We finished last week needing just a single dog toy to unlock the Big Key.

We headed straight for the map room and planned out a rough path to where we wanted to go. All we needed to do was catch the monorail and it would take us exactly where we needed to be.

Even though we ran as fast as possible, by the time we we arrived at the station the train was disappearing into a tunnel. Yeah, we could have waited, but we’re not playing Big Wait.

So instead we walked down to the beach and found the therapy room from a few weeks ago [§PST-0004]. We had a chat and the timer ticked to zero before we knew it.

With the final dog toy in hand (well, on a backpack) we headed back to the monolith. We grabbed the key, then headed towards the Big Orb.

Then things got weird.

Time began to slow down as we got closer to the gate, and by the time we got to the lock we couldn’t talk. We unlocked the gate and walked through to the other side. A huge expanse lay ahead with the orb at the far end.

We walked for a while and it didn’t feel like we were getting closer, but there was a low humming sound in the background that got louder as we walked.

Eventually the orb filled the entire screen and we slowly walked inside.

After having a quick look around we realized that there was no talking inside. I assumed this meant we would be just walking to the top of the orb.

How wrong I was.

We walked around the corner and saw two rooms, and it was clear that we’d have to solve a puzzle to advance.

So far we’ve approached every puzzle in a similar way: we’ll have a look around, try and figure out what actually needs doing, and then discuss how we’re going to solve it.

But this time we couldn’t do that, so we had to rely on everything we’d learnt over the last few weeks.

In the end we had to solve over half a dozen puzzles:

• First up was putting pictures in the correct order. James would shake his head if I picked up one that wasn’t in the sequence, and would stick out his left or right arm if it needed to go left or right.

• Next up was a room full of switches. James went into another room with the solution, and would walk in front of the correct switch and then wave his arms. This was easier when I followed his movements like a mirror instead of trying to get the correct switch once he stopped.

• The third challenge involved a timer that we had to pass between each other over a gap in the floor. This ended up needing two tries as I misjudged a throw at the end and the timer dropped into a pit. Good job me.

• The fourth challenge had a start line and two switches at the end, divided by a wall so you could only see your own switch. I think the aim was to push the switches at the same time (by using the start line to get timing right) but we ended up running at the same time by accident.

• Next we had two rooms with a wall between them, but with a small gap at the top. On my side was a collection of switches divided by lines on the wall, but I had no way to know which to press.

  Then I heard a kettle being kicked over the wall. It landed in front of the button I needed to press and we went from there.

• The next puzzle was similar to the first, except all the cards on my side were blank. We took a similar approach to before with James shaking his head for bad cards and pointing left/right for correct ones. He kept running away between cards and I couldn’t figure out why, but turns out he had to use a special telescope in another room to see the symbol on my cards.

• Finally there was a room with shapes, each one with a light in front. I had to mime the correct shape through the window so James could press the switch on his side.

With all the puzzles out of the way we headed to the very top of the orb and pressed the final switch. The wall opened, and we walked out into the woods.

Once outside we were able to talk again, and we gushed about the puzzles and how cool the final challenge had been.

After a little walk we came across a large projector and some chairs on the sand. We turned on the projector and watched the credits roll as we chatted about all the things we’d enjoyed.

As the credits finished we stood up and walked down the final path to a door. We waved to each other, and I walked through the door to end the game.

I have to admit - I got a little emotional as the screen faded to white.

What a wonderful game.