Layer's of Fear (2023) is filled with plenty of puzzles to bend the minds of players, including the telephone puzzle in the study of the Painter's Story, after the fifth iteration of the magnum opus is revealed.
For this puzzle, players will have to find a series of codes hidden throughout the study and input the codes into phones scattered through the area, all while safely scaling the bookcases to the top of the room. Here's everything they need to know to solve it.
Ascending the Study
After opening the fourth cabinet in the art studio and collecting the painted gears, players will find themselves in the Painter's study. Players will recognize this room by the large desk with the Babyface painting hanging above the fireplace behind it. There are several cabinets to search throughout the room, although the only collectible/readable item is found in the lowest drawer on the right side of the desk: a note from the painter to himself about his art.
The First Code
As players begin exploring this room, a phone will start ringing, although none are in sight. Upon closer investigation of the bookshelf between the windows, players can interact with a book on one of the upper shelves to reveal a secret compartment behind the bookshelf with a ringing telephone inside. Answer the phone, and players will hear a ghostly message from the Painter's wife.
After listening to the message, interact again with the phone. Dial the numbers found on the note being held up in the Babyface portrait: 3-6-3. A second phone will begin ringing somewhere in the study. As players turn around from the phone and look up, they will notice that the ceiling is gone, replaced with a seemingly endless tower of bookshelves and one scary doll falling from somewhere above.
Head back to the compartment behind the bookcase to find that the phone is now gone, with a door in its place. Go through the door and down the following corridor towards the door at the end of the hall. At first the door will be locked, but when turning around, the hallway will be gone. Trying the door a second time, and it will now open.
The player will emerge back into the study at an elevated location on top of one of the bookcases. Carefully follow the path to the left, head through the door out of the study, and follow the stairs to the next door. Again, players will enter the study at an even higher point. Follow the pathway to the left on top of the bookcases to the nook with the second phone. Answer the phone to hear another message from the Painter's wife.
The Second Code
Players will now need to explore the area in search of another numerical code to dial on the phone, being careful not to slip over the ledges of the bookshelves. Players will find the code when they look down into the study, painted in white on the back of a toppled over bookcase: 8-5-3. After the code is dialed, when players turn around, they can push over the bookcase blocking their path and begin ascending the study once more.
This time the pathway, will consist of randomly open drawers that extend at different lengths. Players need to be meticulous with their footing to avoid falling off. Follow the ledge around (interact with the candelabra for some extra lighting!), and push down the plank to cross the room. The door immediately to the front will be locked, forcing players to follow the path to the right. There, they will find a third ringing phone with another grim message from the wife.
The Third Code
To find the third code, players will need to take note of the three paintings on the wall behind the phone. If players look back into the study at the wall directly across the room, there will be five paintings, with a number correlated to each. Find the paintings that match the three hanging above the phone, and dial the numbers for those paintings in the order the paintings hang on the wall above the phone from left to right. The code this time is 3-5-4.
Return to the study and follow the pathway to the right around the ledges. Exit into the next hallway, and continue forward until the path returns to the study, this time leading forward over suspended wooden pallets towards the final ringing phone. As players begin to cross the pallets, the path will begin to break and the phone and the Painter will soon fall all the way to the ground. After he collects himself, players can interact with the phone to hear the final message from the wife.
Grab the collectible item from the desk and exit the study.
Layers of Fear (2023) is available now on PC, Playstation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series S|X.