Crow Country: How to solve the valve puzzle and get the Bronze Key

Under pressure tightening the valve inside Fairy Pond, Mara has to solve the valve puzzle to obtain the Bronze Key in Crow Country. But this puzzle is only the beginning.

The valve puzzle is the first challenge you need to overcome in Crow Country. It shows Mara what’s to come as the puzzles become more multi-layered as you discover new sectors of the abandoned theme park. Thankfully, clues are scattered around the Fairytale Town (first area), so exploration is key. Be careful, however, as you find more key items, more monsters start to rise to the Crow Country surface.

Here is the valve puzzle solution, alongside a clear guide on how to get and use the Bronze Key in Crow Country.

Crow Country: Valve puzzle solution

As the valve puzzle is the first real puzzle you complete in Crow Country, there isn’t much you need to pass the fairy’s test. Once you enter Crow Country’s Fairytale Town, you will run into the injured Arthur, who is sitting on the fairy code. Take him back to Mara’s car to pick up the code 3184. Use this to wake the tree lady. She will only grant passage to the pond if you say the correct phrase. You need to tell her, “Hear me, oh Great Fairy of Fairest Forest,” to enter the Fairy Pond room.

Once inside, take the whole room in by interacting with everything. The only hint about the valve puzzle is regarding the water filter. The valve beside it can be turned continuously, but turning it too many times bursts the pipe, likely harming Mara in the process. Blindly turning the valve won’t give you the answer. Instead, go to the curtain and interact with it to find the filter pump behind it. Here, you can see the gauge and where you need to aim for with each turn of the valve.

You need to turn the valve six times in total. Count each turn and run to the gauge when the arrow is pointing at the far right of the white sliver in the gauge. Pull the lever to clean the pond.

Now that the water is clean, aim and shoot at the red target inside the pond. Mara has a lot of weapon sway in her aim, so make sure that you line up your shot properly to avoid wasting precious ammunition. Luckily, you don’t need to get a bullseye to complete this puzzle. The fairy will emerge from the water once the target is hit, handing over the Bronze Key as a reward. You don’t need to shoot the target that appears above the water after hitting the submerged target.

How to get and use the Bronze Key in Crow Country

The Bronze Key is crucial to progressing through Crow Country as it not only unlocks the Dig Site but also gives Mara access to the Haunted Hilltop. You can also use the Bronze Key on the Train Room in the Crow Country section on the map, as this unlocks the Flamethrower by solving the train puzzle. Finally, the Train Room is a safehouse, meaning no enemies can spawn here. It has a save point (fireplace) and memos that you can view as an item and as a puzzle reminder in case you needguidance on where to go without using the Fortune-telling Penguin.