1. CONTROLS

2. CHAPTER 1: “A Nightmare”

3. CHAPTER 2: “The Mind Lair”

4. CHAPTER 3: “The Possession of Will Byers”

5. CHAPTER 4: “The Spy”

6. CHAPTER 5: “Transcending the Human Form”

7. CHAPTER 6: “The Possession of Billy Hargrove”

8. CHAPTER 7: “The Trap is Sprung”

9. CHAPTER 8: “Eleven”

10. CHAPTER 9: “The Resurrection of Mad Max”

11. MIXED REALITY 1: “Murray’s Worries”

12. MIXED REALITY 2: “Vecna’s Arcade”

ACCESSIBILITY OPTIONS

In the Settings, players can choose reduce motion, difficulty, switch standing/sitting mode, turn on subtitles, and more to make the game more accessible to them. Gesture mechanics requiring controller movement can also be reassigned to the B/Y buttons via the same menu.

Dr. Brenner prepares you, a young Henry Creel, for a routine test of your psychic abilities. Upon closing your eyes you enter a void-like mind-palace, wherein Brenner’s voice leads you through a series of exercises.

1. You begin the game strapped to a chair in Hawkins Lab. Wait for Dr. Brenner to finish speaking. You close your eyes and enter a blank void. 

2. Use the joystick to walk forward towards the center of the circle of lights. 

3. A chair, desk, and can appear at Brenner’s prompting. Use the grip button to pick up the Coke can using Telekinesis.

4. While holding the can with grip, press trigger to Crush the can.

5. After going through various tests, a sapling appears in the water. Grab the tree sapling with the grip button. While holding the tree with grip, pull your controller upward. The tree begins to grow.

6. Pluck an apple with the grip button, pull the controller towards you to bring the apple close.

7. Continue to hold the apple with the grip button, push the controller away from you to launch the apple at one of the targets.

8. Practice grabbing, pulling, and throwing apples at the moving targets until items appear in the muck around the apple tree.

9. Next Dr. Brenner, introduces a new challenge. To practice remote viewing, open a Mind Portal into Hawkins by pressing and holding the trigger.

10. Keep using Mind Portal to open portals into different areas of Hawkins. Dr. Brenner will ask you to look for a hidden spy. This person will be speaking Russian.

11. Before you can celebrate, something in the atmosphere shifts. Brenner’s voice sternly warns that it is time to wake up; everything up to this point has been a dream and someone is invading it. Castle Byers appears nearby. Walk to it and you will be taken to the next chapter.

In Hawkins, Indiana, Eleven is psychically reaching into the Upside Down to look for Will Byers. You have sensed her presence and the intrusion of this memory shocks you awake.

TAKING PLACE IN SEASON 1

Vecna awakens in the Upside Down version of the Creel House with plans to confront Eleven. Vecna has spent years waiting for a way to get revenge on Eleven and Hawkins. Now, it is finally time. However, this surge in emotion has destabilized his control over the hivemind.

ATTIC INTRO

1. You begin this chapter in the Upside Down version of the Creel House attic.  A shadowy figure taking on the voice of Dr. Brenner manifests before you. This was the figure telling you to wake up from your dream (Chapter One); now it warns that though you want to set off to find Eleven immediately, there are more pressing matters. Wait for Vecna and Shadow Brenner to finish speaking.

2. Follow the tutorial prompts and use your A/X button to Vine Climb into the red glowing area on the ceiling. Use your vines to lift yourself into Vecna’s Mind Lair.

3. If you fall or die at any point in this section, you return to the attic. Re-enter the Mind Lair by vine climbing yourself toward the red glowing area on the attic’s ceiling.

MIND LAIR INTRO

1. When you land in your Mind Lair (a psychological manifestation of your inner world), It becomes clear that the nightmare of Eleven has fractured your control over the space. Use Vine Climb on any surface with vines growing upon it to climb and cross broken land masses. 

2. Vecna’s heightened emotions have shaken his control of this world; his usually subservient Democreatures are now are hostile. When you reach an island with large obsidian rocks, follow the tutorial prompts and practice grabbing and throwing rocks at the Demobat targets.

3. Continue climbing upwards, at the highest island you will encounter a Demodog. 

4. Defeat the Demodog by breaking off chunks of obsidian rocks and throwing them at the creature..

5. Follow the tutorial prompts to proceed. Grab the Demodog using the grip button. While holding the grip, squeeze the trigger to Vine Spire the Demodog.

1. Aim at the Demodog’s head and press trigger to latch on. Continue holding the trigger and pull your controller towards your body to pull yourself into the Demodog’s thoughts and Mind Travel. 

2. You have now entered a portion of the Demodog’s mind. The Demodogs have tunneled through your mind making new paths through your own memories and thoughts. Pull the trigger to Corrupt the area with vines. Corrupting Demodog minds will light up the level, making it easier to navigate.

3. Walk through the level until you find a glowing red rift. Grab and hold the rift using the grip and pull your controller towards yourself to enter the portal.

4. You encounter another Demodog in a broken up playground. Defeat the Demodog and enter its mind.

5. After entering the Demodog’s mind, Corrupt the area with vines and navigate the maze. Find the next rift and enter it by holding down grip and pulling your controller towards yourself.

DESTROYED CREEL HOUSE

1. The area you exit onto does not have as many vines as the previous spaces. Use Corruption to cover the space in vines and make it climbable.  

2. Find the island with Creel House rubble on it. Defeat the two Demodogs on this island,

3. After you are victorious, Virginia’s (your mother’s) body will emerge from the rubble on a spire. 

4. Enter Virginia’s mind using Mind Travel.

5. Proceed through Virginia’s mind until you reach the Creel living and dining room. Trigger Vecna’s childhood memories by walking around the living room. 

6. After viewing at least three memories, go to the dining room to view the last memory.

7. A rift appears on the dining room ceiling. Exit the space.

THE CORE

1. Across the fracture you see the core of your mind. You must “pull yourself together.” Use Corruption on the nearby flower, allowing you to reconnect to the center island.

2. Defeat the wave of monsters . You’ve started to reassemble your Mind Lair but there is still more work to do.  Keep exploring by entering any defeated Demodog’s mind.

3. You emerge at the bottom of a deep green pit. Climb out of the pit and into the main cavern. 

4. Tear off and throw the glowing seed pods at the Demodogs that emerge from the oily water. Find and exit the rift at the far side of the area.

5. Pull yourself through the rift to exit. 

AIR JUMPING AND ALICE

1. You exit before a geyser of muck. Your vines can’t find purchase here. Looking down over the edge reveals that there’s more land further down. Joystick walk off the edge and follow the tutorial. Air Control by moving the left thumbstick to move while falling. 

2. On landing at the bottom-most island, you encounter a rock with a patch of vines. Follow the tutorial to climb up the next two islands using Air Momentum. 

3. Follow the tutorial to learn how to jump yourself across the broken walls. You land on a large island in front of several rocks spewing muck into the air. 

4. Climb your way to the top using Corruption and Vine Climbing.

5. New types of enemies pop out of the walls and shoot spines at you. Throw things at them or rip them off the wall and crush them.

6. Climb up the staircase located on top of the island. Alice's spired body emerges from the earth. 

7. Use Mind Travel on Alice’s body.

8. Walk through Alice's mind, down the hallway, and into her room. You will relive a memory of Henry putting a spider on Alice's bed. Pick up one of the spiders around Alice's room using the grip button and place it on Alice.

9. A rift appears in Alice's room. Enter the rift.

REASSEMBLING THE CORE SECOND VISIT

1. You find yourself back at the core of your mind space: this time on another disconnected island. Corrupt the flower to tether this area back to the world’s core as well. You are reforming your space piece by piece. 

2. Defeat the Demodogs on the main island, then enter one of their minds. As you fight you encounter a new enemy. Tentacle creatures can be killed gripping their heads and pulling your controller towards you. Once it snaps back into a pink lump, throw an object at it. 

3. Follow the green glowing seed pods and use corruption to navigate this mind. Find the rift by either following the right path, or by following the left path; once you pick a direction continue to follow it to the end rather than taking any turns onto other pathways. Exit the rift.

ANT FARM

1. Once inside the mind, navigate towards the lower levels. In the lowest cavern, you come across a small island on a pond. Walk onto the island. Giant ants swarm you.   

2. You are taken to a memory of you standing outside the Creel House. Observe the broken ant farm laying on the ground in front of you and the ants crawling up your arm. 

3. A rift appears.  Exit this mind.

FINAL REASSEMBLY OF CORE + MINDFLAYER

1. You are taken to one more flower. Corrupt it to connect the final islands to the main island.

2. Defeat all Demodogs on the main island. Once complete, the ending sequence will play.

3. Castle Byers appears. Follow Eleven into the shack and enter Will’s mind using Mind Travel.

Vecna manages to retake his home in time to catch Eleven reaching out to Will and possesses the boy to get closer to her.

TAKING PLACE IN SEASON 2

Will’s mind is slowly being taken over by Vecna. He tries to escape into pleasant memories, but hiding may not work this time…

1. You start the chapter in your bedroom. Pick up your flashlight. Press trigger to turn the flashlight on and off. Jonathan walks in to check on you. Once he leaves, shine the flashlight around the room.

2. The room becomes darker, reminiscent of the Upside Down. Something starts disturbing the furniture around your room. Look for it with your flashlight.

3. A creature grabs onto your bed and you suddenly enter a dark void. 

4. A viewfinder appears in front of you. Grab it with grip, and look into the viewfinder to escape into Will’s happy memories.

5. The first memory is of Will and Mike in Castle Byers. Mike grabs the viewfinder and puts it down nearby. 

6. Pick up the viewfinder again using grip, and press trigger to flip through Will’s memories. There are six memories in total to look through.

7. Each memory eventually falls to Vecna’s corruption, and you are dragged back to Vecna again and again. After catching you several times, Vecna takes the viewfinder away from you.

Vecna shows you one final painful memory. There is nothing you can do to escape it. The chapter ends with Vecna taking over Will.

TAKING PLACE IN SEASON 2

Vecna wants to use Will to gather intel on Eleven and her friends.You, Vecna, attempt to infiltrate the boys’ minds during a Dungeons and Dragons sleepover at Mike’s house.

1. You are in the Upside Down version of Mike’s Basement. Follow the tutorial prompts and hold down trigger to open a portal into Hawkins, where Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin are setting up for a game of DnD.

2. Follow the tutorial prompts. Use Vecna’s Mind Portal ability to spy on the boys and Mind Travel to enter their thoughts.

Will exits Castle Byers as he feels the support of his friends. Vecna is reminded of the time El rejected him in the rainbow room and begins to lose his grip on Will. This failure leads Vecna to spiral into his own memories of defeat.

A FLASHBACK TAKING PLACE BEFORE SEASON 1

When Eleven first banished him from Hawkins, Henry struggled to survive in his new environment. But he soon came to see his exile as an opportunity…

ABYSS

You wake up in a strange landscape. Navigate through this area while avoiding the acid puddles.

1. You come across a river. On the left side of the river, there is a cave opening. Walk through the cave and follow the glowing green flora downhill until you enter a large cavern with flashing lightning. 

2. Defeat the Demodog in the cavern using the nearby rocks. 

3. Follow the Demodog’s blood trail. Voices from Henry’s past start vying for your attention. Shadows amass and drawing from your memories, take the form of Dr. Brenner. 

4. This “Shadow Brenner” wants to force you to relive your memories in order to understand human life. He sends you into the memory of an experiment which took place within Hawkins Lab's observation room.

TESTING

ESCAPE SEQUENCES

1. After escaping for the first time, you enter a hallway connecting your mind with Shadow Brenner’s. Enter the rift at the far end of the hallway.

2. Exiting the rifts leaves you in one of the many Demodog minds under Shadow Brenner’s control. You gain the Corruption and Vine Climbing abilities, which you can use to navigate and corrupt Shadow Brenner’s collective minds. 

3. Fight your way through each mind to locate and corrupt the Mind Heart flower at the end of the level. 

4. If Shadow Brenner captures you, he returns you to your memories. Escape again by finding and entering the rifts in your memories. 

5. You can view the progress of absorbing/taking over the hivemind by looking at the monitor screens in the Lab Hallway or Shadow Brenner’s office. The proportion of red monitors to normal monitors represents your progress - once you have taken over enough minds, the finale will begin.

FINALE - FORMING THE MINDFLAYER

1. After taking over enough monster minds, Shadow Brenner catches you one more time and forces you to relive the painful Rainbow Room exile again.

2. While in this memory, grab Shadow Brenner using the grip button, and Crush him.

3. You are taken to a level with floating islands. Use Corruption and Vine Climb to navigate upwards through this level. 

4. Shadow Brenner attempts to stop you periodically. Absorb his power by crushing him.

5. Progress to the highest floating island and crush Shadow Brenner one last time. 

6. Hold trigger to dump corruption into the world and form the Mind Flayer.

Having been reminded of his triumph in taming the hivemind and forming the mind flayer. Vecna mobilizes the hivemind with an new sense of purpose: finding another victim to connect him to Hawkins and Eleven: Billy Hargrove

MIND HEART LOCATIONS APPENDIX
Here are tips on where the flowers are located in each level:

TAKING PLACE IN SEASON 3

Billy, a destructive newcomer to Hawkins and Max’s step brother, is on his way to a date with Mike’s mom when something otherworldly takes an interest in him…

1. Play as Billy driving late at night. Steer the car by grabbing the steering wheel with the grip. A Demobat hits the windshield, causing you to crash.

2. While you are parked at the side of the road, walk to the phone booth and pick up the phone. Vecna has taken hold of you. 

3. Once back at the side of the road, pick up the car keys to continue.

4. You will be returned to the car, but something is off. Radio stations become available for you to listen to. Tune the radio dial to any station and listen until the yellow indicator turns dark.

By contacting Billy, Eleven has revealed her location to Vecna. At last, he knows where she is. He assembles a monster from the “Flayed” to do his bidding in Hawkins and chase down Eleven and her friends. . .

TAKING PLACE IN SEASON 3

This is the culmination of Vecna’s hard work. Play as “The Flayed,” a creature made up of all the townspeople Billy has sacrificed. It is time to fight Eleven and her friends.

1. Use the joystick to approach Hopper's cabin. You hear the muffled sounds of Eleven’s friends preparing for battle. 

2. When close enough to the cabin, attack by pressing the trigger.

3. After dealing enough damage to the cabin, one final attack lands on Eleven herself.  The moment of contact switches your POV to that of Eleven with the tentacle still attached to your leg.

TAKING PLACE IN SEASON 4

Dr. Brenner must oversee one last experiment. Eleven has to work with “Papa” to get her powers back.

1. You, Eleven, start this chapter inside the NINA machine where Dr Brenner tells you your powers are not lost, but locked up inside. You have to relearn how to use them by retreading old memories. 

2. The NINA machine flashes you back to Hawkins Labs’ Rainbow Room alongside Henry. Go to the Plinko board. Pick up one of the red pieces and drop it into the board. 

3. The side door of the Rainbow Room opens. Exit the Rainbow Room through the open door.

4. In the hallway, open and enter any unlocked door by grabbing the door handle using grip and pulling/pushing the door open.

5. You are back in the Rainbow Room. Listen to Henry speak again.

6. Pick up the red Plinko pieces to trigger new dialogue from Henry. When ready, exit the Rainbow Room and then re-enter it through any unlocked door. You need to do this three more times to hear all of Henry’s dialogue.

7. The Rainbow Room’s appearance suddenly changes. Blood covers the walls. It is evident that something horrible happened here. Exit the room through any door.

8. Walk down the hallway and open the set of double doors at the end. Henry is waiting for you and pulls you into the room using his powers.

Armed with knowledge of her true past and her previous victory over Henry, Eleven regains her powers and vows to protect her friends.

TAKING PLACE IN SEASON 4

Max is dying after Vecna absorbs her to open the fourth gate in Hawkins. But not all is lost; Eleven, telepathically piggybacks into Max’s mind. Vecna taunts Eleven about their similarities and shared past. Go through Max’s memories and cleanse them of Vecna’s influence.

THE VOID

1. You are in a void. Approach Lucas and Max. 

2. Max is dying, and there’s nothing Lucas can do for her. After a few moments, you enter Max's mind.

THE WASH

1. You are in the first of Max’s memories. Follow Max. 

2. You enter Eleven’s Cleanse ability tutorial. Hold trigger to charge, and release to fire a wave of energy that cleanses Vecna’s corruption vines.

3. Eleven’s Dash tutorial begins. Hold the A/X button and pull or push your controller in any direction to dash in that direction.

4. As you approach Billy and Max, Vecna takes over Billy’s body and speaks to you directly.  Max breaks out of the memory to protect Eleven and pulls Billy through a rift into a deeper memory.  Follow them.

WILL’S HOUSE

1. You watch Steve and Billy fight each other as Vecna brags that Max didn’t need you to keep Billy in check. You spawn in Will's backyard. Defeat the Demodog that appears.

2. Walk through Will’s house and watch Max defend her friends against her step brother. Continue to the front yard. Max drives off and opens a new portal. Fight your way through the Demodogs and enter the portal.

SNOWBALL DANCE

1. You arrive at a school hallway. Walk down the halls and defeat any enemies that appear.

2. Enter the gym where Max and Lucas are dancing. Max opens another portal, but vines block you from entering.

3. Fight through several waves of Demobats and Demodogs. The portal opens when all are defeated.

4. Enter the portal.

DRIVE-IN

1. You exit onto a road leading to the Drive-in Movie Theater. Make your way to the lot. 

2. Once you arrive at the drive-in, walk towards Max's car.

3. Demodogs spawn and vines wrap around the car. Defeat three waves of Demodogs.

4. Once free, Max opens a portal to the next memory. Enter the portal.

TRAILER PARK

1. You are taken to Max’s neighborhood. Fight your way through while looking for Max’s house. This can be found by following the sunset.  

2. You find Max and her mom in front of their house. The two women talk about the nature of friendship. After their conversation, Max opens the next portal.

STARCOURT

1. Enter the portal. You are back in the void. Max reaffirms her faith in you and your friendship. She takes you to Scoops Ahoy and confides that a part of her is caught in the memory of Billy’s death at Starcourt Mall. 

2. After Max finishes this heart to heart, leave Scoops Ahoy and walk towards Max and Billy.

3. Enemies spawn. Defeat the waves of monsters. Sensing Eleven’s presence, Max becomes unstuck from the memory and rallies to Eleven’s side. She declares that Eleven is not “a monster” like Vecna despite their shared pasts.

4. Determined to free Max, Eleven defeats the “Spider Monster” and cleanses Vecna’s influence from the heart of Starcourt.

You return to the void where Lucas is holding Max. You hear the beat of Max’s heart.

Guided by Murray, use a questionable piece of Russian technology to search for portals to the Upside Down. Scan for portals, open them, and bring objects from other worlds into your own space. But beware, your antics are liable to catch Vecna’s attention.

Starting the chapter:

1. Press the glowing red button on your glove.

2. OR Select “Mixed Reality One: Murray’s Worries” in the Chapter Select menu.

1. There is a tape recorder in the room with you. Start Murray’s tape by pressing the “Play” button.

2. Murray’s recording talks about the glove and how to use it. The yellow HUD prompts you to warm up the glove with some hand movements.

3. After a few moments, the portal scanner will turn on. Scan the walls using your gloved hand to find portals.

4. On finding one, follow the “Open Portals” prompt on the small screen on the back of your glove to progress.

5. Find and open three portals.

6. A portal suddenly opens on its own. Follow the tutorial prompt on your glove to learn how to Close Portals. 

7. Another portal appears, accompanied by Vecna’s laugh. Black tendrils spill from the portal and reach into your glove. You no longer need to scan for cracks and can open portals anywhere within the space. Open at least two portals.

8. Murray’s recording is derailed by a visitor to his apartment. At the same time, a grandfather clock appears within the room. Vecna opens a portal filled with rocks. Follow the tutorial prompts to learn how to crush and launch the rocks. 

9. Vecna opens a new portal that opens onto a vine-covered chest. He asks you to bring him an item from Hawkins. Grab an item of your choice out of a portal and give the item to Vecna by placing it inside the chest.

10. Vecna opens a new portal into a lab. A Demodog floats in a glass tank. Choose whether to free the Demodog by throwing a medium or large item at its tank, or to leave the creature where it is. 

11. Vecna grows tired of you and pours Demobats into your room. Kill them by grabbing and crushing them, or by throwing them against a wall.

12. Your walls crumble away and you find yourself in the Red Space with The Mindflayer high above you. It attacks.

13. Use Telekinesis to grab and pull on the electric pole after each Mind Flayer’s attack. Repeat a few times until.

14. Demobats attack you. Defeat them.

15. The Mindflayer attacks one last  time. In doing so it throws a piece of wall near you. 

16. Open a portal on the wall and pull yourself through it.