"There Is No Game" Walkthrough: Easy Step-by-Step Guide

There Is No Game Walkthrough

Solve the puzzle on the There Is No Game title screen. What makes this game so unique (and so confusing!) is the first puzzle in the game is actually the title screen itself. Players can figure out how to solve it by themselves simply by moving their mouse around and clicking on letters and buttons until something happens. The narrator gives you clues on what you should do next to progress. But if you want to cut to the chase and solve the title screen quickly, follow these steps. On the title screen, click the "O" in "NO" 10 times to make it fall. Then click and drag the "O" back up to the title to try to put it back in place. The letter will fall back down every time you let go of it and "shake" the screen. Repeat this step several times until a large volume button falls from the top right corner of the screen. Click on the volume button to mute the narrator. Next, the volume button will start jumping quickly to different parts of the screen. Follow it with your mouse and click it again. Then the narrator will trap the button in a wooden box, which you can break by dragging the "O" over it and dropping it. The narrator will then try trapping the volume button in a metal box. Pick up and drop the metal box with your mouse to "shake" the screen and cause all the letters in the title to fall down. With the letters on the ground, all that will be left in the middle of the screen is 2 screws. Unscrew them by left-clicking on them with your mouse. A panel will open on the screen and reveal a letter board that reads "THERE IS" with 4 blank spaces after it. Drag and drop the letters that spell "GAME" up to the blank spaces on the letter board.

Beat the Pong game and collect the trophy. After you beat the first title screen, the screen changes to a game of Pong with several rows of blocks. Underneath the blocks, you'll notice a horizontal bar with a ball stuck to it. Click and drag it around with your mouse to release the ball and bounce it up into the blocks. Each time the ball touches a block, it breaks it. Your goal is to break each block without letting the ball fall past the bar. Of course, since this is There Is No Game, there's a clever twist! Here's how to overcome it. Drag the bar around the screen to destroy as many blocks as you can with the ball. After a while, the narrator will try to make it more difficult by moving the remaining blocks around. As you continue to break more blocks, the narrator will get frustrated and delete your ball. Replace the ball by dragging the ball from underneath your score on the left side of the screen. Let go of it so it bounces off the horizontal bar or the bottom of the screen, then destroy more blocks. Flashing colored blocks will appear on either side of the Pong screen as the game "glitches," but don't let that distract from your objective: eliminate all the blocks in the middle. When all the blocks are destroyed, a gleaming trophy will appear in the middle of the screen. Click on it to make it drop, then pick it up and drag it over to the blinking green arrow on the right side of the screen. You'll be taken back to the title screen, which is where you'll start the next puzzle.

Find the goat and grow a tree to help you chase the flying squirrel. During the last stage of the Pong game, the narrator brainstorms things he thinks will make the game (which he keeps insisting isn't a real game at all) better. The last item he mentions is a goat, and this is an extremely important clue to keep in mind as you continue to progress. Here's how to find the goat and use it to advance. When you return to the title screen after beating the Pong game, drop the trophy. This will cause the screen to "shake" and the letters on the letter board to fall on the ground. Pick up the letters that spell "GOAT" and arrange them on the letter board, then click the green arrow that appears on the right side of the screen. The arrow will take you to a new screen where you'll see a goat locked in a cage that's dangling from the ceiling. You'll also notice a waterfall to the goat's right. Nothing will happen if you click around, so your only alternative is to click the green arrow on the left to return to the title screen. After returning to the title screen, a flying squirrel with a key will appear and float to the top of the screen. The key is for the goat's cage, so you'll need to get it! To do that, replace the letters that spell "GOAT" on the letter board with the letters that spell "TREE." A tree will appear on the ground. Pick up the trophy and hover on the right-hand green arrow to go back to the cave where the goat is still trapped in its cage. Hold the trophy underneath the waterfall to fill it up with water. Then drag it back to the title screen and drop it above the tree. Repeat this process 3 times to make the tree grow tall enough that you can use it to follow the squirrel.

Get the key and free the goat from its cage. When the top of the tree grows to reach the top of the screen, a new green arrow will appear next to it pointing upward. Click on it to change the screen to a sunny day with a blue sky, the top of the tree, and the pesky squirrel with the cage key perched on its leaves. Here's how you can persuade it to give up the key in exchange for a nut. Find a brown nut on the right side of the tree top and click it until it falls down to the title screen. Follow it down, then click on the metal box from the first puzzle, drag it over the top of the nut, and drop it. The box will crack the nut's shell. Pick up and drag the shelled nut up to the screen with the squirrel and give it to the squirrel by holding it over his face. The squirrel will take the nut and drop the key down on to the title screen. Pick up and drag the key to the right to go back to the screen with the goat. Hold the key over the goat's cage. The cage will unlock and the goat will drop to the ground – but then, the screen will "glitch," and the narrator will scream, "No… the goat was a lie! A lie!!" Eventually, the screen will turn white, then fade to black.

End the game by choosing if you want to forgive the narrator. After the goat screen fades to black, the narrator returns! He happily exclaims, "I'm not dead! I'm alive!" and then immediately expresses how he regrets glitching the game and putting you (the player) in danger. He asks you if you'll forgive him. Saying either "Yes" or "No" will end the game, but the narrator's dialogue changes depending on your response. If you say "No": The narrator will reply, "Go to hell!" Then the screen will, "Not a Game by Kamizoto." If you say "Yes": The narrator will say, "Ho?! Really!? What a great news! Maybe we can be friends! No, no, that's not a good idea. We would get bored quickly together. Why? Because… as I said… THERE IS NO GAME!!!" Then the text changes to read, "Not a Game by Kamizoto."

How long does it take to beat There Is No Game?

Players can beat the game in less than 10 minutes. If you know where and what to click on, you can finish the game in almost no time flat! If you decide not to use our walkthrough as a reference, though, it could take you 2-4 hours to figure out what to do to solve each puzzle! Both ways of playing the game are valid so it's up to you to decide which one sounds the most fun to you.

Where to Play There Is No Game

Play There Is No Game for free online. You don't have to pay a cent for it, nor do you have to download any programs. The entire game is playable right from your web browser! Find it on Poki, CoolMathGames, or CrazyGames.

Buy the There Is No Game sequel on PC, Switch, or Android. If you beat There Is No Game but feel hungry for more, try out the sequel, There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension. Unlike the first installment, however, you do have to pay for WD. It costs $12.99 and is available for purchase on Steam and Nintendo Switch. You can also buy the app version from the Google Play Store for $4.99.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What do you do with the goat in There Is No Game? The only thing you can do with the goat in There Is No Game is free it with the key you get from the flying squirrel. After you unlock the goat's cage, it drops to the ground, but freeing it is the only interaction you have with it.

How do you beat the squirrel in There Is No Game? To beat the squirrel, click on the nut on the right side of the tree where the squirrel is sitting several times until it falls. Follow it down to the title screen and break open the nut's shell by dropping the metal box on it. Pick up the shelled nut and carry it back up to the squirrel. The squirrel will take the nut and drop the key.

How do you crack the nut in There Is No Game? Crack the nut in There Is No Game by picking up the metal box from the first puzzle with your mouse and dropping it on the nut.

What's the end to There Is No Game? At the end of There Is No Game, the narrator glitches the game to try to end it. When the screen goes black, the narrator is surprised to find he's still alive. Then he apologizes to the player for putting them in danger and asks for their forgiveness. The player can either say "Yes" or "No." If they say "Yes," the narrator speaks a few more lines of dialogue and then the game ends. If they "No," the narrator says, "Go to hell!" and the game ends.