General Advice
1.) to begin, i recommend having a piece of paper out to take notes on. some things, like the symbols for the cannon or the mixture for the potion can be handled by screenshots, but other things such as the symbols in the matching game or the symbols for the door are a lot harder to do with screenshots.
2.) any% on pc for the neverhood abuses saving a lot. basically this is just saving in the middle of a cutscene and reloading from that save. the game thinks youve already watched the cutscene after you load, and lets you skip it with the space key. since the game wont let you save unless the file is named something, i usually just use a one character long name, using a key thats close to the escape key, like "q". once youve entered the name of your file, tap enter to quickly save, instead of clicking the save button in the top right. (this also applies to loading your save.)
from now on ill just be referring to this action as a "save skip," so whenever i mention that in the guide, now you know what im talking about!
save skips can also be used to skip smaller animations in the 2D point and click segments. i'll be sure to point out each thing that can be skipped this way as i go, and if i miss any please feel free to message me.
3.) the space key can also be used to skip transitions in the first person segments. get in the habit of tapping space right after clicking in these segments, itll save you a lot of time. theres only one transition that cant be skipped, strangely enough. it's the tunnel going back to the teleporter in the area with bil. if anyone knows how to skip this let me know!
4.) save all of your discs until the very end. do NOT put them in the disc player throughout the run, this will waste a lot of time.
The Nursery
Click on Klaymen to wake him up, then immediately do a save skip. Click the lever on the left once, dont mash click. this will make klaymen repeatedly try to step into place, and waste a little bit of time. once the animation of klaymen pulling the lever starts for the first time, then you can start mashing left click. have klaymen pull the lever 3 times, then when he's on the third pull, start clicking on the door on the far right. this will ensure that you start moving as soon as the animation is done.
in the next room, immediately start mashing left click. Klaymen does a little animation of him peeking his head in, and this can be skipped by clicking. click on the fly trap on the lower level, and as soon as you hear the sound effect of klaymen being eaten, do a save skip. push the fly trap to the fourth ring from the left, and pull it down. then pull the ring on the far right. it should make a cowbell noise. mash left click the whole time, making sure klaymen falls down as soon as possible. walk outside.
go forward, turn left twice, go forward twice. you should end up at the H house with the black doors.
The Hall of Records
when you walk inside, immediately start doing the H puzzle. Now... personally, i really suck at slide puzzles, and this is randomized each playthrough. i do have two tips, though.
- the tiles that are tinted slightly blue will always go on the left, and the tiles that are grey will always go on the right.
- the blank tile can go in either the top center slot or the bottom center slot, it doesnt matter which.
once you finish the slide puzzle, grab the disc on the floor, and go into the door on the right. in this room theres another disc on the floor. grab it, then go through the door on the right by clicking it twice.
now that youre in the hall of records, make sure to NOT turn on the lights first. instead, go right and click the button next to the spike door. go down the elevator, and take note of the green glowing symbols on the wall. then, go back up the elevator.
now you can go turn on the lights. once theyre on, go down the elevator again to grab the disc and push the blue button. go back up and press the button to close the spike door again. then grab the glass on the floor, and start your trek through the hall of records.
the hall itself consists of 40 screens, which you have to walk through twice, adding up to about seven minutes of Just Walking. this is... understandably pretty boring, and you have to do it at the beginning of the run for an optimal route. (although, if this is discouraging for your runs, you could always do this walk later in the run when you come back to get the first key, at the sacrifice of a little bit of time.) once you get to the screen at the end of the hallway with the window, grab the disc and start heading back.
go back to the room with the slide puzzle, then press the button on the right to open the door and head outside.
The White Button
go forward one, turn left one, then go forward into the red house. walk through the door on the right, we'll save the disc and the dynamite puzzle for later.
forward, right, forward forward. you should be at the door with the triceratops skull inside. press the red button, then immediately start mashing on the side of the screen while the water powers up.
left, forward, right, forward, left, forward. you should be at the music box. once the cutscene starts, do a save skip and you should end up back at the red house with the TNT inside. while the monster on the right is snapping its claws and knocking the matchstick down, pick up the disc. by the time the animation of klaymen picking up the disc is finished, the matchstick should be knocked down. pick it up, then click on the monitor for the TNT puzzle.
Click on the torso twice, the head twice, the left arm once, then the left and right legs in that order. this should solve the puzzle, and the screen will darken and a chime will sound.
click on the TNT doll to light it with the matchstick, then push it to the monster. save skip as soon as the cutscene with the monster eating the TNT doll starts.
