The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Achievement guide · roadmap · tracker
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is an atmospheric first-person mystery from The Astronauts. You're occult detective Paul Prospero, arriving at the beautiful, autumnal Red Creek Valley in answer to a frightened boy's letter - and you find a string of murders to reconstruct and eerie supernatural tales to unravel, using a sixth sense to piece scenes back together. Open-ended, unsettling, about 4-5 hours. Its famous opening card: "This game is a narrative experience that does not hold your hand."
Every achievement is hidden - the developer deliberately shipped them with blank descriptions, since even the names hint at the story. Most track the core investigation: five murders (named for the stages of grief) and five supernatural stories, all of which you must solve to reach the ending (What happens then?). They're re-solvable, so none are truly failable. A few are genuinely easy to miss: The Tunnel can only be got in the first few seconds by walking the wrong way, and Home and Unfinished story are optional side-content off the main path.
Sap
CommonThe Sap Man story in the opening woods: spring all five traps without dying, then enter the blue "sense" phase and read Ethan's Sap-Man note.
Fangs
CommonThe Space Capsule / spaceman story in the forest near the dam: find the coloured traffic lights and enter the correct (randomised) sequence.
The Wish
CommonThe Witch Forest puzzle: find the torch-ringed witch's tent in the woods behind the Carter house, navigate the teleport jumps and read the note.
Depression
CommonSolve Travis' murder (the first one, by the train): replace the rock, position the train on the burnt grass, then order the timeline.
Behind the Veil
CommonSolve the House of Portals door puzzle in the house by the dam - reconnect the rooms so the layout mirrors the Carter house.
Denial
CommonSolve Chad's murder at the stave church / crypt: light the crypt oil (via the second raven), gather the clues, then order the timeline.
Anger
UncommonSolve Missy's murder in the mine cavern: raise the lift, get the pick-axe, then order the timeline.
Bargaining
UncommonSolve Dale's murder in the dam-base warehouse office: return the scissors and fire axe, then order the five-point timeline. This opens up the later area of the map.
Home
UncommonEnter the Carter house and visit every room, letting each conversation finish; the attic conversation triggers it. Optional exploration - easy to skip.
The Curse of the Sea-Thing
UncommonThe Ancient God / Sea-Thing puzzle in the lower mines (right after Anger): investigate all the bodies without being caught by the cursed miner, then solve the great-seal puzzle.
Acceptance
UncommonSolve Ed's murder in the Vandegriff basement's secret room (needs Dale's case / Bargaining done first to reach it). Order the four-point timeline.
What happens then?
UncommonFinish the game / find Ethan. This requires all five murders and all five supernatural stories solved first, then triggers the ending.
The Tunnel
UncommonAt the very start, walk back through the railway tunnel behind you to its far end (toward the light). Start-only - do it before moving on into the valley.
Unfinished story
RareFind the grenade (a pinecone at the wooded overlook), throw it into the lake from the dam road (the third overlook), then collect the diver's rifle on the beach past the power plant. Needs Bargaining-area access. This is the rarest achievement, and is NOT the completion one.
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