Contrast · Guides

Contrast 100% guide

Published by Chubuggles

A chronological route through all three acts of Contrast on Xbox One, covering every collectible achievement, the two first-attempt jumps, and the easy-to-skip story moments.

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  • ETA

    Estimated time, as the guide’s author estimates: 3-4 hours

  • Difficulty

    2/10, as the guide’s author rates it

Your Progress

22 achievements in this guide

Sign in with Xbox to see which of them you have already earned.

Before You Start

Contrast on Xbox One has 22 achievements worth 1000 Gamerscore. There is no DLC and no online component, and every achievement is single-player and offline. This guide covers the Xbox One list, which also plays on Xbox Series X and S. The Xbox 360 version has its own separate 400 Gamerscore list with the same 22 names, and it does not count toward this one.

  • Playthroughs: One. Chapter Select is available once you finish the game, and collectibles picked up on a chapter replay count toward their act's achievement. Plan to grab everything on the first pass, use Restart from Last Save for retries within a chapter, and save Chapter Select for after the credits.
  • Missables: Nothing requires a second playthrough. Several things can still be locked out until you replay that chapter: the Cinema beating, the family photo cutscene, and a few collectibles behind closing doors. This route grabs all of them on the first pass.
  • Difficulty settings: None. The only skill checks are two first-attempt jumps, Now That's Thinking With Shadows and Just Like Harry. Restart from Last Save normally resets your attempt, so a failure costs a short walk back. If a clean retry doesn't unlock Just Like Harry, relaunch the game and try again.
  • Collectibles: There are 26 story collectibles: 10 in Act I, 6 in Act II and 10 in Act III. Each act's set unlocks its own achievement. Collected items glow white, save the moment you pick them up, and are tracked in the Collectibles section of the main menu.
  • Luminaries: These are the glowing orbs used to power devices. The only luminary achievement is Illuminated, for your second one. You need a handful to open the way forward, but you do not need all 29.
  • Cutscenes: Don't skip cutscenes at the start of Act II. The Family Life is reported to fail if you skip the photo scene.
Achievements sometimes take a while to sync for this game. If one hasn't appeared, give it some time or open the game's achievement page on your profile before assuming it failed.

Act I: Invisible Friend

Opening Alley and Streets

Didi's drawing is on the bureau where you start. It is your first Act I collectible, so pick it up before leaving the room.

A New Dimension

Unlocks the first time you shift into the shadows. This is a tutorial step and can't be missed.

Illuminated

Unlocks when you pick up your second luminary. The first is in the room at the top of the alley. Head down the stairs from that room. Before using the bicycle shadow, grab the Kat Knight poster for the Ghost Note, which is collectible 2 of 10. It is in the small café seating area opposite the bicycle. Then ride the bicycle shadow up to the balcony for the second luminary. Both luminaries are on the main path, so this pops in the first few minutes. It is occasionally reported registering only half its progress after the second luminary. If it doesn't unlock right away, use Restart from Last Save immediately, before you reach the next checkpoint, and pick up the second luminary again. That retry is the reported fix. If it's still missing after the credits, you can try replaying the opening Act I chapter through Chapter Select. It isn't confirmed that already-collected luminaries reappear on a replay, so treat this as an attempt, not a guaranteed reset.

About a block further on, collectible 3 sits on a table in a courtyard on your right. It is the newspaper about Carmine Bruni's acquittal, near St. Matthieu's Shelter and the Pompeii sign on the approach to the Ghost Note.

The Ghost Note

Inside the club, two collectibles must be picked up before you leave:

  • The Child Services notice about Didi, on a table on the upper balcony.
  • Johnny's bounced check, on the floor under the staircase.

Watch Didi when she heads out. Don't follow her through the door until both items are in your collection, because the door closes behind you.

Room 529

Unlocks automatically when you leave the club once its story tasks are done.

Back on the Street

After the club, Didi gives you the Dash, and you come out across the street near the gate she opens. Both off-path achievements in this stretch are close together, so clear them before moving on.

Not That Kind Of Game!

Unlocks when you try to enter the door under the "Dirty" neon sign, next to the gate Didi opened. Walk up to the door under the right side of the sign and interact with it. You can also reach this door before entering the club by heading left from the Ghost Note, so if you already did it then, you're covered.

To The Heroes Among Us

Unlocks when you find the hidden Extra Life 2012 logo. A little further down the street from the Dirty sign is a floating phonograph icon. Step into it and climb the shadows on the wall to your right to a balcony luminary. From the balcony, drop down behind the iron gate. Climb the stairs to the open room and interact with the electrical box on the wall. The Extra Life donor screen comes up and the achievement pops. While you're here, Dash through the wooden wall to the left of the phonograph icon for another luminary.

At the jazz bar, pick up Vincenzo's World's Fair poster. In the manager's office, grab the Vincenzo newspaper. These are collectibles 6 and 7.

The Usual Suspects

This chapter leads to the billboard gap on the way to the Cinema, where two achievements share one jump. They can't both unlock on the same attempt, so secure the harder one first:

  1. Cross cleanly first for Now That's Thinking With Shadows.
  2. Then fall on purpose for My God, It's Full Of Stars! Once you're across, drop off the billboard supports into the void. If you can't reach the void from there, Restart from Last Save and step off the gap deliberately.

If you fall on your first try, you get My God, It's Full Of Stars! instead. Restart from Last Save, which normally resets the attempt, and cross cleanly. If you're still missing either one after the credits, Chapter Select can bring you back to The Usual Suspects.

My God, It's Full Of Stars!

Unlocks when you fall into the void at the billboard gap on the way to the Cinema.

Now That's Thinking With Shadows

Unlocks when you clear the billboard void jump on your first attempt from the checkpoint. Partway across, Dawn shifts out of the shadows automatically. Shift straight back into the shadow on the second billboard as soon as she does, or she drops into the void. That auto-shift is what costs most first attempts. Finish the whole crossing and get safely off the shadows at the far end before you reload or quit, so the unlock has time to register.

The Cinema

Two easy-to-miss collectibles are on the way in. Grab both before going into the projection room:

  • The "closed" note at the ticket booth.
  • The prison release form on the second floor.

Punching Bag

Unlocks when you let the gangsters beat up Johnny without stepping in. After you pass the second-floor doors, go back downstairs and wait. Don't load the film into the projector until the achievement pops. Expect to wait around a minute.

You Broke My Finger!

Once Punching Bag has unlocked, finish the projector sequence. This one unlocks automatically as you leave the Cinema.

The Excelsior Hotel

The umbrella courtyard after the Cinema and the hotel floors hold more luminaries, but none of them are needed for achievements. The last Act I collectible is Carmine's debt book, which shows the $20,000 Johnny owes. It is just inside the Excelsior entrance. After the Carmine and Sal cutscene, turn back toward the front door and grab it from the table on your left before heading upstairs.

Streets Sweeper

Unlocks when you pick up your 10th Act I collectible. If it doesn't unlock here, check the main-menu Collectibles section later and replay the missing chapter through Chapter Select after the credits. The usual misses are the two Ghost Note items and the two Cinema items.

A Carousel Of Broken Dreams

Unlocks when you finish Act I.

Act II: The Return of the Prodigal

The Apartment

Act II opens in Johnny and Didi's apartment, and three things here are easy to miss. Don't skip any cutscenes in this section.

Turn around at the start to pick up Johnny's picture. Then deal with the family portrait upstairs before you head down.

The Family Life

Unlocks when you examine Didi's family pictures. Use the far-right portrait in the hallway outside Didi's door, the picture of Johnny and Kat. Interact with it and watch its cutscene in full without skipping. If it doesn't unlock, interact with the other photos and items in the apartment and watch those scenes too.

Then head downstairs for the other two apartment collectibles:

  • Pick up the eviction notice. A cutscene plays when you first interact with it. Interact with the table again afterward to actually collect it, because the scene alone doesn't count.
  • Grab Kat's letter from the coffee table.

The Circus Tent

The Picture of Johnny's Family is behind the curtain inside the circus tent. It shows Didi with her parents. It is the most commonly missed collectible in the game. A luminary sits in the same spot.

This Circus Is A Disaster!

Unlocks when you go through the circus tent toward the attractions.

The Three Attractions

Outside the tent you can repair the three attractions in any order. From left to right they are the pirate ship, the puppet theater and the carousel with its hot air balloon. This guide does the carousel first and saves the ship for last, because the final collectible comes after the ship. Either of the first two works.

The Cyclops' Bottle

Unlocks when you pick up the Cyclops' bottle in the carousel area. It is on a rooftop café table along the route up to the balloon. Pick it up before you cut the balloon loose.

Just Like Harry

Unlocks when you cross the crocodiles in the Shadow Theater on your first attempt. The four crocodiles are in the princess's first adventure. Wait for the first crocodile's mouth to close, then jump across their heads quickly without stopping. If you fall in the water, Restart from Last Save. This sends you back to the circus tent, and the next crossing normally counts as a fresh first attempt. On Xbox the restart has been reported not to reset this every time. If you cross cleanly after a restart and nothing unlocks, quit to the dashboard, relaunch the game, load your save, and cross again without falling.

No Backpack Bird Needed

Unlocks when you jump into the treasure chest that opens and closes on the pirate ride. The chest is at the first spot where the boat stops, when an octopus tentacle blocks the way, beside the ramp there. Wait for the lid to open and drop straight into the chest, not onto the closed lid. If it doesn't unlock, Restart from Last Save and try again. When you first board the ship, also grab the maintenance note on the mast or post to your left at the entrance. It is an Act II collectible.

Handy Person

Unlocks when you finish repairing the third attraction.

Before the Generator

The repair manual is the last Act II collectible. It sits right beside the generator controls, next to the levers. Grab it before you restart the generator, because you can't return to it afterward. If you used luminaries elsewhere, remember that the door after the pirate ship needs three.

GroundsKeeper

Unlocks when you pick up your 6th Act II collectible. If it's missing, the culprit is almost always the tent photo behind the curtain or the eviction notice that wasn't picked up after its cutscene.

Act III: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

The Streets

The opening streets have Act III's four luminaries and no collectibles. Sources disagree on whether Vincenzo's Solar Machine takes two or three luminaries, so collect at least these three before powering it:

  1. Under the arch near the café tables by the Workshop.
  2. Up the stairs at the end of the street, opposite the Workshop.
  3. Down the alley stairs, then turn left.

The fourth is optional. It is at the top of the shadow climb at the gun icon. Insert however many the machine asks for.

The Workshop

The Workshop holds 3 of the 10 Act III collectibles. All three must be in your collection before the secret room cutscene, or you'll have to replay this section.

  • A science picture in the Clock Tower. After the music room, go down the stairs, and it is behind the glass cases on the left.
  • A second science picture. After riding the janitor's shadow up to a balcony, go down the stairs, and it is on the wall at the bottom.

Before you cross the clock face, open both sets of double doors in the room with two sets of them. This creates a way back in if you miss a jump.

  • The "Illusionist Cancels Shows" newspaper, on the floor to the left right after you jump through the clock face.

Three Act III collectibles share the name Science Picture: two here in the Workshop and one in the Lighthouse. The Collectibles menu doesn't list Act III items in pickup order. If one is missing, tell the Science Pictures apart by their locations in this guide rather than by where they sit in the menu.

How'd You Get In?

Unlocks when you complete the Workshop.

The Lighthouse

The remaining 7 Act III collectibles are all inside the lighthouse, and none are hidden behind puzzles. Work through it in order:

  1. The photo of a girl's shadow beside a woman, on the wall left of the switch that lowers the ramp.
  2. The William James lecture, on the floor left of the column in the shutters room.
  3. The missing illusionist newspaper, on a box right of the column in the same room.
  4. The picture of the shadow dimension's effect, on a box right of the stairs after the shutters.
  5. The skeleton shadow picture, behind the column on the floor with the two light poles.
  6. A science picture, behind the same column.
  7. The picture of Vincenzo and Dawn, on an easel on the upper floor, in front of you if you take the left gears.

If the shadow box floats away during the lighthouse puzzles, you may need to Restart from Last Save. That sends you back to the bottom of the lighthouse.

BookKeeper

Unlocks when you pick up your 10th Act III collectible. If it doesn't unlock, first check the Collectibles menu for a gap in Act III. Remember the three Science Pictures are easy to confuse. Then replay the Workshop or Lighthouse chapter through Chapter Select. If all 10 show as collected and it still hasn't unlocked, follow the steps in the Cleanup section below.

Let There Be Light

Unlocks when you complete the Lighthouse.

The Finale

FIN

Unlocks when you finish the game. Let the credits play out.

Cleanup

After the credits, use the main-menu Collectibles section to check which items you're missing. Each act's totals are 10, 6 and 10. Load any chapter with a gap through Chapter Select and grab the missing item. Collectibles save the moment you pick them up. Replaying is also how you recover the scene-based achievements:

  • The Family Life: The Return of the Prodigal, the opening Act II chapter.
  • Punching Bag: the Cinema chapter in Act I.
  • To The Heroes Among Us and Not That Kind Of Game!: the early Act I chapters around the Ghost Note.
  • My God, It's Full Of Stars! and Now That's Thinking With Shadows: The Usual Suspects in Act I.

Act II's Chapter Select entries map to its areas like this:

  • The Return of the Prodigal: the apartment and circus tent. This covers The Family Life, the apartment collectibles and the tent photo, and you can also head straight to the Shadow Theater from here for Just Like Harry.
  • All the Pretty Horses: the carousel and balloon, for The Cyclops' Bottle.
  • Unstrung Hero: the Shadow Theater, for Just Like Harry.
  • A Spirit from the Vasty Deep: the pirate ride, for No Backpack Bird Needed, the maintenance note and the repair manual.

Chapter titles on screen don't always match the menu entry you picked. Attractions you've already repaired may be closed in a later chapter. If the one you need is closed, load The Return of the Prodigal and go straight to it from the tent.

If a Collectible Achievement Won't Unlock

CURRENTLY COMMUNITY-FLAGGED / BUGGY: Streets Sweeper, GroundsKeeper and BookKeeper have all been reported failing to unlock even when every item in that act shows as collected. Work through these steps in order:

  1. Check for a real gap. Open the Collectibles menu and count the act against its total of 10, 6 or 10. Items aren't listed in pickup order, so match each one against the locations in this guide. The usual misses are the Ghost Note and Cinema items, the Picture of Johnny's Family behind the tent curtain, the eviction notice not picked up after its cutscene, and the three Science Pictures. If something really is missing, load its chapter through Chapter Select and collect it. Chapter Select is for missing items only, since items you already have may not reappear on a replay.
  2. Allow for a delayed unlock. This game's achievements sometimes sync late. Open the game's achievement page on your Xbox profile and give it some time before assuming it failed.
  3. Relaunch and resync. Fully quit the game, then relaunch it and check your profile's achievement page again.
  4. Last resort. Reported but not confirmed as a fix: start a New Game, play to the affected act, and pick up its first collectible. In reported cases that alone triggered the missing achievement. If it doesn't, keep collecting that act's set. Success isn't guaranteed.

If a Story Achievement Won't Unlock

There are isolated reports of story achievements such as Room 529, How'd You Get In? and Let There Be Light not unlocking at their trigger. Nothing shows these failing consistently. If one is missing:

  1. Open the game's achievement page on your Xbox profile and give it time to sync.
  2. Fully quit and relaunch the game, then check again.
  3. If it's still missing, load the chapter that contains the trigger through Chapter Select and play through that moment again.

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