Opening Walkthrough
A room-by-room We Were Here Tomorrow walkthrough for the opening chapter: symbol panels, the chemistry mixer, shrink chambers, and the 3D printer.
Why This Opening Chapter Punishes Quiet Players
Few co-op puzzle games punish lazy communication faster than this one, and the first stretch of We Were Here Tomorrow is a crash course in describing what only you can see. Because each screen hides different information, a useful We Were Here Tomorrow walkthrough is really a script for talking to your partner, not a list of answers you can copy in silence. Below is a room-by-room breakdown of the opening chapter — symbol panels, the chemistry mixer, the shrink chamber, the 3D printer, the dial timer, and the goop-and-cube finale — so you can keep moving instead of shouting shapes at each other.
One honest caveat before you start: the route described here reflects the build players could access ahead of the October 20, 2026 release. Puzzle order, item placement, and timings can shift in the launch version, so treat every step as a strong default rather than an ironclad script.
Setup Requirements and What the Game Expects From You
The game is built around one assumption: two people, two headsets, two half-finished pictures. There is no solo mode, and there is no AI partner.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Players | Two, co-op only |
| Platform | PC (Steam) |
| Audio | A working PC-compatible microphone |
| Connection | Internet for both players |
| Communication | In-game walkie-talkies, not proximity chat |
| Release date | October 20, 2026 |
| Route accuracy | Based on the April 2026 demo build |
That asymmetrical co-op design that splits information between two screens is the whole game. Your partner's room is not a mirror of yours — it is the missing half of yours. The moment one of you starts guessing instead of describing, the puzzle stalls.
A quick mindset checklist before you load in:
- Name colors, shapes, symbols, and screen positions out loud before touching anything.
- Agree on a fixed vocabulary for "left," "right," "up," and "down" relative to each player's own view.
- Treat mismatched descriptions as the clue, not the mistake.
- Slow down on timers — most resets come from improvising, not from running out of time.
Step-by-Step Route Through the Opening Area
Work top to bottom. Every row is a gate that has to open before the next one matters.
| Section | Goal | Key interaction | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue cabin | Leave the room and head for the wellness check | Walk the lit hallway, pull the handle to descend | The first puzzle room |
| Symbol monitors | Match three alien faces to three buttons | One player reads monitors, the other presses | First door |
| Five-input panel | Find which of five inputs are actually live | Big lever, crank dial, slide bar | Shutter power |
| Shutter corridor | Get your partner through the door | Door control, crouch under, battery pack, two-player lever | Third logistics notch |
| R&D doorway | Open the locked access door | Yellow key card in the reader | R&D labs |
| Shrink chamber | Reach small ducts and sealed rooms | Microwave-style chamber plus teleport pad | Miniature-only routes |
| Circuit board | Route power from the input to the star socket | Components with two-shape sockets | Restored power |
| Chemistry mixer | Brew the resin the door wants | Dispense in the correct order | Mixture door |
| Floppy disk and printer | Insert the save disk and match the grid | Full-size insertion, cursor, middle button | Green access pass |
| Dial timer | Copy four directions before the dials stop | Read-and-repeat across two rounds | Printing room |
| Goop and cube arena | Route the colored cubes and hit high targets | Goop gun, cube tool, hook (F) | Exit run |
| Coaster | Ride to the Exotic Matter Lab | Sit back | Chapter end |
The symbol room is where most pairs stall, so treat it as your rehearsal. One player faces three buttons; the other faces a wall of monitors showing oversized alien faces. Describing the alien faces on those monitors while your partner presses in response is the entire mechanic — do not try to solve it from one screen.
The shutter corridor afterwards is the first true two-person gate. One player opens the shutter, the other crouches underneath. Beyond it sits a pneumatic tube slot that wants a battery pack, and the two-person lever needs three notches to fully open the way forward. Opening the shutter for the battery, then closing it again to reposition, is normal — not a mistake.
Puzzle Solutions Cheat Sheet
Use this when you are stuck, not before. Reading a solution before you have described your screen robs you of the only skill the game is testing.
| Puzzle | Solution | Usual mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Alien face monitors | Press the tentacle-face button first, then the starburst-with-cogs face, then the butterfly face | Naming the faces by color instead of shape |
| Five-input panel | Only three inputs count: the big lever, the crank dial, and the slide bar | Brute-forcing left to right, or using the jump-on pressure plate |
| Chemistry mixer | Styrene, then acrylonitrile, then butadiene, then styrene | Starting with acrylonitrile; distillation ruins the batch |
| Circuit board | Chain components so each shared shape pairs with its match, input through to the star | Reusing a shape that is already spoken for |
| Dot-grid printer | One player reads the target pattern through the window while the other moves the cursor and taps the middle button to flip each dot | Moving the cursor without confirming the toggle |
| Dial timer | Read all four directions first, then copy them before the dials stop | Calling directions relative to your own screen |
The chemistry puzzle deserves a note. The recipe note is explicit that the styrene goes in both before and after the other two ingredients, and that missing the trailing styrene sends the batch to distillation. If you get it wrong, flush the tank and start clean rather than trying to top it up.
Tools, Key Cards, and the Shrink Chamber
The middle of the chapter is a tool tutorial disguised as level design. Everything you pick up is used again later, so learn it properly.
| Tool or item | Where it shows up | What it does | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow key card | R&D doorway | Opens the yellow-locked access door | Grab it before touching the reader |
| Shrink chamber | R&D | Reduces you to pocket size | Your partner has to let you out |
| Teleport pad | R&D | Returns you to the other side at full size | You cannot insert the save disk while small |
| Giant floppy disk | Printer room | Inserts into the save drive | Must be carried at full size |
| Goop gun | After the green access pass | Fires sticky goop at distant targets | Aim high; do not goop your colleague |
| Cube tool | Same arena | Spawns blocks | Your partner yanks them with the hook (F) |
Two rules cause most of the frustration here. First, the shrink chamber and teleport pad only work as a pair — the small player has no way to resize alone, so never shrink without telling your partner where you are. Second, the floppy disk is sized for a full-grown player. If the drive rejects your input, check whether you are still miniature.
The cube-and-goop arena is the chapter's sandbox. Cubes make ledges and platforms for the player who cannot reach; goop activates the targets mounted too high to hit otherwise. Colored receivers want matching cubes pulled into place with the hook, and there is more than one way to climb the arena — if one route fails, build a different one.
Talking Like a Navigator, Not a Tourist
Communication quality is the difference between a two-hour run and a four-hour one. Swap vague words for positional ones.
| Vague callout | Better callout |
|---|---|
| "The weird alien thing" | "Tentacle face, middle button, left of the starburst" |
| "Go left" | "Move toward the window on your side" |
| "Press it" | "Press the second button from the left, once" |
| "The lever" | "The big lever under the monitor, not the one you jump on" |
| "It's done" | "My light turned green — confirm yours" |
A few habits that pay off immediately:
- Read a whole sequence before you act on timers, then repeat it back once.
- Confirm state changes out loud — "green on my side" — instead of assuming.
- If you are both stuck for more than a few minutes, stop solving and start describing everything on screen, corner to corner.
Common Stuck Points and Quick Fixes
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Your partner cannot reach a ledge | Spawn a cube as a step, or send them through the shrink chamber |
| The chemistry door stays shut | Flush the tank and re-run the order from clean |
| You are trapped at miniature size | Only your partner can operate the chamber — call out your location |
| The dial puzzle keeps resetting | Read all four directions before touching the first dial |
| The printer panel does nothing | Take the floppy disk in at full size first |
| A goop target will not trigger | Aim higher; some receivers sit above head height |
FAQ
Is there a complete We Were Here Tomorrow walkthrough for the launch build? Routes that cover the whole game were still being finalized around release. The steps above mirror the April 2026 demo build, so expect small changes to puzzle order and item placement in the live version.
Can you play alone? No. This is a two-player, co-op-only game that requires a PC-compatible microphone and an internet connection for both players.
What is the correct chemistry order? Styrene, acrylonitrile, butadiene, styrene. The trailing styrene prevents distillation, so skipping it wastes the whole batch.
How do you get out of the shrink chamber? You do not — not alone. Your partner operates the chamber or the teleport pad to return you to normal size, which is why this section of any We Were Here Tomorrow walkthrough depends on talking through positions before anyone shrinks.
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