Ratcheteer

Released on 09/15/2021
Made by Shaun Inman, Matthew Grimm, and Charlie Davis
Download: Season One, Week 12
79.9 MB.

Your master mechanic is abducted during some unplanned maintenance, setting off a lo-fi, top-down, action-adventure that finds the young Ratcheteer exploring the interconnected tunnels below the surface and a vast snowcean above to rescue friends, foes, and strangers alike.
-Ratcheteer's game page

Ratcheteer is a game developed by Shaun Inman, Matthew Grimm, and Charlie Davis.

Tips

The original author Shaun Inman has published some hints on his personal website.

Tools

The Ratcheteer uses tools in the same way Link in Zelda gets objects.

The tools featured in the game are, in order of appearance: 1. Lamp 2. Magnifying Glass 3. Wrench 4. Spring 5. Drill 6. Sail 7. Roll Armor

Walkthrough

The first two areas are covered in this YouTube walkthrough by thrillhouse.vanhouten.

Tunnels

From the right entrance from the Greater Caverns, go to the left until you get to cell 7F. You need the Spring to jump in diagonal and get the treasure. The treasure is Astral Rune Z.

Greenhouse

Rabbit ghosts stay still while you jump, so use the spring to move to avoid to get caught when there is one of them.

The Greenhouse map is heart-shaped. Once you get to the top left screen (cell 3D), you will find two streams. Push the blocks next to the streams to block them and be able to get the treasure, where you will find a key.

Go back to the way to the entrance, pass the closed boss door and you'll find a standard locked door. Behind this door there is a treasure, where you will find the sail. Use it to exit the screen.

Leave the Greenhouse through the main entrance and go to the east. You will find a side entrance to the Greenhouse through a dark tunnel. When you find the first rotating aisle, remember to leave it facing the standard lock door.

You will get to a room where the only way to pass is by gliding in diagonal. This is possible by jumping in diagonal and then using the sail.

If you go north (cell H3) you will find a room with a treasure. You can get it by pushing the rock, and when while being pushed by the stream jump and glide before falling on any of the holes. When trapped by the stream, use the drill to cover yourself. The treasure contains a standard key. Use the drill to cover yourself while coming back.

You are back to the diagonal jump screen. Now go to the south (cell H5) and stump the enemies to get the door to be open.

When you go to the west (cell G5), you can access the standard lock door you couldn't reach before. Use the key to open the door.

In this room (cell F5) there is a treasure that can be reach by gliding through the platforms. One time you will have to glide in diagonal. The treasure contains the Greenhouse Boss Key.

Come back to cell H5, where you stumped all crabs. When you find the rail tool in the next stages, you could take the rail on the east that faces north and get to open the standard lock door on cell H4.

Go back to the side entrance of the Greenhouse and get back to the Surface. Junmp to the south and then find your way to thethe Greenhouse main entrace, going to the west, then north then west again. Once you are again in the Greenhouse, go to the west.

When you find a room full of crates, go to the the east to visit cell 5E that contains a treasure. To get the treasure you need the sail to jump and stomp the enemies on the platforms. The treasure contains a half heart

Go to back to the west to the crate room. Use the crate to replenish your life before you meet the final boss. Set the rotating aisle facing north. You will find the boss door in cell . You need to stump on the ladder to be able to reach it. Open the boss door.

The boss is in a platform in the middle, with a small size. Stump on him and reach the platform to the east, when the boss takes its final gigantic form. Each time you stump on him, it will split in lesser forms but spikes will emerge temporarily from the central platform, so ensure you come back to the side platforms as soon as possible. The least forms may even suicide themselves while you try to attack them.

Go to the west and stump on the floor to open the three freezers. Talk to the Tracker that was caged by the Astrals inside the right freezer. Open the treasure and get the fan.

Go back to the east and take the portal. You will be teleported to the entrance, where the Lifer Major is waiting for you. Talk to him. He'll tell you to chase the Astrals through the Snowcean. He's blocking the way to the exit, so you'll have to find your way to the east to the side entrance.

Back in the Surface

You will find two astrals in the entrance of the tunnel. Talk to them many times. The one that speaks English will ask you to meet the the Astral Elders and give you indications in Astral about how to get the Outpost from the open Snowcean. If you have obtained letters, you should be able to understand him without issues.

east, north, west, north, east, north, east, north

Go back to the village in the east. Talk to the villagers.

There is a treasure to the north of the village you (cell 4C) that can be obtained now we have the sail. Use the drill with the crank to destroy the block in front of the blocked pipes on the top of the screen. Then use the drill to get yourself to the second stream from the top of the screen and use the momentum to jump and glide to the left of the screen. Remember to press left while jumping and gliding. It may take you a few tries to get it. The treasure is a Heart Fragment.

You can jump inside a well where the children are (cell 6D). There is one treasure in the first room that can be obtained without the sail. You will need the sail and the drill to get to the next room in the north.

In this room there is another treasure. Use the sail to stomp the stairs and access the treasure (100 pieces of ore). There are portals within these tunnels that are shortcuts to previous stages where there were wells.

The portal to the west takes you to the well by the Factory in Mechanic Town. Go there to give the fan and the 250 pieces of Ore required by the metalsmith. He will keep working on the Steam Mech.

Go back to the Surface.

In cell 7E you can drill the wall to the east. In cell 6E there is a treasure of 25 pieces of Ore that can be reach by jumping and gliding.

If you keep drilling to the east you will find a cul-de-sac in cell 5E that gives you the hint that there is a treasure within the same cell, but it must be reach from the village. Go to cell 6C (where the Archive house and Tracker are) and drill one of the walls to the center-left to the south. Jump to get the treasure, that is 10 pieces of Ore.

Go to the west. In cell 6H, before reaching the Snowcean, you can drill a block to the south to find a treasure that contains 10 pieces of Ore.

Go to the west to reach the Snowcean.

Snowocean

Go to the north twice and then to the east to get the missing cell in the Surface. You will find a treasure here that you can get by avoiding the holes. It is 10 pieces of Ore.

Go back to the Snowcean and get the treasure by jumping and gliding over the water. It is the astral rune F.

Go to the south through the shore. You will find another treasure that you can get by jumping over the water. It it the astral rune M.

Go back to the entrance of the Snowocean. Jump and glide on the raft. You move it using the crank.

Take a random route to get lost and get a treasure with the Astral Rune B.

Back to the start, once you are in the open sea going west and west to find the treasure with the Astral Rune P. Once you get the treasure, go anywhere to come back to the start.

Back to the start, follow the directions told by the Astral by the Greenhouse exit to get the Astral Outpost:

east, north, west, north, east, north, east, north

You will get the Astral Outpost. Talk to all the Astrals in the Outpost entrance. Go to the north and enter the igloo. Read all books within the shelfs. Talk to the Astrals. One of them will give you the Mines Key. The other gives you the hint that their leader knows how to get to the Mines, so you have to find another Astral that was not there. You may remember a Hermit Astral that was hidden behind the waterfall and you couldn't understand at that time, but now you know better Astral he's worth a visit.

Before looking for the Hermit Astral, drill the wall to the east. Jump and drift over the holes to reach the end of the tunnel. On the surface, break the cone to get a treasure. It contains a Heart Fragment. It also gives the clue that there is another treasure in the same cell, but unreachable from where you are.

Go back to the shore where the raft is. Jump on the water and move to the east to get the treasure you just saw. It contains 10 pieces of Ore.

In the Outpost there was a well entrance that allows you to get portals back to previous stages. Jump into it. Stump to get the ladder to the north. Go to the east to find a treasure of 100 pieces of Ore.

Go to the south and find the portal that takes you to the Greater Cavern. Head north to find the Tunnels, where the Astral Hermit lives.

In the left entrance of the Tunnels (cell 9E), arriving from the greater Caverns, you can find a treasure if you have already the sail. Jump and drift to get 10 pieces of Ore.

If you take right entrance to the Tunnels from the Greater Caverns, head west and jump a lot of platforms to get the waterfall. Go behind the waterfall and talk to the Astral Hermit. If you have been taking the Astral Runes, the directions to the mine must be very clear:

south, east, south, west, south, east, north, east

To go back to the Snowocean, go back to the waterfall and head east twice, then north to find the Surface. Then go back to the starting point of the Snowcean. From the open Snowcean, take the rift and the directions to get to the Mines:

south, east, south, west, south, east, north, east

In this way, you will get the Mines, that it is the next level.

There should be other places to go with the drift, as even if you follow the previous indications you will find unvisited cells in the Snowocean map.

According to the creator Shaun Inman, there is somewhere a "message in a bottle" that I haven't find.

Mines

You can drill the north wall in the second room you visit in the Mines. There is a treasure here with 10 pieces of Ore.

If you go west you will find the boss door and a dead end (cell 4E) from where you will glimpse from the distance some old miners. Back to the previous screen before the dead end (cell 5E) you will find a crack on the west wall that you can drill. Inside this cave, you will find a treasure with a standard key.

Go back to the central room and now choose the east way. You will need to drill your way often. It's a linear way of many screen until you find a stairs going down. You will have to drill a lot of walls and kill moles to exit this screen to the east. The next screen is similar. To the north you will have to drift many times and take the trampolines to get the locked door. Use the standard key to open it.

In this room you will find a treasure that contains the Roll Armor.

Go back to the room where you found the standard key (cell 5D). There is one part of the room that is only accessible by using the roll armor. Once you get there, go downstairs.

From the room where there are many rails (cell 8C), take the second rail to find a treasure in cell 7C. This treasure is Astral Rune Q.

Astral Runes

In this section, you can find how to get the astral runes that are located in treasures spread across the map. There are 26 astral runes, one for each alphabet letter.

B

You can find it in the Snowocean, by using the raft and following these directions (or probably just getting lost):

west north east north west north west north

C

You can find it in the side entrance of the Greenhouse, to the east of the main house. You need the sail to access this tunnel and the treasure.

D

You can find it in the entrance of the Greenhouse, just in the screen to the north. You need the spring and the sail to get the treasure. Keep in the air to make the ghost move towards you.

?

You can find it in Surface, in cell G5. You access it from the south, by drilling the wall.

F

You can find it in the Snowcean, in cell 4B. Jump and glide to get the treasure.

M

You can find it in the Snowcean, in cell 7B. Jump over the water to get the treasure.

P

You can find it in the Snowcean, taking the draft and once you are in the open sea going west and west.

Q

You can find it in the Mines, in cell 7C, by taking the second rail from the left in the previous room.

Z

You can find it in the Tunnels. From the right entrance from the Greater Caverns, go to the left until you get to cell 7F. You need the Spring to jump in diagonal and get the treasure. You can also use the spring and the sail to jump straight twice.

Developers

• Shaun Inman (Design & Development)
• Matthew Grimm (Music & Sound)
• Charlie Davis (Illustrations)