When Anton arrives at school the day after the events of the second episode, Romka will report that Semyon Baburin has disappeared. All the children, remembering their argument with Anton the previous day, will cast sideways glances at the protagonist. The first thing you can do is quickly earn the “True Detective 3” achievement, as in Episode 3, all you need to do is examine all the interactive objects in the classroom. But you need to do this before Anton sits down at his desk. You’re interested in:
- a package of firecrackers lying on the desk in front of Anton,
- portraits of Soviet writers hanging on the wall above the school blackboard,
- a movie projector standing on the far cabinet by the window, in the upper left quadrant of the screen.
Only after you’ve examined all three objects and earned the achievement can you confidently sit down at your desk.
Finally, the interaction with Senior Lieutenant Tikhonov will begin. And the first thing you need to decide is whether to skip the folder or try to look inside it.
Should I look into Tikhonov’s folder or skip it?
There are 3 completely different outcomes, although two of them are essentially the same, but will allow you to achieve different achievements:
- Skip . In this case, you completely skip this step. Anton doesn’t look at the folder, doesn’t earn any achievements, and is left completely without information. Just like you, you’re left without the opportunity to find out what interesting things are inside.
- Open . Open the folder only when the policeman turns away from the board, keeping an eye on his head as well: the cunning Tikhonov might turn his entire body toward the board but still look toward the class, and see Anton reaching for his folder. If he notices you for the first or second time, you won’t learn about the folder’s contents or receive the third clue, but you will receive the “Gap” achievement.
- Open it twice successfully . If you follow the rules of this minigame, the first time you open the folder, you’ll learn that the first missing child was a certain Ksenia. You’ll also gain information about Vova—the same boy the police reported when they stopped by Anton’s house. But the real action comes when you successfully open the folder a second time. This will teach you more about Semyon Baburin’s disappearance, but most importantly, you’ll obtain Semyon’s ring, which is the third piece of evidence (3/4) in the game . This is important because without evidence, you won’t be able to convince Tikhonov of the Master of the Forest’s existence and achieve the best endings of the game. Furthermore, if you successfully examine the folder twice and find Semyon’s ring, you’ll earn the “My Precious!” achievement.
To get both achievements, save beforehand and first open the folder while Tikhonov is looking in the direction of the class, then load that save and open the folder twice while he is not looking.
Keep silent or tell?
Next, Tikhonov will ask the class if they’ve seen anyone suspicious. You have two options:
- Keep silent . This option will earn you the “Silent” achievement, but will also prevent you from helping the police catch the killer Harelip. If the killer isn’t caught, he’ll simply kill Anton and his friends on his way to the best endings of “Bunny” (there are different variations). So this isn’t the best solution, especially since the second option will allow you to earn several achievements at once.
- Tell . If you select this option, Anton will begin drawing a portrait of the person he saw on a piece of paper. There are several options, but the most useful one is to depict a stranger with a cleft lip: frowning eyes, a wrinkled forehead, a bald head, a bandage on the nose, a cleft lip scar on the mouth. This will earn you the “Van Gogh” achievement.
Whose portrait should I draw?
There are 5 different options:
- The stranger with the cleft lip is the best choice . And the most important one, as it unlocks the game’s good endings. Choose frowning eyes, a wrinkled forehead, a bald head, a bandage on the nose, or a cleft lip scar on the mouth. This will earn you the “Van Gogh” achievement. However, you can only draw the man if you’ve examined him at least once (I think, but maybe 2-3) in the previous, second episode. He appears in front of the school, in the backyard behind the school along Alice’s route , and in the forest on the way to the garage or house along Alice’s and Polina’s routes, respectively. The class, the teacher, and the policeman will respect Anton; the children will even ask him to draw them.
- Alice the Fox . If you draw Alice, which is quite easy to do thanks to the fact that her image is the only animal you can choose from , the class will laugh at Anton, and the policeman will throw out his drawing. This won’t help anyone in any way; there’s not even an achievement for it.
- Viktor Tsoi . This option is available in any case; you just need to choose the right facial features: winged eyebrows, a narrow chin, shaggy hair hanging below the eyebrows, a narrow upper lip, and a straight nose. This design will earn you the “Survivor” achievement.
- Sergey Bodrov . This option is available in any case; you just need to choose the right facial features: rounded eyebrows, a scar on the nose, a regular haircut, and a semicircular mouth. This design will earn you the “Last Hero” achievement.
- Kai Letov . This option is available in any case; you just need to choose the right facial features: glasses, protruding ears (lop-eared), long hair, and a mustache and beard. For this design, you’ll earn the “A Rifle is a Party!” achievement.
So, to continue the game with the option to save the children, choose Harelip’s portrait, but only if you saw it in the previous episode. Without this choice, the required facial features simply won’t be there.
Alice’s Path
Why is Polaroid important? (Only for Alice’s thread!)
After school, in the hallway, Romka will take a Polaroid from a student in another class, and you can challenge him to a game of rock-paper-scissors. However, you’ll have to wager the insert, which you could have received in the second episode if you agreed to take the Turbo gum from Alice the fox. Otherwise, you won’t have this choice, and you’ll miss out on the final piece of evidence needed to convince Officer Tikhonov, so he can ultimately save the children from the beasts and the Master of the Forest.
But even if you follow Alice’s path (yes, Polina’s path is not suitable) and you have the insert, the mini-game can end differently:
- Anton defeats Romka and takes the Polaroid . If you win three rounds faster than Romka, you’ll earn the Polaroid and the “Oh, Lucky You!” achievement. This is important because it unlocks the path to the best Bunny endings.
- Anton loses and doesn’t get the Polaroid . In this scenario, you’ll earn the “Burdock” achievement, but the Polaroid will remain with Romka, meaning Anton won’t be able to photograph the final clue.
For this reason, we recommend saving before making a choice or at the beginning of the game, and then simply playing at your own risk. Lose once to unlock the achievement, then reload and play until you win. Repeat until you win, and you’ll receive the Polaroid needed for the best ending.
Polina’s path – to take the amulet or to refuse?
On the other hand, even if you took the Turbo gum from Alice but follow Polina’s path (choosing her in the school hallway in the second episode), the Polaroid sequence won’t happen. This means that if you follow Polina’s route, which many people probably want, Anton will deprive himself of the chance to escape. However, this decision opens the door to several interesting (if tragic) endings of the game, since instead of competing for the Polaroid, you’ll meet Polina (you’ll meet her anyway, but she won’t offer a gift ), who will hand Anton the amulet.
There are two options:
- Refuse . This option will earn you the “Skeptic” achievement, but it also guarantees you’ll reach the only ending of Episode 4 (all the others are tied to Episode 5), which ends with Romka killing Anton (the “Schoolboy Killer” ending).
- Take the amulet . If you agree and take the amulet from Polina, you’ll be able to escape Romka’s attacks in the future . You’ll earn the “Shaman King” achievement right now and also be able to access a number of additional endings, but all of them will be bad.
The Bunny’s Path
It doesn’t bode well, there won’t be any choices, but you’ll continue the game until episode five, with only a few bad endings available.
Win Olya, give in, or turn off the console?
Once home—whether you’ve got the amulet or not, whether you’re following Alice’s path, or whether you’ve won the Polaroid—Anton will suggest Olya pass the time playing the game console. If you have Semyon’s ring, you’ll have to open the drawer and place it with the rest of the evidence. Then you’ll finally get to play the game on the console in your sister’s room. The winner is the one with the most points after three rounds. Your actions in this scene can unlock various achievements.
There are three possible outcomes:
- Killing all the ducks guarantees you’ll defeat Olya and earn the “Boo” and “Recycler” achievements. The latter is awarded for killing all the ducks, while the former is awarded for winning the game.
- Turn off the console . To the left of the TV, there’s a plug plugged into an outlet. You can interact with it at any time during the game to turn off the console. This will upset your sister, and you’ll earn the same “Boo” achievement.
- Defeat Olya without destroying all the ducks . You won’t earn the “Recycler” achievement, but you will earn the same “Boo” achievement.
- Give in to Olya . Olya will be happy she won her brother, and you’ll get the “Little Brother” achievement.
None of this will affect the rest of the game’s story or ending, so save your game beforehand and then reload your save until you’ve earned all three achievements: “Baka,” “Brother,” and “Recycler.”
Conversation with Polina on the phone – Romka or Polina?
Further events depend on Anton’s relationship with the characters.
- The Bunny’s Path – Polina will contact Anton herself. She’ll complain that the lovesick Romka is looming outside her window again. That’s where the conversation ends.
- Polina’s Path – If you’ve been developing a relationship with Polina, Anton will call her this time. She’ll invite him over the next day.
- Alice’s path leads to a fork in the road: “Polina or Romka.” Polina is the first to contact her. After their conversation, Anton will draw her and Voltron, and a choice will appear.
So, Polina or Romka:
- Click on Polina’s picture . This will take you to her storyline and earn the “Muse” achievement. Polina will invite you to visit again. However, there’s one small but significant detail: if you didn’t take the amulet from her or didn’t have the option at all (for example, if you chose Alice in the hallway in Episode 2), this choice will lead directly to the “Schoolboy Killer” ending. In this outcome, Romka will inevitably kill Anton in Episode 4.
- Click on Romka’s portrait . Alice and Romka’s journey will continue, and you’ll earn the “Team Voltron” achievement.
If you don’t get killed by Romka (you follow Polina’s path, choosing her every time, and also took the amulet; or you follow Alice’s path and chose the Voltron drawing), the game will continue, and you’ll see a few more memorable moments. Anton will take a walk with the children in animal masks, and then the episode will end.