Welcome to part 2 of Into Indie Games’ walkthrough for Desktop Explorer.
After completing the first set of puzzles in the Desktop Explorer app, the computer crashes. After rebooting, you find yourself back on the login screen. But when you enter back into the Halibut user profile, things seem different, and a new folder appears in the Desktop Explorer.
This article is part of our Desktop Explorer Walkthrough Hub. Check it out for more content.
For more information about the game, check out their Steam page here.
Table of contents
The Temple
After logging into Halibut a second time, a folder called The Temple will open up. There are two files here: the locked Podium Chamber and introduction.stp.
Before anything else, open the Chronolog and click on Write Entry to add an entry to Guppy’s Journal.
Close the Chronolog and open the introduction.stp file in The Temple. Note the password: Shai.
Use it to unlock the Podium Chamber and enter the folder.
Podium Chamber
As you enter the folder, you’ll see three locked folders titled: Path 1 – Anubis, Path – 2 Thoth, and Path 3 – Ra. There’s also a podiumChamber.stp file and two images titled chamber and scarabPodium. Open the podiumChamber.stp file.
The file contains passwords for all three Paths. The first one is Anubis, the second path’s password is Thoth, and the third path opens with Ra.
Click on the Journal Entry to add it to your collection.
Check the two images next. Note the three empty slots on the scarabPodium.img file.
Each path in the Podium Chamber leads to its own subsection where you have to complete some puzzles to find a gem. You’ll have to fit the gem into the scarabPodium.img to progress. You can complete the paths in any order you like.
Path 1 – Anubis
Enter the password Anubis to enter the Path 1 – Anubis folder. Inside, you’ll find a Words_from_beyond folder that’s locked.
Open the anubisScale.img file to see a balance with a heart on the left scale and a feather on the right.
Open the balance.stp file next. It seems you have to balance the scales to find the password.
Check the Left Plate folder to find the heartCoin.img. In the Right Plate folder, you’ll find a compressed file. Double-click on it to find the featherCoin.img.
Uncompressing the image file causes the weight in the balance to shift, tilting it to the right. Note the sigil on the center part of the balance.
Click on Start Menu, then navigate to Programs and select the Colorlens app to open it.
Set the filter to Yellow and drag the Colorlens window over the sigil to reveal the size of the two sides of the scale. The right scale is 120KB, and the left scale is 90KB.
To balance the scale, go to the Left Scale folder and duplicate the heartCoin.img file. Then compress the duplicated heartCoin(1).img.
As the scales are balanced, the password for the next folder is revealed: Ammit.
Use it to open the Words_from_beyond folder.
Words from Beyond
The next folder has another Journal Entry for the Chronolog. Open it and read through the entry. You’ll learn that Guppy chose a Stegosaurus plushie, which is Maxine’s favorite dinosaur. This will come in handy later.
Close the Chronolog and check the Following_a_voice.stp file. At first glance, it makes no sense, but the story mentions several unlit torches.
Check the file’s Source Code. You’ll see some text in blue and pink.
Check the two image files in the folder: dark_vines.img and left_wall.img. As you open the left_wall.img file, Pizarro mentions seeing similar things in previous puzzles.
Remember how we lit up a torch back when we solved the puzzles in the previous part? You have to make your way back to the puzzle folder to find the password.
Open the Desktop Explorer folder on the desktop and access the The Cave folder. Find the long_scrolls.npg file in the Puzzle 1 – Go in folder and open it. Scroll to the bottom to find the magic word: Inanna.
Open the Source Code for the Following_a_voice.stp file and replace Abracadabra with Inanna. Then click on File and select Save Source Code.
This will light up the torches, revealing a series of symbols and numbers above the crocodile in the dark_vines.img file. You’ll also see the images in the left_wall.img file become clearer.
You now have to find the password by inspecting both images. Check the writing above the crocodile and cross-check it with the symbols on the left wall to find the password: SEKHETAARU. Use it to unlock the Locked_jaws folder.
Yellow Lockbox
Entering the password takes you to a folder called Yellow_lockbox. There’s a note.img file here and an Inside_yellow_box.stp file that you can inspect. Open both files.
Open the Wastebin from the Desktop. You’ll find a Topaz.img file in the WasteBin. Right-click on it and select the Restore option. Then open the Topaz.img file from the Yellow_lockbox folder.
This is your reward for completing Path 1 – Anubis. Go back to the Podium Chamber so that you can check the other paths next.
Path 2 – Thoth
Enter the Path 2 -Thoth folder by inputting the password Thoth. Inside the folder, you’ll find three images, a Journal Entry, and a .stp file along with the locked Hourglass folder.
Check the hallOfMirrors.stp file first. It talks about a labyrinth and using the map pieces to get through.
Open the Journal entry. It talks about Max’s dream of getting into CMAA. There’s a link on the last page of the entry.
Clicking the links opens a browser page for the university: Cascadia Modern Arts Academy. The name is important, so note it down.
Open the mirror.img next. Note the sigil on the mirror. Use the Blue filter of the Colorlens software to reveal a hidden drawing.
Open the mapFragment1.img and mapFragment2.img files next. Drag the windows around so that the entire maze seems like a complete path.
Left-click on the Green Block and then move your cursor along the path all the way to the Red Block without touching the sides.
The screen glitches briefly and you’ll see mapFragment3.img and mapFragment4.img files get added to the folder.
Open the mapFragment3.img, and three instances of mapFragment4.img and layer them on top of each other to create the path. Then solve the puzzle by guiding your cursor through the path.
The images disappear, and a tablet appears inside the mirror.img file.
Use the Colorlens Blue filter and move it around the tablet to reveal the password: 5267. Enter the password into the Hourglass folder and enter.
Hourglass
Entering the Hourglass folder, you’ll find the hourglass.img, sandfalls.stp, archeologist Notes.npg files, and a locked Blue_lockbox folder. Open the sandfalls.stp file first.
The archeologist Notes.npg has a poem. Note the bolded phrases:
- blue moon
- red eye
- blood stained feathers
- sapphire scepters.
Open the image file next. Note the sigil on the hourglass pillars.
When you use the Colorlens Blue filter on the hourglass, you’ll see a number pop up at the base of the hourglass.
To solve the puzzle, open the Clock app by clicking on the time at the bottom-right corner of your screen.
As you change the hour in the Clock app, the sigil at the base of the hourglass in the image also changes, along with the number. Depending on the time, the color also switches to either blue or red.
Remember the bolded phrases in the poem. Change the time so that the sigil matches the poem’s phrases and note down the number shown on the hourglass and the number shown on the clock.
If done correctly, you should end up with the following:
- blue moon – 1 o’clock, 3 in the hourglass.
- red eye – 9 o’clock, 2 in the hourglass.
- blood stained feathers – 7 o’clock, 5 in the hourglass.
- sapphire scepters – 2 o’clock, 5 in the hourglass.
Multiply both numbers in all four phrases and then add them together to get the password:
(1×4)+(2×9)+(5×7)+(5×2) = 67.
Enter the password in the Blue_lockbox folder to find the raw_ore.img file inside. It’s not quite what we need for the scarabPodium, but it’ll have to do for now.
Go back to the Podium Chamber. There’s one last path that we have to complete next.
Path 3 – Ra
Enter the Path 3 – Ra folder by inputting the password Ra. There are a bunch of Burningcoal.err files here. Don’t worry about them right now. Instead, open yourHands.img file. Note the sigil on the hand.
Use the Colorlens Red filter to reveal the following text in the image:
“Only the heaviest coals will draw answers from flesh.”
Check the furnaceRoom.stp next.
When you’re ready, click on View and select Sort by Size. Then rename and change the extension of the burningCoal36.err to .img to turn it into an image file.
Opening the image file, you’ll see another text. Right-click on the file and duplicate it a couple of times.
The image in yourHands.img will transform, revealing the password: SAHMAT. Input the password in the Tomb site folder and head in.
Tomb Site
First things first, open the Journal Entry to add it to your collection after entering the folder. There are a couple of files here along with a corpse.err file that you’ll have to solve to unlock the Red_lockbox folder.
Check the pillagedTomb.stp file first. Also make sure you check its Source Code.
In the Source Code, there’s a space for you to add a Phrase at the bottom.
Check the deadlyMistake.img file and read the epitaph.npg file.
Change the corpse.err file’s extension to .npg first and read the text.
Change it to .img next and check the image. This image holds a clue to how you can find the Phrase that you need to enter into the Source Code.
Open the Chronolog app from the Start Menu and then click on the Help sub-menu. Use the Colorlens Blue filter to look at the Help Box that opens up.
The hidden message shows you that you need to enter the phrase: “WE ARE INCOMPLETE WITHOUT YOU”
Open the Source Code of pillagedTomb.stp and add the phrase to the bottom part. Then save the file.
The file transforms, and one of the eyes on the sarcophagus in deadlyMistake.img lights up.
Click the light bulb icon to bring up Pizarro. He’ll ask you a strange question regarding your brother. Answer “No”.
The second eye of the sarcophagus lights up. Inspect the Help Box of the epitaph.npg file using the Colorlens Red filter. Then right-click on the deadlyMistake.img file and compress it.
Double-click the compressed file to open it.
Close the series of images that pops up. The last image will show you the password: MERNEITH.
Go back to the Tomb Site folder and use the password to open the Red_lockbox folder.
Inside the folder, you’ll find the Ruby.img file, the final piece needed to complete The Temple.
Accessing M4x1mus’s User Profile
Open the Ruby.img, Topaz.img, and Raw.img files from their respective folders and return to the Podium Chamber. Open the scarabPodium.img.
Fit the three gems into the empty slots of the scarabPodium.img. The Ruby goes to the top slot, the Topaz goes to the right, and the Raw Ore goes to the left.
While the Ruby and Topaz are a perfect fit, the Raw Ore needs more refinement. Open the Clock app on your computer and change the year to keep going into the future. Eventually, the Raw Ore will transform.
Reseat the three stones into the scarabPodium.img file and a cutscene will trigger.
You’ll find yourself inside a folder called The End. Double-click on the Journal Entry.
Read through the journal and click the link on the last page.
This takes you to a website where you can see the full name of Maxine. Note that her middle name is Faiza.
Click the Start Menu button and choose Log Out.
Select the M4x1mus profile and click on Recover Password.
You now have to answer three Security Questions. We’ve already discovered the answers to these questions:
- Security Question 1: What’s my favorite dinosaur?
Stegosaurus
- Security Question 2: What does the FIRST LETTER of my future school’s name stand for?
Cascadia
- Security Question 3: What is my MIDDLE name?
Faiza.
Once you answer all questions correctly, the password gets reset, and you can enter the user profile.
This concludes part 2 of our walkthrough for Desktop Explorer. For more interesting articles related to indie games, check out the links below:
- Into Indie Games Homepage
- Dead Weight – Walkthrough And Guides Hub
- The Mound: Omen of Cthulu – Beginner Tips & Tricks
- Denshattack! – The Ultimate Guide For Everything
- Moss: The Forgotten Relic – Walkthrough Hub
Muhit Rahman lives off two things: gaming marathons and endless cups of tea. He writes guides, reviews, and occasionally forgets that real life doesn’t come with checkpoints. His favorite genres are Soulslike and Metroidvania, with Dark Souls III, Hollow Knight, and Dota 2 forever holding top spots on his all-time list.
