ONE ROOM CHALLENGE 2021 - THE PROPHECIES OF TA PHROM

Level by PedroTheGamer

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth, assisted by steven13575's video walk

The builder can't seem to decide whether it's Ta Prohm or Ta Phrom. As it makes no difference to me, I'll go with the latter, since that pronunciation rolls more easily off the tongue. After the excruciatingly extended opening sequence (close to four minutes), save your game as soon as you gain camera control so you won't have to endure it again. Look down at your feet for healing mushrooms (small medipack) and find the hard-to-see MP5 on the nearby crate.

Jump into the water, swim a bit to your right (E) and locate the floor hole between two columns. Down at the bottom is the SERPENT GEM, which changes color when you pick it up. Continue swimming E (I assume you'll be surfacing for air whenever you need it), and when you approach the SE corner look for roots poking into the water. Go there and turn right into a well-disguised triangular opening. Continue to a closed gate and grab the BOW and MP5 ammo. 

Swim out, loop around left, pull up onto the S ledge and look left for MP5 ammo and healing mushrooms. Jump back into the water, look down and diagonally to your left (NW) to find a door in the central structure you can open. Swim forward and down into a hole with a skeleton. Pull the chain as you would an underwater lever to open an underwater gate outside, exit, surface and pull up W into the central structure. Don't worry, any spike traps here are dormant at present. Take the KHMESSAGE from the nearby plinth and examine it for detailed instructions on opening a certain gate. The plinth in the middle of this room is protected by crackling lightning bolts that strike intermittently. While you're here, activate the jump switch on the middle S column to hear the sound of block either rising or lowering (apparently for later).

Go to the W ledge where you see an empty plinth, jump into the water and find the opened gate in the W wall. Swim inside to find the ANCIENT SHAFT KEY on the SW slab. There's MP5 ammo in the opposite corner, but by this time a crocodile has probably shown up. Swim back to the central structure where you can pull out and kill it. Back into the water and toward the NW corner where you can pull out at a broken column to engage two soldiers. One drops the LASER SIGHT, the other healing mushrooms. Look NW for flares and 2 x MP5 ammo.

Step out to the edge next to the Buddha statue and combine with Bow with the Laser Sight. Look down into the water below the lion statue and you can see three items to shoot, two at about the same level and a third one further down in the NW corner. When you've successfully shattered all three, swim down to retrieve a second SERPENT GEM, the WHEEL OF THE LAW ARTEFACT (SECRET #1) and 4 x MP5 ammo.

Pull back up N onto the same ledge and run E past a gong to the NW corner. Note the closed door that requires a key (the Quad Bike is inside) and pull down the timed wall switch to raise a block near the broken column. Take a rolling back flip, sprint back W to the raised block, jump up from the right corner to grab the top, pull up, turn right and activate the jump switch before the block lowers. An underwater gate opens. Jump into the water where part of the ledge is missing near the gong. Swim straight down at the vertex and pick up the BODHI TREE ARTEFACT for SECRET #2. Sorry, no extra goodies with this one.

The gate you opened is in the E wall near the NE corner, so swim there for the JUNGLE SWORD. Now swim back to the SW corner, where you first entered this area, and pull out where you see the hanging tree roots. Pull up onto the block ahead and open the W crowbar door with the Jungle Sword. There's nothing inside but a jump switch, so activate it to open companion underwater doors. Jump back into the water and swim all the way across to the NE corner. Pull up onto the small ledge occupied by the lion statue and hop S into the alcove. Use the Ancient Shaft Key to lift the adjacent gate and face a platforming exercise made more dangerous by the active spikes. You can get across in one go, but by doing so you would miss a valuable pickup.

Save your game, initiate a running jump onto the first platform when the SW spikes are about to spring up, and as soon as you land hop up right into the W window for 2 x MP5 ammo. Face the spikes, and when they go down run off onto the platform and take a running jump SE to the next platform, followed by a quick jump to the S ledge overlooking the pool area. Pick up the nearby healing mushrooms and take a running jump onto the S platform. Jump over the fence onto the W column and continue with a running jump W (no grab) to the next column, a running jump with grab to the next one, and finally a running jump with grab to a ledge with a crowbar switch. Insert the Jungle Sword to open an underwater gate in the E wall.

Swim there and grab the MP5 ammo to your left after you enter. On the nearby slab is the KHMER KEY. When you pick it up a crocodile decides to join you, so exit to the central structure, pull up and kill it. Jump back into the water, swim to the lion statue near the SW corner, pull up onto its ledge, jump N into the alcove and use the Khmer Key to lift the adjacent gate. You now have a lava room to deal with, so you would be wise to save here.

Stand jump right, grab the window sill and pull up. Turn around and stand jump to grab the ceiling. Monkey swing N, timing your way past two flame blowers. Drop down at the end, pull up right into the window for a large medipack and hang from the other side of the N opening. Shimmy right around the corner and follow the crack over the lion statute to a ledge with a floor lever. Push it to activate a multi-armed statue and get a cut scene of an underwater spike trap.

Shimmy back to the previous opening, pull up and jump slightly NE to grab the jutting platform. Pull up and take a tricky curved running jump NE over the short fence to land on the near corner of a column with a wall switch that lowers a block in the water. You can see something on top of the next column E, but it's too far away to reach. Jump into the water, find the lowered block in a hole near the S wall (next to where you picked up the first Serpent Gem) and pull the chain to open an underwater gate sneakily hidden around the corner of the SW opening. Before going there, find a triangular shaft in the W wall not far from the opened gate. Swim down and pull the chain to disable the spikes you saw in the cut scene. Now swim to the opened gate at the SW opening and pull the chain to raise a block near the column you noted earlier.

Swim toward the lion statue near the SE corner, go under the roots next to the statue and save your game before looping around right into the puzzle area referred to in the Khmessage you picked up much earlier. The door closes behind you, and if you don't get the puzzle right on the first attempt you're screwed (or spiked, if you prefer).

Turn left into the second alcove, pull the chain and do the same for the third alcove on the left. Swim back toward the closed door and pull the chain in the NE alcove. Go toward the W wall and another closed gate, pull the chain on your right (NW) to open both gates, swim back E, exit and return for air. Save again, return to the puzzle room and swim through the smaller W gate. Go down and through the small triangular opening into a room with a third SERPENT GEM on a dormant spike trap. Continue W past an even smaller opening to a room with the RELIQUARY TOWER ARTEFACT for SECRET #3, together with MP5 ammo.

Return to the previous room and pull down the ceiling switch to lower a block in the main room. Swim back there through the puzzle room (the collision is quite aggravating in this area) and pull out onto the NE ledge occupied by the lion statue. Jump to the S opening and get past the two spike traps, either in one go if you're brave enough or by stopping in the W window on the way. Once across, jump to the S ledge and from there to the first column. Face N and take a running jump to grab the jutting platform, pull up, take another running jump N (a leap of faith) to land on an invisible platform. Stand jump NW down to the column for a fourth SERPENT GEM.  

Take a running jump back up to grab that invisible platform, pull up and hop N to the next platform. Jump counterclockwise along the column tops until you reach the fifth SERPENT GEM that was beyond your reach earlier. Jump into the water, swim back to the NE lion statue but this time climb up on the other side, jump N to the raised block, pull up higher and pick up a sixth SERPENT GEM.

Get back into the water, swim over to the central structure and pull out. There are five serpent head receptacles on the columns here that you may not have noticed before (I hadn't), so start placing your gems (you'll have one left over). When you're finished, you'll see that whatever was on the central plinth has been transferred to the heretofore empty NW plinth, and more lightning flashes have been activated, seemingly to protect it. However, you can go over with confidence and pick up the GONG HAMMER without fear of being fried.

After the ensuing flyby, jump into the water and swim over to the N ledge. Pull up next to the broken column as you did earlier and go over to the gong to give it a good wallop with the hammer. The vibrations cause the pile of debris to your left to move aside, giving you access to a receptacle where you'll place your final Serpent Gem. An underwater gate opens, so jump into the water hole behind you, swim down and grab 2 x MP5 ammo near the ugly head mounted on the W door. Swim E past the opened gate and pull down the ceiling switch to move that ugly head aside. Swim W into a new area and pluck the YIN YANG SYMBOL from the water by floating over it and pressing the action key. Continue to the W wall for 2 x MP5 ammo, signifying an upcoming battle of no small intensity.

Swim back and up the ceiling hole, pull out to find that the pool has frozen over and four Shiva statues have come to life. What's more, if you run toward the SE corner a dragon is awakened, so you'd best deal with the Shiva statues first. All enemies can be made to explode with relatively few rounds from your MP5, so there's no need to be frugal. The dragon leaves behind the LION KEY, so take it with you to the NE corner and open the gate to the Quad Bike. Mount it on the side nearer to you and drive it S over the frozen lake to see what looks like goal posts off to your right. Drive up the slope to the left of the "goal posts" to trigger a series of game-ending cut scenes. If you care to stick around and listen for the next five minutes or so, you'll learn all about Ta Phrom.