The intro of Golem, an atmospheric little escape by OK Interactive, gives you the details straight: you're locked in a museum in Prague, and if you want out you'll have to bring to life the remains of the famous Golem of Prague that's on display somewhere within. To do so you'll have to solve some puzzles throughout the museum, gather some clues about the magic of kabbalah, and put everything together. Navigate by clicking the square icons near the edges of the screen, or on open passageways in front of you; keep an eye out for the changing cursor. Click things to interact with them, and be prepared to take a lot of notes. If you have something worth using, click it, then on what you want to use it on.
Not everything about Golem is perfect, but lots of things are. On the upside, it's got generally well-designed puzzles, moody graphics and music (we have Oscar Remius to thank for the latter) that perfectly complement each other, and a bit of historic background as well; on the downside, the clickable areas don't always properly overlap with the visuals, and there's no way to save your progress—which is especially inconvenient for a game with two endings. But overall, it's a journey worth taking. And either way, who can pass up an opportunity to resurrect an ancient golem?
Walkthrough Guide
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Golem Walkthrough
You'll start out in an octagonal room. Turn until you see the shelves full of books; that's the library. Lots of the information in there will be useful. Advance into it.
Note the time on the clock above: 1:55. Or is it 12:55? Well, what matters is that the hour hand's on the 1 and the minute hand's on the 11. Or thereabouts. Now, the books... you can examine the ones with X's on the spines. Two on the top shelf, two on the third shelf down, two on the bottom shelf.
The left book on the top shelf contains a briefing on golem animation and the rune sequences for "Good" and "Evil". You'll need those later. Turn the page to see more, and an odd diagram with "250Kg" on it. Remember that, too.
The right book on the top shelf is a chart of numbers and their equivalent symbols. You'll be using those for several puzzles, so screencap them. Note that each number has both a Hebrew letter and a zodiac symbol equivalent.
The left book on the third shelf has a map of the museum, plus a diagram involving an odd rotating room in the basement corresponding to a wheel in the octagonal room you were in. The last two books contain Hebrew miscellany, nothing useful.
Turn right twice from the library and you'll face the wheel. Turn it so the spokes face the upper left and upper right, then back away. That'll set the room below so you can pass through it to the hallway beyond.
Back away and turn right once, then advance through that passageway and turn right at the junction. You'll find three gauges and a switch. Trip the switch; you'll worry about the wheels later. Now return to the octagonal room.
Turn right twice upon returning to the octagonal room, and head up the other passageway. At the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, hang a right and step into the elevator. Press the second button from the bottom to go to the basement.
When the elevator stops moving, get out and turn right. Open the box for a slip of paper, then turn twice in either direction and follow the hallway to the round room. There, turn left and go straight ahead until you reach the clock.
A clock? Pressing the left button moves the hour hand, and pressing the right button moves the minute hand. Set the hands like the clock in the library (hour 1, minute 11) to get another paper.
Now turn right and you'll see a contraption with weights. You need to set the gauge to 250 (remember the illustration from the first book?); pull the left lever four times, middle three, right four. Then you'll get a third paper.
Turn around (twice in either direction) and step forwards. You'll see a tank or something, marked with three degree readings: 125, 400, 175. Remember those. Now backtrack ALL the way to the elevator.
Press the "G" button to return to the original floor. On the way, note the message written on the elevator door: "Count the dots above." Uh-huh. Once out of the elevator, return to the octagonal room and head down the other passage again.
Again, turn right at the end. Now it's time we tackled these gauges: use the valves to set the first to 125 degrees, the second to 400, and the third to 175, just like it said in the basement. Now screencap those three symbols that are now displayed above the gauges.
Turn around and go straight ahead into a room you haven't visited yet, containing a fountain of some sort. Look at the control panel: it has the twelve zodiac symbols. Say, this fountain is directly above that tank where the degree readings were, isn't it?
Use the number book from the library to convert the symbols from the gauges into zodiac symbols, then turn on the three corresponding lights here. (I'll spoil it for you: the first, third, and fifth symbols in the top row.)
You'll get a fourth paper. Now look up from the fountain (there'll be an arrow to do so once you back away from the control panel). Remember the message to "count the dots above"? There are 32 dots up there.
Return to the octagonal room and turn the wheel between the two passageways until its spokes are facing "northwest" and "southwest". Then go back to the round room in the basement and you'll see a new clue: "18" in a circle.
Go to the ground floor again, and this time go straight ahead when you exit the elevator. You'll see a circle just like the one from the 18 clue. Turn on the symbols that mean 10 and 8 from the number book to get the fifth and last paper.
Return to the octagonal room. Turn to face the blocked-off passage with the keypad to the left of it (turn left once if you just got there from the elevator wing). Input the number of dots from the ceiling of the fountain room (32, remember) on the keypad.
Then hit EXECUTE. It's the Golem! Remember that first book's instructions on bringing it to life? You have to put three of your five papers in its mouth. Pick the "Good" or "Evil" sequence (which one you use determines your ending). Remember to read it from right to left, and put those papers in one by one.
If you chose the "Good" sequence, the golem will give you a scrap of paper with a sequence of Hebrew letters on it. Enter that sequence on the entry console on the other blocked-off passage to open the door.
If you chose the "Evil" sequence, then... well, let's just say that being locked in the museum is no longer your biggest problem.
Either way, congratulations on finishing the game!
Posted by: SonicLover | April 18, 2012 12:56 PM