We Were Here Tomorrow Vent Puzzle Guide: How to Solve the Shrink & Crawl Sections

We Were Here Tomorrow's vent puzzle is the moment the game's co-op design clicks into something special — and, for plenty of duos, the first genuine wall. One minute you and your partner are exploring a retro-futuristic research facility; the next, one of you is shrunk to the size of a stapler, crawling through ductwork while the other rearranges the world around you. The We Were Here Tomorrow vent puzzle demands constant communication, and it rewards pairs who describe everything they see out loud. This guide covers both Explorers' roles, a full step-by-step walkthrough, and the chemistry machine solution waiting at the end of the vents.

What Is the Vent Puzzle in We Were Here Tomorrow?

First, a quick disclaimer: the We Were Here Tomorrow vent puzzle isn't an official chapter name. It's the label players have adopted for the shrink-and-crawl sequence in the R&D wing, where the matter reduction platform miniaturizes one Explorer so they can slip through vents, tubes, and gaps no full-sized human could manage. Because the game rarely pauses to explain itself, most pairs meet this section cold — which is exactly why it trips people up.

Some context helps. We Were Here Tomorrow launched on October 20, 2026, for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox as the fifth mainline entry (sixth overall) in Total Mayhem Games' strictly two-player co-op series. Two Explorers wake beneath Antarctica's ice inside a mysterious 1980s research facility owned by Norček Industries, and nearly every puzzle splits them into separate rooms connected only by walkie-talkies. The vent section is the purest expression of that split: one player gets a view nobody else has, and the other gets hands nobody else has.

Since the community invented most of the vocabulary here, here's a quick translation table before you dive in:

One environmental joke worth noting, per early playthroughs: a laminated care sheet for the facility pet, Clive, specifically warns you to keep Clive away from the matter reduction platform. Take the hint about how powerful — and chaotic — the shrink mechanic is.

Vent Puzzle Roles: What Each Explorer Actually Does

The We Were Here Tomorrow vent puzzle works because the two players are deliberately handicapped in complementary ways. The shrunken Explorer can go anywhere but can barely affect the world; the full-sized Explorer can reshape rooms but can't see the tiny routes. Based on player experience from early co-op runs, here's how the workload breaks down:

Two communication rules fix most of the friction. First, never say "left" or "right" without anchoring it — use clock positions, object colors, or "from where you entered." Early players report genuinely arguing about which way is left, so don't feel bad when it happens to you. Second, the support player should describe destinations, not just next steps: "that duct drops you on my desk" beats "keep going" every time.

Step-by-Step: How to Clear the Vent Puzzle

The sequence below reflects community playthroughs of the R&D wing. Exact pacing can vary depending on how quickly you move, but the underlying logic holds from run to run.

The Chemistry Machine: Exact Solution Order

Deep in the vent network, the tiny Explorer spots containers labeled acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene. Meanwhile, the support player stands before a dispensing machine with a clue note nearby. Inspect that note — it's easy to miss, and it contains the entire answer. Paraphrased from player footage, it says roughly: one part acrylonitrile followed by an equal part butadiene works wonderfully, but distillation occurs if styrene is not added before and after.

Translation: styrene bookends the mixture.

If you pour out of order, the machine buzzes its "wrong answer" sound. Don't panic and don't keep guessing: run the extraction pump to empty the mixture, then restart from step one. Player experience says the reset only takes a few seconds, so a failed attempt costs you time, not progress.

The Floppy Disk Resize Trick

The We Were Here Tomorrow vent puzzle loves a good joke solution, and the mainframe stop is the best example. The tiny Explorer finds two enormous floppy disks labeled 01 and 02 blocking the path, while the support player's monitor requests a save disk. The fix is delightfully simple: the tiny player is simply too small to insert it. Send them back to the matter reduction platform, restore them to full size, insert the save disk, then shrink them down again for the final leg of the crawl.

Dial Station and the 3D Printer (Quick Notes)

In the back half of the vent sequence, per community reports, the tiny Explorer reaches a lever that spins four dials on a timer while the support player sets matching directions on their side — expect two rounds of this, and describe diagonals carefully. The finale pairs the tiny player inside a 3D printer bay with a support player reading a dot grid through a window; call out movements and status changes, and the machine prints a green access pass that opens the way forward.

Common Vent Puzzle Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

A few extra tips worth their own bullets:

• Plan before you shrink. Some players report the platform behaves like it's on a timer, so know your route before your partner shrinks down.
• Dead ends are information. If the tiny Explorer lands somewhere with nothing to interact with, it usually means the support player needs to change something — a door state, a book, a platform — on their side.
• Don't brute-force the chemistry machine. Repeated failed pours just force a full reset anyway. Read the note once and save yourself the buzzer.

Why the Vent Puzzle Shows Off We Were Here Tomorrow's New Direction

The vent sequence is a bridge between two design philosophies. On one side sits the classic We Were Here formula: two rooms, two views, one walkie-talkie, and all the information split between you. On the other side is everything new in Tomorrow — the goop cube and hook abilities, physical traversal challenges between puzzles, and a shrink mechanic that turns the facility itself into a puzzle box.

In GameRant's six-hour hands-on preview with creative director Martin Mittner, Mittner acknowledged the team's Portal influence while stressing the difference: where Portal leans on timing and physicality, Tomorrow's puzzles are about reasoning through a chain of events together. The vent puzzle is exactly that kind of chain — observe, relay, manipulate, repeat. The preview also notes that puzzles ramp up steadily, so the communication habits you build here pay off handsomely later.

It's also gorgeous. The 1980s "chonky-wonky" retro-futuristic aesthetic — brutalist corporate architecture made cozy — makes even a crawl through a duct worth a screenshot. And if you've never touched an earlier entry, don't worry: Tomorrow was designed as a friendly entry point for newcomers, with puzzles that teach the formula as you go.

FAQ: We Were Here Tomorrow Vent Puzzle Questions

What's the We Were Here Tomorrow vent puzzle solution? Shrink one Explorer at the matter reduction platform, guide them through the vents while you rearrange books and objects into paths, then dispense styrene → acrylonitrile → butadiene → styrene at the chemistry machine. Later, restore your tiny partner to full size so they can insert the save disk in the mainframe, then shrink them again to finish the sequence.

Can I play the vent puzzle solo or with matchmaking? No — like every game in the series, We Were Here Tomorrow is built strictly for two players, and the vent section is unplayable alone. Player experience is unanimous that clear voice communication matters more than puzzle skill here, so pick a partner you can talk to calmly.

My tiny partner is stuck in a room with nothing to do. What now? Don't shrink them back or restart. That usually means the support player needs to act — flip a door state, move a book, or reroute a tube on the full-sized side of the room. Describe what you each see before anyone touches anything.

Do our chosen abilities affect the vent puzzle? Not directly. The goop cube and hook abilities drive the traversal challenges between puzzles, while the shrink mechanic is environmental — either player can ride the platform. That said, community reports suggest both ability kits stay relevant for the rest of the campaign, so get comfortable with yours early.