Instruction pages are collectibles in Tunic that teach the player the mechanics and objectives of the game, as well as a few secrets that can be discovered after thorough deciphering. The manual contains a cover and 55 pages, but each collectible awards players with two pages. There are 28 instruction pages to collect in Tunic, and finding all of them will reveal various secrets and unlock the game's true ending.
Finding instruction pages is necessary from the beginning of Tunic to understand how the game works, where to go, and the main objective. Some of the pages are easily spotted and can be collected as players progress naturally, but others are hidden along secret paths and need to be actively searched for. Instruction pages appear as glowing white objects on the ground and need to be interacted with to collect.
Tunic: How To Find Every Hero’s Grave
The Hero's Graves in Tunic can be used to restore the fox's stat upgrades and physical form after losing to The Heir and becoming a ghost.
Instruction Page Locations & How To Reach Them In Tunic
Every Secret Location
The instruction manual in Tunic is assembled out of order, with some of the early pages of the booklet being inaccessible until special equipment is obtained. Tunic includes some magic items that help players grapple or warp to new locations, and finding these items can be difficult. Many of the instruction pages are easily missed, so players must thoroughly explore every area while also deciphering the pages they have to assemble the full booklet.
Many of the instruction pages reveal the mechanics and features of Tunic, like how to upgrade stats & items, but some can be translated to detail the game's premise. Doing so can be a daunting task, but it extends the game's content and gives players an interesting backstory. However, before the manual can be translated, every page in the book must be located and collected.
Below are some tips for translating the manual or seeing a full translation of the story elements.
Pages |
How To Collect |
|---|---|
Cover & Page 1 |
To collect page one, players will need to open the door at the top of the snowy mountain using clues found on page 49 to identify the correct button input combination (up, left, down, left, up, left, down, left, up, right, up, right, up, left, up, right, down, right, up, left, up, left, up, right, up, left, down, left, up, right, up, up, left, up, right, down, right, down, right, up, right, down, left, down, right, up, right, right, down, right, up, right, down, right, up, right, right, down, left, down, left, down, right, down, right, down, left, left, down, right, down, left, down, right, up, right, down, right, up, right, right, down, down, left, up, right, up, left, down, left, up, left, up, left, up, right, right, up, left, up). |
Pages 2 & 3 |
From the initial spawn point, the fox can head north to the first warp point in Tunic and pray on the golden platform to get to the fast-travel hub. The platform is disconnected from the rest, but pages two and three can be found there. |
Pages 4 & 5 |
Using the teleport dash ability gained by completing the Cathedral, the fox can reach pages four and five on a small platform in the Overworld south of the Dark Tomb entrance. |
Pages 6 & 7 |
In the Fortress of the Eastern Vault, pages six and seven can be found by going left after the first save point and praying at the pillar to drop it. The collectible is behind the pillar. |
Pages 8 & 9 |
These pages are on a pedestal in the southeast portion of Overworld and require the teleport dash ability to reach. |
Pages 10 & 11 |
In the Overworld, there's a key that opens a door south of the first fox statue save point, and the collectible is immediately in front of the fox after going through the door. |
Pages 12 & 13 |
In the first room of the East Forest, where the East Belltower in Tunic is, there's a page at the top of the small set of stairs. |
Pages |
How To Collect |
|---|---|
Pages 14 & 15 |
These pages are on the fast travel platform inside the East Forest, just south of the second save point. |
Pages 16 & 17 |
In the Overworld, the fox can take the ladder near the Windmill Shop and find pages 16 and 17 on the golden platform. There are a few enemies to defeat in this area before collecting the instructions. |
Pages 18 & 19 |
These pages are directly south of the ladder that leads to Under the Well. |
Pages 20 & 21 |
These pages are located at the top of the mountain on the stairs in front of the door. |
Pages 22 & 23 |
In the eastern part of the Overworld, there's a large statue with an open mouth. To reach it, you must use the teleport dash ability. Inside the statue, there's a collectible page and a shop. |
Pages 24 & 25 |
After opening the golden door to the Sealed Temple, the fox can take the path on the right of the platform where the three colored gems need to be placed. The page can be found after climbing the ladder. |
Pages |
How To Collect |
|---|---|
Pages 26 & 27 |
Near the fox statue save point in the West Garden, there's a thin walkway with a collectible at the end. |
Page 28 & 29 |
There's a platform northwest of the entrance to the East Forest with a collectible in the center. |
Pages 30 & 31 |
After defeating Tunic's boss in Under the Well and opening the gate, pages 30 and 31 can be found in front of the fox statue save point. |
Pages 32 & 33 |
From the area in the Overworld with the large knight in a green cape, this collectible can be found by heading down the ladder and taking the path behind the waterfall to reach the other side of the beach. |
Pages 34, & 35 |
After reaching the fox statue save point in Under the Well, pages 34 and 35 can be found to the left of the entrance in the next room. |
Pages 36 & 37 |
This collectible can be found on the walkway above the main room of the Fortress of the Eastern Vault, where enemies are gathered around a pillar. |
Pages 38 & 39 |
These pages reveal Tunic's Quarry and Swamp and can be collected by breaking the glass dome on the right side of the Great Library. |
Once all of the pages have been collected, players can fight The Heir to get the true ending. Otherwise, fighting The Heir will result in the Game Over achievement, and players can retry or start over in New Game+. Players can finish Tunic without it, but the true ending can only be accessed after collecting every instruction page.
Translating The Manual
Reverse Engineering
For those of you who want to get the full story of Tunic, you can translate the entire instruction manual. It is a tedious process but very satisfying. There are about seven pages worth of story text beyond the basic instructions, which you can fully spoil yourself in the video from OADoubleA below. However, if you want to understand the language for yourself, here are a few tips.
Page 21 gives you the first clue that the script can be decoded. Page 54 is the big clue that can really bust the script open, according to YouTuber PlayFrame. There are two main groups of symbols in a giant block, and then there is a smaller group with hand-drawn images next to them. These symbols are also shown to be combinations of smaller groups of symbols.
The language is similar to more symbolic systems, or logograms, as there is no one-to-one correlation to a typical Latin alphabet. However, it cannot be a logogram, as no symbol exists for each word. Instead, it seems that it is most likely a phonetic system of writing, where various symbols relate to phonetic sounds, as opposed to the Latin alphabet.
What Every Symbol Means
With that in mind, you can see in the image from YouTuber PlayFrame’s video that they worked out what sounds might correspond to which symbols. In phonetic alphabets, there will only be an ‘es’ sound and a hard ‘k’ sound, eliminating the need for a letter C. Likewise, you do not need both a ‘ph’ and a ‘f’ as these make the same phonetic sounds. This is why there are combinations of vowel sounds and consonant sounds.
Match these symbols to the ones found throughout the book. You can make your own translation of Tunic’s instruction manual by first creating a phonetic word and then transposing it into English as it represents an English alphabet and sound system. However, that can be then translated into any other language you desire.
Video Credit: PlayFrame/YouTube; OADoubleA/YouTube
- Developer(s)
- Andrew Shouldice
- Publisher(s)
- Finji
- Platform(s)
- Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
