The retro-style horror game Heartworm is structured into three acts. Each act presents unique areas to explore, puzzles to solve, and culminates in a challenging boss battle. This guide provides a complete, step-by-step walkthrough for the critical path of Heartworm`s initial act, covering all puzzles and essential progression within the Abandoned House and Neighborhood areas. Whether you need help with a specific puzzle or a full walk-through, this guide has you covered.
Abandoned House
Upon gaining control, immediately pick up the Camera located on top of the car.
Proceed down the road until you reach an abandoned house. Enter it through the door on the far left side.
Inside, move forward and enter the door on your left to discover a Safe Room. While here, you can deposit the Cigarettes from your inventory into the storage box; they are not necessary for progression and unnecessarily occupy an inventory slot.
Exit the Safe Room and enter the other door adjacent to it on the back wall.
In this large room, enter the door on the wall directly before you reach the kitchen.
This is the dining room. Walk forward and through a door on your left to find a staircase. Ascend the stairs.
At the top of the staircase, navigate around the loft until you reach a door on another screen. Enter this door.
Read the paper inside this room and note the time 12:15.
Return to the previous room, then proceed and enter the open door on the back wall.
Grandfather Clock Puzzle Solution
In this next room, adjust the hands of the clock to match the time noted from the paper: 12:15.
Once the closet to your left opens, enter and walk through the room to find an Emblem Piece. While here, note the word ROSE.
Exit this room. Before heading downstairs, first go to the room to the right of the open door you just came through. Navigate through the bedroom and collect the Attic Key.
Return to the first room of the house.
Abandoned House Locked Door Solution
There is a locked door here. Enter the letters R-O-S-E to unlock it.
In the basement, push a series of shelves to clear your path until you reach a back room. Here, you will find another Emblem Piece.
With both pieces found, open your inventory and combine them to create the Heart Emblem.
Return to the first room of the house once more.
Go up the stairs, then wrap around and enter the door at the far end of the loft.
Walk through the room and ascend another set of stairs, then use the Attic Key to unlock the door. You may now discard the Attic Key.
Proceed through this room until you reach the end, then use the Heart Emblem on the red door.
Pass through the door.
Follow the path down the stairs, then continue down a very long and winding staircase.
At the end of the winding staircase, you will find a locked door. Turn back up the stairs.
Near the top, you will be attacked. Immediately run back down to the door again to finally pass through it.
Archive
Once you regain control, you will be in the Archive, which serves as Heartworm`s central hub.
Move forward into a room containing a giant book.
Behind the book, there is a computer, similar to those in Safe Rooms, which you can use to save your progress.
To the left of the book, you will find a machine. Throughout the game, you can collect up to three photos to insert into this machine.
Note on Endings: The number of photos you insert into this machine will affect your game ending:
- Bad Ending: 0 photos inserted.
- Good Ending: 1-2 photos inserted.
- True Ending: 3 photos inserted.
When you are ready to proceed to the next area, go down the hallway to the left of the book until you encounter static blocking your path. Take a picture of the static to clear it.
Interact with the red static a bit further inside this area.
Neighborhood
Upon regaining control, there is no need to waste ammo on the ghost here.
If you wish to save, a Safe Room is available in the first house on the left (past a chain-link fence). Otherwise, head right towards a convenience store.
Enter the store and pick up the House Key from the counter at the back.
Return to the house where you initially started. Use the House Key to open the front door and enter.
Head into the living room. There’s a door here; enter it and follow the long, winding path to Sam`s bedroom.
Chess Puzzle Solution
Inside Sam`s bedroom, you`ll find a chessboard. Sit down at the table and move the Bishop from E3 to G5.
Solving this puzzle correctly will reward you with the Burst Mod for your camera. Open your inventory, select the camera, and add the mod. This upgrade allows you to take three pictures at once, which is beneficial for dealing quicker damage to enemies.
Once the chess puzzle is complete, return outside and walk around the house to the garage, then open its door. You can now discard the House Key.
Navigate around the hole in the floor to find a shelf you can push aside, revealing a fuse box.
Garage Fuse Box Solution
Move the first, third, and fifth switches to the right to turn the fuse box green and lower a set of stairs.
Ascend the stairs to find the Camera Bag. Use it from your inventory to increase your inventory space to eight slots.
Exit the garage, then head back in the direction of the store where you obtained the House Key. This time, turn right at the intersection, then follow the street to an opening on the right that leads to a baseball field.
Take the Baseball Bat from the bleachers here, then leave.
Return to Sam`s bedroom. Place the Baseball Bat on a plaque on the wall to receive the Model Train.
Go back to the garage. Head upstairs where you found the Camera Bag and look on the opposite side of the room for a model train set. Use the Model Train here to obtain the Padlock Key.
Exit the garage and approach the chain-link fence behind the house. Use the Padlock Key on the door to unlock it. You may now discard the Padlock Key.
Enter the door. Shoot the static here to access the Garden Photo, which is the first of the three photos needed for the true ending of the game.
Leave this area and return to the street. Head all the way to the end and enter the last house on the right by interacting with the static-filled window.
Inside, walk straight and enter the door ahead of you. You will emerge onto a snowy street.
Directly across the street is a funeral parlor. Head there and note the three unlit candles in the window. A note nearby indicates that you need to find and light three candles throughout the neighborhood.
Funeral Parlor Candles Puzzle Solution
Exit the funeral parlor and walk all the way down the street until you see a stop sign. Turn right, then go up some stairs to enter an apartment.
Either kill or avoid the enemy here and make your way through the apartment`s various rooms until you find the first candle. Use the Lighter from your inventory to light it.
Return to the street, then go back to the house across from the funeral parlor and re-enter the main street.
Proceed all the way down the street and into the house to the left of the store.
The inside of this house is flooded. Be cautious of the enemy here and ascend the stairs, then enter the door at the top.
At the end of the hallway is a door on the right, and inside is the second candle. Use the Lighter from your inventory to light it.
Return to the baseball field.
On the field, you will spot a candle inside a cage on the pitcher`s mound. To unlock this cage, you must quickly run all the bases, starting from home plate, before the lights extinguish. Successfully doing so will grant you access to the third candle. Use the Lighter from your inventory to light it.
Return to the house at the end of the street with the static window and make your way back to the funeral parlor.
Enter the funeral parlor. Inside one of the rooms, you will find a casket that, when interacted with, transports you downtown.
Head out into the downtown area and take the street to the right. Follow it for a while until you reach a door on the right leading to a Safe Room.
Enter the Safe Room and save your progress, as a boss encounter is imminent. While there, you can discard the Lighter into the storage box, as it serves no further purpose.
Leave the Safe Room and walk straight down the street until you reach a right turn. Go down this street until you find an alleyway illuminated by lights, then follow it all the way through until it forks.
Head towards the warehouse door with a red light above it. Interact with this door to enter.
Walk into the next room and ascend the stairs in the back-right corner. Follow the walkway entirely around until you reach a blue door. Unlock this door to create a shortcut back to the Safe Room.
Inside the warehouse, descend the stairs in front of the blue door, then wrap around and enter the space between the two giant shelves.
An enemy will spawn here and pursue you through several screens filled with dimly lit shelves. Weave through this maze until you reach the end, where boxes will fall behind you, ending the chase. If this enemy catches you, you will die, so ensure you saved recently.
Proceed a few screens further to reach a door in a fence. Enter it, then retrieve the Crowbar from this area.
Return to where you first emerged from the shelf chase and use the Crowbar to remove the wood from the nearby door, revealing a path back to the beginning of the warehouse.
Exit the warehouse the way you originally entered, then go back through the alleyway until you reach the street again.
Head north here to spot a bus.
Use the Crowbar on the bus to initiate the game`s first boss encounter.
Spider Boss
The game`s inaugural boss is a large spider. Ensure your Burst Mod is equipped, as it will take approximately 40 hits from your camera to defeat this formidable arachnid. The fight itself is fairly straightforward, but limited mobility can make it frustrating.
The spider has a basic melee attack when it`s close, which can be hard to avoid due to its speed. It can also shoot webs at you, dealing minimal damage but knocking you down. This can also be dodged with quick movement.
Occasionally, the spider will charge at you for a powerful attack. You can interrupt this by taking a picture just as it gets close.
After taking some damage, the spider may briefly leave the arena and spawn numerous smaller spiders that chase you and explode. Stay mobile and try to avoid getting trapped in corners. While individual explosions don`t cause much damage, being hit multiple times can quickly add up.
Throughout the arena, you`ll find multiple rolls of film and a healing item; be sure to collect them as needed.
Upon defeating the spider, you will receive the Neighborhood Page.
Archive
You will awaken in the Archive. Head left to the machine and, if you choose, insert the Garden Photo into it (refer to the “Note on Endings” section above for details on how this affects your ending).
Now, use the Neighborhood Page on the giant book in the center of the Archive to open a large gate to the north.
Pass through the gate and follow the path to a door. Open the door to enter the second act of Heartworm.