Fear the Spotlight is one of those little indie gems that pops up and just makes my heart feel full again. An adorable little love story, a charming PSX art style, and of course, puzzles. And if it's puzzles you're strugglin' with, we've got you covered with our Fear the Spotlight walkthrough.
Fear the Spotlight Walkthrough - All puzzle solutions (Vivian)
Fear the Spotlight actually has two campaigns for you to play through, the first of which is Vivian's Story. We'll be covering each puzzle in the order by which they appear in your play through, but if you're looking for one in particular, you can use the table of contents above to skip ahead.
Golden statue puzzle
This is effectively a puzzle that requires you to collect some key items that you'll be using for the rest of your journey. These items include a screwdriver, and pliers. You'll need to collect both to pass the golden idol on the door.
Head into the girls' locker room nearby the golden idol, and look for a duffel bag. Open it by dragging the zip to the side after interacting with it. This contains a keycard which you need to gain access to the staff corridor. Some other things to note in this room are the vending machine, which contains... welding glue (my favorite), and what appears to be a grave.
Once you're in the staff corridor, find the toolbox, and use the code 001 to open it. Collect the screwdriver only for now, as we'll need to come back for the pliers when we have another item.
Once you've got the screwdriver, head for the vent directly ahead of the toolbox, and interact with it. Use the screwdriver to open it, and head on in to the next room. Interact with the window in the room to enter the boys' locker room.
When inside, look for a hole busted through a wall leading to the showers, and crouch through it. You'll see a drain here, which you can interact with and use the screwdriver to get it loose. Inside will be quarters, which you'll need to take back to the vending machine in the girls' locker room. You'll have your first encounter with spotlight head here, so be careful.
When back at the vending machine, interact with the coin slot to put in some of that drain change you picked up. Then, using the keypad, input the code B34, and wait for your delicious welding glue to be dispensed.
Head on back to the toolbox and interact with the pliers. Use the welding glue you just picked up to fix 'em up, and then head back to the girls' locker room. Head for the grave, and first interact with the dirt to reveal the rose. Use the pliers on each of the fingers holding the rose to pry them open, and claim the rose. With that, head on back to the golden statue door, and give the rose to the statue.
Fuse box puzzle
So, you need in to the main section of the school, but it's super on fire. The HVAC machine won't work whilst the gymnasium has power, so that means you've gotta sort out the gymnasiums power situation, just to turn it all off again. Great.
Look, I won't lie, this one stumped me for a little while, and I'm still not quite over it. When confronted with the fuse box in the gym, you'll first need to grab the first fuse on the table nearby the panel, and then open up the panel itself. You can do this by referring to the key of symbols to numbers on the board by that table, or using this handy image.
When it's open, you'll be onto the main bit of the puzzle. First, connect both the red and black wires to the same area on the board. You'll need to do this section by section, so you'll do the top ones first, middles ones second, and so on.
Once you've plugged both the cables in, switch to the fuse box panel on the right and pull on the first lever to open up the first compartment. Insert the one you picked up from the table earlier, and open up the compartment that unlocked once you put in the fuse. Then, head back to the other panel.
You'll see an electrical reading meter, and a dial you can spin. Spin the dial until it the reading at the top turns green, or in this case, until it sits on x100 in the gray half (the half marked by a squiggle).
Now, head back to the other panel. Notice how the dial sits at x100 in the squiggle half, and the reading sits at 4. That means you'll need to interact with the dials on the second compartment until they read 4 on the left, and 00 on the right. Then, ensure the switch at the bottom is set to squiggle.
This will open up the third compartment, which will contain a lever you need to flip. This will open up some new areas of the Gymnasium, and you need some more fuses. Head on out, and head over to the storage room.
I won't be going into too much detail on how you get the fuses, as the process is relatively straight forward, but I will note that you'll need to grab the storage cabinet keys from the toilet stall that is most definitely not empty in the girls' bathroom, to get the one in the storage room. You'll also need to flush the urinal filled with... something in the boys' bathroom to get the second.
Once you've got both the fuses, head back to the fuse box. Be careful though, spotlight head is here once again, so take your time coming back. Connect both the red and black wires to the second section, and insert the fuses.
This time you'll be wanting to set the dial to x10 in the omega half. This will give you a reading of 8 on the electrical meter, so head over to the dials on the other panel again. This time, you'll want to set the left dial to 8 and the right dial to 0, and ensure the switch on the bottom is flipped to omega.
And once again, it's time for more fuses. This time you'll be heading to the pool area, and heading for the pool office first. You'll collect the first fuse from in there, using the storage cabinet keys you collected earlier again (something that caught me off guard for sure). Next, you'll need to get the pool pump handle, which you can get from the safe in the office. The code for the safe is hinted at, but for your convenience, it's 1987.
Once you've drained the pool, head down the ladder to find the raffle crank. Head back up, avoid spotlight head on your way back, and enter the main hall again. Use the raffle crank on the raffle machine, and collect the final fuse.
Once you've got it, head back to the fuse box for the final time. Your solution this time is to set the first dial to x1 on the omega half. This will set the meter to 1, which means your solution for the dials on the right is 1 on the left, and a dot on the right. Ensure the switch is flipped to omega once again.
And with that, you're all done. Pull the final switch, and then head to the breaker at the top of the stairs to power down the gym you just went to great lengths to power on, and head back to the HVAC unit outside to continue your journey.
Floor Mural Puzzle
This puzzle, presented to you basically as soon as you enter the main school building on your way to the very much on fire theater, is a bit of a strange one. It's not difficult, it's just a case of trial and error. You've got to match up the patterns on the floor so that they fit together, but also so that they're angled correctly. It's strange in the way that it doesn't really... tell you what way it's meant to go, so you've just gotta sort of keep at it until it clicks.
Match up yours to the one pictured below exactly to save yourself some time, and open up the hatch into the underbelly of the school.
Head on down the ladder to collect the keys to the hallway. You'll note that the statue here has no face, and our goal in this section is to fix that by collecting the pieces of the face, and restoring the statue to its former glory. (Something I blanked on for far too long.)
Classroom Puzzles
So this next section can be a little overwhelming simply because of how many rooms there are, but fret not, as there is an order to follow, and simple explanations to everything. So first, I'll list out the order in which you should approach the classrooms, and give each individual puzzle its own section. There's a map in the main room nearby the floor mural, so you can use that to find where you need to go. I'll provide it here, with marks instructing you on the order in which you need to progress if you're just looking for some quick direction.
So, first you'll need to head to the art classroom. Here you'll be getting the jack, which you can use to move obstacles too heavy to lift on your own. No puzzles in this room, just find it and interact with it. You'll need to avoid spotlight head on your way out, so be careful.
Head back towards the main room, but stop at the debris blocking the bathrooms. You'll need to clear this with the jack, and head in. Head through the broken wall, and towards the mirrors on the other side of the bathrooms. Interact with the middle mirror, using your screwdriver to knock it loose and collect the first mask piece.
Your next stop is clear on the east side of the building, so head back into the main room, and use the jack on the debris blocking the path. Head through until you reach the biology classroom.
Not really a puzzle in here either, just interact with the ropes holding up the cage, and pull it down. Interact with the cage, and use the pliers to pull the metal away, like the golden statue from earlier. Collect the TV Cables from the skeleton, and then leave.
Your next stop is the room closest to the biology classroom, the AV room. This is, once again, not a puzzle room, but it is spooky. Head on in and follow the path before you to collect the VHS tape and the strange key. After grabbing all that, head out, and back towards the west wing.
Your next stop is the music classroom.
Music classroom puzzle
Finally, a real one! Now yeah, it might not be as hard for you, but I'm totally incapable of remembering even simple patterns, so this was a doozy. First, interact with the TV in the music room, and insert both the TV cables and the VHS tape.
Now, as it's quite difficult to explain in text how to play musical notes I don't understand, I've prepared a handy video in which you can see a 25 year old man struggle with SCART cables, and a 4 note pattern. Do enjoy. Once you've done it, a panel on the piano will open up, and you'll be able to nab your second mask piece.
After finishing up in the music classroom, you'll next want to head to the drama classroom. Once again, no puzzle here, simply interact with the rug in the room to reveal a hidden hatch in the floor, and use the strange key you picked up in the AV room to open it up. Decend down the ladder, head right to the end of the room, and pick up the floppy disk.
Computer lab
Take the floppy disk to the computer lab, as you might expect. This section is one of the more tense survival sections, and you'll need to juggle the pains of 90's era disk write speeds with avoiding a man with a stage light for a head. It's not a puzzle persay, but if you're under duress (which you are), you might miss what you need to do.
You'll first need to insert the floppy disk into the computer that's right in front of you as you enter the room. Once that starts the writing process, you'll need to make yourself scarce and hide from spotlight head. You'll need to kill time and move from cover to cover, and eventually the computer will make a ping sound to inform you it's done.
You'll need to run and grab the floppy disk, and then head to the computer at the back of the room. Insert the floppy disk into this computer, and once again, wait for it to finish. This will send a file to the printer in the room, so once you hear that ping again, run to it. It's on the left side of the room from the computer at the back, and on the right if you were at the front door.
Get over to it to grab the projector sheet, which you'll need for the final puzzle in this section, and then leg it out the way you came. Remember that if you've taken any damage (it was the first time and last time I did in my playthrough) you can use any inhalers you've picked up to sort yourself out.
Poetry puzzle
The final puzzle for this section isn't too terrible. First you'll want to slap the projector sheet you got from the computer lab into the projector near the front of the room, and use the two orange dials to align it with the board. Just make sure the borders line up with the box on the board, and it'll auto adjust for you when you let go. You'll be presented with the following phrases.
LOVE BLOOMS IN BRIGHT LIGHT.
MY CAGE HIDES IN THE DEEP DARK.
CURTAIN RISES AT DUSK.
BETRAYAL CAME BEFORE THE SHOW'S START.
In the room there is a box with three dials, each with a symbol, and a series of sun/moon phases. The solution then is hidden in the text, and the dials.
The rose represents the first line, the cage the second, and the knife in the heart the fourth. You'll need to set the first dial to the full sun, the second dial to the full moon, and the final dial to the dot between the full sun and setting sun. Once you're done, it'll look something like this.
Hit the button in the middle to retrieve your final mask piece. With that, head on back to the main room, and head down the ladder in the floor mural you solved earlier. Interact with the strange shrine, and replace the mask pieces to continue.
Water pipe puzzle
After fixing up the shrine and coming to a rather... grim understanding of what went on back in 1997 in this education board nightmare of a school, you'll be met with a water pump system which you'll need to activate to turn on the sprinklers and save your dear Amy from spotlight head. Explore this section until you find the prison cell key (in the chest in the dressing room), and unlock the prison cell. Look through the garbage can in the corner near the shower, once again realise how messed up this situation really was, and grab the water pipe.
Head back to the 'lair' and interact with the water pipes. You'll need to replace the missing section (which is on the right side) and then interact with the machine on the right to get the water flowing again. From there, you simply need to orient the levers in the direction you want the water to go.
You'll want the first lever to point to 3 o'clock, the second lever to point to 6 o'clock, and the third to point to 9 o'clock.
When that's done, head on back from whence you came, and head into the theatre to save Amy.
Final boss encounter
The last section of Fear the Spotlight is a strange one, because it sort of acts as a boss fight. Upon entering the theatre, you'll be introduced to the concept of live electrical wiring and puddles of water, which you'll be using in just a few moments.
Once you're in the theatre and see Amy hanging out, disable all of the generators you come across so you can work your way over to the stage. Once there, pull the three ropes on the left, middle, and right, like you did in the biology classroom. Once you do that, speak to Amy to initate the final encounter of the Vivian storyline.
As it might be a little tricky to follow on with a written description of this encounter, you can watch me run through it (and totally blow the third phase) here.
This final encounter is broken up into three phases, with each phase requiring you to electrecute and then interact with spotlight head once. In his first phase, he'll hop towards you three times, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. Hiding under tables is useless here, so stay on your toes. You want to position yourself in front of one of the water puddles, and position yourself near a generator so that when he hops into the water, you can zap him.
Once he's zapped, run over to him and interact with him. You'll first need to use the pliers to pull away the barbed wire on his face. You've got a little time, so don't worry if you need a moment to get to him.
His second phase is even easier to deal with than his first. You'll need to run to another generator near some puddles, and stand inside the puddle. His second phase consists of him jumping up, and then slamming down, but he has a handy telegraph in that you can see exactly where he's going to fall. Once he makes contact, simply switch on the generator.
If you miss him at first, don't worry, he'll simply sit in place and send out two searchlights, so take cover and wait for him to jump up again. When he's down, run over to him and use the screwdriver to unscrew the two bolts holding his face shield in place.
His third phase can be tricky to manage. This time, he'll jump up, but leave a patch of fire that spreads as he does. And this time when he jumps back down, he jumps backwards, which can be a bit random when it comes to angles. He also sends out two more searchlights, but these ones go towards you instead of just in sweeping angles. If you get caught out in the open, simply run to one side to avoid them, or take cover under a table.
What I found worked best for this phase was turning on all the generators and sort of... waiting for him to jump into a puddle himself. Ultimately though, you'll need to position yourself near a puddle this time, and hope he hops backwards into it when he lands. I genuinely couldn't figure out a way to get him to consistently jump in one direction, hence turning on all the generators and just sort of killing time.
Once he's down, interact with him a final time, and once again use the screwdriver when prompted. I thought I'd missed 'something hard', and thus botched the phase my first time. Beat the very literal daylights out of him, and with that, you've successfuly beaten up a super creepy drama teacher.
Rescue your girl, and make a final run for it. But, it isn't over yet. Once you return to the main menu, you'll be informed that you can now go through the Amy Chapter. Amy's Chapter is a lot lighter in terms of puzzles, but it's a bit heavier on the spooks.
Fear the Spotlight Walkthrough (Amy)
All lockpicking puzzle solutions
As describing each lockpicking puzzle would require... a great many words, I've collected a series of images for you to reference if you're stuck on one of the puzzles. Each one will be marked as clearly as possible, so you know where it correlates to.
Shed lock puzzle
This one... took me an embarrassingly long time. To solve this one, you need to go to the right side of the shed (if you're facing it) and look through the gap in the wall to reveal the back side of the locking mechanism. This will show you that there's some faded wood, demonstrating the pattern you need to follow. If you're looking for a quick solution though, the image below will help you.
Shrine puzzle
The Shrine puzzle is a fun one, because you get to just really beat the holy ghost out of some concrete for a minute. Nice stress reliever after... everything that's happened. In order to get through this one, you simply need to break the statues in the correct order, and do not break the statue in the middle. (Because that's you!)
The poem printed below the shrine gives the following hints.
IN THE CENTER SITS SHE, A LONE PRIZE TO BEHOLD. SURROUNDED BY THOSE WHO LEFT HER COLD.
FIRST WENT THE GRANDPARENTS, TWO BY TWO. DIFFERENT TONGUES, DIFFERENT LANDS, THEY BID ADIEU.
THEN HER FATHER, SELFISH AND GONE. TO A NEW FAMILY'S EMBRACE, HE MOVED ON.
HER MOTHER, BURDENED WITH WORK'S HEAVY LOAD. STRUGGLED TO KEEP THE FAMILY'S ABODE.
HER BROTHER, PROMISED TO RETURN. NEVER DID. LEAVING BEHIND MEMORIES, UNBID.
LASTLY, HER CRUSH, UNABLE TO STAY. FLED FROM THE FEAR, COULDN'T FIND A WAY.
If you're looking for a quick fix, below is an image with numbers correlating to the order in which you need to break the statues.
How to drain the bath
One of the little hiccups you might come across in this chapter is not knowing how to drain the bath when you finally get upstairs, which is entirely intentional, because it's a bit of a sneaky one. In order to drain the bath, you'll need to go and turn the water you had to turn on earlier in the basement off again. A bit of a curveball, and easy to get caught out on.
Suitcase combination puzzle
The suitcase in the upstairs bedroom is locked, and you can only really figure the solution by checking a seemingly innocuous place. In order to figure out the combination, you'll need to head to Amy's bedroom first to grab the batteries from her 'GamePal'.
Then, head into the study which contains the grandfather clock and the radio, and interact with the radio. Interact with the battery panel on the right side, and place the batteries you got from your room in. Then, turn it on and jam out a little.
To get the combination for the suitcase, you'll need to first look to the shelf in the same room. Interacting with it tells you that your father liked blues music. So, head on back to the radio, and using the left dial, tune the radio to the blues station. Your solution comes from the frequency of the radio station. So, in this case, it's 939.
And with that... frankly there isn't a whole lot else in the puzzles department for the Amy chapter. This chapter focuses far more on a personal story of family trauma and grief, and plenty more running and hiding from a very literal movie monster. But, with that said, it doesn't make it any less of a bloody good time.
If you've found this guide helpful, and you're looking for some more spooky stuff from us here at Pro Game Guides, check out our list of the Top Horror Games with the Best Jump Scares, or our list of the Best Cult-Themed Horror Games!
