Maze, Gear, and Door Solutions

Maze, Windmill Gear, and Door Solutions

Most Outbound puzzle searches are really asking about one of three things: the Animal Maze in Pacific Coast, the Windmill gear puzzle in the Starting Level, or a locked door that will not open until the nearby objective is powered or decoded. Use this section when the Lighthouse steps are not the puzzle you are stuck on.

Animal Maze Solution

The Animal Maze is an optional Pacific Coast quest near The Maze. Your goal is to reach the eye of the maze, which is both the center of the route and the eye of the fish-shaped layout. Do not try to brute-force every hedge path from the entrance. Follow the direction signs through the maze, keep moving toward the center, and use the elevated The Maze View campfire area if you need to reorient before going back in.

The quest completes when you reach the nearby Signal Tower and download its blueprint. Bring Download Vouchers before you start the maze route; if you arrive at the tower with no vouchers, you can find the solution path and still have to leave for recycling before the objective clears.

Windmill Gear Puzzle and Locked Door

The Windmill is on the first map near the farm fields, and its locked ground-floor door stays shut until the windmill is powered again. Bring 20 Scrap Metal before climbing; it is heavy, so empty your backpack into the van first.

1. Enter the Windmill and go upstairs to the lever floor.
2. Use the left lever twice to line the upper-floor boxes or platform with the high wall switch.
3. Climb up, stand on the boxes, and flip the wall switch to drop the ladder.
4. Return to the lever floor and move the ladder out from behind the shelving. If it is still blocked, look up and adjust the levers until the ladder is reachable.
5. Climb to the top floor and repair the cogwheel or gear mechanism with 20 Scrap Metal.
6. Pull the brake or power lever after the gear is repaired. This starts the Windmill and unlocks the ground-floor terminal door.

Inside the terminal room, you still need the local terminal items before you can claim the blueprint. Check the top floor near the repaired mechanism for the Terminal Executable, check the terminal room shelf for the Password Databank, and check the first-floor greenhouse or outside shelf near the Windmill door for the Signal Decryptor. Once all three are collected, use the terminal to finish the Windmill reward.

Door Troubleshooting

If an Outbound door will not open, first decide whether it is a powered door, a terminal door, or a progression gate. Powered doors usually open only after a nearby mechanism is repaired or switched on. Terminal doors usually need three local access items, often a password-style item, an executable or floppy-style item, and a decryptor or USB-style item. Progression gates are different: they wait for bridge repairs, region unlocks, festival progress, or a new blueprint.

Before leaving a locked door, sweep the same landmark in a tight circle. Check shelves by doors, boxes beside tools, upper floors, desks, greenhouse corners, and the exterior wall facing the entrance. Most door puzzles keep their required items close to the landmark instead of hiding them in another region.