The Walking Dead: Solve to Survive

Developer	Those Beyond
Distributor	Skybound Insiders
Based On	Image Comics' The Walking Dead
Platforms	Any web browser
Episodes	4

The Walking Dead: Solve to Survive is an engagement based browser puzzle solving game based on Image Comics' The Walking Dead.

Summary

In The Walking Dead: Solve to Survive puzzles, players engage in immersive fan engagement through a trilogy of cryptic community puzzles centered around Robert Kirkman’s iconic The Walking Dead IP. In game one, The Signal, you are challenged to turn an old transceiver radio filled with cryptic clues and hidden secrets left by a mysterious survivor. The second game, The Stash, tasks you with rummaging through a survivor’s footlocker containing personal belongings to unravel clues and decipher codes to open an alarmed lockbox. In each game you need to accomplish the jobs all without alerting the walkers.

Chapters

Season One

"Part One: The Signal"

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"You’ve found an old radio in the back of an abandoned truck. Can you uncover its secrets and get one step closer to the safe zone without alerting the Walkers that surround you?"

The player finds an old radio in the back of an abandoned truck, entering the puzzle presents the player with a radio receiver with a key safe. The goal is to open the key safe to access the keys inside without alerting the Walkers outside.

Throughout the radio channels, the player can find various people either asking for help, providing help, or sending messages to each other. Eventually the player will find a person repeating "Sine. Triangle. Sawtooth. Square," which is the passcode to enter in the Unlock channel.

After the keys are obtained, the player begins a 28 day walk towards The Howdy Hut Motel.

Radio Messages

Channel	Message
Channel A 04.211	To anyone who can hear this, avoid the downtown area at all costs. I-it's a deadzone. Completely infested with walkers. Stick to rural routes. I've set this broadcast to repeat, to warn others.
Channel A 37.53	Hey. If you can hear this, I guess you made it through. Oh I hope you made it through. But, I'm sorry. I'm not gonna be there. I tried, I really did. But, there were just too many of them. They kept coming, and coming, and well... You can probably figure out the rest. You know i-it doesn't hurt too much. Barely broke the skin, but, I guess that's all it takes. So I'm putting this out, hoping you hear it 'cause... I need you to keep going. Take care of the others. They need you, more than they ever needed me. So... Goodbye. And don't give up. Ever.
Channel A 43.835	Is anybody out there? Hello? I lost them, somewhere in the madness. It's getting dark. There's walkers out here. I need help, please!
Channel A 60.210	If you can hear this, our camp has been compromised. There's no going back. The walkers, they're- they're everywhere. A few of us are bit. Gonna try to make it out of quarantine. I'm not sure we're gonna make it. Please look.
Channel A 96.211	BEEN INJURED. GET TO BUNKER AT DAWN (Translated from Morse code)
Channel B 12.416	I always knew something like this would happen. This, or something else like it. Damn. I'm just glad I was prepared. People used to laugh at me. [LAUGHING] Well, who's laughing now, you idiots? Because I'm down here, and you're out there! With those skin-eatin' rotten walkers!
Channel B 36.844	Attention, to all survivors, we are broadcasting from a secure location with food and medical supplies. Please respond with your coordinates, or look for the signal fires at night. This message will repeat.
Channel B 57.241	Anyone who's out there, this is my last message. I was held up at an old school, but the walkers got in. I was bitten. [SIGH] So I guess this is goodbye. Farewell, I wish you all luck and... Goodnight.
Channel B 72.111	[REPEATED ALARM BEEPING]
Channel B 89.280	[ODD BEEPING]
Channel B 98.679	Sine. Triangle. Sawtooth. Square.

Prizes

"These crazy collectible The Walking Dead action figures are all between a 9.0 - 9.5 AFA grade and come encased in protective, plastic display boxes. Solve puzzle #1 before 4:59 PM PST on May 31st and be entered for a chance to win one of these exclusive figures. Not only that, you’ll score 10,000 Insider points!"

This giveaway had 30 prizes and 30 anonymous winners. The figures pictured were action figures from McFarlane Toys, including Skybound exclusives, featuring Rick, Michonne, Negan, Ezekiel, Glenn, Jesus, Clementine, Alpha, and Lee Everett, as well as possibly more figures that were not shown.

"Part Two: The Stash"

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"More puzzles. More walkers. The Walking Dead: Solve to Survive continues!"

After a long walk, the player finally reaches The Howdy Hut Motel, and enters. Inside, the player finds an old locked footlocker, which was stashed in the bottom of a closet. The player unlocks the footlocker with the previously found motel keys. Many miscellaneous objects, with points of interest being a cassette player and lockbox, appear in the footlocker. The goal is to unlock the lockbox within 3 tries.

Many numbers can be found in the puzzle, and the player will have to use the various items and notes inside to pin down which numbers and in what order to use them to unlock the lockbox, once opened, a "strange handle" is obtained. Optionally, the player can open a secret drawer in the lockbox for a key, as well as pick up a screwdriver and use it in The Signal to open a secret compartment with another key.

Cassette Deck

Instruction	Message
Side A 0178 DIR. <	...The rating they gave Chester...
Side A 0632 DIR. >	...A sweet ride...
Side A 1100 DIR. >	...My lucky number...
Side B 300 DIR. >	...The digit on the digit...
Side B 1450 DIR. >	...The month we went to the cabin...
Side B 2650 DIR. <	...The age of our little artist...
Side B 2915 DIR. >	...The number of nails...

Prizes

Players who completed The Stash before 11:59pm PST on June 30th were automatically entered for the second giveaway. The prizes for completing The Stash was one of 3 CGC-graded 9.8 The Walking Dead Comics by Image Comics. The comics pictured were The Walking Dead Deluxe #2 (second printing with gold foil edition), The Walking Dead #100 (wraparound cover), and The Walking Dead Deluxe #27 (ECCC variant cover).

The winners for this giveaway were users 12Gage, 5200sam1, DanielArp1977, Durham777, Fiend1138, Insider_2576645, peachpie, ptGMR1, and Wildstorm.

"Part Three: The Mine"

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"The third and final The Walking Dead puzzle is LIVE! The clues have led you to an abandoned mine. Is there sanctuary in these dark catacombs or does more terror await? Signs everywhere say “Keep Out. Danger Inside.” But outside...are the Walkers. Can you find the safe zone in time for your chance at our epic puzzle #3 prize?"

With the handle, the player heads to an old abandoned mine outside of town, and attempts to get inside to set up a small camp. The Mine consists of 4 different sections, and is the first puzzle to integrate movement other than moving the camera.

Section One

In front of the mine, the player uses the handle to open the gate to enter. Once opened, the gate can be dragged open, and the player has to click/tap the next area to move forward.

Section Two

After entering, the player is presented with the mineshaft entrance, a generator, and a fire alarm that can be rung. There are also metal cogs that can spawn in this section, and be picked up. The mineshaft is too dark to see anything, therefore the player must restore the power to progress. The generator includes instructions on how to start it. There are also side compartments with extra clues that can be opened with Secret Key A and Secret Key B.

Once the power has been restored, the sound of the generator alerts a nearby walker herd. The herd slowly makes its way towards the player, and makes the puzzle timed.

Section Three

Entering the mineshaft, the player has to tear off planks from it's entrance to continue to the next room. A metal cog also has a chance to spawn in this section.

Section Four

The final section features an elevator shaft, with a side mechanism with missing gears. Using the metal cogs found before, as well as ones that may spawn in this section, the player fixes the mechanism and presses the lift button. Once the elevator arrives, the player enters and goes down into the mine, solving the puzzle.

Once reaching the end, there is a knocked over barrel and knocked over chair, as well as a skull and mattress on the floor that can be seen from the elevator.

Prizes

Players who completed The Mine before 11:59pm PST on July 31st were automatically entered for the final giveaway of season one. The prize was a limited edition cold-cast resin Negan statue by McFarlane Toys, that was won by user NoOtherOptions.

Season Two

Season Two is a push-your-luck card game, with challenges everyday for 60 days. Players have a chance to win prizes for each day they play. It was live on Halloween, the 31st of October.

"The Camp"

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"New challenges will be coming to The Camp later this year. Season 2 of Solve To Survive launches Thursday 31st October 2024. Stay vigilant, and watch this space!"

A few weeks later, the player has set up camp inside the mineshaft, along with other survivors of the three puzzles.

Before the release of season two, The Camp was locked until all chapters were solved, and announced season two of The Walking Dead: Solve to Survive. After release, The Camp is the default puzzle that is opened when a player visits the website. This chapter currently has no puzzles and no titles to be earned. The Camp lasts for 60 days before the results will be finalized.

The Camp consists of three interactable objects, a footlocker (same as the one shown in The Stash), a clipboard, and a backpack. The footlocker allows players to play the previous three puzzles in season one, and the clipboard opens a leaderboard for most supplies earned. The backpack allows players to access Supply Runs, which are the main feature of season two.

Supply Runs function by moving a statue piece on a map to interact with different locations, which in turn prompts cards for the player to choose from with varying chances of success. When a card is chosen, a dice is rolled from 1 to 20 to determine if the player passes the roll requirement. Certain cards earn supplies, while others earn allies or cause death. The player starts with a team of six members and must reach the end of the mapped path before all team members meet their fate.

The goal of season two is to ensure the camp survives, by making the Supply Level reach the "safe zone" by the time all 60 days are up.

Events

Content

Early Bird Testing The Camp was open one hour prior to official release for testing purposes. Only a few players were playing at this time, and it was mostly moderators and developers. During this time, run cooldowns lasted for 1 hour.

Prizes

If the camp survives, the top 20 will win exclusive prizes, including signed Robert Kirkman comics, merchandise, and additional rewards for those who've made special contributions.

Titles

Part One: The Signal

Name	How to get	Rarity
Weak	Fail the puzzle in under 2 minutes	Uncommon
Rebellious	Fail the puzzle by repeatedly pressing a single button	Epic
Buried	1 of 4 random titles earned for failing the puzzle	Common
Dead	1 of 4 random titles earned for failing the puzzle	Common
Eaten	1 of 4 random titles earned for failing the puzzle	Common
Rotten	1 of 4 random titles earned for failing the puzzle.	Common
Powerless	Press 10 buttons before turning on the radio	Uncommon
Hopeless	Press 20 buttons before turning on the radio	Rare
Screwed	Interact with all four screws on top of the radio	Rare
Careless	Fail to unlock the key safe five times	Common
Frantic	Move tuners 100 meters (Unobtainable)	Common
Untuned	Try to tune the radio with no channel selected (Unobtainable)	Uncommon
IT	Turn the radio off and on again	Common
Powerful	Turn the radio on first	Rare
Curious	Interact with the key safe tray five times	Rare
Ham	Tune into every channel (Unobtainable)	Common
Sloth	Solve the puzzle in 2 hours (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Epic
Caffeinated	Solve the puzzle in 5 minutes (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Rare
Night-Owl	Solve the puzzle after 1AM (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Rare
Perfectionist	Unlock the key safe with 100% signal on all shapes (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Epic
Believer	Unlock the key safe with the screen off (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Uncommon
Careful	1 of 2 random titles earned for solving the puzzle with a sound level of 0 (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Uncommon
Deadly	1 of 2 random titles earned for solving the puzzle with a sound level of 0 (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Uncommon
Defiant	Complete the puzzle with a sound level of 1 (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Uncommon
Chaotic	1 of 3 random titles earned for solving the puzzle with a sound level of 2 (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Uncommon
Fierce	1 of 3 random titles earned for solving the puzzle with a sound level of 2 (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Uncommon
Noisy	1 of 3 random titles earned for solving the puzzle with a sound level of 2 (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Uncommon
Competent	1 of 2 random titles earned for solving the puzzle (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Common
Hardworking	1 of 2 random titles earned for solving the puzzle (Can only be obtained on first solve)	Common

Part Two: The Stash

There are still undiscovered titles in The Stash.

Name	How to get	Rarity
Unsafe	Fail the puzzle	Uncommon
Basic	Enter either 123456 or 000000 as a password	Uncommon
Demonic	Enter 666 as a password	Rare
Hellspawn	Enter 7734 as a password	Rare
Liar	Enter 317 as a password	Rare
Operator	Enter 911 as a password	Rare
Not Found	Enter 404 as a password	Rare
Childish	Enter 80085 as a password	Legendary
DJ	Play around with the buttons on the cassette deck	Rare
Deep	Listen to the cassette slowed down	Rare
Tracker	Listen to the cassette sped up	Uncommon
Flipper	Flip the cassette tape ten times	Epic
Audiophile	Listen to the entire cassette tape on one side	Uncommon
Driver	Interact with the photo of a car multiple times in a row	Uncommon
Baby	Interact with the child's drawing multiple times in a row	Uncommon
Pointer	Interact with the severed finger multiple times in a row	Uncommon
Notetaker	Interact with the folded letter multiple times in a row	Uncommon
Lucky	Interact with the lotto card multiple times in a row	Uncommon
Jarring	Interact with the murky jar multiple times in a row	Uncommon
Junkie	Interact with an assortment of junk	Common
Safe	Solve the puzzle (Cannot be repeated)	Epic

Part Three: The Mine

Name	How to get	Rarity
Sucker	Die	Common
Couch Potato	Wait for the walkers to catch up to you	Uncommon
Darwin Awarded	Back up into the walker herd	Common
Fallguy	Fall down the elevator shaft	Uncommon
Berrypicker	Uncover Berry's signature before the mine's gates	Rare
Geared up	Pick up a metal cog	Common
Nightstalker	Enter the mine while the power is out	Common
Splintered	Try to move a plank that is blocked by another object	Uncommon
Key Player	Open a side compartment on the generator with Secret Key A or Secret Key B	Epic
Powerless	Turn off generator after power is restored	Uncommon
Carpenter	Remove all boards on the mineshaft entrance without making any mistakes	Epic
Cognizant	Place all metal cogs without making any mistakes	Uncommon
Elevated	Click the lift button while the metal cogs are not completed	Rare
Butterfingers	Click alarm button on the panel	Common
Alarmed	Click alarm button five times in a row	Rare
Cardio	Run back and forth between puzzle sections	Uncommon

Gallery

Menus

Part One: The Signal

Part Two: The Stash

Part Three: The Mine

The Camp

Assets

Trivia

• The motel was mistakenly referred to as the metro in the final live chat message, but was fixed later on.
• The maximum amount of Insider Points that could be earned for The Signal was 14,500.
  • It was also mentioned by Warrick that in later versions there will be a counter to keep track of your points.
• Each title has a color which corresponds with it's rarity level. There are 5 rarity levels in total.
• There are 29 titles total in The Signal.
• There are currently 22 discovered titles in The Stash.
  • The Stash is the first and only puzzle to have a legendary rarity title.
• There are 17 titles total in The Mine.
  • 15 being original titles, while 2 are reused from The Signal
• In season two, an NPC named "TheGamesMaster" has every title obtainable.
• The Stash features a child's drawing that is signed "berry, age 5" in blue, which references a user named blueberrypanpan that contributed to helping players solve the puzzle while the live chat was accessible.
  • Berry appears again as a graffiti signature in The Mine.
• The fastest solve time for The Mine currently belongs to user ╲⎝⧹ Danny ⧸⎠╱, with a solve of 54 seconds.
• A Solve to Survive community Discord server could be created and publicized in fall of this year.
  • The only official discord server for fans of Solve to Survive seems to be the Skybound discord server, which includes Skybound Insiders.
• The Camp has been changed 3 times since it was first released in season one.
  • First, a remodel, second, more objects were added, and third, another round of new props.