If you have been stuck in the same room of Trace for the last twenty minutes clicking on every object in sight, you are not alone. This point and click escape game from Cool Math Games has stumped thousands of players with its layered puzzles, tiny hidden clues, and objects that only make sense three rooms later. This guide walks you through the entire game, from the bathroom you start in to the final tower puzzles, with trace escape room hints for every major obstacle along the way, including the heart puzzle, the pumpkin trick, and the sliding door lock that trips up almost everyone.
Getting Started: What You Need to Know Before You Play
Trace drops you in an unfamiliar room with almost no explanation. Click the arrows on the sides of the screen to look around, and click on furniture or objects to zoom in for a closer look. Anything you pick up goes into your inventory, and you can tap the magnifying glass to read a short description of each item, which often doubles as a hint.
The camera icon lets you snap a photo of anything you think you might need later, and the notes button stores those pictures so you can refer back to them. That feature matters more than it seems at first. Trace loves to show you a pattern in one room that you will not need again until you are two rooms away and have forgotten every detail.
Save your progress as you go, because most players need well over an hour to finish without any trace cool math games hints, and picking the game back up later is completely normal.
Room 1: Escaping the Bathroom
The game opens with you trapped in a strange bathroom. This is where most of the trace cool math games hints room 1 searches come from, since the puzzles here set the tone for everything else.
- Grab the half scissors. Look in the sink first. You will find one half of a pair of scissors sitting there, and it goes straight into your inventory.
- Solve the light fixture puzzle. Notice the pattern formed by the lightbulbs above the sink. A small chest with five buttons sits on a nearby bookshelf, and entering that same pattern on the chest opens it and reveals a clue worth photographing.
- Find the second scissor half and cut the key. Once you combine both halves in your inventory, look near the mirror for a key hanging from a string. Use your new scissors to cut it down.
- Open the mantle box. The key you just cut down unlocks a small red keyhole box on the mantle. Inside is a crumpled piece of paper and another number written on the box itself. Photograph the number, then flatten the paper in your inventory to reveal a sketch of the cracked mirror marked with an X.
- Match the X to the real mirror. Use the sketch to find the matching tile on the actual mirror and click it. This reveals a hidden safe combination puzzle behind the picture frame.
- Enter the safe code. Several partial number clues are scattered around this room: one from the toilet paper roll, one from the gold box above the toilet using the light pattern, and one from a cupboard that gives you numbers to divide. Once you piece them together, the code is 5472. Punch that into the safe behind the painting.
- Get the lightbulb and pumpkin. Opening the safe reveals a lightbulb. Place it inside the pumpkin sitting in the cabinet to the left of the toilet.
The Trace Pumpkin Puzzle Explained
This is one of the trickiest steps for new players, and it is exactly why trace pumpkin puzzle shows up so often in search results. Once you place the lightbulb inside the pumpkin, it lights up and reveals a new arrow pattern for the pentagram puzzle near the door. Recreate that pattern to unlock the final cabinet under the sink.
Inside that cabinet, you will find a red key tile sitting on a roll of toilet paper. This key opens a sliding block puzzle on the bathroom door itself.
The Sliding Lock Puzzle
Insert the red key tile into the lockbox on the door and you will see a grid of colored blocks blocking a path to the lock. The goal is to slide the purple and yellow blocks out of the way so the key block can reach the lock in the center. Move slowly and one block at a time. Rushing this puzzle almost always ends with you boxed in and forced to restart the arrangement.
Once the key reaches the lock, the bathroom door unlocks and you step into a hallway that leads to the living room.
Room 2: The Living Room and Patio
This section introduces the star collection mechanic and, most notably, the trace heart puzzle that trips up so many players.
- Solve the pentagon star puzzle. As soon as you enter, click the pentagon shape at the bottom of the screen and rotate the arrows until they form a star matching the reference shown at the top. This opens a cabinet with a set of scissors, with the second half sitting in the sink nearby.
- Collect stars around the room. You need eight metal stars total to escape the house later, so grab every one you see. Look under tables, behind photo frames, near a mini piano on the balcony, and inside a yellow book that reveals another star location.
How to Solve the Heart Puzzle in Trace
The heart puzzle is one of the most searched trace escape room hints, and for good reason. Here is the exact process:
- Use your utility knife on the carpet under the desk to reveal a hidden puzzle made of black and red hearts.
- Insert two batteries into the lamp on the desk and turn it on. This adds directional arrows onto each black heart.
- Look up at the heart shape on the ceiling and note the direction its point is facing.
- Rotate each black heart on the puzzle so every point faces the correct direction shown by the ceiling heart and the arrows.
- Once all the hearts line up correctly, press the red button. This opens a hidden box containing a puzzle piece and a yellow submarine.
- Put the submarine straight into the fish tank. You will need it again once you reach the computer.
- Finish the jigsaw puzzle. Head out to the patio and find the table with an unfinished puzzle. Use the piece from the heart puzzle to complete it, which gives you your next clue and another hidden star underneath the table.
- Get the pentagon key. Back inside, use your utility knife on the arm of the sofa near the plant pot. This reveals a hidden panel with a pentagon shaped key inside.
- Unlock the computer. Look under the desk for a wall covered in numbers. Hold the pentagon key up to those numbers and it reveals the sequence 9, 2, 3. Enter this on the computer to log in.
- Use the submarine. Once the computer boots up, click the water bowl icon to control the submarine inside the fish tank. Steer it toward the small castle decoration to find a code reading 26336 6161. This unlocks a panel on the barred front door.
- Complete the star grid. The panel behind the barred door needs all eight stars placed so that no row, column, or color repeats twice, similar to a simplified Sudoku grid. If you are missing a star, check the drawer puzzle under the fish tank. Opening and closing the drawers in the order X, O, X, O reveals a magnet in the U drawer, which you can use to fish the last star out of a glass tube under the heart puzzle table.
With all eight stars placed correctly, the front door unlocks and you gain access to the tower.
Room 3: The Tower
The tower ramps up the difficulty considerably, which is where most trace escape room walkthrough guides start losing readers. Take it slow here.
- Solve the flower table puzzle. Just inside the tower, a small table holds a vase of red flowers with a sliding puzzle above it. Set the pieces to down arrow, S, jagged line, D, and X.
- Find the robot. A small robot hangs from a wire upstairs. Grab it and use it later to climb up and reveal hidden symbol sequences on a bridge outside the window.
- Solve the plinth puzzle. A stone plinth needs four figures placed at specific crossover points. The phoenix goes where fire and wings meet, the vampire where wings and teeth meet, and the ogre where fire and teeth meet, with the dragon sitting in the center. Solving this rewards you with a screwdriver.
- Unlock Mathemagic. Use the screwdriver on the metal panel beneath the fan shelf back in the main house. This reveals a six symbol password that opens the Tower section of the computer program called Mathemagic. Completing that program teaches you which symbols represent which math operators, which is exactly what you need for the safe under the desk.
- Get the cosmonaut book code. Opening that safe gives you a companion book. Note the launch year, 2793, along with the sequence of planet colors visited in the story. Head back to the tower and input that four digit number along with the correct planet sequence into the machine upstairs.
- Recreate the pyramid key. After running that sequence, you get an image to screenshot. Head back to the pyramid shaped object in the bay window and click only the triangle points that match your screenshot. The pyramid opens and drops a key.
- Escape the house. Use the pyramid key to reopen the bathroom door, then use the pentagon key on the toilet lid. The toilet is not really a toilet at all. It is a hidden escape hatch, and using it finishes the game.
Tips for Beating Trace Faster
A few habits will save you a lot of frustration:
- Click on everything. Clues hide in the most mundane looking objects, from toilet paper rolls to couch cushions.
- Use the camera constantly. Any pattern, number, or symbol you see is worth photographing, since you will almost always need it in a different room.
- Save your progress. Trace is long, often taking well over an hour even with help, so there is no shame in stepping away and coming back later.
- Do not over rely on hints. The built in item descriptions already give subtle clues. Reading those carefully before searching outside the game will teach you the game’s internal logic faster.
Frequently Asked Questions About Trace Escape Room Hints
How do you escape Trace on Cool Math Games?
You escape by working through three connected areas: the bathroom, the main house and patio, and the tower. Each area has its own set of item based puzzles that unlock keys, and the final step uses a pyramid key and a pentagon key together on the bathroom toilet to reveal the exit hatch.
How long does it take to finish Trace?
Most players need at least an hour, and many take two hours or more on a first playthrough without any outside help. The game saves your progress automatically, so you can return to it across multiple sessions.
What is the code for the bathroom safe in Trace?
The bathroom safe code is 5472. You get the individual digits from the toilet paper roll, the gold box above the toilet, and a cupboard puzzle that requires dividing two sets of numbers together.
How do you solve the trace heart puzzle?
Cut the carpet under the desk with your utility knife to reveal the heart puzzle, then power the desk lamp with two batteries. This adds arrows to each heart. Rotate the hearts so every point matches the direction shown by the ceiling heart, then press the red button.
What do you do with the pumpkin in Trace?
Place the lightbulb you find in the bathroom safe inside the pumpkin in the cabinet next to the toilet. Lighting it up reveals a new pentagram arrow pattern that unlocks the final cabinet under the sink.
How many stars do you need to collect in Trace?
You need eight metal stars total to unlock the barred front door and gain entry to the tower. They are scattered across the living room, patio, and balcony areas.
What is the login code for the computer in Trace?
The code is 9, 2, 3. You find it by holding the pentagon key up against a wall of numbers hidden under the desk.
Is Trace hard to complete without any hints?
Yes, most players describe Trace as genuinely difficult, since it rarely gives direct instructions and expects you to connect visual clues across different rooms. Using a walkthrough for a specific stuck point is common and does not spoil the rest of the game.
Can you play Trace on mobile?
Trace runs in a browser through Cool Math Games and works on most modern devices, though the point and click controls feel smoother on a larger screen with a mouse than on a small touchscreen.
Ready to Finish Your Escape
Trace rewards patience more than speed, and the heart puzzle, the pumpkin trick, and the eight star door are the three moments where most players get stuck. Work through each room in order, photograph every pattern you see, and the exit hatch will be within reach before you know it.
If you enjoyed this walkthrough, check out our other escape room and puzzle game guides on reuterings.com for more step by step solutions to your favorite browser games.
