[Under Pressure

An escape room puzzle located at The Thresher.

Verification: Human verified

"Under Pressure" is an escape room puzzle at The Thresher on the world map. It is a multi-floor door puzzle: on each floor you must enter a word into a door to open it, climb the ladder to the next floor, and repeat until you reach the final machine on the top floor. The entire solution string is a single sentence — "fear will slow your mind" — split across five doors and the final puzzle.

How to Complete

Before you can play, you need to reach the puzzle from the world map. Head to the top left of the map and talk to Professor Slip, then exit the conversation as quickly as possible to return to the main world map [src-cc415a0c9f]. The next puzzle is in the middle left, called The Thresher — this is "Under Pressure" [src-cc415a0c9f].

Start the puzzle by talking to the character and skipping the conversation [src-cc415a0c9f]. Once you gain control of your character, the puzzle proper begins.

Step-by-Step Walkthrough

The door inputs do not work like old phone texting — each letter is entered with a single press, so a word is simply typed letter by letter [src-cc415a0c9f]. After each door opens, climb the ladder to the next floor.

1. Ground floor — Newspaper (optional collectible): Look slightly to your left. The pattern is a little odd, but the newspaper is hidden on a shelf here [src-cc415a0c9f]. Grab it before you start on the doors.
2. First door — FEAR: Press once for F, once for E, once for A, and once for R [src-cc415a0c9f]. Open the door and climb the ladder to the second floor.
3. Second door — WILL: Locate the second door on this floor and enter W, I, L, L [src-cc415a0c9f]. Climb the ladder to the third floor.
4. Third door — SLOW: Enter S, L, O, W [src-cc415a0c9f]. Open the door and climb the ladder to the fourth floor.
5. Fourth door — YOUR: Find the door on this floor and enter Y, O, U, R [src-cc415a0c9f]. Climb the ladder to the fifth floor.
6. Fifth door — MIND: Enter M, I, N, D [src-cc415a0c9f]. Climb the ladder to the last floor.
7. Final puzzle — the moral: Interact with the machine on the top floor and give the moral of the story: "fear will slow your mind" [src-cc415a0c9f].

In total you complete five doors and then the final puzzle [src-cc415a0c9f].

Tips

• Speed matters for an achievement. There is a miscellaneous achievement for completing this puzzle in under three minutes, but it is described as really, really easy — the walkthrough author completes it in about two minutes while going quite slowly [src-cc415a0c9f]. Try to keep a good pace through the doors, but don't panic: you can retry if you have to [src-cc415a0c9f].
• Remember the sentence. Every door answer is one word of "fear will slow your mind," in order, so you can anticipate each input before you reach the door.
• Co-op option. "Under Pressure" is also the fastest puzzle to use for co-op achievements. Working with a second player (or a second controller), the passwords are again fear, will, slow, your, mind — five doors plus the end puzzle [src-cc415a0c9f]. If you're quick, it can be done in about a minute and a half; run it a second time so you complete three puzzles together and unlock the Study Buddy achievement/trophy [src-cc415a0c9f].

Rewards

Completing the puzzle awards the miscellaneous achievement for finishing it in under three minutes [src-cc415a0c9f]. Completing it in co-op contributes toward the Study Buddy achievement/trophy, which requires finishing three puzzles together [src-cc415a0c9f]. The hidden newspaper on the ground floor is a separate collectible found during the run [src-cc415a0c9f].

Details

type

escape room

Sources

• Escape Academy - All Achievements/Trophies Walkthrough - 100% Puzzle Solution Guide (Xbox Game Pass)