The Blackbridge Grotto is one of the Permanent Additions you can unlock in Blue Prince. It will provide you with a specific benefit that is permanently unlocked once you have secured it for the first time. Here at Loot Level Chill, we’ve spent hours poring over Blue Prince, and have a comprehensive guide on all Permanent Additions, what they are, and what you need to do in the game to acquire them. So read on to understand how to unlock the Blackbridge Grotto in Blue Prince.
SPOILER WARNING
As with most things in Blue Prince, part of the fun is self-discovery, and below this spoiler warning we will be revealing plenty of secrets of the game. We encourage you to try and find out the solutions to puzzles on your own to get the full experience of Blue Prince. Only read on if you do not mind some of those secrets being spoiled.
Please bear in mind that some of these spoilers are for later in the game than some of our other guides, and spoil significant puzzles and areas you may not have discovered on your own. You have been warned.
How to unlock the Blackbridge Grotto
The Blackbridge Grotto is perhaps one of the trickier “early-game” Permanent Additions to unlock as it requires slightly more RNG in your favour than other ones so far.
Step 1: Draft the Boiler Room
The Boiler Room is a room that can actually generate power for other rooms, which is what we need for this Permanent Addition. The first task will be to draft it though, which can be tricky in itself, because it is quite a rare room.
Step 2: Activate the Boiler
Now we need to power up the Boiler. Head down the metal staircase to the lower level and interact with the handle on the large green tank to turn it on. Now look to the floor and rotate the red pipe once, so that the steam generated from the tank flows through pipe. Follow it and you will come to another pipe crossroads.
Rotate this pipe four times, and you will find that it feeds the next green tank. However, this powers a load of panels that rotate in front of the tank. You need to get the timing right to turn the pipe crossroads again (to turn off the rotating panels) so that they do not cover the valve to this second green tank. This may take a few tries.
Now rotate the valve on the second green tank to power it up, and follow the tank pipe to a lever switch. It will be facing up when you see it. Interact with it, to turn it right. Now follow the pipe, and you will be back at the first red pipe you rotated. Rotate it once, to activate a lift in the corner of the room. Ride the lift up, and then you will see the final green tank in front of you. Turn it on. Whilst here, head across the walkway, past the door, and flick the lever on the door to raise the bars. This will raise these bars permanently.
Now we need to get power to both sides of the Boiler. Return to the final green tank, and you should notice a lever pointing right, interact with it to make it point left. You will notice barriers appear across the door to the right, but that’s OK for now. We have now powered the right-hand side of the boiler. Now take the lift back down.
Head back to the lever you changed from an upright position to a right position, and interact with it to make it point upwards again. This now powers the left-hand side of the Boiler, but we don’t have any power going to the lift anymore. To solve that head back to the first green tank and rotate the red pipe next to it again, to feed it towards the red pipe crossroads.
Keep rotating the red pipe crossroads three times, and this should power a walkway above you to appear over the gap (next to where you raised those bars). Now head up the stairs and round and you should be able to reach the top of the Boiler, and both sides should be powered.
With this done, click the ACTIVATE button on the Boiler to add power and activate it. Well done!
Step 3: Connect the Power to the Laboratory
This is frankly the hardest step of all and may require multiple attempts on different days. As you now look at the Boiler, you can choose to send power in one of three directions, and they each correspond to a door exiting the Boiler Room, as you face the Boiler, either left, straight ahead, or right.
What you are now trying to do is either (if you’re very lucky) send power to a Laboratory that is already nearby, or what is advised, is to send power in a particular direction, and then try and draft the Laboratory afterwards.
Note: If you want to get access to the door on the right, simply flip the lever by the third green tank, the Boiler will remain powered, and the door won’t be barred.
What you need to look for when drafting are rooms that now have a light blue outline around them when you draw them. They look like the Red Rooms in the image below:
Now, you either want to pick the Laboratory when you see it when you draft, or pick rooms that can distribute power through them and on to other rooms (like the Red Rooms above will).
Hopefully, you will get some RNG that means you get to draft a Laboratory that is connected to the power from the Boiler Room
Step 4: Solve the Laboratory puzzle
Within the Laboratory itself, there is a puzzle that points to our next course of action. It involves the Periodic Table on the wall. On one of the walls without a door, you will see the full Periodic Table on it. On the other wall without a door, you will find an emptier Periodic table with a load of numbers in it instead. You need to find what element each number is referring to in order by cross-referencing the main Periodic Table.
So the number 1 is in the position of the element Pu, and the number 2 is in the position of the element S.
Keep doing this until you reveal the following Elements:
PuSHThReEuPaFTeRnINe
Or simplified to the clue: Push Three Up After Nine.
Step 5: Activate the Laboratory Machine
With the clue in hand, head over to the small cubicle in the corner with a machine inside it. Following the clue you just deciphered, begin by pushing up the Number 9 lever, followed by Number 3. This will activate a cutscene and reward you with the Blackbridge Grotto Permanent Addition.
What does the Blackbridge Grotto unlock in Blue Prince?
The Blackbridge Grotto is a new area for you to explore in a cavern near the mansion. It is definitely somewhere you want to look for clues and items. But in terms of a Permanent Addition, the Blackbridge Grotto gives you access to an additional terminal each day remotely. This means as long as you draft either the Shelter, Security, Laboratory, or Office in a day, you can remotely access one other terminal from there as though you were in that other room. This means you could begin an experiment from Security or change the Keycard door setup from the Office for example. It gives you much more flexibility on runs.
