Official Zof hint through

How to get through Zof without smashing your PC.

READ THIS FIRST

Warning: reading this guide can seriously reduce your enjoyment of the game. Please only refer to this if you have been really really stuck for a long time :)

When you do refer to the guide, only take the minimum amount of information you need to get you rolling again. Uncover a spoiler and have a think about it, let it sink in...

The guide is here to help you when you really need it.

Getting started

The solutions to Zof puzzles are always simple, but that simplicity is gradually hidden more and more deeply as the game progresses.

If things are looking complicated, they're not. Take a step back. Can you think about it in a different way? What haven't you noticed yet? Are you making assumptions that are locking your thinking onto a certain path?

The puzzles are revealed in order of difficulty. So generally speaking, the puzzles you encounter early on will be easier. Have a go at everything though, you never know...

Moving from island to island in the main area, you'll eventually come back to your starting place. You always have access to all the puzzles you've encountered so far.

If you're playing a puzzle and want to come back to it later, no problem. The first menu has a home button, which takes you back to the islands.

Main islands

The game starts on an island at sea. There are a few devices nearby.


A warp tunnel


A viewer


and a turret hut.

If you're wondering what to do with these, then you're probably in for a bit of a rough ride, this is an easy area of the game. But have no fear, once you start to get the underlying logic, it will expand for you into all areas.

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The warp tunnel:

One button starts and stops it, and the other inverts it. You can only press a button when they are green. If you step into the warp tunnel while it's moving, you'll be taken to the next puzzle.

The viewer

When you click on the lens, you can view islands in the distance. Specifically the one pretty much opposite where you're standing will have something interesting to look at:

Does it look familiar? It's the code for the hut behind you... When you type that pattern into the door lock, it opens. Inside there's a teleporter to take you to the next island.

Floating islands

This level occurs 5 times, something is added each time.

Level 1

Hint

Notice the color of the light.

Answer


Press the same color on the panel, and use the teleporter. This is all you need to know for your first visit to this level.

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Level 2

Hint

Now it's a certain color and shape.

Answer


Press the correct color on the panel, like last time. When the second batch of buttons appears, choose the correct shape.

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Level 3

Hint

What kind of sound is the beacon making?

Answer


Like before, choose the correct color and shape. Once you've chosen the shape, you'll see something like this ( I chose the square ). Moving your mouse over each shape, each plays a different sound. You have to choose the correct one.

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Level 4

Hint

I'm looking at the beacon using the viewer ( something you're already familiar with ).

Hint

You can see the color of the beacon itself.

Answer


Now the color of the beacaon matters, as well as the color of the light.

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Level 5

Hint

What else has been added?

Answer


We can see a symbol on the beacon with the viewer. That's the final piece of the puzzle.

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Tomb

When you start this level, you get to see the trap closing. In case you hadn't noticed, it has an inner part and an outer part. Naturally, you can't open the inner part before the outer part is open.

Hint

Have you looked at the floor?

Hint

Three tiles in particular have a feint light on them.

Hint

Notice the orientation of the tiles.

Hint

You can start on one of the 3 'light' tiles, as long as you follow the direction the tiles are facing, they will light up in sequence.

Answer

Cube

Getting back to the lift in time

Hint

How far can you reach, to touch the teleporter button?

Answer

Press the teleporter button without getting on.

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The glass cubes

Hint

If you click the cube and it lights up, that's good. If you click the cube and it switches off, that's bad.

Hint

When it lights up, what could that yellow light mean?

Hint

You're standing on a cube, and you've got a little cube in front of you and one of the faces has a light on it.

Hint

Think of a treasure map. You're standing on the terrain and the map has an X on it. You go to the X. The little cube is the map.

Answer

When the cube lights up, the little yellow light is telling you which face on the main cube to visit next. You have to do all 6 in the order specified by the yellow lights. If you make a mistake, all the cubes turn off. The system then restarts using a different configuration.

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Bridge puzzle

Hint

Have you got the main cube illuminated yet?

Answer


When you get the main cube to light up, on the underface, you can see the symbols you need to use on the puzzle at the end of the bridge. The arrow is the starting point.

Solution


Put this into the bridge puzzle

Elevations

How this level works

Hint

There's always 4 ways off the platform. Door, stairs up, stairs down, wall.

Have you tried repeatedly using one route?

Hint

When you repeatedly use one route, what happens to the charging columns ?

Hint

When you charge them all the way up, what happens?

Answer



When you change them totally, a button appears on the floor, you have a limited amount of time to push it.

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After activating all chargers

Hint

Did you notice that one route off the platform didn't have any chargers? Maybe it needs to be switched on...

Hint

All this time, new platforms have been appearing in front of you, when the do the platforms disappear exactly?

Hint

Try walking backwards instead of forwards, slowly...

Answer


Walk backwards slowly off the platform to spot exactly when it disappears, then look down, there's a ledge. Jump down onto the ledge, underneath there's a button to activate the missing chargers, and a button to teleport you back up:

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Hint

After turning on the last set of chargers, go back to the underside, did you miss something?

Maze

Level 1

Hint

This level looks like a maze to play on people's conception of what that should be. This maze doesn't work like a normal one, you don't need to know the map. Just discover the relationship between the control panel and the sphere.

Hint


The control panel will keep presenting itself until you press the green ( go ) button.

Hint


When you knock on the sphere, it reveals the 4 sides to you in sequence. The sphere will keep appearing until you have seen all sides.

Hint

Next time you find a control panel, just move the first slider up one notch and press the green button. What happens next time you find the sphere?

Answer


The sphere wants you to rotate the lights to face the headpiece.

That's the level 1 sphere, it only has white lights. The level 2 and 3 spheres are a bit more fiddly, but simple once you get the idea.

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Level 2

Answer


The new black switch tells the sphere how much to move the headpiece. You need to move the headpiece as well as the lights now.

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Level 3

Answer

You can just get a pen and paper and write down the light configuration, so you know what to tell the controller. But there is a lazy method.

Don't touch the sliders on the controller, just move the black switch once and then go and find the sphere again. There's only one position for the head piece where it's possible to rotate the lights correctly. Then you can do the lights.

If you want to look at the sphere more than once, only press the green button on the controller.

Climing cubes

Level 1

Position your cursor at 1 to turn left, 2 to turn right.


Rotate the cube left and walk across to the exit platform.

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Level 2

Hint

Using your new-found knowledge of how the cubes turn, can you make it to the exit platform?

Answer

You start on cube 1. Just turn it right, walk onto cube 2, turn it left, walk onto cube 3, turn it right and walk to the exit.

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Level 3

1 = forward
2 = backwards
3 = up
4 = down

Answer

This level is just to get you used to the other movements a cube can make. You can see to get to the exit platform you just need to go forward once, and up once.

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Level 4

You start on 1, but you need to be on 2 to get to the exit.

Answer

All you need to do is move 1 down, back, back, up. Then you can walk to 2.

You can't just walk from 1 to 2 because the ladder is on the wrong side.

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Level 5

You start on a cube that has a turn handle, and this strange device.

Hint


Can you figure out what this device does? Click the button and then try turning the cube.

Hint


You might have realized it's a remote. You can to choose which cube you're controlling from the lights in the core area or the cube.

Hint


You can't walk over to that other cube, but you could if it was facing the right way.

Answer


Press the yellow remote button until the lights on the other cube are flashing. Turn the handle on this cube to the left, which will cause the other cube to turn left. Exactly what we want. Now you can walk other there, and then turn that cube around to face the exit.

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Level 6

Hint


Did you try looking over the edge of the cube? There's another one down there...

Answer



You start on cube 1.

Use the remote to get control of cube 2 and turn it left.

Take control of 1 again and turn it right. Walk over to 4.

Use the remote on 4 to move 3 backwards, out of the way. Then move 5 up. Walk back to starting cube 1.

Use the remote to turn 5 to the right. Walk over to 5, turn it to face 2, walk over to 2 and the exit.

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Level 7

You start on cube 1.

Get control of cube 2 using the remote and turn it once left.

Turn cube 4 once to the right.

Turn cube 6 once to the left.

Walk over onto 2 and then onto 4, then turn 4 to the right and walk onto 3.

Cube 3 also has a remote, and levers, rather than a turn handle.

Get control of cube 5 and raise it up out of the way.

Get control of cube 7 and raise it up. It's facing the wrong way, so make your way back to the starting cube and turn 7 to the right.

Now you can make your way across to the exit, just by controlling the cubes normally.

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Level 8

Answer



An easy one, but subtle, to end with. This is the situation.

You just need to manoeuvre the cube back and down to get to the exit.

Boxes

Hint

Not all the cubes are white.

Answer

Head for the colored boxes

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The fifth color

Hint

It's very 'cubey' this environment, isn't it? If you've done 4 sides, what else could there be?

Hint

Have you looked up?

Answer


Head upwards.

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The sixth color

Hint

So you did 4 sides, and the top...

Answer


Head downwards, keep going...

Toy town

The main 3 symbols:

Windmill


Sawmill


Blacksmith

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The configuration of doors

Hint

For each symbol, you find 3 doors. These are related to the blacksmith.
Can you see a pattern here?

Hint

It's a bit like a clock:

Answer



Click them in order.

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Windmill 3rd door

Hint

The last door for the windmill has something to do with the ruins at the end of the town.

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Getting into the ruins

Hint

Did you have a good look around?

Answer


Did you look here ( round the side )?

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Machine in the town hall

Hint



You can click in 3 places.

Hint

1: shows you various symbols
2: shows you various buildings
3: is the enter key

Answer

Click on the symbols until you see the symbol for the windmill, then click on the building until you see the windmill, then click on the enter key.

Same for the other two buildings ( forge and sawmill )

Droids

Level 1

Hint

Are those little droids a bit twitchy, or are they trying to tell you something?

Hint

Are they moving in a certain order?

Answer

Watch the order the little droids twitch in, when you see it, click on them in that order ( they will wait for you ), then click the main droid face.

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Level 2

Hint

There's two droids now, maybe they're related in some way?

Hint


When you put your mouse near a mini-droid, you'll see you can flip it in various directions.

Hint

Try flipping a mini-droid and then look at the corresponding mini-droid on the other droid.

Answer

The mini-droids need to be straightened, to do that you have to flip the corresponding mini-droid on the other droid.

Endnote
Sometimes it might look like you have the solution, but


some of the mini-droids are upside down ( notice the one on the right here ).

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Level 3

There's an Easter egg in level 3, see below if you want to know.

Hint

Standing in a good spot can really help.

Hint


You need to be able to see all 3 droids at once, so stand on the footsteps.

Hint

There's a pattern, again.

Answer

The pattern is now spread across all 3 droids. The length of the pattern is 9 movements.

You can either treat this as a memory exercise or, the easy way, wait for a mini-droid to move and hit the escape key ( to pause the game ). It gives you time to note down which mini-droid moved.

Once you have noted down the 9, just tap them in sequence like before.

Easter Egg
When you're standing on the footsteps with the droids in front of you. It's the only time they won't follow your movements.

Hint
You can

walk behind them.

Snow

Moving the upper pillar segments

Hint

Turn the keys on one of the spheres and press the button on top, listen carefully.

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How to know the solution

So maybe you understand how to configure the pillars, but what are we aiming for?

Hint

The key to this level is understanding what happens when you walk into the bubble in the centre.

Hint

Ever wished you could see into the future?

Answer


When you're standing in the centre, you're looking at the solution.

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Laser is the wrong color

Hint

Try looking around the back of the sphere.

Laser color is wrong and the sphere is on top of the pillar

Hint

The lever at the bottom of the pillar can come in handy.

Woodland ruins

This level is a bit more of a fiddle, it will have been revealed to you later than the others. Again, it's a simple idea, but a couple of twists have been put in your path.


There are 4 gates ( notice the speaker to the left )


4 beacons


And 4 controllers

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How the controller works

These devices send a sound to one of the beacons. You choose which sound at 1, which beacon using 2, you can see which beacon has been chosen at point 3, and the on / off buttons are at 5. ( 4 just opens the lid )

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What are the pitfalls, and what can do about them?

One of the speakers is broken, not too bad, there is only 4 sounds to choose from. But also one of the controllers has a broken 'beacon chooser' (2).

You can work out ( and it's also explained below ) using a working controller which part of (3) relates to which beacon.

Then you can turn the broken controller on, and you know which beacon to avoid with the other controllers.

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Relationship between gates and beacons

These are the gates. The beacon directly in front of each belongs to that gate, and is expecting the sound from that gate to be sent to it.

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Connection between controller and beacons

These rotating discs tell you which beacon the controller will send the sound to:

1 = sphere
2 = torus
3 = cube
4 = square

It can be figured out by trail and error.

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How the beacons work

When a beacon looks like this, it means that you're sending it the wrong sound.


When a beacon looks like this, it means that you're sending it the right sound.


You can press the top of the beacons down like this.

You have to press them in a specific order.

Hint: If you've spent any time wandering around this level, there's an unmistakable clue to the order of the gates.

Answer

If you walk through one of the gates, you end up coming in another. Try again.

This process will take you to each of the 4 gates in order, repeatedly.

This is the order to press the beacons ( the beacons are in front of the gates ).

If you press all 4 and they come up again, then you got the order wrong. If they stay down, the doors to the building will unlock.

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Lowering the building

Hint

What are the steps for?

Hint
When you go up to the edge of the top step, do you hear something / see someting

Answer


If you stand on the edge of the top step, you'll see this. You have to click all 4 to lower the building

Circle gate

Simplicity: deeply hidden - your new mantra. There are two buttons on the edge of the lookout.


There's also this.

If you're systematic, you can easily figure out how this all comes together.

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Turret buttons

Hint

Take a look at the design on the buttons, can you figure out what they do?

Answer

From left to right:

The plus button adds rotation segments
The button with arrows pointing inwards will turn the inner ring
The button with arrows pointing outwards will turn the outer ring

Load up the number of segments first on the plus button, then press one of the other two buttons to see the rings turn.

You can only add 5 segments because 6 would cancel everything out.

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Lookout buttons

Hint

It's a little harder to discern the meaning of these buttons. It's easiest to find out what they do after you have programmed something into the turret in the centre.

Answer

The left-hand button resets the rings back to their starting position.

The right-hand button runs the 'turret program'

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Solving the puzzle

Hint


So you know how to program the turret, and how to run that program. And you must have guessed you have to line up the symbols on the rings.

Hint

Reset the rings and program one movement into the turret. Then reset again and press the run button. What is it doing?

Answer

This shows the possible positions a ring can take. There are 6.

Maybe you've figured out by now that when you run the program, it does the reverse of what you asked it to do. So you just need to operate with that in mind.

Figure out how many moves you need to make ( anti-clockwise ) to get the ring in the correct position, and program that in. Even though, during the programming, they will occur clockwise, when you hit the replay button, they will play out correctly.

The lift

Hint

It's a timer, you have 4 clicks to do something.

Hint


You can imagine the light is like a tiny person.

Hint

How can you copy the light?

Answer

You have to stand on the same panel as the light, facing the same way as the light, then you get 4 high clicks and the rest of the lift moves up.

Now step onto the higher part.

Islands tower

Hint

Press one of the big red buttons.

Hint

Look at the ceiling.

The periscope

The periscope shows you the towers outside.

Hint


One of the towers will have a light on top corresponding to the light on the programmer.

Notice the dials also. They're a bit like a clock face.

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The programmer

Hint


You have the 4 red buttons, but also the smaller buttons.

Hint

The smaller buttons give you access to the 3 rings.

Notice how those rings also look a bit like clocks.

Answer

Press any red button on the programmer, note the color.

Look through the periscope. One of the towers has it's light on ( same color ), note down the dials.

Come back to the programmer and enter the values you saw on the dials into the 3 rings.

If you got it right, when you look through the periscope again, the gyroscope in the tower will be spinning.

Do the same for the other towers.

Desert 1

Hint


Have you figured out what these do?

Hint
Red and green are colors often associated with stop and go

Hint


Press one, make sure it's red. Are all the clouds still moving?

Hint


Have you spent any time watching where the clouds go?

Hint

They visit the buttons. When would be an interesting time to stop the cloud?

Answer


Each cloud periodically visits it's own button. The time to stop the cloud is when it's shadow is totally over the button, and hence the plant.

Desert 2

Opening the doors

Hint

There's a relationship between

the lanterns, and

the door buttons.

Hint

Try pointing more than one lantern at the same door.

Answer

To unlock a door, you need to point the other 3 lanterns at that tower.

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Using the lift

Hint


It won't work with the door open.

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Lighting the lasers

Hint


So you lit the lantern from inside, did you notice anything else outside?

Answer


The button.

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Opening more doors

You *can* open all the doors 'long-hand' like this, but there are two Easter eggs to help you on your way.

Hint
If you ride the lift and just wait, what happens?

The lift waits for a while and then goes back down.

Hint

What could you do when the lift is up, apart from lighting the lantern?

Climb out the window.

Hint
So, you can climb out the window, and the lift takes some time to go back down... What could you do in that time?

Egg1

Run back round and open the door before the lift can go back down.

Egg2


There's a teleport button above the window, which is another way of getting from one temple to another more quickly.

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Working the deflector

Initially, the lasers will be blocked at the deflector. The lanterns glow red for blocked and green for unblocked. Each temple holds the key to unblocking part of the deflector.

Hint
There was something you were working with recently. There was 4 of them, and they were red or green.

Answer

The button unblocks the relevant part of the deflector. You might notice when you press the button, it makes the 'cloud sound'. That's because it's actually stopping and starting the clouds, from the previous section. You could have also opened each part of the deflector by setting the clouds free again.

The dial points all the towers at the next temple around, in a clockwise direction.

Desert 3

Working the controller

Answer


The button turns the laser on and off.
One wheel moves the laser left and right, the other moves it up and down.
The 5 buttons set how far the laser moves.

Hint
The laser needs to be aimed at the


receiver on the streetlight. Because we can't see one of the tower lanterns from the bridge.

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The bridge

Hint

Look at the lights on top of the tower while you walk across the bridge.

Hint

There's 4 bridge panels, and 4 lights. Just one step at a time...

Hint

Light on is good, light off is bad.

Answer


Each sub-panel on the bridge can be down or up. You can tell which state it's supposed to be in from the corresponding light on the top of the tower. Once you get all the sub-panels in the correct state, the panel will lock and the light goes green.

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The tower

Hint


You can't rotate the tower with the door open.

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Level 1

Hint

Did you notice that these pods rise up to different heights?

Hint

And the staircases are different heights ( not counting the lowest ).

Answer

The device is telling you which boilers should be on and which should be off. The height of the pod tells you which staircase to go to.

Hint

Remember you activated level 1 to get the tower door open. Once the solar panel configuration is correct, you activate level 2.
[/spoiler]

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Level 2

Hint

There's that height thing again.

Hint

Numbers don't have to look like digits.

Answer

This device is telling you how many times to turn the steam value tap on each staircase. One pulse for each turn.

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Level 3

Hint

3 rows of lights. One row higher than another.

Hint


Thinking about one row of lights ( from the previous picture ), how could that apply here?

Answer

The top row refers to the highest staircase, and so on. The device it telling you the pattern to choose from the laser selector.

Lookout tower

Hint


You can turn left of right depending on cursor position.

The selector

Hint

Try putting the selector in different positions and then using the flywheel in the centre of the room.

Hint

You can check what happened by looking out the door.

Answer

Left position: move the bridge with the room
Center position: just moves the room
Right position: moves the sun ( alternate between day and night ).

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The lookout

Hint

This would be a great place to look at the stars...

[Opus Magno and Yuna]

Thanks, but still having a hard time on "Woodland ruins". No beacon lit up even after sending the correct sound and going through them...