Spoiler warning: this guide may discuss puzzles and story details. Hints stay hidden until you choose to reveal them.
If Steam Scream Fest or a discount finally pulled you into SIGNALIS, this guide is the practical walkthrough side of that impulse: maps, radio safes, story puzzles, and every ending condition, without treating the game like a review score.
SIGNALIS is rose-engine's survival horror adventure on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. The Steam store page is the cleanest place to confirm platforms and current pricing while you follow along.
Spoiler and content warning
This article spoils puzzle solutions, mid-game structure, the false ending, and all four true endings (Leave, Memory, Promise, Artifact). Skip sections you are not ready for.
Content notes: body horror, violence, psychological distress, and a bleak science-fiction story about identity and memory. Treat ending spoilers as hard spoilers.
Basics before you open every door
Expect a classic survival-horror loop: limited inventory, scarce ammo, enemies that can get back up if you do not burn them, and first-person puzzle screens mixed into top-down exploration.
- Inventory is tight. Use item boxes aggressively; do not carry keys you will not need for several rooms.
- The radio module is not optional flavor. Many safe codes arrive as frequency transmissions after you find the Frequencies document.
- Maps update as you explore. Dead ends, locked doors, and enemy density are easier to manage if you mark a mental route back to the nearest box and save point.
- Combat is optional more often than it feels. Stun, dodge, and burn when you must; running past is frequently correct.
- Typical first clear sits around 8-12 hours depending on how hard you push combat and exploration. Sub-6-hour clears are possible and matter for the Memory ending track.
Area progression and map tips
Think in chapters rather than a single open dungeon. Early game teaches radio and safes in S-23 Sierpinski worker floors, medical wards add the five-key gauntlet, Protektor levels introduce fuse and bird-key chains, Nowhere is the surreal hinge, and Rotfront closes with tarot cards plus the moon mural.
- Worker floors (B1-B2): Classroom safe, Isolation, Evidence Storage, Tree safe, and the first radio workflow.
- Medical / mining (B3-B4): Sword safe, incinerator gas valves, five elemental keys, then a one-way drop into the first major boss gate.
- Protektor block (upper floors): fuse board, flashlight, owl/island/hummingbird/eagle keys, library book sort, astrolabe safe.
- Nowhere: disorienting layout; trust landmark rooms and do not assume old elevator logic still holds.
- Rotfront: Itou keypad, bookstore backroom, tarot apartment 512, then the atrium moon-cycle mural that leads into the finale.
Community map guides (Steam workshop screenshots and fan wikis) are useful when a floor looks identical in every direction. In-game, clear one wing at a time and return to the elevator lobby before branching again.
Key puzzle solutions
Codes marked dynamic are randomized per save. Copy the method, not someone else's digits. Static codes below are widely reported across player guides and fan wikis; still verify against documents in your own playthrough.
Classroom wall safe (early game)
Radio safes: Tree, Moon, Sun, and friends
After you recover the radio and the Frequencies document (Interrogation Room / worker area), each labeled frequency transmits a five-digit code for the matching painted safe.
Sword safe (letter keypad)
Incinerator gas valves and Fire Key
Five elemental keys door
Fuse puzzle (Protektor service level)
Itou keypad (Rotfront backyard)
Tarot cards and moon mural (Rotfront finale gate)
False ending (mid-game credits fake-out)
Endings overview
SIGNALIS has three scored endings plus a secret Artifact ending. Developers have said there is no single true ending. Conditions below summarize community-verified logic for patch 1.2.1 style tallies (Steam deep-dive guides mirrored on the SIGNALIS Wiki). Exact thresholds can feel opaque in play - treat them as target behaviors, not a HUD meter.
How the scored endings are decided
Leave
Memory
Promise
Artifact (secret ending)
Artifact requires a prior clear on the profile (SSTV diamond marks on the menu after results). Keys will not appear on a virgin first run.
Practical ending routing tips
- First playthrough: play naturally, accept Memory or whichever scored ending you get, then chase Artifact on a later run.
- Artifact prep: grab keys when you pass their rooms, box them, retrieve before the mural so you never soft-lock outside the bedroom.
- Leave vs Promise: decide early whether you are social/exploratory or combat-attrition; mixed stats often collapse back to Memory.
- Do not trust a single Steam comment threshold without the point table - behaviors stack.
FAQ
How long is SIGNALIS?
Most players finish the story in roughly one long weekend. Speed-focused Memory routes aim under six hours of active play; completionists and Promise combat runs can stretch past twelve.
Are safe codes the same every run?
Classroom default is usually static. Tree/Sword-style radio safes are dynamic - always use your Frequencies printout and SWORD cipher.
Can I get Artifact on the first clear?
No. Finish once so SSTV key signals unlock, then collect the three keys on a later run (or continued profile state as your platform allows).
Do endings have achievements?
Major guides note endings are narrative variants without dedicated ending achievements. Play for the scene you want, not a badge.
Where should newcomers start tonight?
Install from Steam or your console library, clear one worker floor at a time, and keep this page open for radio safes and the Rotfront mural. When you are ready for endings, jump straight to the spoiler sections above.
