Lily’s Well walkthrough and guide

Need a hand figuring out how to get some of those elusive endings in Lily’s Well? We have you covered with our Lily’s Well walkthrough, which will tell you how to get all of the achievements and endings in the game. By the end of it all, you’ll have seen everything that Lily’s Well has to offer — and helped a poor nine year old girl finally enjoy some peace and quiet!

Let’s get started with the basics, then!

The rope materials

There are 15 different rope materials. Some of them are good, some of them are bad. If you make a rope using even one bad material, you will get the Bad Craftsmanship Alt Ending and the Poor Construction achievement. If you make a rope using all of the bad materials, you will get the The Worst Possible Job achievement.

The good rope materials

• The sheets on Lily’s bed in her bedroom
• The knitted rope, created by collecting the yarn from Lily’s bedroom, picking up the knitting needles from under the couch in the living room, then using the knitting needles
• The belts in the top left drawer in Papa’s wardrobe
• The bullwhip in Papa’s wardrobe — you need the safe combination to get this. After you’ve opened it once the game will remember it for subsequent playthroughs.
• The extension cord in the shed — you need the shed key to get this
• The chain from the bridge over the stream — you need the bolt cutters from the shed to get this
• The net from the cave beyond the stream — drop three rocks into the water then use the bolt cutters on the net inside the cave to get this
• The tyre swing rope — you need the shears from next to the shed to get this
• The vine with the blue thorns in the garden to the left of the house — you need the shears from next to the shed to get this
• The oily hair — put the knife from the cave into the memorial, then use the shears to get this

The bad rope materials

• The toilet roll from the bathroom
• The yarn from Lily’s bedroom without knitting it
• The charger from under the middle of the sofa in the living room
• The vine with the yellow flowers in the garden to the left of the house — you need the shears from next to the shed to get this
• The vine with the red berries in the garden to the left of the house — you need the shears from next to the shed to get this

The Official Rice Digital Lily’s Well Rope-Building FAQ

• How do I get the knitting needles? You can see them under the left side of the sofa in the living room. Interact with the back of the sofa and attempt to “take” it in this position to pick them up.
• How do I get the charger? Same process as the knitting needles, only further to the right on the back of the sofa.
• How do I get the shed key? In the kitchen, push the stool up as far as it will go, then as far left as it will go. Interact with it and grab the key from the close-up image that appears.
• Where’s the cave? On the bridge that crosses the stream, interact with the chainless right side of the bridge to change perspective.
• How do I get to the cave? There are three rocks to collect: one in the garden to the left of Lily’s house, one at the end of the pathway that leads to the road near the mailbox, and one by the well. Pick them up and use them on the screen that shows the cave — they’re heavy, so you’ll have to do them one at a time. When you’ve done this, click on the cave to enter it.
• How do I open Papa’s safe? In the cave, there’s a birthday card celebrating Lily’s first birthday. From that, work out what Lily’s actual birthdate was. The combination is this date in MMDDYY format.
• How do I open the pantry? Use the bolt cutters on the padlock.
• What’s the jerky for? See the “Alt Endings” section below.
• I accidentally picked up a bad rope material, what do I do? Toss it in the trash can two screens south of the tyre swing.

The rope endings

• Don’t Look Up: collect one good rope material and enter the well
• Butterfingers: collect two good rope materials and enter the well
• Dying Light: collect three good rope materials and enter the well
• I Can Drown: collect four good rope materials, enter the well and follow the pipe
• Smothering Affection: collect five good rope materials and enter the well
• Itchy Tasty: collect six good rope materials, enter the well and examine the thing in the bottom right
• Feed Me, Lily! Feed me!: collect seven good rope materials and enter the well
• Noisy Monster Cage: collect eight good rope materials, enter the well and follow the vent as far as you can
• Rock Bottom: collect nine good rope materials and enter the well
• Next Iteration: collect ten good rope materials and enter the well, then follow the next instructions.

Write down the number you get after every ending, including its position in the combination. This is the phone number you need for the True ending.

The Next Iteration ending

Once at the bottom of the well, use the bolt cutters on the barred door and enter. Go into the room on the right. Use the shears on the sleeping man if you want the They Didn’t Pay Him Enough For You to Do That achievement. Look at the barred cage at the back of the screen.

Use the knitting needles on the key to collect it and return to the main hallway. Enter the door on the right to go into the office. Examine the table to find the ID card. Leave the office and enter the elevator at the back of the hallway.

Check all the floors if you want as there’s some interesting lore to find, but save the top floor for last. Follow the events, then proceed to the left until the ending happens.

Unlearned Lesson

After achieving the Next Iteration ending above, repeat the process for a slightly different conclusion. Your reward is the Rose outfit.

Alt endings

• Bad Craftsmanship: make a rope with at least one bad material and climb down the well.
• Vehicular Manslaughter: go south of Lily’s house until you find the area with the mailbox and the trash can. Keep walking into the road until something happens. Unlocks the Frog outfit.
• 4827a. Prohibition: use the bolt cutters on the padlock on the pantry and collect the jerky. Feed it to the eyes lurking in the background of the screen with the vines. Go and achieve any rope ending. Restart the game and repeat this process several times until something happens. Unlocks the Red Riding outfit.
• Stupid Idiot: Collect all 14 pieces of rope (doesn’t matter if you knit the yarn or not) and throw them all away in the trash can.

Optional events

• Ma: Randomly when you enter the pantry, the screen will be glitched out. Follow the ladder up and confirm the messages on the way up. If you’re playing in full screen, you’ll likely be kicked out to windowed mode, and the game may lock up entirely after a certain point. If this happens, Alt-F4 out and load it up again to find yourself back in relative normality.
  
  If you’re having trouble getting this to trigger, climb down the well with ten good rope pieces, get the They Didn’t Pay Him Enough For You to Do That achievement by killing the guy sleeping on the couch with the shears. Go to the cyan floor in the elevator, enter the Archives room and search the shelves until you find a clue. Then continue to the Next Iteration or Unlearned Lesson ending, restart the game and try again.
• Mother: Proceed as per the Noisy Monster Cage ending, but instead of continuing through the vent, use the shears on the fan to the north of the first intersection in the vent. Unlocks the Kyu-Ah Lily! outfit.
• Weird voices: Randomly when you exit Lily’s house, there will be bloodstains on the screen and strange noises. Hang around and listen if you feel like it.
• Unknown caller: Call the phone number before you’ve completed all ten rope endings and learned it for yourself, you big cheaty cheat, you.
• Cat: Sometimes there’s a cat in the garden to the west of the tyre swing, particularly if you’re following the 4827a. Prohibition ending. Feed the cat the jerky to make friends and spend some quality time with her.

True ending

Once you’ve got all ten numbers and assembled the complete phone number, call it instead of going hunting for any ropes. Congratulations, you’ve beaten Lily’s Well!

Lily’s Well is available for free right now on Steam and Itch.

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