Briefcase Puzzle Guide “Zinnia and the Akaashihara Tribe” (English) (Patreon)

Countless players have asked for advice or, outright, a guide to solve the Zinnia and briefcase puzzle.

Si buscas la guía en Español, la encuentras aquí:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/guia-de-puzzle-y-149607292

The Akaashihara Tribe Puzzle.

Before starting the guide, I'll give two hints. You can be sure that after reading both you'll be able to solve the puzzle easily.

If after the hints you still can't solve it, then proceed with the guide.

Hint 1: Curiosity.

From the very beginning, Zinnia is presented as a character full of curiosity, similar to Arzu.

Curiosity is a defining trait of humanity that allows us to acquire knowledge about the unknown. Over the years —and with constant technological improvement—, curiosity has gradually become more of an automated tool in our daily lives than an intrinsic form of hands-on learning. That is what this puzzle is about, and that is what Zinnia mentions in a certain line of dialogue:

“I should read everything I find.”

Hint 2: Item Descriptions.

This is, without a doubt, the point where most players fail to identify the riddle.

Every item picked up from the ground, bought, obtained as a quest reward, or received as a Patreon token has a description. Absolutely all of them. These can range from something as simple as etymology or lore expansion, to nonsense jokes, social criticism, and satire.

You only need to scroll down the text box that displays each item's stats in the inventory to read its full description.

One of the documents collected in the Akaashihara Puzzle has two digits hidden in its description.

At this point, I strongly recommend trying to complete the puzzle on your own. You now have all the elements, and a developer who trusts you. 🫶

If after all that you still couldn't figure it out, I leave the guide in your hands. However, I highly recommend reading the documents together with Zinnia— this expands the game's lore.

Puzzle: The Akaashihara Tribe.

We begin with a short monologue from Zinnia, which then redirects us to an abandoned attic used as storage. Remember that there are many objects you can interact with. Doing so lets you learn more about Zinnia, but in this guide we'll only cover what's essential.

There are SIX locations here:

The central point where we initially appear.

Rest corner, with a bed to the southwest.

Paper wall to the west.

Locked briefcase to the north.

Nightstand to the east.

Workstation to the southeast.

1.- First Document

As soon as we begin, we'll move to the workstation to the southeast. Several objects will be scattered on top of it. We'll pick up the newspaper.

When opening the inventory, we'll scroll its text box downward, revealing the two digits it hides: 43.

Now that we know the first combination, we'll read the document by clicking on it.

PS: This is important to continue with the puzzle. All documents must be read.

2.- Second Document

Once the first document has been obtained —and read— we'll head to the southwest area and interact with the bed. At first, Zinnia only complains, but after reading the first document, a different interaction is triggered. After finishing her internal monologue and jumping on the bed, we'll obtain the second document, which, just like the first, we will now read. We'll notice a piece of text curiously highlighted in red, indicating the second pair of digits: 73.

3.- Paper Wall

After having read the first document, we can head to the eastern section of the storage room and take the scissors that previously couldn't be picked up. They'll go into the inventory but will remain useless until we read the second document, which we've already done.

Now, with the scissors in our inventory, we'll go to the western section, where the final piece of the puzzle is located. We'll interact with the torn paper flap on the wall, and we'll be allowed to remove it with the scissors. Zinnia will make a small joke about it. The final digits are now revealed: 19.

4.- Briefcase

We have the three pairs of digits, now we just need to know their order. To do that, we need to reexamine the same wall where the last digits were revealed. On it, and beneath the 19, there are two sections:

The first visually indicates the starting point of the puzzle, and shows how to the north lies the locked briefcase next to the stairs that lead downstairs.

Taking this as a reference point, what does the second section with three arrows tell us? Exactly, the sequence. The cardinal directions indicate the order in which the code should be entered. First comes the digit found in the southeast of the room, then the one from the southwest, and finally the one from the west. In other words, document one, document two, and the wall.

Document one > Document two > Wall

43 > 73 > 19

The code to open the briefcase is: 437319.

Now, all that's left is to enter the code into the briefcase and read the final document it gives us to exit this mission.

Congratulations! You've completed the Akaashihara Tribe Puzzle.