A Short Tale: Walkthrough Guide

A Short Tale
By: Glitch Games

img_9617

This is a complete step-by-step walkthrough for the iOS and Android game A Short Tale by Glitch Games. It’s a room escape game by the folks who brought you Forever Lost. It all takes place in the same room, but every inch is packed with puzzles and clues. Some of them are downright devious, so it’s understandable if you might need help. This walkthrough will spoil the puzzles for you, so beware. If you would rather have a small hint, feel free to ask in the comments section.

Walkthrough:

1. Read through the book. You’ll shrink down to size! Climb up the fire engine and play with the Simon toy. You need to copy the color sequences. If you mess up, you’ll have to start over from the beginning. The sequences go like this:
Red, green, blue, orange, red.
Yellow, green, blue, yellow, red.
Blue, green, blue, orange, red, yellow, yellow.

Once you get all three correct, a clue will appear in the center. Take a photo of it using the in-game camera.

final-218final-219

You can also watch my complete walkthrough video here:

2. Pick up the ruler near the magic 8 ball. Then talk to the 8 ball. He’ll first growl, but then he says “I can’t help you… I’d rather watch paint dry.”

final-257

3. Climb up to the desk drawer and use the clue you got from the Simon game to unlock the desk. Pick up the rhombus piece and the dental floss.

final-255

final

final-222

4. Climb on top of the desk. Go right and take a photo of the Allen vs. Senator (AVS) poster.

final-224

5. Continue on and use the ruler as a bridge to cross over to the pot of soil. Pick up some dirt, the circle shape and the USB fan. Also, look through the telescope at the poster of the moon phases.

final-225

final-226

6. Tap on each moon phase to zoom in and see a symbol on it. There’s a cricket bat, apple, kite, or tennis ball on each one. Take photos of each and make note of which ones are which. I doctored the photo below so you can see them all on one screen. There’s also a fly on the window here, but we can’t catch it yet.

final-1

7. Go back down and turn right. Ask the alien to help you and he’ll tell you he will once his three children return to him. Solve the jigsaw puzzle piece puzzle to open the chest. Take the square piece and a photo of the Roman numerals clue.

final-228

final-229

final-2

8. Go right to find the books with Roman numerals on them. Organize them according the the note you found. Then take a photo of the order.

final-231

final-232

9. Look in the waste basket to find two packets of vinegar.

final-233

10. Climb up above the books and solve the swapping tiles puzzle to see a clue for the piano/keyboard. Take a photo of it.

final-234

11. Go back down and to the fire truck. Right behind is is a puzzle with wooden pieces. Use the clue from the books to put the right number of wooden pieces in each stack. It goes 1, 4, 2, 3, 6, 5. Take the viewer discs.

final-26

12. Turn right until you face the TV. Pick up the house piece next to the game console. Also, press the Power button to turn it on.

final-235

13. Go to the keyboard and turn it on to the first mode. Use the clue from the swapping tiles puzzle to play it in the right sequence.

final-236

14. Look behind the keyboard at a schedule for the Forever Lost marathon. Take a photo.

final-238

15. Climb up into the closet. Take the pump.

final-239

final-240

Click on the little numbers below to continue to the next page or click here.

This Post Has 56 Comments

  1. Mike

    Hey. Love the game. Thread disappeared after I picked up. Is this a bug??
    Thanks

    1. AppUnwrapper

      The thread in the game? It shouldn’t disappear before you use it.

    2. Graham Ranson - Glitch

      Sorry about this, very strange. Please go to the Save Game screen in Options and then select your save file and hit the Export button. If you follow the instructions there I can patch your save file.

      1. SJ

        Thanks Graham, but it WAS evil. ????

      2. Anne

        Hi

        I’m having the same problem – the thread is gone. I have tried to export the game and it is currently in my clip-holder. Which email can I send it to?

  2. Tj

    Having trouble with the gear puzzle. My trouble not a bug. When you first get to the pencil box, it shows a picture other than the ones you show. What do I do with that? Step 37.

  3. Nari

    So I’ve talked to all the toys. They all say they will help, except the magic 8 ball. When it came to the dvd part, he never told me to do it no matter how many times I clicked him. I put them in order anyways bc that was the point that I became stuck and came to your site. I just went to the door and still couldn’t open it, I went back to all toys and the 8ball finally said arrange the DVDs. I went back and “arranged” them again. He smiled. I went to door and still won’t open. Went back to 8 ball and now he keeps saying I lost my train of thought and “ggrrrr”.

    Teddy bear,alien,train,robot,vacuum, 8ball, am I missing a toy?

    1. AppUnwrapper

      There’s something else you need to do with the train. It’s tricky!

      1. Nari

        Hmm I’m not sure what I missed with the train? I put the track pieces down…I talked to him and he is willing to help me.

        1. AppUnwrapper

          I don’t want to give it away. It’s devious, but fun to figure out on your own.

  4. Immo

    Great game. Had to use the walkthrough, because i couldn’t find the needle. According to it needle is in the pinning wall. But there isn’t. Can you help.
    Thanks

      1. Immo

        I did. But there’s no needle, just the two notes. All items i got left are thread, 2 plastic buttons, small knife and inked brush. Maybe a bug.
        Thanks and sorry for bothering on valentins day. Lol

        1. AppUnwrapper

          You might have used it already on the digger button?

          1. Immo

            Geez!!!! You’re absolutely right.
            Thanks a lot!!

  5. Chucky

    Two comments:
    1) the needle is very easy to be missed out… it should go with a major hint like that without any highlighting
    2) the train of thought is too devious and really pisses people off…. wish you didn’t do stuff like that ;-(

    And except these two I solved the whole thing myself, sort of reasonably hard but doable.

    1. Chucky

      I mean it SHOULDN’T go with a major hint like that without any highlighting, sorry for the typo

    2. Tony

      The thing is everyone is different. I got the needle straight almost at the beginning with no issues. But that dial thing where you had to select numbers based upon cogs… even when I knew the answer I couldn’t get it to work. Had to use the screenshots literally.

      Also it was letting me turn on the hairdryer and put the water pistol in front of it, so in my mind that was warm water! Nah.

      Thank god for this walkthrough or there are a couple of bits I’d never have done. Glad to get most of it though without help. 🙂

  6. Richie

    Can anyone give me a hint regarding the lock on the suitcase in the closet? Please don’t spoil any other puzzles!

    It seems to me that I should’ve been to solve this puzzle early in the game, but for some reason I can not figure out the 5 color-coded lock on the suitcase.

    I’ve checked everywhere and everything and I’ve also solved some puzzles that were way more difficult than this one.

    Any hints, without giving too much information, would be appreciated.

    1. Andrea

      Check the picture you painted

  7. Susy

    I need to pick up the needle from the truck to use it on the teddy bear, but I can’t click on it. When I click on the truck it just gets me up to the easel… Anyone else experiencing this?

      1. Susy

        Yeah. But the zoom in on the button view is gone and doesnt show up anymore once i’ve put the needle in. Wherever i click on the truck it just takes me up the easel.

        1. AppUnwrapper

          You can try exporting your save file to Glitch Games and they can fix it for you if there’s a bug.

    1. nasim

      Press the button behind tractor

  8. AdventureGuy

    I still can’t figure out the “Lost my Train of Thought” part. Why isn’t the solution in the walkthrough?

    1. AppUnwrapper

      It is. If you want the answer, it’s in step 60.

  9. Ernst Wendrich

    I tried it 3 times at least but the thread disapears before i could use it. I also tried mailing it 2 times to glitch but still no answer. Very frustrating.

    1. AppUnwrapper

      If I remember correctly, the thread is used automatically to sew on the buttons. You just use the buttons on the bear and they’ll automatically get sewn on. Did you already try that?

    2. Ernst Wendrich

      I recieved mail that a fix for this problem had been submitted to Apple ????

      1. AppUnwrapper

        Oh so it sounds like it’s a bug they were able to reproduce and are waiting for the update to get approved. They might still be able to fix your individual save for you, but I’m not 100% sure.

  10. Ernst Wendrich

    I’ll just play this great game again ????????

  11. B

    Can’t open red trunk even after setting clock to 5:00

      1. B

        That’s what your guide said above

        1. AppUnwrapper

          Sorry, I meant “are you sure that’s *all* you need to do?” There’s more than one clock for that puzzle.

  12. B

    Set all 3 clocks to to 5; nothing. Also tried house clock at 7 as its reversed. Nothing.

  13. B

    Finished. Don’t understand. What happened to Ben? Ok to reply privately.

  14. B

    Yahoo lost my e mails. Would like to know what happened to Ben!

  15. Krista

    Hi! Having an issue with going back to get the clue where the keyboard numbers were found the first time. Step 31. The clue isn’t there…

  16. Sharkie

    Have finished all except the dress up robot. I put all of the pieces on correctly, including the carabiner, but it isn’t saying it will help. It seems I haven’t done it correctly, because I can still move the pieces around…

  17. D

    The TV doesn’t turn on when I use the voice command. Is there something I’m missing?

    1. AppUnwrapper

      It’s not actually supposed to work with you talking into it. You need to find another way.

  18. Selena

    Ok so I did everything.. Got my thread and needle, button on the bear but can’t sew it on. Am I missing a step? Got my sharp pencil point en brush with inked also in my bag (and thread and needle).

    1. Selena

      Nevermind. Needed 2 buttons haha. Thanks for the wt!

  19. Zhang Xiang

    What was the whole point about taking a picture of the Allen VS Senator poster? It wasn’t used in any of the puzzles…

    1. Kite

      Maybe it refers to a previous Glitch game? But no point in a photo.

  20. Isabelle

    I used the knife to get a button…. But I only got one, how do I get the other?

    Thank-you

  21. KarenC

    I can’t find one of the triangular yellow pieces…Can you tell me where it is?

    1. Niina

      This is what IΓÇÖm stuck on as well. I looked through the walkthrough and it shows that it should be next to the empty Balls of Light box but thereΓÇÖs nothing there for me. I cannot open the box. So frustrating!!

    2. Niina

      And apparently this box I cannot open (due to the glitched triangle piece) houses the thing IΓÇÖve been waiting this whole game to get: the game cartridge. IΓÇÖve been so pumped to use the generic NES this whole time! >=\

    3. Kyle

      This took me a minute. You have to click the middle of the box to look behind it… Thank you angry tapping!

  22. J W

    What’s the logic behind the pencil box combination? There are multiple ways to make 5, 7, and 3 dots appear by spinning the knob, but it seems like you have to do it in a particular way and order.

  23. Kite

    I donΓÇÖt get the order of the pencil one. I was following the patterns on the inside of the gears, matching it to the patterns linked to step 1, 2, 3 and 4, but that order is apparently wrong and I donΓÇÖt know why. I used the walkthrough a few times, felt a bit like I expected the app to glitch out and didnΓÇÖt want to churn a lot while not being sure if my obstacles were the app erroring or me, but it was me! Did solve most of it myself though. Some of the solutions were pretty wtf, compared to other Glitch games IΓÇÖve played so far. But still a great game. Confusing that the needle and thread were not visually shown to stick on the eyes (iOS phone), so when the game ended I didnΓÇÖt expect it and thought there was an error because I thought I hadnΓÇÖt used them yet.

  24. B

    No matter what I do the tv won’t change to the gaming channel.

Leave a Reply to Susy Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.