Today Is My Birthday: Walkthrough & Achievements Guide

Here is a full walkthrough with all achievements guide.

Broken Achievements

The three collectibles achievements are broken. Them being:

Return to video rental – Collect all VHS tapes
paparazzo – Collect all evidence photos
True detective – Collect all letters and newspapers

As for the other 16, these unlock as part of the storyline:

A little adventure won’t hurt – Start your journey
Old memories – Get to the park
Rat Ringmaster – Get out of the cellar
Puppeteer – Beat the boss doll
locksmith – Open the door mechanism
Son of the witch – Kill the witch’s son

These are part of the ending. You can replay the final checkpoint to get both without replaying the entire game.

Best birthday ever! – You are safe now
Honorary donor – Shouldn’t have taken care of the liver

These are missable. There’s no chapter select so missing any means a new playthrough.

Bible master – Open William’s safe
Out blast – Find Miles
Fat man down! – Kill the hammer guy
Streamer room – Open a secret room
Pulled the plug – Kill the Doctor
It was not necessary – Kill the mechanic
Burger party – Finish Dorothy
Cowboy – Collect 15 bullets

Start

Difficulty doesn’t matter, but I recommend playing on Easy Mode.

Turn right and run to the fence lit up by the streetlight. Learn the camera controls, and flash the raven. Climb over the fence.

A little adventure won’t hurt

Start your journey

Abandoned Forest near Lake Line

VHS Tapes: 1 (1 of 6)
Evidence Photos: 1 (1 of 12)
Letters and Newspapers: 3 (3 of 28)

Run down the hill and grab the FLASHLIGHT. Continue down the path to a cutscene introducing Barney B.

Crawl under the tree. Inside the outhouse is a BATTERY. I’m not going to point out batteries for the rest of the guide, they’re only used to power the flashlight and the game isn’t so dark that you need one. The camera does not use batteries.

Head into the motorhome. Inside is VHS TAPE #1 and KEYS. After some time, the phone will ring. Quickly hide around the back of the trailer to avoid Barney.

With Barney gone, go inside the green shipping container. Take PHOTO #1 of the body on the operating table. Quickly leave before Barney returns.

Turn a right as you exit the container to see an abandoned motorhome in the distance with a single lamp. Unlock the door and inside is LETTER #1 (“Barney’s Note”).

Go up the hill besides the red shipping container and under the fallen tree. Along the way is another shipping container. Pick up LETTER #2 (“Part of a Note”) inside. Exit the container, continue between the containers, and through chain wire door.

On the road, enter the nearby school bus (wait for the door to fully open first) and grab NEWSPAPER #3 (“Old Newspaper from 1874”). Exit the bus and enter the park.

Old memories

Get to the park

Wonder Park East Side

VHS Tapes: 0 (1)
Evidence Photos: 1 (2 of 12)
Letters and Newspapers: 2 (5 of 28)

At the entrance is an elephant ticket booth. Inside is NEWSPAPER #4 (“October 6, 2008”).

In the centre of the area is a dog chained to a pole. Use your camera flash to stun the dog, then crouch down and grab a KEY on its collar.

At the back of the area is a clown’s head entrance. At the back is a VCR to watch the tape you picked earlier.

Back outside, follow the wall on the right (past a fenced in locked door) and you’ll reach some stairs going down to a merry-go-round and the Wonder Park Market. Head inside the latter.

On the right is a door leading to a bathroom with a second KEY on a washing machine. Opposite the bathroom is LETTER #5 (“Cashier’s dairy”) you can grab through a window. At the back of the building is a door leading to the staff room. A dog is in the staff room. Quickly stun it, snap PHOTO #2 of the body on the chair and exit. The dog will stop chasing you once you’re outside.

Return to the fence. Unlock it and go downstairs for a chase sequence. Pull the lever at the back of the area to unlock the door. Unfortunately the door takes around a minute to open, so keep circling the room with the fat clown chasing you the entire time.

Once it opens, jump down the hole behind the door and the clown won’t chase you any further.

Wonder Park Interior

VHS Tapes: 0 (1 of 6)
Evidence Photos: 2 (4 of 12)
Letters and Newspapers: 4 (9 of 28)

On the left is a white door leading to a bathroom. Snap PHOTO #3 of the body inside the stall. Next to the stall is a wooden board you can move to reveal a locked door. Remember this door.

Exit the bathroom to see a teddy bear on a sofa. Find LETTER #6 (“William’s Notes 1”) next to it. Turn left to see a pumpkin scarecrow. Grab the BALLERINA PART in its rib cage.

Approach the desk for a quick scene. There’s NEWSPAPER #7 (“September 13, 2008”) on the desk and a safe next to the desk. Unlock the safe with the code 1823 and grab the KEY inside.

Bible master

Open William’s safe
Unlock the door at the top of the stairs. Go left down the hall for an achievement.

Out blast

Find Miles
Return to the main room and enter the small room on the side. In here are LETTER #8 (“William’s Notes 2”), LETTER #9 (“William’s Notes 4”), and a jack-in-the-box you can play with. Continue up the stairs for a scene introducing William.

Grab the LEVER on the stove at the top of the stairs, and flip the switch on the left wall. Run back through the locked door in the bathroom. William won’t chase you once you’re in the swimming pool area.

There isn’t anything interesting here so head through the door on the left. Head forward for a checkpoint, which despawns William in the previous room. Go back and look above the pumpkin scarecrow to see a white panel that can be reached via the ramp. Add the lever, and pull it. The floorboards under the the stairs open to reveal a hidden basement. Jump down.

Snap PHOTO #4 of the body inside the caged area. Continue through the rooms to a locked door. Turn around to see a key. Snap a photo of the rat with flash on to make him run off and drop the KEY. Pick it up and unlock the door.

Rat Ringmaster

Get out of the cellar
Grab the REVOLVER on the cart in the kitchen. Exit through the only door. Straight ahead leads back to the swimming pool area, so go down the stairs.

Flooded Basement

VHS Tapes: 2 (3 of 6)
Evidence Photos: 2 (6 of 12)
Letters and Newspapers: 2 (11 of 28)

Wade through the flooded room and up the stairs on the right to a room with a cage. Snap the imprisoned girl for PHOTO #5. There’s a white door here leading to a bathroom with LETTER #10 (“William’s Notes 3”). Go down the tunnel in the flooded room. Climb up the ladder at the end.

Enter the room on the right and place the Ballerina Part in the music box. Doing so opens a secret door. Grab VHS TAPE #2 and NEWSPAPER #11 (“March 9, 2009”).

Return to the main room and take out your camera. This makes a nearby puppet chase you. Flash it five times with the camera to scare it away and it’ll drop a KEY.

Puppeteer

Beat the boss doll
Unlock the gates under the big clown head and head inside. Go down the hall and follow the sign down to the Video Room. At the bottom of the stairs is VHS TAPE #3. In the Video Room itself is a body for PHOTO #6 and a VCR.

Return upstairs and past the Video Room sign to initiate another chase. Stun William as soon as you see him and run past him. When the hall turns left, there’s a switch on your immediate left to open a door ahead. Run through the door and into the elevator. Press the button to get to safety.

Catacombs

VHS Tapes: 1 (4 of 6)
Evidence Photos: 2 (8 of 12)
Letters and Newspapers: 7 (18 of 28)
Bullets: 8 (8)

Head forward and listen in on the conversation between the doctor and Barney. Pick up the SWITCH on the nearby bucket and use it on the circuit breaker around the corner to turn on the lights downstairs. Head down the stairs and note the locked door on the left. Go through the door on the right to reach some prison cells.

The hammer guy ahead will walk off. Don’t mess with the numbered switches near the entrance yet, we’ll deal with it last to keep the prisoners locked up.

Enter the greenish door on the left past the cells. In this small room are six BULLETS in the cabinet, a GEAR, and a KEY with LETTER #12 (“Doctor’s Note 2”) in the desk drawer. Exit and unlock wooden door opposite. In the room at the end of the hall is VHS TAPE #4 on the table. Return the the cells and through the large doorway.

Find the stairs going down and take them to the bottom. There’s nothing of interest in the prison cells in between. Go down the hall and the hammer guy will burst through the wall. Kill him with 5 bullets.

Fat man down!

Kill the hammer guy
At the end of the hallway is LETTER #13 (“Hammer Note 1”). Now go into the room he burst out from to find LETTER #14 (“Hammer’s Note 2”). Continue through to the bathroom. Grab a second GEAR in a cabinet and a BULLET on the sink.

In the next hall is a silver box on the ground. Follow the cable running from it to the laundry where there’s a puzzle. Solve the puzzle and return to the box for a KEY. The laundry loops back to the hallway.

There are two doors in the hallway, go through the one that opens. Follow the doll as it runs off and grab LETTER #15 (“Hammer’s Note 3 (Dead Doll)”). Open the cabinet nearby and take PHOTO #7 of the body. Between his legs is a third GEAR.

Return to the numbered switches and prison cells. Flip switch #2 to open a nearby cell. Enter it and grab the SWITCH on the ground. Use it to flip switch #3 and open two more cells. The near cell contains a KEY.

Backtrack to the locked door before the prison cells and open it using the key from the puzzle box.

Streamer room

Open a secret room
Inside is a BULLET on the table.

Go upstairs to the area where you eavesdropped on the doctor and unlock the caged door here. In this room are a CROWBAR, LETTER #16 (“Note in the doctor’s office 1”), and LETTER #17 (“Clipboard in the room with the organs”).

Use the crowbar remove the vertical boards in the previous room and use the three gears to unlock the door.

locksmith

Open the door mechanism
Notice the white shutter in the next room and then head through the door for a cutscene introducing Doc.

Thus begins a game of hide and seek with Doc. Quickly run left to the other side of the bedroom to find LETTER #18 (“PetVet (veterinary clinic) clipboard”). Press the large red button on a nearby wall to open the white shutter in the previous room. Wait for the shutters to open then crawl into the vent.

Crawl into the next vent for a cutscene.

Follow Doc into the room on the right and snap PHOTO #8 of the body in the dark corner. Return to the first room, open the manhole cover and jump down.

Wonder Park Railway

VHS Tapes: 1 (5 of 6)
Evidence Photos: 1 (9 of 12)
Letters and Newspapers: 3 (21 of 28)
Bullets: 5 (13)

Walk down the tracks a little and grab NEWSPAPER #19 (“Massive cave-in”) near the yellow door. Continue down the tracks and when you reach the next yellow door, there’s a well-hidden BULLET on the ground before it.

Continue inside the yellow door. Jump over the debris in the hallway and into the room in the end. Take PHOTO #9 of the body and pick up LETTER #20 (“Note from Doctor”). Return to the tracks.

Walk past the scissor lift for a hallucination. Press the button on the scissor lift to lower it and jump on. Raise it again and use the lever to extend it forward. Jump onto railing of the lift, then to the train carriage. Pull the lever at the end and out onto the platform. Head forward for a checkpoint.

This section is to unlock a couple of achievements before restarting the checkpoint to conserve bullets. We need to end this chapter with at least 6 bullets for another achievement later.

At the top of the stairs are four bullets on the ground. Continue the only way and jump down for another scene with Doc. After he runs off to check something, turn around and shoot him three times to kill him.

Achievement 10 of 19 Unlocked:

Pulled the plug

Kill the Doctor
Find the “No Entrance” sign and go right of it to the door out of here. Jump over the railing in the next room, and run right to find the mechanic. Kill him as well with three shots.

Achievement 11 of 19 Unlocked:

It was not necessary

Kill the mechanic
Reload the last checkpoint (load the Catacombs chapter from the menu).

We’re back outside the train carriage. Grab the four BULLETS again and drop down for the cutscene with Doc. Doc’s kinda stupid, so just run away from him and through to the next room. Close the door behind you.

Find the blue elevator nearby and remember it as it’s your way out of here. Jump over the railing and go left first for VHS TAPE #5 at the end of the tunnel. Return the other way now.

You’ll see the mechanic walk off ahead of you. This end of the tunnel is a loop and the mechanic just circles the area. Wait for the the mechanic to walk off to the left before proceeding through the lit area. Find two levers, but one is missing an arm. Behind the levers is NEWSPAPER #21 (“Wood supply”), a LEVER ARM and a VCR. Use the arm on the lever and flip both.

Run back to the elevator, flip all three switches in the circuit breaker next to it and press the button inside to go up. The elevator will come back down because of the uninvited guest, but just flip the three switches and press the button again.

Lake Line Outdoors

VHS Tapes: 1 (6 of 6)
Evidence Photos: 3 (12 of 12)
Letters and Newspapers: 7 (28 of 28)
Bullets: 9 (22)

In the pizza box in front of you is LETTER #22 (“Unknown Letter”). Behind the outhouse is LETTER #23 (“Dorothy’s Note 1”) on a TV. Beyond that is a shed with an EMBLEM PART stuck in one of the hanging pigs. Exit the shed for a short conversation, then crawl though the hole in a nearby fence.

Keep fence/wall on your left and follow it until you see a beehive hanging in a tree. Stuck in the beehive is the second EMBLEM PART. Keep the opposite wall on your left this time and follow it. You’ll reach a cave.

Take PHOTO #10 of the first hanging body. On a rock nearby is LETTER #24 (“Dorothy’s Note 2”). Further down the tunnel on the left is a wooden crate with two BULLETS. Head through the wooden door and watch the cutscene introducing Dorothy.

Quickly take PHOTO #11 of the body being shredded. Kite the enemies and wait for Dorothy to leave. Follow her out the door.

In the next open area, it’s time to deal with Dorothy. Immediately on your left is a switch. There’s one more on the level above, and two more on the highest level. Flip all four switches to lower the cage around a valve on the highest level. Activate the valve to finish the fight. Smash that E button and then press the red button hanging nearby to finish Dorothy.

Burger party

Finish Dorothy
After the fight, cross the plank behind you (there were flames before) and into the next room. In the tray on the left is a BULLET. On the right is NEWSPAPER #25 (“Lake Line News [Undated]”) on a table. Further in, grab the third EMBLEM PART and LETTER #26 (“Dorothy’s Note 3”). Examine the radio for a scene. Go through the door leading outside.

Climb on top of the nearby digger to find a case with six BULLETS. That should put you at over 15 bullets for an achievement.

Cowboy

Collect 15 bullets
Follow the left wall until you reach a chain fence. On the wheel arch of the truck nearby is VHS TAPE #6.
Achievement 14 of 19 Unlocked:

Return to video rental

Collect all VHS tapes
Continue keeping the the wall on your left and you’ll eventually reach the radio tower. Climb up and go inside. The final PHOTO #12 and a VCR are inside.
Achievement 15 of 19 Unlocked:

paparazzo

Collect all evidence photos
Return to the chain fence and go through the door. LETTER #27 (“Fanatic’s Note”) is nailed on the nearest tree.

Place the three Emblem Parts in the nearby door. Step inside.

Watch the cutscene introducing Dorothy’s son. In order to kill him, you need to flash him 12 times with the camera. For an easier time, take care of his two friends with the revolver (one bullet each to the head). Bullets don’t work on the big guy, and there’s nothing left to kill in the game.

Son of the witch

Kill the witch’s son
Go up on the stage and get the KEY on the puppet. Head back through the chain fence and straight past the radio tower to a fancier looking fence. Unlock the gate and cross the road to the gas station.

Inside is NEWSPAPER #28 (“Lake Line News [Undated]”) on a table. Go back outside and hop in the car.
Achievement 17 of 19 Unlocked:

True detective

Collect all letters and newspapers
Choose an ending. I chose “Yes” first.

Best birthday ever!

You are safe now
Reload the latest checkpoint and finish the game again for the other ending.

Honorary donor

Shouldn’t have taken care of the liver

By alphabetsoup