resurgence, Relation, Remembrance, Reflection, Embrace, and Acceptance—sit on the main progression path. The collection and exploration achievements are not locked away by finishing the story, so the first save is where you should learn what the game counts. The timed trio is the practical exception: a leisurely save cannot retroactively become an under-three-hour clear.
If you still need to learn the mandatory route, use the Constance walkthrough for Tear order, ability gates, and boss checks, then return here for save allocation and achievement cleanup.
Build the completion save around dependencies
Start long tasks when they first become available, but do not detour for every marker immediately. The important early actions are talking to quest NPCs, obtaining the camera, finding Quip’s cousins as you pass them, and buying the Architect’s Blueprint when the expanded shop offers it. The Blueprint turns the map into a diagnosis tool: completed rooms receive a visual completion indicator. If a region is stuck below 100%, inspect unstriped rooms before sweeping the entire biome again.
Quip’s shop is a progression system, not a static checklist. Its stock expands after cousins are found, so Deep Pockets cannot be confirmed by emptying an early version of the shop. Revisit it after completing Family Business. The same quest also unlocks the Unstable Bubble, which is required for Bubble Trouble.
Lightstones create the most dangerous ordering decision. Spend them on Inspiration upgrades before exhausting Jackie’s prizes, then return for the remaining rewards. This protects Awakened and the colored Journal requirements from a late resource shortfall. Patch 1.1 rebalanced the economy, so use the live shop totals instead of a launch guide’s fixed price. The Eternal Light counter at 900 records collected Lightstones; it does not by itself prove that every upgrade and prize has been purchased.
Complete all six Favors without breaking their chains
Fulfilled requires all six Favors. Several feed another achievement or unlock a purchase, so complete them as linked jobs rather than six isolated errands.
- Family Business: accept Quip’s request and find all four cousins. The visible result is the expanded shop. If the Unstable Bubble is absent, the cousin chain or shop refresh is not complete; return to Quip before attempting Bertram’s route.
- A Phone Call Away: speak to Adam, then power four lines with directional Paint Stab inputs. Using U/D/L/R for the four directions, the sequences are U-L-U-R-U, D-R-U-R, U-R-D-L-U-R, and D-R-U. If a line does not energize, reset at that node and check both the held direction and the order rather than continuing with a bad state.
- Ghostly Whispers: speak to Robert in the upper Astral Academy and photograph four ghosts. Look for the bodies, then use the camera nearby to reveal the ghost on the film. A photograph without the reveal is not quest progress; reposition around the body before moving on.
- Spin, Spin, Spin: claim every prize from Jackie. Reserve this for after the Inspiration-upgrade budget is safe. If all rewards are already visible but the Favor remains open, speak to Jackie again; an official 1.0.3 fix specifically added recovery for that quest state.
- Pawprints: after all four Tears, speak to Eorathis in Cormeum and find Lupin in four regions: Vanishing Vaults, Chaotic Carnival, Astral Academy, and Floral Foundry. If Eorathis is absent, the four-Tear precondition is the first thing to check.
- Bubble Trouble: buy the Unstable Bubble only after Family Business expands the shop, then return to Bertram from the Vanishing Vaults without dashing or taking damage. Jump, double-jump, attack, Plunge, Paint Stab, and the clone remain available. A dash or hit invalidates the delivery attempt; restart the travel segment rather than arriving and hoping it counted.
After Bertram is rescued, keep talking to him until Stand-Up unlocks. Respite is a separate NPC check: converse with Vincent at the Noodle Bar at 16:00 local time. Do not fold either into the six-Favor count; they have their own achievement triggers.
Use five collection counters, not one giant map sweep
| Achievement | Verified total | Best in-game check | Common false finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resilient | 9 Heart Pieces | Maximum-health upgrades plus the map room indicators | Forgetting the shop or Jackie prize pieces |
| Saturated | 12 Paint Flasks | Paint upgrades and room completion | Skipping a hidden tunnel or platforming reward |
| Cleared | 5 Erasers | All blocked Journal spaces opened | Missing a quest or Jackie reward Eraser |
| Illuminated | 16 Inspirations | Every Journal drawing present | Counting visible slots before all five Erasers have opened the page |
| Milkshake Mayhem | 8 challenges | Upgrade Milkshake Remix to reveal remaining map markers | Finding the Inspiration but leaving it unupgraded |
The Journal has two different finish lines. Aspiring Artist is the filled sketch page; Master Artist is the colored page created by fully upgraded Inspirations. Awakened also requires every Inspiration upgrade. If the collection count looks finished but these achievements remain locked, compare basic drawings with colored drawings before searching for another pickup.
Explorer requires every room, while Virtuoso follows the game’s 100% completion state. Buy the Blueprint, inspect each room indicator, then verify the remaining systems separately: all Favors, the expanded shop, every Journal upgrade, all Milkshakes, and the ending interaction. A developer-assisted case of Janky Junction at 98% was resolved by buying a missing drawing upgrade; another official response recommends checking unstriped rooms and unfinished quests. That is why a percentage deficit is not automatically a hidden collectible.
Finish the resource and secret achievements last
The Glimmer chain is A Glimmer of Hope at 1,000, Full of Hope at 5,000, and Boundless Hope at 9,999. The Lightstone chain is A Spark of Light, Radiant Light at 450, and Eternal Light at 900. Collect naturally while clearing rooms and buying required stock. Grind Glimmer only after the map, Favors, and shop have stopped producing useful progress.
A repeatable cleanup loop is to rest at an Astral Academy shrine, defeat nearby enemies, choose Save & Exit, and reload at the shrine. Confirm that the Glimmer total rises after one cycle before repeating it. If it does not, move to a room whose enemies reliably respawn rather than committing to a dead loop.
Brush Master follows all Brush Techniques. Leave Your Mark comes from finding the Community Room in upper Floral Foundry, concealed by a wall you can break during a platforming section. Treat both as ability-gated cleanup: return after the movement kit is complete instead of forcing an early traversal.
Plan the under-3, under-6, and under-8 runs
Defying Time requires a finish under 3 hours; Chasing Time allows 6 hours. A single under-three clear should satisfy both, but plan the run around Defying Time only after a 100% save has taught you every mandatory room and boss. An older Build 1.0.3 route recorded a 2:05 story finish while collecting all 9 Heart Pieces and 12 Paint Flasks, but that is a historical example—not a current-patch promise. Patch 1.1 changed balance and made story scenes skippable.
For rehearsal, record your own timestamps at the first Tear, fourth Tear, final sequence, and train. The useful signal is repeatability: if a split is consistently late, fix the room or boss before starting another achievement attempt. If the three-hour target slips during a real run, continue toward Chasing Time. The save still becomes route practice instead of a discarded failure.
Do not treat the Settings menu as a safe pause. Official speedrun notes state that the speedrun timer continues there while pausing during level loads, and the English route guidance recommends leaving the game when a break is necessary. Before the real attempt, make a disposable timed save and confirm how the current build records Save & Exit on your system.
True Virtuoso requires 100% in under 8 hours. Its route is not simply the under-three path plus a late scavenger hunt. Collect route-adjacent Hearts, Flasks, Erasers, Inspirations, secret currency, cousins, ghosts, Milkshakes, and power lines on the first visit to each region. Complete Family Business early enough to buy the Blueprint and Unstable Bubble; finish Bubble Trouble only when the return route is familiar. Check the Blueprint and Journal at every major teleport. A missing dependency discovered at hour seven is more expensive than a thirty-second audit after each biome.
Fix achievements that should already be unlocked
- Virtuoso is below 100%: check Blueprint room indicators first, then unfinished quests, expanded shop stock, uncolored Journal drawings, Milkshake markers, and the final train interaction.
- Jackie’s Favor is still open: if every reward was claimed, talk to Jackie again. The official 1.0.3 notes identify this recovery action.
- Inner Canvas is missing after the other 32: update the game and load a qualifying save. Patch 1.0.3 fixed this achievement and explicitly says a qualifying save should receive it on load.
- Achievements fail on Proton: verify that the game is on Patch 1.1.2.18256 or later, the official build that fixed Steam achievements on Proton, then load the relevant save again.
- True Virtuoso did not unlock: separate completion from the timer diagnosis. First confirm the save actually reads 100%; if it does, the remaining failure is the eight-hour condition, not another collectible category.
Inner Canvas is the final meta-achievement for acquiring the other achievements. Cursed Mode and the Overthinker modifier were added in Patch 1.1, but they are not additional entries in the verified 33-achievement Steam set.
The roadmap is finished when the exploration save reads 100%, the timed saves meet their separate thresholds, and loading the patched qualifying save awards Inner Canvas after the other 32 achievements. If one of those signals is missing, stay with the matching diagnostic above instead of starting a blind full replay.
Game page: Constance on Steam.