LB Advent Calendar 2009 - Zickchen's Home

Level by Zickenalarm

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth, using notes provided by Tom and translated by him from German into English.

Begin with a brief flyby that takes you through the front yard. When it's done, run forward and look in the flowering bush between the two cars for the LATCHKEY. Use it to open the front door and enter the house. Go past the stairs and use the Zickchen's Key you're already carrying to access the main level of the house. Enter and start opening doors, in no required order.

First, loop around to the left and open the E door leading to the bathroom. Vault up onto the ledge and pick up the revolver ammo. There's nothing else to do in here, so exit and open the next door to your left. Enter the small office and pull the switch in the S bookcase to open another nearby door (the one to the kitchen). Before leaving, sidestep to your right and pull up in a crouched position atop the next higher bookcase. Turn Lara and lower her into the opening in the corner. Enter the crawlspace and pick up the SAVINGS FOR A RAINY DAY for SECRET #1. Pull back out and exit this room.

Open the adjacent door outside and enter a sparsely appointed room with no pickups. However, note for later the shootable zebra-skin container in the corner. Exit and open the last door N. Enter the bathroom and note for later the crawlspace up in the NW corner.

Go to the large living room and take the SUSPICIOUS NOTEBOOK from the table. Read a message from hubby and then go to the kitchen in the SW corner. Lara's attention is drawn to the oven against the S wall, but there's nothing to do there now. Stand in front of the toaster and pull down the switch to open another door. Pull up onto the blue cupboard and pick up the BASEMENT KEY. Exit the kitchen and go to the opened doorway NE next to the bathroom. Enter the master bedroom and note the pictures of the attractive builder and her husband on either side of the bed. Stand one step away from the cupboard and open it for a disc of ROCK MUSIC. Return to the living room and insert the disc in the record player N. Listen to some raucous music, then exit the living room and go E to the stairs. Go down the stairs and use the Basement Key to open the door.

Enter and note the closed door and keyhole to your right. Turn left and open the door in the SW corner. Enter and vault up onto the ledge. Pick up the GLASS and continue to the other end of this room to note for later a closed grate. Exit this room, turn right and open the next door. Enter a small room and note for later the closed grate. Exit and go through the beaded screen to enter the E room. Take the revolver ammo from the plinth and exit the basement. Go back up the stairs and return to the kitchen. Place the Glass on the W shelf, and a cut scene shows a grate opening.

Go back to the NW bathroom and pull up into the crawlspace you noted earlier. Lower Lara down the other side and take the SMALL KITCHEN KNIFE from the plinth in the alcove. Return to the basement and enter the SW doorway. Wind your way to the grate you saw earlier and use your knife to open it. Stand in front of the cupboard and take FRITZE'S KEY from it. Note for later the dark NW passage and exit this room. Turn right and enter the next room. Use your knife to open the grate, then step on the wooden slab and open the cupboard for some matches. Reverse roll and turn the valve in the E alcove to open a trap door in that dark NW passage you noted a minute or so ago. Go back there after noting the nearby closed grate in the SE hole.

Drop down through the hole in the NW passage and find yourself in a dark lower room. Locate the jump switch in the SE corner and activate it to open a grate in the S wall. Enter the opening and search the nearby cupboard for some CAKE MIX. There are things in here to shoot, but you have no weapon as yet. Note the strange receptacle at the end of the ledge and go around to the other side of the room. Kick in the barrier at the SW corner and enter the crawlspace. Go around to the other end and take the REVOLVER from the plinth. Return to the previous room and shoot the zebra-skin container in the corner for a BIG ANTIDOTE. Go to the next room and shoot another zebra-skin container near the W wall. Pick up the KEY TO THE CELLAR APARTMENT.

Pull up N to exit this area, turn around and take a running jump S to return to the cellar room. On the way out, use the Key to the Cellar Apartment to open the N door. Enter a living area and turn left to enter the N den. Loop around to the left and pry the LITTLE BEETLE off the ledge with your knife. Return to the hall and turn left to kick open the door to another bathroom. Go inside, turn around and jump up to activate a jumpswitch. A cut scene shows that corner trap door opening down in the hole you noted earlier while exploring the cellar. Go back there (the doorway next to the beaded screen) and drop down through the hole. Go around the corner to find FRITZE'S LOST BOOK on a plinth.

Leave the basement and go up two flights of stairs to the second story. You'll find two closed and locked doors at the landing. Use Fritze's Key to open the W door. Inside are several closed doors and one open one. Enter the small kitchen, vault up onto the ledge and pick up the CAKE TIN carefully hidden among the leftovers. Open the door across the hall and enter the bathroom. Vault over the obstacles to your right and locate the revolver ammo. Go back out to the hall and pull back the NW block. Enter the vacated space for SECRET #2 and more SAVINGS FOR A RAINY DAY.

Go back downstairs to the kitchen on the main floor. Combine the Cake Mix and the Cake Tin to form the ALMOST READY CHOCOLATE CAKE. Place it in the oven to start the baking process. A cut scene shows a door opening back up in Fritze's area, and a text message hints that you can spend your valuable time doing other things while waiting for the cake to be ready. Head back upstairs to Fritze's area and enter the S room. Ignore Fritze's cat and place his Lost Book on the shelf in the empty spot. A cut scene shows that you finally have access to the back yard.

Go downstairs and exit through the back door in the kitchen. Watch the ensuing flyby carefully as it carries you through the back and front yards, as it will pause meaningfully at several strategic locations: the hornets' nest high up in the pine tree, an important key on the roof of an outbuilding, and a large yellow flower in the front yard where you'll later be placing a pickup. Turn left on the patio and pick up the EMPTY WATERING CAN near the fence. Proceed into the back yard and heed the text message warning you about the poisonous vegetation. Go W and slide down onto a paved walkway. Follow it N and note the closed grate. When you step on it you get a cut scene with a hint about what you need to do with your Watering Can. When it's no longer empty, of course.

Continue N to the fence and note another closed grate to your left. Turn right and locate the receptacle in the nearby tree stump. Insert the Little Beetle to open another door up in Fritze's area, where the cat has been patiently waiting while licking and scratching various portions of its anatomy. Take another trip back there and enter the new room. Vault up into the window sill and pick up the ANGEL TRUMPET FLOWER. Return to the back yard and loop around to the right toward that outbuilding you saw in the flyby. Pause to open the door to your right with the wall switch, giving you a shortcut into the main house. Now go around the outbuilding to the E wall to find another outbuilding. Jump up the grassy bank to the right of the closed door and pull up onto the roof. Go around to the right and pick up the KEY TO THE GUEST ROOM.

The Guest Room is on the upper story of the main house, next to Fritze's area, so go there (using the convenient short cut) and open the door. The room is empty, but you can shoot out the window. Do so and drop down onto the balcony. Pick up the COFFEE POT and pull down the wall switch to open up an area in the Guest Room. Climb up the vine-covered wall and enter the formerly hidden bathroom in the Guest Room. Grab the LASER SIGHT and go back downstairs. Exit the house through the back door in the kitchen on the main floor. Go around to the right and go close to the pine tree with the hornets' nest. Combine the revolver and laser sight, then shoot the hornets' nest. Prepare to endure some stings while a cut scene shows the gate opening to provide access to the first outbuilding.

Go there and enter. Pick up the LID to the Coffeepot and combine the two to form the ELIXER. Use the shortcut into the main house and stand in front of the coffee maker on the rolling tray as you enter the kitchen. When you insert the Elixer a cut scene shows the grate opening in the NW corner of the back yard. Go there and drop down into a dark underground passage (the grate closes behind you). Light a match and crawl S until you can stand up. Pick up more matches to your right and use the plant to slide down to a still lower area. Use the floor lever in the stump to open another grate. Continue N and crawl in to your right for SECRET #3 and some more SAVINGS FOR A RAINY DAY.

Crawl back out, climb the plant and backflip to the higher passage. Take a running jump over the opening past the plant, and drop down into a new underground area. Pull up into the N alcove and take the BUTTERFLY from the plinth. Hop back out and use the E ladder (shimmy right or left at the top) to get back to the paved path. Go around the right side of the house (as you face it) to locate that large star-like yellow flower you saw in the flyby earlier. Place the Butterfly on it to open the gate in the second outbuilding in the back yard. Go there (you have to take the long way around) and enter. Take the small antidote from the plinth in the alcove to your right, then face E and open the trap door in the floor. Drop down and crawl underneath the spider web (it explodes if you simply walk into it) for another small antidote. Pull the bag out of the NW alcove and hop over it to pick up the BATTERY.

Climb out of this room and use the shortcut ahead and to your left to enter the main house. Go through the kitchen and turn left into the cellar area you explored earlier. Go to the S wall and turn right. Enter the next room and follow around to your right. Drop down through the opening in the grate and in the room below go through the S opening. Insert the Battery in the receptacle you noted earlier. A cutscene shows a platform rising out in the front yard. Go there and use the raised platform to pull up onto the roof. Step forward and stand in the puddle to fill your Water Can. Get back down to the ground. The gate in the nearby white fence is now open, so use it as a shortcut to the back yard. Go to the puny brown plant near the center of the back yard and water it. (It can be a little tricky, so save your game first. I stood facing N, just outside the white circle.) When you do it properly, a BROKEN TWIG appears magically nearby.

Combine the Broken Twig and the Angel Trumpet Flower to form the PRETTY LIVING ROOM DECORATION. This gives you a hint where to go next. Go through the back door into the kitchen. Exit the kitchen and turn left into the living room. Vault up into the long window sill and stand in front of the small glass bowl. Insert the Decoration for a signal that your unattended cake is now ready to be served. Go back to the kitchen and remove the cake from the oven, just in time to greet your special guest.