Comprehensive Undertale Piano Puzzle Guide

I wasn’t expecting to find something like this in Undertale. The first time I played the game, I didn’t get what I was supposed to do. I just shrugged and moved past the Piano Puzzle. I missed out on one of the game’s many jokes.

This was a very annoying puzzle for me. Even when I figured out the solution, I still had trouble getting it to work. It’s not hard, or at least it shouldn’t be hard. I’m not ashamed to admit that it took me way more time than it should have.

You’ll find the Piano Puzzle on your way to Undyne. Once you get past the waterfall and the bridge seed puzzles, you come on the Piano Puzzle. Up to this point, the puzzles haven’t been too hard, and the explanations have been easy to understand.

Then the game goes all cryptic on you! Once you know what you need to do, it’s easy, and in my case, you might kick yourself. Then you solve the puzzle, and the only thing you can do is smile because the game did something fun. Here’s a brief info on the piano puzzle before we continue on with our complete Undertale piano puzzle guide.

Undertale: Shape Your Destiny Beneath the Surface | GOG

Embark on an unforgettable journey through the underground world of Undertale, where every choice you make shapes the fate of monsters and humans alike. With its charming retro graphics and innovative gameplay mechanics, immerse yourself in a tale of friendship, determination, and the power of mercy.

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Puzzle Details Up Front

There are three parts to this puzzle.

• The Piano Room
• The Statue
• The Umbrella

The first thing you should do is walk past the piano, walk past the statue, and pick up an umbrella. You can then give the umbrella to the statue, and it will show you the order that you need to press the piano keys.

Puzzle Synopsis/Description

This is an optional puzzle. You can skip this and not miss anything. However, if you complete the puzzle, you can get some useful items.

What you have to do is:

1. Get an umbrella from the stand
2. Give the statue the umbrella
3. Either memorize the pattern or write it down
4. Go back to the Piano and play the music
5. Enter the hidden door
6. Try to pick up the artifact, and you get a message that you have too many dogs in your inventory
7. Drop the Annoying Dog, and it absorbs the Ancient Artifact
8. You get Dog Residue
9. Use the Dog Residue to make Dog Salad and more residue

It feels weird to say this is your reward, but this is a bizarre game. The Residue is also very useful.

Brief Walkthrough

When I first came across the Piano Puzzle, I went right up to the piano and just started to press buttons. I didn’t know what I was doing. The sign on the wall tells you that you need to play the first eight notes of the song.

The buttons that translate to notes are written above the piano. They are:

• Neutral (The button you’re using to talk to people and inspect items)
• Up
• Down
• Left
• Right

You find out the pattern you need to enter when you give a statue an umbrella. This will make more sense in the Extended Walkthrough. I hope.

Here is the pattern: Neutral, Up, Right, Neutral, Down, Neutral, Down, Right. Please make sure you press Neutral with the directional arrows, or it won’t work.

Once you enter the code, which can be very frustrating! A hole opens, and you can see a treasure. Don’t get too excited, though, because Undertale wants to mess with you a bit before you finish the puzzle.

Extended Walkthrough

You come to a fork in the road after avoiding Undyne throwing spears at you and the seed bridges. You also fight a creature called Shyren. This fight is very easy. You hum along with her, and you can get past her.

The path to the north takes you to the Piano Room, and the right takes you to the statue. Beyond the statue is where you can pick up an umbrella. You will need the umbrella to finish the puzzle.

Go to the right, where you see the statue being rained on. Walk past it, and you will see some umbrellas. Take one and go back to the statue.

Give the umbrella to the statue, and the music will change. Slowly the solution to the Piano Puzzle will appear above the statue. You can memorize it, write it down, or return to this guide.

Once you have the code, return to the Piano Room and play it on the piano. Don’t worry about messing up. You have unlimited tries to get it right.

Here is the code again. (Neutral, Up, Right, Neutral, Down, Neutral, Down, Right. Please make sure you press Neutral with the directional arrows, or it won’t work.

Once the code has been entered, a door will open up. This is where things get weird. Well, they get more bizarre than they already are. You walk into a room with an orb in it. You try to pick it up, and a message tells you that too many dogs are in your inventory.

Check your inventory because why would there be a dog in there! Sure enough, there is an Annoying Dog in there. Drop it.

The dog will then absorb the Ancient Artifact and then run away. You will get the Dog Residue, and the Piano Puzzle is finished, but what do you do with the Dog Residue?

Using the Dog Residue will fill your inventory with Dog Salad and more Dog Residue. The Dog Salad is one of the best healing items in the game, and the Dog Residue can create a loop to make more salad and more residue.

From here, you can move on to another section where Undyne tries to kill you, then you make your way through a sewer, and finally, you can get to Temmie Village. This is where you can sell any extra Dog Residue after you have made your Dog Salad.

Puzzle Rewards

This is where things get a little strange. I thought that you got the Ancient Artifact. Because everything I’ve learned from other games points to you getting it and having some superweapon.

This isn’t the type of game that those regular rewards show up. Your reward is to have an annoying dog absorbing the treasure and running away. As confused as I was, I couldn’t help by crack a smile and chuckle to myself.

Then I went to the internet to see if I had done it wrong! Because I had to have done something wrong. However, that little scene of a dog appearing in your inventory, you drop it, and the dog stealing your treasure is supposed to happen. Yes, that is what you’re supposed to do.

You could also sell the Annoying Dog and pick up the artifact. I didn’t think of that. Because why would I sell a dog?

When Dog absorbs the artifact, it will leave behind Dog Residue. Don’t think about what it might be. It can be used to fill your inventory with Dog Salad and Dog Residue.

These two items can give you infinite heals and infinite gold. You can sell the Dog Residue for a lot of gold, and the Dog Salad is one of two items that can restore full health.

FAQ

Conclusion

There were some frustrating parts to this. Especially when I knew the solution, and I was entering it wrong because I wasn’t understanding what the game wanted me to do. Nothing says, “hold down Z (or whatever the action button is) while pressing the directional buttons.”

I made some mistakes during this. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one, and I could learn what I was doing wrong. Undertale makes you think things through before you act.

If I’ve learned anything from playing Undertale, some things don’t always make sense. Sometimes weird stuff happens in video games, and you need to accept it.

The Piano Puzzle is a nice distraction from the main quest. While I find the idea of befriending monsters and the bosses a lot of fun, there is something about these little quests and puzzles that add something special to Undertale.

Undertale: Shape Your Destiny Beneath the Surface | GOG

Embark on an unforgettable journey through the underground world of Undertale, where every choice you make shapes the fate of monsters and humans alike. With its charming retro graphics and innovative gameplay mechanics, immerse yourself in a tale of friendship, determination, and the power of mercy.

Check Price Buy at GOG

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

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paul werkema

Paul is someone who appreciates a good story above all else in video games, and believes that Indie Games provide the best narratives due to the passion of the developers behind these projects. A fact that means he has played hundreds of indie classics. When Paul isn’t playing games, he is hiking, reading, filming stock footage, or pretending he can draw. Paul also reviews books on his YouTube channel.

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