Known "very bad" bugs (please DON'T try these)

Note: This page won't list all the bugs, just the ones that are causing major problems from which it is hard to recover. Our intent is to fix these bugs in particular and get the fixes out to you as fast as possible. Please DON'T try these intentionally.

1. Quitting the game while in the boat with the fisherman resets some things including your Book of Secrets progress

(Note: This should be fixed in Steam version 611 and PS4 version 1.01, and was never an issue on iOS, tvOS, and Android.)

If you die without an active Shrine checkpoint, you will see a ranger in the boat with the fisherman. Please do not quit the game during this time—your progress in the Book of Secrets will be reset if you do. Instead, please wait until you are back in town or in the forest before quitting the game.

2. Blocking off your access to the mayor can get you stuck in the forest

(Note: This should be fixed in Steam version 611 and PS4 version 1.01, and was never an issue on iOS, tvOS, and Android.)

The following mechanisms together should ordinarily ensure that you're never completely stuck in the forest:

• Talking to the mayor will allow the Ranger to "give up" his/her mission in the forest and return to town.
• You can make the Ranger teleport to the mayor's room at any time using the Options menu.
• There are two invisible spaces in front of the mayor into which only the Ranger is allowed. They exist to ensure that there is always a free space to teleport to, and that when the Ranger arrives in one of those spaces they will be able to walk up to the mayor and talk to him.
  

Unfortunately there is a bug with the last of these points—the Ranger won't teleport to either of these two free spaces. And thus, until we fix this bug, it is possible to get stuck in the forest with no way home.

Until we fix this bug, please make sure that you keep one of the following options available to you to avoid being permanently stuck (if it seems like you're going to lose all of these options, then you should talk to the mayor and resign before you get really stuck):

• The Ranger has a way of losing all his/her energy in the forest, so that they can commit suicide by doing so.
• The Ranger can, for certain, save 100% of the kids.
• There is at least one spot the Ranger can teleport to from which they can walk to the mayor. (The screenshot above shows the mayor blocked off by filling the room completely, but there are other ways to block off access to the mayor.)

If you get stuck in this manner, please follow these directions to let us know. We'll try to help you get unstuck if possible. (But please don't try to get yourself stuck on purpose and then contact us. That's just taking our time away from helping people who weren't intentionally getting themselves into bad situations.)

3. Quitting the game while being resurrected resets some things including your Book of Secrets progress and your career progress (which year you are on)

(Note: This should be fixed in Steam version 611 and PS4 version 1.01, and was never an issue on iOS, tvOS, and Android.)

If you die with an active Shrine checkpoint, there will be some scenes related to your resurrection. Please do not quit the game between the time you die and the time you are resurrected and walking around again—your progress in the Book of Secrets and your career progress (which year you are on) will be reset if you do. Instead, please wait until you are back in town or in the forest before quitting the game. Specifically, we have identified the screen below as a trigger of the problem.

4. Holding an object in the doorway while being pushed by a Bull can make you hold the object diagonally. This will cause an error when you try to throw the object or teleport. I.e., you'll never be able to put the object down.

(Note: This should be fixed in Steam version 611 and PS4 version 1.01, and was never an issue on iOS, tvOS, and Android.)

Please examine the screenshot above. Notice that the Ranger is carrying an Ice to his/her west facing the Bull, and a Flower to his/her north in the doorway. (The Flower could really be any object, but the Ice and the Bull are key for this example.) Throwing from this position will result in the Flower being carried diagonally by the Ranger because of these interactions:

1. Even in normal circumstances, the Ranger is not allowed to throw an object into the next room if the object is being carried in the doorway, as is the case with the Flower. Attempting such a throw won't actually throw the object; the Ranger will continue to carry it.
2. When Ice is thrown, it and the first object it bumps swap their starting positions. In this case, throwing the Ice will cause it to bump the Bull, and the two will swap positions.
3. The swap in Step 2 puts the Bull into motion eastward. The game basically treats this as if the Bull had been thrown eastward. A Bull, when thrown, pushes the first object it bumps. What's to the east of the Bull's new position? The Ranger!
4. So the Ranger gets pushed one square to the east. But the Flower can't move any farther east—the doorway isn't wide enough! So the Flower stays where it is even though the Ranger has moved. The Flower and the Ranger are now diagonal from each other! Also, because of Point 1, the Flower is still being carried. So, the Ranger ends up carrying the Flower diagonally.

As cool as holding an object diagonally may sound, the game assumes that a thrown object starts adjacent to the Ranger. So, as soon as you try to throw an object held diagonally, the game will give an error. Teleporting doesn't work either, because the teleport command will first try to throw any held objects before executing the teleport. So you could be very stuck—you can't pick up more kids to save them, and you can't teleport to the mayor to resign. You might not even be able to walk to the mayor to resign if there are obstacles in your way.

One way that some people have gotten unstuck from this situation is by walking around until they lose all their energy. But it's possible that you'll be in a situation where you can't lose energy. So please, don't try this.

5. Baba Yaga can somehow make you carry a kid not adjacent to you

(Note: This is not yet fixed because we do not yet know how to reproduce the problem. If you have insight into this, please email support@spryfox.com and let us know.)

Please view the screenshot above. Notice that the kid is in a state of being carried, but that it is far away from the Ranger. This has been reported several times, always involving Baba Yaga (the woman southeast of the Ranger).

Baba Yaga's behavior involves moving to pick up a kid, then trying to carry it to the cauldron so the cauldron can consume the kid. If Baba Yaga's path is obstructed, both she and the kid she is carrying (if any) are relocated to another place in the room. We currently think that the relocation function is how the kid ended up separated from the Ranger, but we have not figured out how to make this occur.

Similar to Issue #4 above, the game assumes that a thrown object starts adjacent to the Ranger. So, as soon as you try to throw the kid (who is not adjacent to the Ranger), the game will pop up the error shown in the screenshot. Teleporting doesn't work either, because the teleport command will first try to throw any held objects before executing the teleport. So you could be very stuck—you can't pick up more kids to save them, and you can't teleport to the mayor to resign. You might not even be able to walk to the mayor to resign if there are obstacles in your way.

Unlike Issue #4 above, most folks stuck in this situation have NOT been able to walk around, and so they cannot get unstuck by walking around until they lose all their energy. We've had to ask them to delete their save data and start over. :(

Our current hypothesis is that perhaps taking too many actions in quick succession causes the game to process some actions out of order, and this in turn triggers the bug. Until we know for certain, our suggestion is to do one step or action at a time while in this room. Many people have played without encountering the bug, so hopefully this will be the case for you as well. (That said, if you encounter the bug and have video or other insight into what occurred, please email support@spryfox.com and let us know.)