Three days ago I announced that I was diving into the huge puzzlefest Finding Martin. I’ve been poking around the house since then and I have found an enormous amount of puzzles and clues. Not so many solutions though.
First of all: @G.K_Wennstrom, I found the subdivided walkthrough on your Finding Martin-website. Finding Martin (gkwmusic.com))
It’s a huge step up from the continuous walkthrough linked to on IFDB. I can just glance at the heading of the page to see if it’s relevant to me at the point in the game where I am.
Mind you, until now I’ve only looked at the walkthrough once or twice. After a longish playsession I wanted to see how I fared. When I skimmed the walkthrough it became obvious that my EXAMINE-fu was not yet up to scratch for a puzzler like this. I had missed three puzzles and an exit. So I cranked it up a notch.
I have not gone on any “remote journeys”, as they are called in the very friendly player warning at the start of the game. All my exploring has been in Martin’s house.
I’ll list what I have found, what I have hypotheses or gut-feelings about, and what I have no idea about yet.
A good number of the solutions will probably be inaccessible to me without leaving the house. If so, I’d very much appreciate a simple “Wait until later” instead of hints. I can come back to those in a later installment.
The main point of this request is tying up any loose ends before I start venturing on remote journeys, i.e. solving all the in-house puzzles that can be solved with in-house resources first.
Puzzles I have solved so far:
Opened the windmill-mailbox.
Found the house-key.
Played Händel to fill and drain the bathtub and bathroom sink.
Found the red ball and made friends with Spartacus.
Figured out how to set the pocket watch.
Watch + Cuckoo = clues on tv-screen.
Set the table to move the china cabinet.
Took tap-dancing shoes from the kitchen cabinet.
Opened pantry and laundry doors.
Found and tried the phonebooth options.
Took one dart from bedroom ceiling.
Some puzzles I have ideas about (nudges would be appreciated):
Dirt patch/Sycamore->quantum->Heisenberg (or just water it)?
Send dog into vent to other room in kitchen cabinet?
Taking a bath/finding a towel->Archimedes?
Organic fuel (food leftovers, grass trimmings,…) into Black Box?
Catch ferret->sock behind bookcase->open dryer?
Stone door scratches: password to open it?
Grease/wax tap shoes?
Three darts open bedroom closet?
And then some I just don’t know yet (hints welcome):
Opening the piano bench?
E-mail password (I have the note with the “circular reasoning”-clue)?
Opening the medicine cabinet?
What’s with the nose-itching soapy smell?
Starting the steam-train (or is this with Black Box-fuel)?
Key for the second floor door?
Iris in pillar and socket in fuzzy square (second floor)?
I’m having a lot of fun! Experimenting, tinkering, petting the dog,…
Tomorrow I’ll SAVE before leaving Martin’s house and go on a remote journey.
The world of Finding Martin is growing on me more and more. A lot of the puzzles listed above are now solved. Of course they have given way to even more intricate, off-kilter puzzles, but I have developed a better intuition as to what solutions might work. The barrage of clues from my first tour of the house has been trimmed down quite a bit, making it easier to decide on what order to do things in.
Going on “remote journeys” has put the story-side of the game into next gear, adding motivation to keep searching and exploring.
I’m now 2808 moves in, gaining 150 out of 360 points. Still a long way to go, but I look forward to every move of it.
I have discovered some clues for the broccoli but only in a roundabout way. Nothing that really clicked.
I think I have found the way to catch up with Mrs McGiddycully and her broken hearing aid, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
Great playsessions the past few days!
(Edit: I deleted the phrase “…and Hint Requests” from the title of this topic. The avalanche of puzzles in the first post is neither productive nor efficient. I’ll just be reporting on my progress and the puzzles at hand in this thread. If I have need for a hint, I’ll either create a separate topic for the problem I’m up against or I’ll go straight to the source by e-mailing the author.)
A lot of backstory has been revealed through flashbacks/memories. Fascinating stuff, drawing me ever deeper into the game. It’s nice to have a few page-fulls of story now and then. It gives my puzzle-weary brain a rest while reminding me why I’m actually bothering with all these obstacles.
The last stretch of puzzlesolving was obscure to say the least. A lot of experimenting, trial and error, save and restore to figure out how to summon and command the train-conductor. (And a few peaks at the walkthrough afterwards to check if I didn’t miss anything.)
It has payed off big though: the time-lab is now open.
Now I must go looking for the objects needed for my travels.
Time traveling is great! Lots of backstory, lots of paradox-resolving, and I finally know what all the fuss was about the broccoli.
There’s an in-game clue-system by the front door, where a helpful spider weaves messages in her web. Right now the spiderweb says “Website under construction.”
I went to check the computer but I still only have the options of turning off the spam filter or reading the e-mail.
In other news: I solved the periodic table/flower vase puzzle with the help of the tiny violinist and got the dog whistle. I sought help out-of-game for this one. I think I had come across a periodic table somewhere in-game, but wikipedia worked just as well. This led me to a cutscene in the Takamine store where Julie is convinced that I can help her father.
After going to the right time periods, I could open the wall safe behind the painting and get the gloves. So now I can touch stuff in other times!