Welcome to part 4 of Into Indie Games’ walkthrough for Desktop Explorer.
After completing the puzzles in each of the stores on the first floor of the Mall in NextRooms, you’ve managed to restore power to the elevator. Entering the elevator takes you to the second floor, where you have to tackle a few more puzzles before a major revelation.
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
Arriving at the Mall F2 Court
As you’re riding the elevator, Pizarro suggests writing about it in your Journal. Open the Chronolog and add an entry to Guppy’s Journal.
You’ll reach the Mall F2 Court by the time you close the Chronolog. There’s an open Arcade(Cabinet Arcade) store on the left. You’ll also see a trail of purple paper on the ground.
Following the paper trail will lead you to an alley with a vending machine and a trash can with an arm sticking out of it.
Inspect the Vending Machine. You can see a photo inside the machine. If you picked up the FountainCoin, try inserting it into the machine, but nothing happens.
Interact with the Trash Can. It opens the followingTrails.stp file on your Computer. It tells you that the Vending Machine only accepts coins of the exact amount.
Check the Source Code of the file to find a list of items accompanied by numbers and letters. But these coordinates are nowhere to be found on the Vending Machine.
Back away for now and inspect the rest of the Mall F2 Court. You’ll spot an area with a mural on the wall, and a suspiciously empty wall with the Blue/Water Sigil on it. For now, don’t worry about them.
When you’re ready, head into the Cabinet Arcade Store.
Finding Col’s Locker Password
There are a couple of things you’ll want to check out in the Cabinet Arcade Store. There’s a Prize section on your left as soon as you enter.
Inspect the Prize section. There are five items here, along with a Photograph. But you’ll need Tickets to get them.
There’s also a Stuffed Bunny nearby. Interact with it to restore a Chat Log with Hazel.
Go back to Hazel’s Chat Room and talk with them to reveal that Mr. Colton always gets the same score. Return to the Cabinet Arcade Store.
You’ll spot two working Arcade Machines at the end. You can interact with both of them. Check the high score of either game.
The high score is 0321 held by someone named COL. You saw the same name in the locker in Janitor’s Closet in Mall F1.
Go back to Mall F1 Janitor’s Closet and unlock the locker using the password 0321. You’ll find the arcadeCard.img file inside the locker.
Getting All the Prizes
Go back to the Cabinet Arcade Store and play the Worm Hole game on the left.
Move your mouse cursor to dodge incoming hazards to get your score as high as possible.
At one point, you’ll see a line move across the entire screen. Go right and move outside the screen to come out of the left. Doing so will earn you a Ticket.
Back away from the game once you obtain the ticket.img file.
Return to the Prize section. Then right-click on the ticket.img file and duplicate it to increase the number of Tickets you have.
Keep duplicating the ticket.img file as many times as you need to unlock all the rewards. Here are the items you’ll get:
| Prize | Ticket Cost | What They Do |
|---|---|---|
| Instant Photograph | 3 | Gives you the arcade.img file for the instantPhotos folder. |
| Nonogram Guide | 5 | Adds a Chronolog entry for Max’s Journal detailing a game called Nonogram. |
| Machine Manual | 1 | Adds the vendingMachineManual.img file to your Inventory. |
| Sticker Pack | 18 | Adds a folder named Sticker Pack containing six image files. |
| The Copper Box (Optional) | 100 | Adds the CopperBox_Installer.exe file that you can install to run the Arcade Games from the Start Menu |
Solving the Vending Machine Puzzle
Now that you’ve got all the prizes you need, open the vendingMachineManual.img file from your inventory.
Note the grid design of the right-side page with letters at the top and numbers on the left. You saw a similar combination of letters and numbers back at the Trash Can beside the Vending Machine.
Go back to the Trash Can and note down the numbers:
B4 | I7 | G3 | C8 | J5
Go back to the Cabinet Arcade Store and play the MineSniffer game.
Select the tiles corresponding to the number and letter you saw at the Trash Can.
Once you select all five tiles, you’ll see the exact amount you need for the Vending Machine: $3.75.
Return to the Vending Machine and interact with it. You’ll have $1.00 in your Inventory because of the Fountain Coin you picked up on Floor F1. But you can duplicate the fountainCoin.img file to increase the number.
To make up exactly $3.75, duplicate the image file five times. Then select and compress all of them. Then duplicate the compressed file three more times until you reach the exact number.
Insert the Coins by pressing E to have the candies.img file get added to your Inventory.
The Hidden Room Puzzle Solutions
Go to the wall with the Water/Blue Sigil on it. Use the Colorlens Blue filter to inspect the wall. You’ll spot a secret door on the wall. Head through the door.
You’ll enter a small room. There are a bunch of items on the table beside you.
Inspect the table first. Note the items you see on the table.
Check the red paint on the wall next. It opens the facingEvidence.stp file. It talks about facing your own feelings to open the path forward.
Back away from the red paint and inspect the drawing on the wall straight ahead. As you interact with it, the Inventory folder on your Computer gets opened. You need to solve a puzzle to progress.
Go into the Sticker Pack folder that you got from the Prize Section of the Arcade Store. You have to add the eyes and mouth to the painting based on the items on the table. For the first one, use bliss_eyes.img, and bliss_mouth.img. Open the image files and place them on the painting by dragging their windows.
Doing so will open a path to the next room where you have to solve another similar puzzle. For the second room, use the wrath_eyes.img, and wrath_mouth.img files.
When you enter the third room, you’ll find a Journal Entry page on the floor. Pick it up and open it to add it to the Chronolog.
Inspect the table. Then add the grief_eyes.img and grief_mouth.img to the painting on the wall.
However, as soon as you do that, Pizarro tells you to check the table again.
This time you’ll see the Moon/Yellow Sigil at the top-left corner of the photograph and the Water/Blue Sigil on the bottom-right.
Use the Colorlens Yellow and Blue filters to check the image and see how the girl’s face changes with each option.
Return to the painting on the wall again and use grief_eyes.img and bliss_mouth.img.
Enter the next room and pick up the photograph on the table to collect the emotions.img file.
Accessing the Saturno Photo Studio
Now that you’ve got the three image files from Arcade Store, the Hidden Room, and the Vending Machine, make your way to the closed shutter of the Saturno Photo Studio in the Mall F2 Court. Interacting with the shutter tells you that the door is locked behind a grid of some kind.
Inspect the door again to open the nonogramDoor.skt file.
To solve this puzzle, first check the Chronolog entry on the Nonogram game that you found in the Prize Section of the Arcade. This entry explains the rules of the game. There are a few examples to make things clearer in the entry.
Fill the grid in Black and White according to the numbers shown in the three images. For the solution, check the image above.
Once you fill the correct squares, the door to the Saturno Photo Studio will open, and you can head inside.
Unlocking the Dark Room Door
As soon as you enter the studio, Pizarro will give you a warning.
Click OK and then check the item on the counter.
This opens the investigatorFile.stp. It says how the most crucial evidence is locked in the Dark Room, and the Store Manager is the only one able to unlock the room.
Check the Source Code of the .stp file. Note the text highlighted in blue.
Close the windows and then inspect the portraits hanging on the wall behind the counter. Remember the Store Manager‘s attire: Green Shirt, Blue Tie, and a Fedora Hat.
Back away from the portraits and then interact with the mannequin. You can change its outfit.
Dress the mannequin in a Green shirt, Blue Tie, and a Fedora Hat similar to the Store Manager’s outfit.
The door to the Dark Room flies open, and you can head in.
Solving the Case
Inside the Dark Room, you’ll find a Mug Shot of some criminals on the wall. Interact with it.
Inspecting it opens the suspectWall.img.
Next, inspect the file on the table.
This will add a Case File folder to your inventory. Open the folder to find the caseFiles.stp, SuspectGrid.img, witness1.npg, and witness3.npg files inside.
Check each of the files inside. Your goal is to figure out the Killer’s attire by investigating the witness testimonies and the Mug Shot on the wall.
Go back to the mannequin and dress it in a Blue Shirt, Green Tie, and Glasses based on the information. The camera light will turn green, signalling that it’s powered.
Interact with the camera to take a photo. This will add the crime.img file to your instantPhotos folder. Pizarro will tell you to go back to your room to contemplate them.
Solving the Picture Puzzle
Return to Your Room by clicking on the Emoji Icon and selecting the_Max and then Go to my Room option. Then interact with the photos at the corner of the room.
It’s a 3×3 grid-based puzzle that you have to solve by arranging the photos. You can do that by renaming the photos.
Resize the instantPhotos so that the files are arranged in a 3×3 grid. Then rename the files so that they are arranged in the following order:
| Camera | Paint | Candles |
| Aquarium | Crime | Magic |
| Emotions | Arcade | Video |
We suggest renaming the files from 1 to 9 to make it easier. Press E when you’re done to take a closer look.
As soon as you do so, the screen glitches out and fills up with error messages.
Eventually, you wake up in a 3D world. Move toward the fountain.
This triggers a cutscene as The_Max speaks with De_Daemon.
Eventually, the world will turn white, and you’ll see a Bloody Camera similar to the one you found when you first entered Mall F1. Walk toward it and press E.
The scene will shift, and you’ll be standing in front of the Broken Aquarium. Walk toward it and press E.
Next comes the locker. Walk toward it to trigger another cutscene.
When the cutscene ends, you’ll see a door nearby. Head through the door.
You’ll be back at Maxine’s Desktop. Double-click on the .res file to add another entry to Max’s Journal. You’ll also be able to add an entry to Guppy’s Journal afterward.
As you try to close the Chronolog, the screen glitches again, and a command box called adminUnlock opens up. Type Exit to quit.
This removes the password from the Admin user profile, which is where we’ll be heading next.
This concludes part 4 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.
