Norco is a point-and-click narrative adventure game from indie developer Geography of Robots. Players take control of a young woman named Kay as she returns to an alternate dystopian version of Norco, Louisiana after her mother's passing. The game utilizes dreary pixel art and a sardonic sense of humor that can lead to many hidden, strange puzzles/achievements.

Players can miss early achievements, and this will cause them to miss others later in the game without even knowing. The earliest achievement players can acquire is the Primal Stare. Players need to beat Monkey in a staring contest to get it in Kay's party and to set up later secret events that would otherwise be missed. Follow this guide for details.

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Start Act 1

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When players first get control of Kay, they will find themselves in her childhood bedroom. Make sure to click on any interactable object, as gaining new knowledge of the world will fill in Kay's mind-map. This will lead to more achievements, furthering the game's central mysteries.

In Kay's room, the laptop computer on the desk will give more info on Kay's brother. There is also a poster in the top right corner of the room that gives the player a choice to add a scar on Kay's face as part of her backstory. The stuffed monkey itself is sitting on the desk already glaring at Kay for all the years she has been away. This monkey is the key to the Primal Stare achievement.

Click on Monkey

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Once players have sufficiently explored the room's contents it's time to interact with Monkey. Monkey will automatically challenge Kay to a staring contest. This will act as a tutorial for later combat sequences and puzzles, so players can retry these challenges if they fail.

Phase 1: Memorize the Pattern

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The first phase of the staring contest involves four unique glyphs appearing on-screen. Each one will flash in a randomized order. The player needs to remember the particular pattern they receive, then click the glyphs to recreate that correct order. Later battles will involve similar patterns, but with many more glyphs for added complexity.

Phase 2: Hit the Rings

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The second phase of the staring contest is timing based. Two yellow circles will appear on Monkey's eyes with numbers counting down. Rings will appear and shrink down correspondingly to the countdowns. Click when the rings match the circles and say NOW! Doing so will complete the staring contest with monkey and activate the Primal Stare achievement. Later combat sequences will also use these rings in more challenging ways.

Take Monkey Along

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Make sure not to leave Monkey behind. Picking Monkey up will put him in Kay's party, setting up the chance to acquire the Wet Monkey achievement later on in the game.

Norco is available on PC, macOS, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.

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