Clocktower puzzles
Sun Boxes in Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School
In the Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School Demo, the upper Clocktower sun boxes combine two clues: the season gives the sun’s height; the time of day gives its position between East and West. Read the letters printed on your box before moving the sun. The seasonal gears are useful clues, not decoration.
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Start with the two clue layers
This guide starts on the upper floor of That Rings a Bell, once you can inspect the sun boxes and the large seasonal gears. It covers this upper-floor task rather than the earlier rope and star puzzles.
Hint 1 — what should I compare?
Look at the small sun on each gear. Compare its distance from the gear’s centre, then read the season sign below that gear. A different season changes the height clue.
Hint 2 — why can a sensible direction still fail?
A box can have the correct height and the wrong time position, or the right time position and the wrong height. Check those choices separately. In the recorded Afternoon-box view, East is on the right and West is on the left.
Use the season to choose the height
The developer explains that the sun’s distance from a gear’s centre provides the altitude clue: low, medium or high. The signs below the gears identify their seasons. Match the season shown for the box to its gear, then transfer that sun’s height layer to the box.
Show the season comparison described in the Demo recording
Fyrestrike’s recording describes winter as closest to the centre / low and summer as farthest / high, with spring and autumn sharing the middle layer. Use the visible season signs to match those clues to your box.
In June, the developer acknowledged that empty space near the gear’s outer ring made the rings look inconsistent. October’s update changed clueing and UX, so comparing the sun’s layer is more useful than copying an old screenshot’s ring count.
Use the time and the box’s E/W labels
Keep the height you obtained from the season. Now use the time written on the box to choose its position along the sun’s path.
- Sunrise: toward the printed East side.
- Noon: the middle of the path.
- Afternoon: past noon toward the printed West side.
- Sunset: toward the printed West end.
These are positions relative to the box’s labels. “Move it left because the sun rises on the left” is an unreliable shortcut: the actual box can show East on your right. A noon box can still use a low winter altitude; noon and summer are different clues.
Put the clues together
Show the full solving method
- Read the box’s time-of-day label and identify the season associated with its clue.
- Find that season’s sign under the large gears. Compare the small sun’s distance from the centre to get its altitude layer.
- Use the box’s height controls to match that layer.
- Find East and West on the box itself. Use its directional controls to place the time of day along that labelled path.
- Check the box for the released item. Keep the lens you obtain for the clock-and-sundial task.
If a box remains closed, reread its own label, then check altitude and direction independently. Avoid changing both at once: you can lose a correct setting while fixing the other. This guide gives the clue-reading method; it does not assume every attempt begins with the same control positions.
When this step is complete
You have used the box clues to obtain the lens needed upstairs. If you already have it, move to the clock-and-lens explanation. A correct-looking box alone is not the completion check—look for the item it releases.
Sources & version
Developer explanation: Clocktower puzzle review, June 15–17 (original player post and four replies, including Freezman’s altitude and ring-spacing explanation; reread November 3). Version context: October 16 Demo Update.
Creator example: YouTube: Fyrestrike, approximately 1:13:10–1:15:22. The relevant transcript and the Afternoon-box frame were reviewed; not all box manipulations were watched. Recording build unknown. This is sourced Demo guidance, not a claim of our own playtest or a full-release solution.