For The Timeless Child players, this guide provides you both achievements and the puzzles guide of the game, if you are collecting achievements or need solution for puzzles, this guide will help you out.
General Information
Required Walkthroughs: 2 at least, as you can unlock Emily or Chris related achievements based on the character you playing.
Chapter Select Avaialble: Yes, you can select a start point, so you don’t need to start from zero if you wish.(require to finish previous puzzle at least once to unlock the possibility to start with the new one)
Expected Perfection time: Even if it require to replay the game from the perspective of the other character (and probably twice again for each of you for the perfection achievements), these extra walkthroughs means just like extra ~1h as you already familiar with the puzzles and the solutions. Therefore perfection is about 4-5h, but if you use a guide from start then I believe it can’t take more than 1-2hours.
Library
On the shelf, Chris has 12 books to interact with. He needs to pull the correct books based on the information from Emily.
Solve Books Puzzle
Man of Culture
Solve Books Puzzle without ever making a mistake
Choose the 4 correct books without making a mistake. If you failed, you can restart again from this puzzle.
Emily needs to find the note in the library that can be in different positions. In that note there will be 4 book names in quotation marks that she will need to communicate to Chris.
Help Solve Books Puzzle
Using the book names from Emily, Chris has to match them to the symbols most closely resembling the book name.
Office Room / Clock Puzzle
Chris needs to find 2 clock arrows in the room and use it on the big clock, one each time. The bigger represents the minutes, the smaller represents the hours. Some shapes are projected via the projector and you need to tell about these shapes to Emily, who can translate these symbols to hours and minutes. DO NOT use both clock arrows on the clock at the same time, as both symbols, related to both the hour and minutes will be shown.
Chris also needs to set the time on the leftern clock.
Solve Clocks Puzzle
Emily needs to translate the given symbols to numbers and then set the time on the middle and the right clock.
Help Solve Clocks Puzzle
As Emily you should see the solution for the shapes on the wall, using that just get the hours and minutes for the 3 clocks and set up the time on each of them. Solution is randomized.
School
Inside the school room there is a 5*5 grid, which activated once Chris using the VHS and playing it via the VHS player. It tells the rules of the grid puzzle: You can go straight and you can turn ONCE while trying to reach your target, but only ONCE, if you change direction twice, then the puzzle is failed and you need to restart it.
Solve School Puzzle
Solve School Puzzle without ever making a mistake
Finish the school puzzle without a single mistake with the grid. If you failed you can just start a new game from that puzzle.
Emily should navigate Chris and tell which grid he need to go.
Help Solve School Puzzle
Chris should see some icon on the school table, this determinates which puzzle is active. Emily can see the solutions on a board:
These are the solutions how Chris need to move based on the icon he see on the school table:
Tree (The Circle of Life)
C3 -> E4 -> A2 -> C4 -> D2
Treasure Chest (The Treasure Hunter)
B4 -> D3 -> A5 -> C2 -> D5
Caslte with pink flag (Save the Princess)
B2 -> C5 -> D1 -> B5 -> E2
Pizza (How to make Pizza)
B5 -> C1 -> D4 -> A2 -> C5
Greenhouse
Chris has access to a book which provides information about some flowers. There are 4 pots in the greenhouse, each has a name plate next to them. The user controlling Christ Hunt needs to provide information about the location of the pots and the details from the book. What kind of details are those?
Lets see that in this example, Callosita Viridi.
First you need to share the liquid colors and amounts, then you need to find from the description the keyword, in this case they are: parasite and poisonous. Then you need to set up the solution using the index at the robot controlling terminal. Both character can see this index, more details at the solution part.
Solve Greenhouse Puzzle
Emily need to control the robot and use the required colors in the required order at each flower pot.
Help Solve Greenhouse Puzzle
Green Thumb
Help solving Greenhouse Puzzle without ever making a mistake
To get this achievement you need to solve the Greenhouse puzzle without any mistake. This is the only “perfection” achievement which is earned as Emily.
As you can see on the index each keyword has a color combination. The keywords combined together that way, that the last color is shared with the first color of the next keyword. Callosita Viridi, from the example, is very easy, because it has only 2 keywords, each keyword consisting of 3 steps, but because of the merging of first and last colors it ends up as a total of 5 steps instead of 3+3=6!
Fortunately, this part of the game is not randomized(if that changes please tell us:-D), so the solution is same on every single walkthrough, and these are the following:
Pallas Ardesi
Purple -> Blue -> Purple -> Green -> Yellow -> Green -> Red -> Yellow -> Yellow
Locustar Tossicus
Red -> Yellow -> Purple -> Blue -> Purple -> Green -> Red -> Green -> Red -> Yellow
Callosita Viridi
Purple -> Green -> Red -> Green
Arbulae Tempus
Green -> Red -> Blue -> Green -> Red -> Yellow -> Yellow
Dinning Room
Chris needs to go upstairs to the room above the dinning room. If this is your first time coming here, activate the button panel by using the key. Then use the buttons to pour wine in the correct order.
Solve Paintings Puzzle
Alcoholics Anonymous
Solve Paintings Puzzle without ever making a mistake
Use the buttons to pour wine in the correct order without making a mistake. If you made a mistake, you can restart from this puzzle again from the menu.
Emily needs to take the nameplates out of the cardboard box and put them on the corresponding portraits. You will know you placed them correctly when all the nameplates are placed and you can’t remove them anymore. Looking at the portrait titles, both of you will need to figure out the sequence for how to correctly pour the wine.
Help Solve Paintings Puzzle
Once you figure out the proper sequence, Chris can then go on the second floor and use the button panel with which he can execute that sequence.
Explanation: James Pill doesn’t drink, so we will skip him, Emily Wells is his first one, she goes first, David Sandberg is a Don Juan, on the portrait he is accompanied with 2 ladies, the only remaining ladies are Olivia and Lucy, but Olivia and Edward are inseparable, that makes the order Edward -> Olivia -> David -> Lucy, Simon is a gentleman, that’s why he is near last and George is last because he puts the guests’ needs before his own.
The position of the nameplates on the table is randomized but the sequence is always Emily Wells -> Edward Mitchell -> Olivia Mitchell -> David Sandberg -> Lucy Finnick -> Simon Wells -> George Wells
When at the buttons, the mechanism which fills up the chalices with wines starts from the green marked position, so you need to go through the sequence from there.
Other achievements
Play with a friend for the first time
No Singleplayer mode, so this achievement unmissable.
Echoes from the Past
Ring the Time Bell for the first time
As Emily use right click with your mouse to release some bell music. As Chris you will see some purple/pink animation at the location where Emily used the bell, and if you doing it at the first time you will also get this achievement.
Traveling Companion
Open the map for the first time
Use the map for the first time with any of the characters. The map is on the table, in front of you, next to the stairs.
Chris Hunt
Complete the prologue playing as Chris Hunt
Emily Wells
Complete the prologue playing as Emily Wells
Self explanatory, finish the game with both characters.
Unwelcome Guest
As Chris you will see that the Basement door slightly open, interact with it for the achievement.
Collectibles
Find and read all sheetsThere are only 3 which required for the achievement as only those counts to this which are not relevant to puzzles. Emily and Chris can both find one note inside the office room and the third one can be found by Chris in the library room, inside the fireplace.
To Posterity the Arduous Sentence
Listen to all George Wells tapes
There are 2 tapes only, one character can found one.
As Emily you can find it at the entrance of the basement:
As Chris, first you need to pick up a key, just outside of the office room:
Then you need to find the secret keyhole, which is inside of the office room and use the key on it: