Alone in the Dark’s main setting feels both like a place you’ve been to before and one that is completely brand new to you. You’ll come across puzzles and items you have no idea what to do with them, only to understand their purpose later down the line. With this, we’re going to piece the picture together and figure out where to find the broken plates in Alone in the Dark.
Alone in the Dark — Where to find the broken Astronomical Clock plates
I started my first playthrough of Alone in the Dark as Detective Edward Carnby, and after getting your bearings around Derceto Manor, you’ll notice a lot of interesting items throughout the map.
At the beginning of Chapter 2, you must repair the decorative plates on the Boiler and Astronomical Clock. Doing so will get you one step closer to uncovering the truth and finding Jeremy, so this is priority number one.
Since you can’t access the Boiler until you progress a bit more, we’ll start with the clock. Players can find the Astronomical Clock at the back of The Gallery, up the stairs from the Stair Hall. When you get there, you won’t be able to use your talisman until you fix the decorative plate on the inside of the clock. There are two plates for you to find, and they will require you to put your puzzle-solving hat on.
How to return to the Kitchen Garden
The first plate is located inside the fountain in the Kitchen Garden on the basement floor. You go through this area at the very beginning of the game. However, your original path through the kitchen is blocked by a spooky and angry lady with a knife.
To reach the Kitchen Garden, you’ll have to pass through the Library on the first floor using Batiste’s Keys, go through the Small Parlor, and head down the stairs to the Conservatory.
On the bottom floor of the Conservatory, you’ll see a door leading outside to the garden, and once you’ve made it you’ll find the plate inside a fountain/well behind the statue. Unfortunately, your arms are too short to grab the bucket, so you must fill the water hole enough to be able to grab the piece.
How to raise the water level in the Kitchen Garden
To raise the water, head to the right of the statue and use the bolt cutters you got from the Small Parlor to open the shed in the corner. Inside is a hose extension you can connect to the hose currently hooked up next to the hole in the ground. After it’s connected all that’s left to do is follow the hose to the spigot, turn on the water, and watch the bucket rise. You can grab the piece, and be on your way to grabbing the next one.
You need to head over to Perosi’s Room by entering the hallway to the left of The Gallery. Her room is the last one on the left. You’ll need a key to open her door, but thankfully you should have picked up Room Key #6 from the Clerk’s Office at the very beginning of Chapter 2.
How to solve the puzzle in Perosi’s Room
Inside you find quite a lot of bobbles and knick-knacks that you can interact with, as well as a paper from Jeremy, and Perosi’s journal. But the main focus should be on the locked desk containing the second and final piece of the Astronomical Clock’s decorative plate. This isn’t your ordinary lock as you’ll have to input three Zodiac symbols to open it.
Solving the puzzle requires utilizing multiple items within Perosi’s room. The first thing to pay attention to is the six paintings in the corner of the room. You might notice that each picture has massive burns on it, and for good reason. Flip the pictures so that the burns are interconnecting across each painting. It should look something like this:
As you can see, there are three paintings with names on them, and they read left to right: William Arges, Franklyn Mosig, and Norah Keith. Take these names to the family tree painting right behind you, and you’ll notice that each person has a corresponding number attached to them. Once you get the number 2-9-4, you’ll want to check on Perosi’s journal you picked up earlier.
In Perosi’s journal, she has a page from an astrology book, with the Zodiacs numbered from 1-12. Using the combination you just got, you’ll come up with Pisces, Libra, and Taurus. Finally, input the Zodiac symbols on the locked desk and grab the last Astronomical Clock plate you need.
Alone in the Dark — How to arrange Astronomical Clock plates
Once you’ve collected the broken pieces for the Astronomical Clock, you’re ready to put it all together. Make your way back to the clock and place both of the plates inside the right-side door. Now for the hard part, figuring out where all the pieces go. I didn’t have nearly as difficult of a time on the clock plates as I did with the Boiler one, but it still can get confusing. You’ll need to make your plate look exactly like this:
Then place your Talisman on the plate and enter the code 6-4-3. The next time you return to Derceto, your objective is to grab the broken Boilerplates.
Alone in the Dark — Where to find the broken Boilerplates
After visiting an evil mound and getting spit back out to Derceto Manor, your new task requires fixing up the decorative plate on the Boiler in the basement. Players might remember seeing this boiler at the very beginning of the game, then realizing you aren’t able to mess with it. But before you go wandering downstairs again, make sure to visit the Drawing Room and grab the Cellar Key.
You’ll find one of the plate pieces on the other side of the Boiler and one inside Cassandra’s room.
How to solve the puzzle in Cassandra’s room
There’s a piece of the decorative Boiler plate located within Cassandra’s room, locked behind another Zodiac lock. The combination of this lock is hidden on the medicine bottles prescribed to Cassandra. Unfortunately, two bottles are missing, and you must find them to solve the puzzle. One of the bottles is located in her room, but the other is locked in a box that you’ve most likely walked past a few times already.
The main bottle you’ll have to find is located inside the locked medicine box in Lottie’s Room on the first floor. To find the key, enter the Mezzanine on the second floor and navigate down to the first floor. In the middle of the dilapidated room, the Medicine Box Key is on the broken piano in the Grand Parlor.
Head back to Lottie’s Room, grab the medicine bottle, and navigate back to Cassandra’s room. Place the two bottles in the medicine tray, and you’ll be doing a variant of the painting’s puzzle from Perosi’s Room. Except in this puzzle, you’ll have to rotate and rearrange the bottles so that they look like this:
Doing so gives you the numbers 2-5-7, prompting for another look at the Zodiac page from Perosi’s journal. These numbers in order translate to the Astrological symbols Pisces, Gemini, and Leo. Input the symbols into the lock, and you’ll successfully obtain a piece for the Boilerplate.
Grab the valve and shut off the Boiler
Grabbing the piece on the other side of the Boiler is relatively easy so we recommend you get this piece last to save yourself from useless running around. But with the Cellar key, head down to the Food & Wine Cellar and use the key on the locked door in the back.
Wiring isn’t a strong suit at Derceto Manor, which is very apparent when you see the live wire standing between you and the valve you need. Thankfully, someone left a spare fuse switch right next to it. Place it in the fuse box, and you’ll be able to grab the valve (with an extra amount of darkness and spooky enemies).
Make your way back to the Boiler, and insert the valve to turn off the steam. You’ll get a bit of story info in the next room before the lights come back on, allowing you to grab the Boilerplate piece.
Alone in the Dark — How to arrange Boiler plates
Whether you grabbed the plate piece from the Boiler room or Cassandra’s room first, head back to the Boiler room once you have both pieces. Place both pieces into the decorative plate, and get ready to rearrange them.
This image puzzle took me longer than I’d like to admit to solve on the first playthrough. You have to rearrange the broken pieces into an image of a town basking in the glowing sun. If you’re like me and are having difficulties figuring out how the image looks completed, here’s the full picture:
These puzzles serve as the majority of the 2nd Chapter in Alone in the Darks story, with the other parts filled with sections from other worlds. Some of these puzzles and item locations can be convoluted so be sure to come back to this guide if you ever get lost on your way through.
Additionally, make sure you have the best Guidance settings enabled so you can have a smooth Alone in the Dark experience. There will be sections of combat you’ll go through in between the clock and boilerplates, but aside from that you should have no trouble finding your way through the darkness.
