The City of Lost Children/Walkthrough

Part 1 - The cashier’s hut

Your adventure begins in the orphanage schoolroom. Advance to the desk and talk to Pieuvre, to learn that your first mission is to rob the cashier's hut. Pieuvre will also tell you that Pelade has a key to enter it. She won't give you any more clues, so talking to her again is useless. There are two items you can pick up right now in the class: a sponge in front of the chalkboard (useless) and a bag of marbles on the back shelf, which you'll need later. Be quick though: if you stay too long in class, you will be thrown in the cellar (if this happens, see the last paragraph). Maybe go out and come back, to have more time. Once you do, exit to the orphanage courtyard. Speak directly to Pelade, who is in front of the door. If you spoke to Pieuvre first, he will give you the key to the hut. He won't tell you anything else useful, so don't bother him. Exploring the courtyard, you will notice that all the other doors present are not accessible for now. However, you can collect some items: near the cellar stairs there are two empty bottles, while in front of trash cans next to Pelade's shack there is a bone. You'd better take this bone right away and give it to the dog in the kennel on the other side. Then exit the courtyard from the only available exit.

Follow the path down the stairs. All the gates you find on the walkways are locked and cannot be opened, so don't waste your time. When you reach a recess on the right with a malfunctioning light, search hard, you should find another empty bottle. When you get down near the water, take the left path. In a recess just below the one you just passed you should find a brush: take it. Then go back and pass under the arch on the right. You will notice a door near you on the left. You can enter it and go up the stairs, but you won't get far. Take the path to the screen instead. On the left, you'll notice a watchman guarding a hut. That's where you have to steal. However, you cannot enter at the moment. If you try to climb the catwalk, the guardian will tell you to stay away and if you continue to ignore his warnings he will lock you in his warehouse (see last paragraph). Then continue along the path until you reach a pier. Right at the beginning, on the right, there are some crates that you can climb on as you get off the dock. Move as far to the right as you can and you will find an iron bar. Take it and go back. Now you need to reach the end of the pier. You can take the upper or lower path, it doesn't matter. Eventually you will come to the lighthouse. Grab the iron bar you just found and examine the lighthouse control panel. You will now see an animated sequence, in which Miette turns off the light of the lighthouse and the watchman will leave his position to investigate.

At this point you have to act as quickly as possible, because the watchman is walking along the pier, trying to reach you and you only have a few seconds available. Go to the right side of the lighthouse, where there are some barrels and a coil of rope. There's a nook you can sneak into, behind these barrels. Rotate Miette so that she faces forward and crouch down. If you fail to hide before the watchman arrives, he will capture you and lock you in his warehouse. If you hide correctly, when the watchman arrives, Miette will suggest to stay there for a little. You will then see another animated sequence, in which the angry watchman will enter the lighthouse to try to turn the light back on. At the end of the sequence, you are free to walk to the cashier's hut undisturbed. Go to the place and open the door with the key that Pelade gave you. Inside, you must first turn on the light. The switch is that bright spot to the left of the door. You can then explore the hut. The door on the left cannot be opened. If you examine the cabinet, you'll find that it's electrified and you can't open it. Then examine the cash register in front of the window. If you open it, the electricity vanishes, but only for an instant, then it closes again. You must therefore act on the cash register with the brush you have found in your hand. Miette will jam the brush in the drawer, preventing it from closing. Now that you've cut the power, examine the cabinet. Another animated sequence will start, in which Miette steals the money, but she is caught by the watchman. Luckily, she gets help from One, who knocks out the watchman. One will ask Miette to help him find his little brother, but she will refuse for now, choosing to go back to Pieuvre.

Part 2 - The loan shark

At the end of the sequence you will automatically find yourself in the orphanage classroom and Pieuvre will give you your next assignment: robbing a loan shark. She won't give you any more clues, so get out now. Once in the courtyard, go to the north door, which is now open. Go in. You are now in the orphanage kitchen. Sitting at the table, you will meet Boule. If you talk to him, he'll tell you that he's making a potion for Pieuvre's headaches, and to get to the loan shark, he'll suggest you try entering the door at the end of the courtyard. He won't give you any other information. There is a bottle of potion in front of him, but Boule will only let you take it if you give him his marbles in exchange. You should already have taken them in the orphanage classroom, so trade the marbles for the potion. Before you leave, explore the kitchen. On the sideboard you will find a piece of chicken, while if you open two cabinets on the back wall, you can find a piece of cheese and a slice of cake. Once you've got everything, head back outside.

The next thing to do is put Pelade to sleep. There are two ways to do this. You can simply offer him the bottle of potion you just obtained; he will drink it all believing it is wine and will suddenly fall asleep. Alternatively, you can exit the courtyard and head to where you got the brush. Along the way you will notice that the passage leading to the dock is now closed, for security reasons. A little further on from the recess where the brush was, at the end of the path, you will find the drunkard sitting in front of a door. If you talk to him, he will tell you that he is very hungry. Give him the three pieces of food you found in the kitchen and he will let you fill with wine one of your bottles for every time you give him food. To do this, after feeding the drunk, approach the barrel next to him with a bottle in hand and press the action key to fill it with wine. When you have filled the three bottles, go back to Pelade. Offer him one bottle after another. He will drink them all. After the third bottle, he'll say he drank too much and he'll fall asleep. With Pelade asleep, you can examine the fishing rod-like tool attached to the ladder next to him. Miette will turn the crank, lowering the basket hanging at the end. Approach the basket. Inside you will find a sausage and a door handle. Now go up the ladder and reach the door of Pelade's shack. Use the door handle to open it. Inside, turn on the light (the switch is right next to the door) and approach the bed. There you will find the key to the door of the courtyard. There's nothing else to do here, so head back outside. Go to the door next to the dog's kennel and open it with the key you found. Be careful though! Before opening the door, make sure you've tamed the dog with the bone, the piece of chicken, or the sausage you just found. If you haven't done so, the dog will bark waking up Pelade, who will immediately lock you in the cellar. Go in.

Finally you can explore a new area. You will find yourself at the top of a long staircase. Go down and proceed right. After traveling some distance, you'll come to a courtyard where a worker is repairing a pickup truck. He is very busy and won't tell you anything useful. You can find a pincer near him. To get it, you have to move while the worker is bending to look inside the engine, or he will stop you. After taking the pincer, in the same courtyard you will notice a bell attached to a wall. Use the pincer to detach it, then you can take it. Return to where you came down the stairs and continue to the left. You will find a cyclops guarding the access to a staircase. Talking to him is useless, he will slap you. To get him out of the way, you have to get to the side of the stairs and bang the bell against the ladder, to make a loud noise (ringing the bell in front of him isn't enough). The cyclops will plug his ears and fall into the sea, dazed. Climb the ladder and enter the door at the bottom to enter the loan shark's office. On a table you will find a small safe, take it. Then go to the large safe that is in the corner and put the small safe on the balance next to it. The safe will open. Grab the jewels inside and exit the office. Another cutscene will start. Two cyclopes were waiting for Miette outside. The girl will be able to free herself, but she will fall into the water. She is rescued by a mysterious diver.

Part 3 - Escape

You will wake up in an underground room and Miette will find that she has lost all her items. In this room you will find the diver who helped you, in bed, sleeping with nightmares. No use trying to talk to him. First you have to get out of here. The door is obviously closed. Search the room until you find a piece of wood behind some crates. Take it and head to the wall where there are two switches. You can lower one without problems, but if you try to lower the other as well, the first one will return to its initial position. After lowering one of the two switches then (it doesn't matter which one), wedge the piece of wood inside it, to block it. Lowering the other switch will sound a siren that will startle the diver, who will hit the shelf above him. While half asleep, the diver will reveal what he has done in the past and who is responsible for the disappearance of the children. He will also mention that the children are taken on an oil rig. When he goes back to sleep, approach the shelf and you can take the key to the airlock door, where a green item was previously. Go to the door and open it with the key you found to go outside.

There is only one path to follow, so you can't go wrong. At one point, to the left of the path, there is a trapezoidal concrete block. Just behind this block you can find a lighter. Take it and continue. Further on, you will notice a fence to the right and a courtyard behind it. There are also some chests, which can allow you to get over the fence. Then climb on the crates and reach the courtyard (it is useless to continue along the path, it is a dead end). In the courtyard you will immediately notice an illuminated counter. There is also a chest, suspended by a pulley above a trapdoor. On the counter you will easily find a pair of scissors. You might be tempted to cut the rope with those scissors to make the crate fall, but don't! If you do, Lune will pop out of the bar next door, capture Miette, and be game over immediately. Instead, look to the south, in the darkest corner of the courtyard, to find a candle. Place this candle on the counter, under the rope and light it with the lighter. Miette will automatically go and hide behind the door. When Lune comes out to investigate, she will be able to sneak into the bar. You will then see an animated sequence, in which Miette will meet One again in the bar, who was crying over her disappearance at the hands of the cyclops. Miette will tell him what she learned from the diver and the two decide to save the children. One will have to find a boat, while Miette will have to find out how to get to the oil rig.

Part 4 - Reaching the oil rig

You will automatically exit through the back door of the bar and find yourself in the last area of the game. Continue following the path until you reach a screen where there is a sailor who is painting a boat. Talk to him to ask how to get to the oil rig and he will suggest that you ask the fisherman. He won't tell you anything else useful. Near him you should find a paintbrush, but in order to get it, the sailor must be on the right side of the boat. If not, you can come back here later. Go up the long staircase found in this screen and follow the path. On a window sill you will find a tin: take it, because it will be very useful to you shortly. Eventually, you'll come to a small courtyard. On the right, is a red tattoo artist's stall. You can talk to him, but for now you won't get anything useful. Near the closed gate at the bottom instead, you can take an atomizer. Then go back to where the sailor is. He should have moved by now, so grab the paintbrush and remember to dip it in the bucket with the paint. Then go to where the arches are, under the path to reach the tattoo artist and continue to the left.

Advance until you notice two ladders in front of you. Going down the one to the right you will come to a pier where One is waiting for you with the boat. He will only tell you to find a way to reach the oil rig. At the end of this dock, you will find a stick, take it. If you go down the ladder to the left instead, you'll come to a pier parallel to the previous one. From the far end, you can see the fisherman in the distance, but if you try to talk to him he won't hear you, as you are too far away. Go up the stairs and continue to the left. Here you will meet a cyclops, which blocks the way to reach the fisherman. Approach him and use the paint brush to blind him. The cyclops will scream in pain and fall into the water. You can thus reach the fisherman. Keep talking to him until he tells you that he lost his tin. Give him the one you just took and he will be available to help you. Continuing to talk to him, the fisherman will tell you that the tattoo artist has a map to reach the oil rig. He won't be willing to give it to you if you don't have any money, but you can remove a stake holding up a plank of his stall so that it falls on his head. Then go back to the tattoo artist. Move to the left of the stall and press the action button to drop the board and knock out the tattoo artist. At this point, you are free to take the map from his table. Take it to One. He will thank you, but he will tell you that you also need a way to navigate the fog.

Go back up the stairs and go to the bottom of this area. There is a somewhat hidden passage at the far left, next to the barrels. Taking it, you will get to Marcello's caravan. You can talk to him, to learn about his work at the funfair, with fleas. Then take the stick you found and use it to overturn the jar with fleas. The fleas will jump on Marcello. Then approach the organ on the left and press the action button to turn it on. With the sound of music, the fleas will knock out Marcello. Going up the steps to his right, you can search him and find his compass-watch. However, in order to take it, you must first get rid of the fleas, with the atomizer. After the fleas are gone, take the compass-watch and go back to One. Give him the compass-watch and you have reached the end of your adventure. Press the action button to start the ending sequence.

Trapped

There are some occasions in the game where you can get caught and locked up. First, if you stay too long in the orphanage classroom or make Pelade angry, you will be locked up in the cellar. The first time, to get out of the cellar it is enough to open the door, which Pelade forgot to close. If you are locked up in the cellar again, to escape you have to climb onto the box in front of the window and then escape from there. But if you get locked up a third time, it's game over. Another person who can catch you is the watchman. If you try to approach the cashier’s hut he's guarding ignoring his warnings, he locks you in his warehouse. Even if he discovers you in front of the lighthouse after turning off the light, he will capture you. In the warehouse you can meet the drunkard, who will give you a hint about the weak point of the cyclops. To escape the warehouse, you have to climb the crates in front of the electrical panel. Then examine the electrical panel and Miette will put a fuse in it. Then reach the door above the staircase and press the button next to it. If you have inserted the fuse, the door will open and you can go out, finding yourself near the hut. Remember though that the third time you get caught is game over! The last person who can capture Miette is Lune. This happens if you cut the rope holding a box in front of the bar with scissors instead of using the candle. In this case, it's immediate game over, so don't do it.