Brain Out Level 197
📝 Walkthrough
Overview
Level 197 says "Open the safe." The board shows a blue combination safe with a fingerprint scanner, a numeric keypad, and a keyhole. There is no code given, and your fingerprint is not on file. If you tap the keypad or the fingerprint scanner, nothing happens. The Brain Out twist is that the safe itself is sitting on top of a physical key. You drag the safe sideways, the key rolls out from underneath it, and then you use that key on the keyhole to open the door.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Estimated moves: 2
Step-by-Step Solution
- Look at the safe. The keypad shows digits 1 through 9 plus X, 0, and a check mark, but no code is written anywhere. The fingerprint scanner also will not recognize you.
- Press and hold on the body of the safe itself, not on the keypad or the scanner.
- Drag the safe to the side. As it slides away, a small orange key is revealed on the white background underneath the safe.
- Pick up the revealed key and drag it to the keyhole on the front of the safe, just below the fingerprint scanner.
- The key turns in the lock. The safe door swings open, revealing a red gift box inside with a green check mark over it. The level is complete.
- Slide the wooden box on the floor aside to reveal a key underneath. Pick up the key and use it on the safe.
Slide the wooden box along the floor to the left or right. The key is drawn on the carpet directly beneath where the box was sitting.
Slide the wooden box along the floor to the left or right. The key is drawn on the carpet directly beneath where the box was sitting. Pick up the key and insert it into the safe lock to open the door.
If the pop-up does not appear on your first attempt, repeat the action described above; the level triggers completion the moment the required object is placed or the required gesture finishes.
Strategy & Reasoning
The puzzle abuses the assumption that a safe is opened by code or biometrics. The keypad and fingerprint scanner are drawn to look like the intended interfaces, but neither has a valid input. The keyhole at the bottom is the real lock, and the key to that lock is hidden under the safe itself. Most players never think to move the safe, because the safe looks like the whole puzzle rather than an obstacle covering something. This level follows Brain Out's signature rule: the obvious action rarely works, and the solution usually involves either moving an on-screen object that looks fixed, using a hardware button, or treating the prompt text itself as a draggable element. Once you recognize the pattern, the trick becomes easy to spot.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- Trying to guess the code on the keypad. No code exists; the keypad is a decoy.
- Tapping the fingerprint scanner repeatedly. It does not recognize a fingerprint from the screen.
- Forgetting to drag the safe itself. The key is hidden underneath, so the safe must be moved before the key can be used.