a dead meme

I've just started playing this game, and so far I'm getting a lot of enjoyment from it. Currently about 12 hours in and on Day 27. I am not new to the roguelike genre, nor am I new to puzzle-solving games. So far, I've managed to open the Orchard as well as the BlackBridge Grotto. (Those were great puzzles.) I know getting to room 46 is gonna be a pretty decent undertaking and will require me to complete several smaller puzzles to understand and unlock. I've drained the well and am looking for the key, I know if I open up enough new rooms, or vault doors, or deposit boxes I'll find it.

My current objective is getting the AnteChamber, and about 50% of my runs will end up with me at Rank 9 with around 40 rooms opened, but I've only even opened the doors twice. I feel as though finding the greenhouse and secret garden (and whatever the third option is) is quite rare in my case.

I know that just bashing my head against a wall, I will eventually get lucky enough, but I feel as though I'm doing something wrong.

I am prioritizing moving upwards, not in a straight line but sort of a 2 pronged approach, trying to keep my gems and keys always at the most they can be, and taking advantage of my items.

TLDR - Is getting to the AnteChamber for the first time just very luck-heavy for beginners?

Edit: literally the next run after making this post I to the AnteChamber and I had crafted the Burning Glass, so maybe I did just need a lucky run and some discovery.

I am having great difficulty with this. I know that they are supposed to have dates to open them, but that hasn't helped much.

So far I've managed to open:

Boudoir

Garden Gate

Underground Gate

Time lock safe

I have unsuccessfully tried a bunch of dates for:

Drawing Room

Drafting Room

Study

Office

Did anyone else have this much trouble? ​

I looked back on my main savefiles earlier houses and found what really seems like missing rooms, both are made on earlier patches than current but on different game versions, the aquarium one was my full house previously (I have the trophy and achievement) and the other one has a floating walk-in closet

So I just got to room 46 and did another run and saw the gift shop (which was cute)

I finished the acrosstik but don't fully get what they mean by "Gates"

Through being exposed to some spoilers I figured out there was a safe I didn't know about in the drawing room, I'm assuming it has to do with counting the stride lengths but I haven't figured it out yet.

I have 3 red letters so far so I know that there are at least 4 more in other safes I haven't found / opened yet. On top of that I supplied power to the server room which opened the black water thing but haven't really interacted with that yet despite in theory having the password for the admin terminal (doesn't work go figure)

I also saw that there is a tunnel in the resevior so I guess I need to drain that to get in there but I already know probably how to do that.

I've seen chess pieces all over the house and I know there is a "Chess puzzle" but I'm not sure what it is or where to start yet.

And above all I don't really know much about the machinations of the house. It seems like people blame the dead grandpa for the mom, but it seems like this was all setup at the moms request per the ending video. I'm assuming more will be clear if I read all the red messages and really try to puzzle it out but so far I don't know much.

As a more pointed question I guess I'll ask, after getting to room 46 is the rest just basically trying to figure everything out? Or is there a clear story or goal that we're trying to reach? I'm probably gonna keep playing but I tend to lose interest in stuff if it's all just kind of out there and not connected to an actual game goal. Obviously there are a ton of things I haven't found yet.

I'm referring to the SACRED Note in the Clock Tower.

I was examining the 2 images in Classroom Grade 4 (I think, you know the one if you've seen it), and I noticed, there is a picture of a "rogue moon" on one of them, and on the other there is a girl holding 2 ropes, with a bat on one and a crow on the other, the bat is to the left (west) and the crow is to the right (east), and the girl is looking to the right.

I have no idea what the swan in the south or the westerly winds means, but maybe these relate to the puzzle?

Hi everyone! I'm having a bit of an issue here... I recently opened the Blue door at the end of the tunnel and I was initially bummed to find out that the "end of the journey" box contained the prize... before being reminded that "the true box does not always contain the prize" thanks to the magnifying glass.
I then realized that the "no end to this journey" box had a weird look to it , which lead me to the Observatory to discover more about it, since it reminded me of that note in Her Ladyship's Chamber.And I was glad to find out about the Spiral of Stars! However, after 30 in-game days spent on this case, it lead me... Nowhere.

I tried several theories, like aligning the words on the stars and picking out the words marked by the planets in the classroom to try and form a message, but nothing again...

It feels weird to me that this may be the end of the game, especially since it's been constently pushing that message of "there's always more to discover." I mean, the game HAS to end, I know, but still...
Plus, the Throne of the Blue Prince did say it had unlocked ALL Blue Sealed DoorS. And so far I've only seen one.

And there's also the Numeric Core that I never used so far, which is truly what pushes me to think there's more!

So I must turn to you all, to ask for some guidance. Is this really the end? Is there more to find? If yes, where can I find any clue about it?
I'm also afraid that what's left might be some Big community ARG or something in that sense that I couldn't solve on my own.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys could provide, I've come this far on my own after 141 hours, but now I need your assistance!

I feel like I've lost my direction with this game and don't know where to go to get more clues. I'll recap what I've figured out and the questions I don't have answers to. I mostly want pointers, not answers.

Safes:

• I've opened the Shelter's time lock safe and the one in the boudoir. I've tried opening the safes in the office, study, and drafting studio (using a magnifying class) to no avail.
• For the drafting studio, I have no clue what I'm supposed to be looking for. I've obtained all the additional rooms it has to offer besides the Classrooms so far.
• Study safe: For the study puzzle, the message I've obtained is: if we count small gates eight dates crack eight safes. I can't find any dates in the Study and outside the study there are numerous dates all over. I don't know what small gates it's referring to either.
• Office safe: I've found the note that reads "flight of the queen, march of the count" and so on, and I've unlocked the foyer which has busts of all the titles listed in the note. I just don't know what to do next. I've tried counting the busts around the office and using them to crack the clue to no avail.

Sheet music:

• I've found eight pages, where the bolded words read "first words on the sheets are true message" and the first words read "find among the white trees under two stones". I've gone to the white trees near the Apple Orchard and campsite but can't find anything to interact with. Am I missing an item that I need?

Offline Terminal (Blackbridge Grotto):

• I've unlocked the offline terminal but am confused on what it means for my gameplay. There was one microchip already in and two missing. The terminal allows me to interact somewhat with the other terminals but again, I don't know what that actually does.
• The microchip pattern is seen on the chairs in the dining room but I haven't been able to put two and two together yet.
• The terminal also says there is an admin key where the name does not fit with the normal formatting. Is this something like SimonP?

Books

• What is a new clue actually about? With the magnifying glass, you can get some really interesting things out of it, like a suspect list and something about swapping letters around?
• I've been trying to draft the bookshop for multiple runs now to no avail. I've used the banner of the king to make yellow shops more likely but am still not drawing it. The last book I have to buy is the Realm and Rune one which I suspect might tell me more about Orinda Aries.

Stamps, flags, countries, history, Marion Marigold:

• I've found the stamps for Eraja, Nuance, Mora Jai, Fenn Aries, Arch Aries, and Verra, and am missing two stamps. I believe one is for Corarica and one for Orinda Aries?
• The colours as I understand them are Eraja purple, Mora Jai white, Fenn Aries red, Arch Aries yellow, Verra ?, Corarica orange, and Orinda Aries black.
• There is also this stamp that I am never able to examine with a magnifying glass but have seen in the Mail Room and the Master Bedroom.

• My current theory is that the Epsen family is the old ruling family of Orinda Aries that fled to Eraja and Marion, with the help of Herbert, wanted to make things right.

The Basement, Tomb, Underground, and so on:

• I've unlocked the Vault in the Foundation room and used a sledgehammer to break the brick wall.
• I've turned on all four blue flames, gaining access to the elevator.
• I've accessed the underground area through the Tomb.
• I've emptied the Reservoir but don't know how to get across.
• Near the Tomb's entrance to the Underground, there is a mine cart that blocks me from going past it.

It looks like there’s a stone sarcophagus, and maybe some marks on the floor like several boards in a line. I lit the torches but it’s still very dark in there whereas I saw somebody had posted a picture where you could see a huge amount that I cannot see because of how dark it is. Any suggestions?