The Sinking City 2 guides
Gameplay guides compiled from named editorial walkthroughs and reviews (GameSpew, GamesRadar, TechRaptor and others), rewritten and dated. Facts about The Sinking City 2 are attributed; the wording is our own. See sources & methodology.
I’m stuck — take me to…
Start here
Spoiler level: Low — these guides focus on setup and core systems.
First playthrough tips
Difficulty settings, save system, inventory management and combat basics — the things The Sinking City 2 doesn't explain well.
Open guide →All difficulty settings
Four Combat modes and two Investigation modes, what each changes, accessibility assists and recommended first-run pairings.
Open guide →Chapters & walkthroughs
Spoiler level: Mixed — the story guide is spoiler-light; walkthroughs reveal chapter objectives, encounters and bosses.
Chapters & missions navigator
Spoiler-light index of all five chapters, their broad locations and the exact walkthrough, puzzle or checklist to open when you get stuck.
Open guide →Story & characters, spoiler-light
Who Calvin and Faye are, the Arkham rescue premise and how this standalone sequel relates to Charles Reed and the first game — without revealing the ending.
Open guide →Full walkthrough
Chapter-by-chapter route through all five chapters — A New Day, The Wake-Up Call, A Sight For Sore Eyes, Time and Tide, Cold Comfort — plus both boss fights.
Open guide →Devil's Reef Hotel & Lorelei
Staff Key, all three Lorelei chests and keys, Room 301, ventilation machine, Minuteman and the complete escort sequence.
Open guide →Chapter 3: Akeley Hospital walkthrough
Complete Chapter 3 route through all Prism stations, face masks, optional codes, Anatomical Theatre and escape.
Open guide →Fish Market walkthrough
Full Chapter 4 route: Leyden Jars, Fish Eye and Snowflake keys, every code and upgrade, Frozen Statue, Broken Hold and Shoggoth.
Open guide →Puzzles & codes
Spoiler level: Answers — individual pages avoid unrelated story details where possible.
Puzzle solutions & safe codes
Spoiler-tagged directory of every safe, lock, fuse-box and printing-press answer, with focused pages for the most searched blockers.
Open guide →Apartment 5 kitchen safe
12 Garrison Street kitchen safe, Radio Store year clue, To Martin / From a Sister notes, loot and The Inheritance.
Open guide →Gate fuse box puzzle
First floodgate: Radio Store fuses, I on blue, T on yellow/green, L on red, then pull the lever.
Open guide →Ezekiel buoy locker
Fishing Shop symbol order, Doyle's Hot Streak magazine upgrade and The Drowned achievement.
Open guide →Locker Room safe
Fish Market four-digit safe, why it is not the Salt Storage roman lock, and the grenade-launcher upgrade inside.
Open guide →Abandoned Office memory safe
Memory-sequence combination after the Antikythera, Heart of Stone and the Frozen Statue prerequisite.
Open guide →Church Trident & obelisk puzzle
Exact top-to-bottom symbol order, Star Key and Trident locations, lightning sequence and The Other Gods achievement.
Open guide →Printing Press puzzle
Plate A/B/C locations, Gold-versus-Silver inputs, both rewards and how to choose before committing.
Open guide →Hospital Storage code guide
Basement location, Anti-Rust Acid requirement, four clue digits, SMG attachment and The Vault achievement.
Open guide →Wireless Room code guide
Akeley Hospital route, all three brain testimonies, exact frequency input, Dream Essence and The Whisperers achievement.
Open guide →Baby One More Tide / Room 301
Devil's Reef Hotel safe, the Baby One More Tide lyrics clue, and the Voss Aiming Grip reward.
Open guide →Year of the bell / church floodgate
Chapter 2 watergate — church construction year plus the later bell-cast clue.
Open guide →Salt Storage wooden lock
Fish Market Cutting Area wooden lock. Separate from the Locker Room four-digit safe.
Open guide →Frozen Statue & Heart of Ice
Strange Statue arm order, where to use the Heart of Ice, how to get the Depleted Leyden Jar, and where to recharge it.
Open guide →Combat & builds
Spoiler level: Moderate — expect weapon, talent and encounter details.
Enemies & monsters field guide
Release-build threat families, what the official sources establish, and a fight, evade or return-later decision path without invented weakness stats.
Open guide →Combat, ammo & weak points
Official ammo advice, when to skip fights, corpse stomps, Night Shade and how upgrades make later chapters cheaper.
Open guide →Best talents & Dream Essence
What to unlock first by playstyle, Talent Table tiers and slots, reliable Essence sources and mistakes that waste it.
Open guide →Weapons & upgrades
All five weapons and where to find them, every upgrade and E.R.C. Crate location, and how the Dream Essence talent system works.
Open guide →Boss guide & major fights
Shoggoth and Slither Prime strategies plus Acheronian, Shadow, Deep One and Holloway Manor encounter notes and video.
Open guide →Collectibles & completion
Spoiler level: Varies — the ending guide has heavy story spoilers; checklists reveal locations and rewards.
All 23 achievements & trophies
Every achievement with unlock conditions — story, weapons, the 8 optional investigations, one-playthrough collectibles, NG+ and the platinum route.
Open guide →All E.R.C. Crates & Pens
Story-order checklist for all 13 crates, nearby Activator Pens, inventory upgrades and the one-run achievement.
Open guide →All 10 Mushroom Jack radios
Chapter-order locations, broadcast names, map guidance and video for the one-playthrough Mycophile achievement.
Open guide →All 8 optional investigations
Every achievement-linked case in story order, with clue groups, puzzle answers, rewards and missable warnings.
Open guide →Ending explained
Only one ending. Choices do not change it. What happens to Calvin and Faye. Heavy spoilers.
Open guide →New Game Plus: Ex Oblivione
How NG+ unlocks, what Frogwares actually confirmed, the limits of broad carryover wording, and why extra lore is not proof of another ending.
Open guide →All 8 Ex Oblivione documents
New Game+ route from Apartment 6 to the final Portal Room, with every purple document needed for From Oblivion.
Open guide →DLC, PC & handheld
Spoiler level: Mixed — the Holloway Manor guide reveals its route and puzzle answers; the PC mods guide does not focus on story.
Holloway Manor walkthrough
How to start the DLC, safe code 1890, Seance Table 1750 candles, mansion and Museum route, rewards and completion time.
Open guide →Best PC settings & performance help
Reversible, symptom-led checks for low FPS, stutter, blur, ghosting, artifacts and LOD issues using current Frogwares guidance.
Open guide →Crash fix & troubleshooting
Route launch, difficulty-selection, in-game and full-system failures through a reversible Windows PC ladder using current Frogwares support guidance.
Open guide →PC crashes, FSR, DLSS & settings
Short index of crash steps, missing FSR, DLSS Frame Generation, HDR and Steam Deck notes, with links to the focused PC guides.
Open guide →Controller settings & not-working fix
Verify current Steam controller support, isolate detection, prompts and DualSense-feature symptoms, and test one reversible Steam Input change at a time.
Open guide →Steam Deck compatibility
Valve's current compatibility status, what the graphics-performance flag means, the SteamOS-versus-Windows-handheld boundary and a reversible owner test.
Open guide →Save backup & Steam Cloud
Back up the official TSC2 local-data folder, understand Steam Cloud's role and use a safe copy-first recovery sequence without guessing a finer save-only path.
Open guide →PC mods & safe installation
Current inventory, no-intro, HUD, ultrawide and performance mods, with backup, compatibility and crash-recovery steps.
Open guide →