Player help · Updated September 23, 2026. This guide covers the current beta. Where controls differ, the build number is called out; find yours in Settings.
Need a hand? Contact support@gretek.com. Include your device model, the version and build shown in Settings, the puzzle title or number, and what happened. A screenshot helps. Never send your recovery key, Apple password or payment-card details.
Protect your discoveries
Your game saves on your device. With an internet connection, the current beta also backs up your explorer automatically while the game is active. Offline changes reach the backup only after you reconnect and the upload succeeds.
Each explorer has a separate private recovery key. Before you need a replacement phone:
- Open Settings → Explorers and select the explorer you want to protect.
- Open Save & recovery → Show my private key → Copy private key.
- Keep it somewhere private that you can access without this phone, such as your password manager. Repeat for other explorers you want to preserve.
- Tap Back up now and check the last successful backup time. An error or pending message means the newest changes may still exist only on this device.
Anyone with the key can recover that explorer. We cannot replace a lost key or recover an encrypted save from your nickname. Keep the app installed while investigating a save problem.
Recover on a replacement phone
- Install The Vault Society and connect to the internet.
- Open Settings → Explorers → Save & recovery → Recover another explorer.
- Paste the complete key, including its
VS1-beginning, and tap Find my backup. - Check the discovery and point totals in the preview. In build 46, choose Restore this explorer. In build 47, choose Continue on this device.
- Open the recovered explorer. Its progress reflects the last successful backup, not changes that never left the old phone.
Recovery creates a separate explorer rather than overwriting another one. The app supports up to six explorers on one device. If it says the key already belongs to an explorer here, return to the explorer list and select that explorer.
A complete iPhone backup may also restore app data, but we have not yet verified that route for this game. Do not rely on reinstalling the app alone to retrieve progress. If the old phone, recovery key and usable device backup are all unavailable, we currently have no progress-recovery route. Account-based recovery is only a future possibility.
Playing on two devices
Build 47 and later with the handoff update: this is a choice of which device continues the backed-up journey, not automatic merging. After a successful handoff, the other device pauses its backup when it next connects and detects the newer save. Offline play remains available.
If you see Backup paused → Review devices, compare the two saves and choose the progress to continue. Confirm Continue on this device. The other version is preserved as a separate local explorer with its own key, provided there is a free explorer slot. Points and Insight are not combined. Select that preserved explorer and save its new key if you also want to retain it independently.
If the handoff says it is waiting for a connection, leave the app open online until it succeeds. An offline device cannot immediately learn that another device has taken over.
Build 46: the newer brass notice and explicit handoff flow are not included. If you encounter a backup conflict, keep both devices' apps installed and contact support for help comparing the saves. Avoid deleting progress to resolve a conflict.
Restore purchases separately from progress
On iPhone, permanent purchases such as Midnight cabinet and the larger Insight meter use Apple's purchase history. Sign in with the same Apple Account used for the original purchase, then open Settings → Insight → Capacity upgrade → Restore purchases. On the Apple test-purchase screen that opens, tap Restore purchases again to start restoration. This checks both the larger meter and purchased cosmetics; you do not need to buy the upgrade again.
The Restore cosmetics button on a cosmetic's Apple test-purchase screen checks the same permanent purchases. Owned/equipped cabinet finishes do not open that purchase screen, so the Settings route above works even when all your finishes are already owned.
- Permanent purchased benefits are shared by explorers on that device.
- An Insight refill belongs to the explorer that bought it.
- Restoring purchases does not restore solved puzzles or refill spent Insight. Your remaining Insight reserves come back with a recovered save, as of its last successful backup.
- Increasing capacity changes the hourly-refilling meter from five slots to ten; it does not instantly fill the extra slots or speed up the one-per-hour refill.
- Earned cosmetic rewards and painted room keepsakes belong to your game progress. Recover the explorer to get those back.
Apple describes which purchase types can be restored in its purchase-restoration guide. Apple purchases are not automatically Google Play purchases. Android store billing and cross-platform purchase transfer are not available in this beta.
Beta purchases: the current iOS beta uses approved test products and Apple's Sandbox, with no real charges. Test purchases do not become future production purchases. If a permanent test purchase does not restore on a second device, keep the app installed and contact support with the product name and build number; do not buy it again to troubleshoot. Simulated reward ads are clearly labelled demonstrations, not live advertisements.
Sound, music and gentle motion
Open Settings:
- Background → Off stops background audio while leaving audible clues available.
- Choose Rain or Moonlit Keys for background sound. New explorers start with Moonlit Keys; existing choices are retained.
- Clues & effects → On/Off controls puzzle sounds, mechanisms and discovery effects separately.
- Gentle motion → Off reduces presentation motion. Touch feedback controls haptics on supported devices.
On iPhone, the current game plays audio even in Silent Mode. Use these in-game controls to silence it. If sound is missing, check both sound controls, media volume and the selected Bluetooth/audio output.
Society letters and awards
Open Society to find four-hour dispatches, daily letters, weekly investigations and monthly vaults. They reset on your device's local calendar; the in-game envelope indicates available unsolved letters. Solving at least one four-hour dispatch per local day contributes to that cadence's daily streak. View earned pieces and streak awards in Your cabinet, available from the journal or the title screen.
For optional phone reminders, open Settings → Reminders → Enable reminders and allow the phone's permission request. If you previously denied permission, use Phone notification settings on that screen. There is no permission request on initial launch. The current invitation appears after leaving a first newly earned Society-letter reveal, but you can enable reminders directly at any time.
Reminder times are local. Daily reminders start at 9 a.m.; other cadences can be selected separately. Overnight four-hour reminders are suppressed. Reminders are local notifications for the current explorer on that phone, not messages sent from our server.
Insight, rewards and help
The regular meter refills one Insight per hour up to its capacity. Purchased/demo reserve charges are separate from that cap. A newly solved main puzzle costs one Insight; ordinary moves, Undo and help are free. Replays do not award duplicate points. Society bonuses do not spend Insight under the current rules.
Wrong submitted answers reduce a puzzle's remaining reward. The current default takes away 25% of the original reward per wrong submission, down to zero. Revealing the full solution also makes that solve worth zero points. The displayed reward is the amount available now. Beta tuning and future balance updates can change these values.
For an unfamiliar mechanism, read its control help or try its practice example where offered. In the journal, review collected evidence and pin useful records. Settings → Guide to the house explains the other features. In the Inventions annex, Return to house returns to your normal journey.
Report a puzzle or technical problem
Open Settings → Feedback, choose the concern and optionally describe what you expected. Save this note stores it only on this device; it does not send it to us. To submit it, open View local report, use Share report file where available or Copy report to share, and send it through TestFlight feedback or to support@gretek.com.
The report contains puzzle activity and your notes. It excludes recovery keys and account credentials, but anything you type into the note is included. Review the report before sharing. Avoid personal information and screenshots of recovery keys.
For a stuck screen, close and reopen the app first. For missing progress, check Explorers before starting fresh. Start fresh is a local gameplay reset, not a request to delete server records. To remove an explorer’s cloud backup and connected Society record, use Manage your data. Read our privacy notice for retention and other choices. Contact support about other data/privacy requests; do not include a recovery key.