NOTE FROM SIERRA: As this intro suggests, I did not write this guide; I'm posting it here with permission from the author. If you have questions or comments, see below for contact info. Beyond this paragraph, my only contribution was minor formatting.

This is Decanter's guide to Crimson Gray. It will give some general tips, then walkthroughs for getting all endings, gallery images, and (if applicable) achievements.

If you wish to avoid spoilers, read the first section that gives general tips, not other sections.

Feedback can be sent to me on the wiki of The Last Sovereign (another game by the same developer), on any forum I frequent, or in chat at {LINK REMOVED}https://tiny.cc/SL_chat

If you are reading this on Steam, it has been posted by someone else, probably with permission. Feedback can be left in comments, but I am more likely to see it using the methods above.

Last updated 2017-08-01

Perhaps the most important thing you need to understand about Crimson Gray is that it's not a pure branching story structure. Your earlier decisions influence what happens in response to later choices. Some choices are tracked specifically, while most affect internal aggregate values that represent things like Lizzie's stability, John's depression, and the level of trust between them.

When you reach a new ending, you should restart the game - and I mean from the beginning. Doing this will give you the option to play with small bonuses to those aforementioned values. These are small, but you get new ones from each kind of ending you find, so they accumulate.

No plot branch requires these bonuses, but you won't have to make as many good decisions if you use these bonuses, and they will NOT keep you from unlocking gallery items, achievements, or anything else!

Surprisingly, the drug is not a critical decision. You can even get the true ending with both. Nihlazine seems to fit canon better, however, and its effects are slightly more useful in my opinion. You should definitely choose a drug, though, unless you want John dead as soon as possible.

Conversation topics also aren't critical decisions. In my opinion talking morality is more useful generally.

Ending up in the basement is not a guaranteed bad ending, and you can even escape on your own.

You can save the lab partner girl, and even get a happy ending after, but it's tricky.

You cannot romance the psychiatrist.

Major scenes you might miss:

• There are four completely different scenes after the date in which you medicate Lizzie for the first time. These depend on which medication she took and whether John accepted her love confession earlier.
  
• There are also four different variants of the festival: if John slept with Lizzie and convinced her not to kill the lab partner; if John slept with Lizzie and she killed the lab partner; if John did not sleep with Lizzie and did not free himself from her basement; if John did not sleep with Lizzie and freed himself from her basement.
  
• Saying things that make Mrs. Smythe suspicious will tend to lead you to bad endings in which Lizzie and possibly also Mrs. Smythe die, and not always immediately. Especially if you don't skip town altogether when the option is presented.

There are two different NSFW patches, a Steam and non-Steam version. Links to both are at https://the-last-sovereign.blogspot.com/p/crimson-gray.html

If you do not apply the patch, and you are playing a version with achievements, you will get the gallery Completion achievement as soon as you get all SFW images in the gallery. This doesn't make the NSFW images appear in your gallery if you install the patch later.

All of these assume you are NOT using restart bonuses. You may be able to get these without following these exact steps, especially if you are going for a good ending and using restart bonuses.

This doesn't cover every single variation and minor branch, but taken together these will hit all four festival variations.

Ensure you have the Skip option set to Seen unless you don't care about missing new dialogue.

=== Not Like This

Smile at her
Tell Mrs. Smythe
Let her down gently
Talk to Lizzie
Research in the library
Yandaquel
No, she's sort of stalking me
No
Take her hand
Beg
Beg for release
Try to remove chain
Request old medication
Look for weapons
Start a conversation about her interests
Make something for Lizzie
Kiss her
Don't try anything
Hint you're worried about Lizzie

=== Unsurprising Outcome

[any choices you want until choosing whether to accept Lizzie's confession of love]
Let her down gently
[any choices until it's time to pick her medication]
Don't take anything

=== Alone

Smile at her
Leave a note
Cautiously say yes
Talk to Lizzie
Talk to pharmacist
Nihlazine
Yes, we're dating
What kind of question is that?
Just keep talking
Take her hand
Sleep with Lizzie
Accept choice
I want whatever you want
Start a conversation about her peers
Say positive things about Lizzie
Ask Mrs. Smythe how to stabilize a person
Raise the issue bluntly
Answer honestly
Run to the police

=== Caretaker

Smile at her
Leave a note
Cautiously say yes
Talk to Lizzie
Talk to pharmacist
Nihlazine
Yes, we're dating
What kind of question is that?
Just keep talking
Take her hand
Convince Lizzie to wait
Reason with her
Look for tools
Request old medication
Look for tools
Start a conversation about morality
Make something for Lizzie
Disagree
Use crowbar to escape shackles
Stay in the basement
Ask for more Paxetine

=== Happiness

Smile at her
Leave a note
Cautiously say yes
Talk to Lizzie
Talk to pharmacist
Nihlazine
Yes, we're dating
What kind of question is that?
Just keep talking
Take her hand
Sleep with Lizzie
Accept choice
I want whatever you want
Start a conversation about her peers
Say positive things about Lizzie
Ask Mrs. Smythe how to stabilize a person
Raise the issue bluntly
Answer honestly
Help her escape

=== True Ending

Smile at her
Leave a note
Cautiously say yes
Talk to Lizzie
Talk to pharmacist
Nihlazine
Yes, we're dating
What kind of question is that?
Just keep talking
Take her hand
Convince Lizzie to wait
Reason with her
Look for tools
Request old medication
Look for tools
Start a conversation about morality
Make something for Lizzie
Disagree
Use crowbar to escape shackles
Stay in the basement
Lie about everything

=== Saving the Lab Partner

Smile at her
Leave a note
Cautiously say yes
Talk to Lizzie
Talk to pharmacist
Nihlazine
Yes, we're dating
What kind of question is that?
Just keep talking
Take her hand
Sleep with Lizzie
Accept choice
Decline
Start a conversation about morality
Say very little about Lizzie
Go straight to Lizzie and resolve the situation

Not all versions of the game have achievements. At time of writing, only the Steam version does.

Definitely Romance
Start a new game.

A Special Kind of Romance
John sees the burned tree. Unmissable.

Not Like This
Get an ending in which the image of dead Lizzie is shown. See the walkthrough above for one such.

Unsurprising Outcome
Get an ending in which the image of dead John is shown. See the walkthrough above for one such.

Alone
Get an ending in which the image of a depressed John without Lizzie is shown. See the walkthrough above for one such.

Caretaker
Get an ending in which John is shown with Lizzie's hands on his shoulders. See the walkthrough above for one such.

The Right Path
Given on the way to the True Ending, right before the final point at which you can fail.

Happiness
Get an ending in which John and Lizzie are shown cuddling happily on a couch. See the walkthrough above for one that works and also grants a second hidden restart bonus.

True Ending
Get the canon ending. See the walkthrough above for one way to get it.

Completion
Fill out the gallery. If you're using the NSFW patch, this includes the sex images; otherwise, it doesn't. One sex image variant is only seen if John sleeps with Lizzie and then stops her from murdering the lab partner, which is one reason I've included a walkthrough for that above. Otherwise you should get all gallery images in the course of getting each ending type.

If nothing is written about an image except a description, it's because you shouldn't be able to miss it.

Adult content must be enabled to get NSFW images.

Locker Notes

• "Cheer Up!"
  
• "They shouldn't say those things about you."
  
• "I didn't like that tree either."
  
• "Good Morning John!" - Don't tell a teacher or Mrs. Smythe about Lizzie leaving notes in John's locker. Don't sleep with Lizzie. Given after the kidnapping sequence.
  
• "I don't feel like murdering anyone today!" - Don't tell a teacher or Mrs. Smythe about Lizzie leaving notes in John's locker. Don't put a new lock on John's locker. End the kidnapping sequence by freeing John, then voluntarily staying. You can follow the "True Ending" walkthrough above for one path that ensures this.
  
• "Lizzie + John Forever" - Have enough of a bond of trust between John and Lizzie before visiting Mrs. Smythe in the lab partner sequence. You can follow the "Saving the Lab Partner" walkthrough above for one path that ensures this.
  
• Chocolate heart covered in golden foil.

Cherry Tree
A beautiful blossoming cherry tree under which girls confess love to boys, at least until Lizzie does arson to it.

Burned Cherry Tree
The still-burning trunk of the aforementioned cherry tree.

Rooftop Catch
Lizzie saving John from falling off the school roof, as seen from John's point of view.

John Dead
Dead John with blood pooling around him. - Follow the "Unsurprising Outcome" walkthrough above for one way to get it.

Lizzie Dead
Dead Lizzie with blood pooling under her and trickling from her mouth. - Follow the "Not Like This" walkthrough above for one way to get it.

Framed Photo
A photograph of young Lizzie Doss and her mother Abbey, in a wood frame.

Action
Lizzie using an axe on some unfortunate person, as shown from that that person's point of view. - Gotten on the way to the True Ending or one of the Happiness endings in which the lab partner dies (follow the "Happiness" walkthrough above).

John Alone
John sitting alone with a gray backdrop. - Follow the "Alone" walkthrough above for one way to get it.

Caretaker
Gray backdrop. John sitting. Lizzie has her hands on his shoulders and smiles down at him. - Follow the "Caretaker" walkthrough above for one way to get it.

Embrace
3 images. John holds Lizzie reassuringly from behind as she lets out her feelings. - Get John free in Lizzie's basement, but choose to stay there. Follow the "True Ending" walkthrough above for one way to get it.

Happiness
John and Lizzie cuddle on a couch, smiling. - Get a non-canonical happy ending. Follow the "Happiness" walkthrough above for one way to get it.

Blue Eyes, Blue Skies
Lizzie looking down into John's point of view, with blue skies behind. - Get the True Ending. Follow the "True Ending" walkthrough above for one way to get it.

Couch
2 images. Lizzie and John make love on her couch. - Adult content. Sleep with Lizzie. Follow the "Happiness" walkthrough above for one way to get it.

Couch with Kiss
2 images. - Adult content. Part of the previous scene.

Fairground Scene
5 images. - Adult content. This scene is very likely, but you can follow the "Happiness" walkthrough above if you somehow miss it.

House of Mirrors Scene
5 images. Variant of the above, in a house of mirrors. - Adult content. Only given in the festival variant after you choose to sleep with Lizzie and keep the lab partner alive. You can follow the "Saving the Lab Partner" walkthrough above.

More Fairground Scene
2 images. - Adult content. These variant pages of the Fairground Scene are only seen if you get John free in Lizzie's basement, but choose to stay there. Follow the "True Ending" walkthrough above for one way to get them.

Did this guide fail to explain something to your satisfaction, but you don't want to wait for a response to your feedback? Do you want to be sure to see every possible scene variation? Well, you can always peer directly into the game script. Don't worry, it shouldn't be too hard to follow - RenPy is a script engine for non-programmers.

Find your game folder. It should be obvious where it is, unless you're playing through Steam. On Steam, right-click the game in your Library, click "Properties" in the context menu, click the "Local Files" tab, click the "BROWSE LOCAL FILES..." button.

In the game folder, open the "game" subfolder. You should see a file called "script.rpy".

Open that file using a half-decent text editor program - so NOT Notepad. The preferred choice for rpy files is Editra, but you could also use Notepad++, Wordpad, Sublime, whatever.

And you're in! Mostly you just need to know that the actual gameplay starts where it says "label start:", and that jump and call commands take the game to the named label (call commands return to the line with the call command afterward). Everything else should be fairly easy to figure out.