Unique, atmospheric, and gory, there's a lot about Scorn that makes it a treat to play but whether the puzzles are one of them depends on the player being asked. Some found themselves baffled by the devilish first crane puzzle, which immediately lets the player know what they're in for, while others loved the clever design that went into them.
Whichever the case, there's no denying that Scorn is a title that boasts some really challenging puzzles. Light Node Puzzle 1 and are some of the more difficult puzzles to solve, but there is a way to unlock them.
10 Skeleton Key Lock Puzzle 1 (Act 2)
After the nightmarish crane puzzle that dominated act 1, Scorn's second act gets underway with a much more manageable challenge. After the player inserts the Skeleton Key into the first ring contraption, the task is to move the key on the outside so that it aligns with the latches on the inner rings.
What makes the first puzzle of this kind the easiest is the fact that the locks on the inside are all stationary, making it a simple process of moving the key into place and guiding it into the center.
9 The Minecart Track Puzzle (Act 1)
After completing the notoriously difficult Crane Puzzle, the player now has the choice of freeing the resulting creature from its shell or tearing it apart to make use of its severed arm for the key. That outcome can be determined by how the player arranges the track for the minecart using the strange orb device at the top of the spiral stairs.
Luckily, there are only three variables, arranged in an L shape. The point at the lower tip of the L should be activated so that it completes the loop. In order for the creature to survive, the player should do the same with the corner point closest to the two inner lights, and the final point should be connected to the outside of the loop. For the alternative route, the second point should instead connect with the outside.
8 Skeleton Key Lock Puzzle 2 (Act 2)
Even the best puzzle games re-use challenges sometimes, and Scorn is no exception. While some players complained about too much repetition, the second iteration of the Skeleton Key lock puzzle is different enough from the first to stand out. That's because the latches that the key needs to be lined up with now move at regular intervals.
Since they only stop at certain points, the trick is now working out where to place the key, so it will line up with the locks when they're stopped. That makes it a considerable step up in difficulty but still a manageable puzzle. The best way to solve it is to listen out for the small clicks that occur when the lock is in the right spot for the key to activate it.
7 Skeleton Key Lock Puzzle 3 (Act 2)
Rounding off the basic Skeleton Key puzzles, the third edition of this contraption is very similar to the second. The task is still to line up the latches with the key while they move rapidly around in a loop, and the main challenge is still observing the pattern to work out how to achieve this.
While it feels marginally more difficult than the second version, there aren't any new mechanics introduced with this one, meaning the process for solving it is exactly the same. Just as with the second, the game's subtle sound cues are the best guide for when the latches are in the right position.
6 Skeleton Key Lock Puzzle 4 (Act 2)
The bad news for players that didn't enjoy the basic versions of the Skeleton Key puzzle is that the fourth addition to give the key its final ring is still very similar. As it's the last one of this kind, it comes with a twist that makes things slightly more tricky, though. The twist is that the left side of the panel is now covered up.
The first two latches align top right and bottom right, respectively, so neither of them is particularly affected by this, but the final latch needs to be aligned completely blind. The player has to rely on that all-important sound cue when the latch is in the correct position alone to complete the puzzle.
5 Light Node Puzzle 1 (Act 3)
Though the easiest puzzle in all of the Scorn's third act, it's fair to say that even the first Light Node Puzzle is a tricky one. The player is presented with a panel that has four nodes on it that can each be turned, with the objective being to get all of them to light up yellow at the same time, a straightforward concept that other great puzzle games have made use of.
The key to making them all light up is that each node has a slightly protruded part. The three outer nodes need to be pointed toward the center, and the middle node and its cable have to be pointed to the bottom node for them to light up. A slight complication is that the top two nodes are connected by a wire - meaning they always move in unison - but this can be broken using the middle node's cable.
4 Skeleton Key Final Puzzle (Act 2)
The final stage of the Skeleton Key puzzle is very different from the previous versions. Now that the key is fully assembled, the player is presented with an internal view of a lock and tasked with guiding the rings into their correct positions, which are marked by red lights.
While it sounds relatively simple, it's important to note that the rings move up and down in unison. The only way to separate them is to use the paths within the lock to isolate the ones that need to move. For the straightforward solution, the key needs to be moved down twice, then to the left, up four times, left again, down four times, left again, up twice, left once again, and then up twice to guide the final piece into place.
3 Light Node Puzzle 2 (Act 3)
Though the second iteration of the Node Puzzle from Act 3 is effectively the same concept, the extra two nodes it brings into play actually cause a significant increase in difficulty. To make these two additional nodes light up, the key is to make the cable attached to the lower one connect to the topmost one.
Scorn wouldn't be the game it is if it didn't add in an extra twist, however, and that's that the left and right nodes move in unison with the node in between when the cable is connected to the top node, meaning this step needs to be done last. For putting the left and right nodes into position, the lower middle node can be connected to the one above to allow both to move freely.
2 The Maze Puzzle (Act 4)
Scorn's last real puzzle occurs towards the end of its fourth act, and it's quite a doozy. After setting up the maze puzzle, the player now has to solve the puzzles by getting the white dot to the orange point of light in the center of the screen. The only problem is that moving the white dot on one maze makes it move in the others as well.
The key to solving it is to switch between the mazes frequently, moving on to look for any open routes on another puzzle after hitting a dead end. Some trial and error is required, but a good strategy is to guide the white dot south first and then up in order to loop it around to the center again.
1 The Crane Puzzle (act 1)
Though it may seem counter-intuitive for the hardest puzzle in the game to be essentially the first one the player encounters, Scorn is an unconventional puzzle game, and many players can attest that the game doesn't really hit the levels of the trickiness that The Crane Puzzle presents again. Simply put, it's a large slide puzzle with some devious twists.
However, the basic premise is still the same and that's to move the pods with the crane so that the one with the yellow light on it can be removed. Unfortunately, that pod is attached to another pod below, meaning the player has to carve out a path using the empty pods to allow it to be moved to the correct spot. The key is to focus on shifting those empty pods to the right, clearing out the left side.