Servant of the Lake: Preparing the Reception Walkthrough

Complete Preparing the Reception in Servant of the Lake, from cleaning the floors to lighting every chandelier candle.

Servant of the Lake: Preparing the Reception Walkthrough

Entrance hall with an arrow pointing to the dirt patch on the floor

The guests are on their way and the house isn’t ready yet. You start back in the hallway with a large patch of dirt in front of you. Click it and drag the Cloth over it to clean it.

Move forward into the hallway by the ladder, then forward again, and talk to the maid. She’s surprised you managed the job and asks you to help clean the floors.

Stove room with an arrow pointing to the dirt on the floor

Climb the stairs on her right and clean the dirt on that floor. Go back to the entrance, head left into the stove room, and clean the dirt there too.

Talk to the maid again. This time she wants the paintings dusted, and she gives you a Feather Duster.

Hall with the two Vanderboom paintings circled

Go to the hall with the pink chair. It has two paintings: William Vanderboom on the upper floor and Alexandra Vanderboom on the lower floor. Dust both until they shine. They might even start moving.

Return to the entrance and go left into the stove room.

Hidden achievement (Small Repairs): Keep dragging the duster over the small picture in this room until it falls. Its pieces land on the table. Click the table, then the picture, and put it back together.

Stove room with the Candle circled on the table

Take the Candle while you’re here. Go back to the hall and dust the picture of Aldous Vanderboom on the right, above the table. With all three paintings dusted, talk to the maid.

Chandelier with three of its six candle slots filled

Next, you need to light all the candles. The maid hands you another one. Look up at the chandelier in the entrance hall and you’ll see it has six slots for candles.

Cabinet with its lower door slid open and a locked box circled

You’re still short, so look around. Go back to the cabinet outside Aldous’s room, click it, and slide its bottom door to the right. Behind it is a box with a code lock.

Locked Box Puzzle

Locked box with portraits of two men and a woman above three number dials

Hint: Look at what’s pictured on the box.

Solution: The box shows two men and a woman, like the three paintings you just dusted. Think about what each one was doing. William blinks 3 times, Alexandra holds up 2 fingers, and Aldous shakes his pocket watch 4 times. The pictures on the box run Alexandra, Aldous, William, so the code is 243.

Puzzle complete: Locked Box Puzzle

Take the last candle from the open box and go back to the entrance. Put the candles in the Chandelier. When you try to light them, the flames won’t stay lit.

Candle Puzzle

Chandelier with candles in some of its slots

Hint: Check whether any of them stay lit.

Solution: The candles have to be lit in a set order, shown by the line that runs across them: 3, 1, 4, 2, 6, 5.

Puzzle complete: Candle Puzzle

Once every candle is burning, talk to the maid. She says you’re ready to welcome the guests. Go through the door behind her to reach the garden.

Achievement unlocked: Preparing the Reception