SOLUTION-FREE Guide to Avoid....Guides. And Frustration.

This short guide is essential if you want to get the most out of FEZ without resorting to solutions when you don't need to. It can be read before or any time during your playthrough. I cover some design issues that aren't obvious WITHOUT spoiling any puzzle solutions!

Revisions

v1.1 February 15, 2017

Added some helpful photos to better identify the 3 ciphers.

Introduction

(TL;DR) No spoilers, some VERY good to know.

FEZ is a fantastic game with some really challenging puzzles, and it won't hold your hand.

It has ONE VERY SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM for the average gamer: its riddles make no distinction between what is necessary and unnecessary, or even possible and impossible.

And I do LITERALLY mean impossible. The game's final puzzle is notoriously unsolvable, or at the very least has no agreed-upon official solution. You can look up the answer, but the process of actually getting that answer remains a mystery to this day.

The result? You will hit an impenetrable wall before the end, and you will be forced to look at solutions to finish the game.

You may also get intimidated and overwhelmed by elements unnecessary for game completion, influencing you to consult a guide when you really don't need to. You're here, right?

This guide exists to explain, WITHOUT spoiling, what CAN be solved by yourself, what NEEDS to be solved for completion (as certain puzzles are superfluous), and what you will have to ultimately look up. I also discuss the actual real-world knowledge you will need to solve certain puzzles that is unavailable in the game.

New Game vs New Game Plus

FEZ CANNOT be completed on your initial playthrough. This is not something it tells you.

In your first playthrough, you will need to collect 32 cubes to "finish" the game. Once you are able to meet this goal, go directly to the end-game area.

You will then trip balls for a few minutes and be able to continue your progress with New Game Plus from where you left off. You will also receive exactly one ability that is REQUIRED to solve certain puzzles.

FEZ is not Metroidvania

It may seem like a Metroidvania game, with an open-world design and many artifacts and devices that seem initially unusable....but they're not. Aside from the aforementioned ability gained upon completing your initial playthrough, there are no upgrades and no power-ups for litle Gomez. Don't wait for them.

The only impediment to not solving the puzzle in front of you is your own understanding and knowledge.

N.B. There are a few instances where a puzzle solution will trigger an effect on your environment and allow you access to new areas.

Three Layers of Completion

I have broken down game completion into three layers so you can decide how deep you would like to go. I recommend trying Layers 1 & 2 without a guide.

Layer 1: Complete Main Game

Solve half of the puzzles and get the game's only real ending, a New Game Plus option, and one additional ability.

Layer 2: Obtain All Achievements

This is the best way to qualify Fez's completionist playthrough in a way that is solvable by anyone using their brain. You will need to collect 64 cubes, 4 artifacts, and 9 maps and have completed every area in the game (except for two specific rooms....see below). Completed areas are marked on your map.

Layer 3: Find Obscure Collectibles

These are the nearly impossible collectibles, similar to Braid's stars, but maybe worse. Actually yes, far far worse, because one of them has never been solved. Fortunately, there is literally no reward for obtaining them. None whatsoever. Just like me writing this guide, since no one will ever read it. I have included more info in another section below.

Ciphers

FEZ has 3 ciphers that can be decoded. To avoid spoilers, we will call these Ciphers X, Y, and Z.

Only TWO of these ciphers are required to complete the game. Here is the breakdown to complete the layers listed above:

Layer 1 (Complete Main Game): No ciphers required.

Layer 2 (Obtain All Achievements): Ciphers X and Y required.

Layer 3 (Obscure Collectibles): Ciphers X, Y, and Z required.

Each cipher and its corresponding puzzles will likely require a pen and paper to decode. Don't get intimidated - it's fun!

Cipher X: Based around button inputs. Decodable through an in-game puzzle that leads to one of the 64 cubes as a reward. Minor hint: The solution is self-contained in a single room and is not obscure - you'll know it when you see it.

Cipher Y: Based around numerals. Decodable through in-game images in a specific area. Minor hint: The symbols are white on a black background....not the other way around. (It's easy to incorrectly visualize the symbols as black on a white background and thus get confused.)

Cipher Z: Based around glyphs. Most easily decodable through an in-game pangram, but can also be worked on through the analysis of either related objects near the glyphs, or trial-and-error with basic probabilities of frequencies.


In short, Cipher Z is not really required to complete the game, unless you want to hunt for the 3 obscure collectibles (see Layer 3 above). You will find that Cipher Z decodes the majority of the game's hidden messages, yet those messages will not yield any deeper understanding of the game's lore.

MY HONEST RECOMMENDATION: Decode Ciphers X & Y - they are good puzzles but not too time-consuming or difficult to crack. Skip Cipher Z. You can look up the decoded glyphs online and some of the translations for fun, but they have no bearing on the puzzles of Layers 1 & 2.

Layer 3 Obscure Collectibles

This section contains minor spoilers for the sake of avoiding the puzzles unnecessary to game completion. I know it's tempting to tackle the game's toughest challenges, and feel free to try, but know that a dedicated community of gamers spending countless cumulative hours have never been successful. Have fun.

(Note: Totally generic screenshots. THIS IS A ZERO SPOILERS GUIDE!)

Piece 1: I actually managed to get this one entirely by accident. It is located in (minor spoiler) the observatory . In this room you may notice a pair of blinking lights. This puzzle is only solvable with knowledge not found or taught within the game. This room has another puzzle that *is* necessary for completing the main game, but the area will still be marked as incomplete on your map unless you obtain the obscure collectible with its obscure solution.

Piece 2: This is contained in a small room on its own. This room contains 8 movable blocks and a prominent coded text hovering over the central platform. This puzzle is solvable, but you need to have decoded Cipher Z (see above), and solved a verbal riddle that requires knowledge or research related to sacred geometry. Pay attention to what the owls tell you....

Piece 3: This piece is (so far) impossible to obtain without a guide. If there is a solution, it has only been theorized about. I have seen a solid theory that I have chosen to believe, but it has not been confirmed or denied by the game's creator. The solution was found with help from the development team, and even then the answer was "brute forced" by the online community over several days. That is to say, an arduous process of elimination was employed rather than actual logic.

Piece 3 is contained in a small room on its own. It has a two-part solution. The first part requires a specific map piece. The second part requires one of the four artifacts, several years of cryptographical training, and other currently unknown information.

In short, you will have to use a guide.

Real-World Knowledge

I remember playing Silent Hill 3 back in the day and having to look up the plot summaries for various Shakespeare plays to solve a very early puzzle. I still got it wrong because I'm a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ moron.

Fez requires this type of thing exactly once, but it's even worse because it's not readily apparent that additional knowledge is required.

I will not spoil the puzzle or the location, but I will give you two words to Google. You can then recognize the puzzle when you see it and apply your knowledge....

Fly Code

There is a code in FEZ that lets you fly. I consider it more of an ability than a cheat. It is unlocked in New Game Plus. You may discover it on your own; I did, and I thought the game was glitched.

If you are interested, I recommend Googling the button presses. During the end-game, you will be in full-time puzzle solving mode. You will have already explored all the areas in the game and will likely only be interested in getting to a puzzle as quickly as possible to keep working at it.

For this reason, the Fly Code is essential. You will save lots of time travelling and keep more of your brain for puzzles.

There is no penalty for using the ability!

Tip: Activate the Fly Code to descend as well. Poor Gomez can't fall very far without splatting, so use it to control your descent over long distances!

QR Codes

There are a handful of Quick Response Codes that need to be scanned for game completion.

Actually, they don't *need* to be - there are alternative puzzle solutions for those particular riddles, but they are much more difficult to figure out than scanning a code.

Here, I'll give you one for free since they're so stupid:


(I can understand why they make a certain thematic sense for the game, but it's an overused mechanic that feels shoehorned into an otherwise brilliant design.)

General Tips

Here are some miscellaneous tips to get you on your way:

1. Use the use button. Sounds stupid, but it's easily overlooked. Gomez can pick up boxes (not just push them) and interact with things that you might not think are usable. When you know there is an unsolved puzzle in the room, try the Use button on your surroundings.

2. Pay attention to your senses. On-screen visuals are not the only way to solve puzzles in FEZ -- pay attention to your senses of hearing and touch (i.e. controller vibrations).

3. Think of meta solutions. Remember having to plug your controller into the second port to kill Psycho Mantis? Of course you do. Think outside the box. If you mess around with Windows settings while the game is running, it won't glitch up....

Conclusion

I'd like your feedback on this guide. Let me know if there are any glaring mistakes or omissions. You can be as much of a ♥♥♥♥ as you want, I don't care.

Phil Fish, lâche pas!

[Ballwatcher]

Thank you for this guide. I played through most the game years ago without looking up anything, well OK except the z cypher, and am now playing through with my kids. This is helping to get the wheels turning

[IrisNebula]

Hey, while I kept playing I realised there's yet another one! In the Nu Zu classroom, this time it's a cube net of the globe itself, which is universally recognisable without any artifacts in possession.

[TheColorUrple]

@IrisNebula Hi, thanks for the comment! This is news to me, so I'm definitely gonna look into this when I have some time and credit you if I make any changes.

[IrisNebula]

Hey! This is how guides are meant to be made! I played the whole game without one and am currently missing only the 2/3 whateverthings and decyphering the glyphs (Z) which I'd like to do on my own.

I'd like to mention that the "real-world knowledge" is actually explained in-game, but it's obscure and needs A LOT of figuring out on the player's part!

I'll say this as spoiler free as possible, but will still spoiler tag it for safety:
There is a cube net on the blackboard in the classroom of the middle civilization. When you have the corresponding artifact, you can combine what you see and extract the knowledge, but you still have to do a lot of figuring out after that yet...

But yes, even this is explained inside the game, kind of.

[BunnyLizard]

Very late to the Fez hype, since I'm bad at starting games and not playing again for literal years. Really liked this guide, wish more people would write their guides in a way that gives hints to guide rather than straight up spoilers.

[Joe]

Did you come to the password conclusion by yourself, or did you use the web? Maybe you can give the hint that you only need to spell out one sequence.

[Superwool]

This is exactly the sort of guide that I want. Just giving you hints without straight spitting out solutions. Thanks!

[leela-jo]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I read a lot of spoilers before finding your article. And I thought I needed the ciphers to end the game, glad I don't, cause apart the cipher X that I got spoiled, I'm not really into solving cipher Y right now, let alone Z.

Anyway, I'm glad there are people like you, who make an effort to guide like this :)

[Holo]

Helpful!

[Plox 404]

This is a great guide! I always want to solve all puzzles and side quests if possible, and was stuck on the cypher x, good i decided to drop it. It aint as easy as i expected. Really cool you need some real puzzle power to solve some of these.
Thank you for the easy and clear guide for beginners to know what to try and not to until you finished it. Thank you for saving a lot of my time.