Escape Academy Guide: Where There's Smoke Walkthrough & Puzzle Solutions

Escape Academy Guide: Why Where There's Smoke Trips Players Up

Jeb’s bad luck has struck again, and this time a quiet library visit has turned into a burning-building escape. If you’re stuck in Where There’s Smoke, this Escape Academy guide walks you through every code, tile, and puzzle in the order you’ll encounter them. A good Escape Academy guide should explain why each solution works, not just hand over answers, so that’s exactly what you’ll get below.

Before you dive in, the official Escape Academy Steam page is the best place to confirm platforms, DLC, and co-op details. This room is part of the base game’s Spring Term, and it ends with the Safety badge.

Quick Answer: Where There's Smoke Puzzle Solutions at a Glance

If you only need a fast reference, start here. The table below summarizes every major lock and puzzle in the burning library.

Step-by-Step Escape Academy Guide for the Burning Library

This section of the Escape Academy guide follows the room’s natural flow. You can solve a few puzzles in a different order, but the route below keeps backtracking to a minimum.

Find the Secret Exit and Learn the Four Tile Slots

The front door is not an option. In the main library area, inspect the central book clue about having “no time to read” and needing to “flip through.” Then find the phrase “Wisdom through effort” and turn the letters in THROUGH upside down. That reveals the secret exit, but it will not open yet.

The exit has four slots, and each slot needs a strange tile. Your job is to collect the scale, bird, lion, and anvil tiles. The slot clues are wordplay, not literal instructions, so do not expect them to name the objects directly.

Open the Directional Lock and Solve the Latin Chest

On the left side of the main area, check the glass cases. One case holds parchment pieces with arrows, but one piece is missing. Recover it near the lock box, then enter the full directional sequence on the lock: right, right, up, left, down, up, left, left. Inside, you get a crank handle and an hourglass.

Next, enter the nearby room with Latin clues and a numbered chest. The phrase “Cogito ergo sum” means “I think therefore I am,” and the room also tells you to “think twice.” Match the Latin words to the numbers on the scrolls, then use the “think twice” hint to repeat the number for “think.”

Enter 2-2-5-7 on the chest to claim the scale tile.

Solve the Clocks and the Upside-Down Ladder Room

Return to the main area and place the crank handle in the center of the broken clock display. Rotate each clock until every dial shows VI, the Roman numeral for 6. When all the clocks match, a button appears. Press it to open the upside-down room.

Inside, move the tall ladders through the maze-like grooves in the floor. Climb the ladder farthest from the doorway first to hit a switch. Then climb the other ladder to reach the bird tile. If you climb in the wrong order, the switch will not be active and you will need to reset your route.

Crack the Inverted Skull Chest

At the back of the upside-down room, you will find an inverted chest with a numbered lock. Four skulls sit beneath it in a specific order: human, bird, human, goat. To decode the lock, check the glass cases in the previous room for the matching numbers.

The intended order reads 9-8-9-6. Because the chest is upside down, however, the lock appears inverted from your perspective. Enter 6-8-6-9 to open it and collect the lion tile. This is one of the most common sticking points in the room, so double-check the order before assuming the lock is bugged.

Complete the Hourglass and Globe Puzzles

With three tiles in hand, return to the hourglass puzzle. Place the hourglass you found earlier on the stand, then look at the stained-glass window above. Adjust each hourglass so it matches the window. The top-right hourglass, which shows sand flowing, should be saved for last. If everything matches, the door opens to the globe room.

The globe room uses a letter-shift cipher. A B with an arrow pointing to A means each letter should move back by one position. Read the colored letters on the podiums, decode the words, then turn the matching colored ring on the central globe.

Set the rings to the sun, air, and fire symbols. The globe opens and gives you the final tile: the anvil.

Place the Final Tiles and Escape

Now return to the secret exit and read each slot clue. The solutions are based on common phrases and associations.

Place all four tiles correctly, and the exit opens. You and Jeb escape the burning library, complete Where There’s Smoke, and earn the Safety badge.

Pro Tips for Your Escape Academy Guide Run

• Work backward from the exit slots. Once you know the four tile themes, the puzzle rooms feel less random.
• Treat every phrase as possible wordplay. “Think twice,” “pride,” and “above and beyond” are all clues, not flavor text.
• Write down the skull order before leaving the cases. The inverted chest is much easier when you already know the intended code.
• In the globe room, shift first and match colors second. Decode the word before touching the rings; otherwise, you may spin the wrong ring by mistake.
• Play with a partner if you can. Community reports suggest co-op makes the hourglass and globe rooms faster because one player can read clues while the other interacts with the puzzle.

Player experience often points to the globe room as the biggest bottleneck in Where There’s Smoke. The fix is simple: do not overthink the B-to-A clue. Move every letter back one step, then match the decoded element to the colored ring. A strong Escape Academy guide should prepare you for that logic jump, not just list the final symbols.

FAQ

What is the Latin chest code in Where There’s Smoke?
The code is 2-2-5-7. “Cogito” connects to 2, “ergo” to 5, and “sum” to 7. The “think twice” clue tells you to use the number for “think” twice.

What is the directional lock sequence in the burning library?
Enter right, right, up, left, down, up, left, left. This opens the lock box that contains the crank handle and hourglass.

What is the skull chest code in the upside-down room?
The intended sequence is 9-8-9-6, but because the chest is inverted, enter 6-8-6-9 at the lock. The order is human, bird, human, goat, with human as 9, bird as 8, and goat as 6.

What reward do you get for completing this Escape Academy guide room?
You earn the Safety badge after escaping the burning library. This Escape Academy guide covers the base-game Where There’s Smoke room, not the DLC escape rooms.