In Chapter 3 of Little Nightmares 3, which is called “Carnivale,” you’re going to hit a seriously challenging button puzzle that makes you really pay attention and use the main characters’ unique skills to solve it. You’ll find this puzzle after you’ve handled some earlier stuff, like tracking down a gnome, grabbing a lightbulb, and taking the elevator up. The whole thing centers around this massive electrical contraption covered in buttons.
Little Nightmares 3 – How to Solve the Button Puzzle

To actually unlock the solution to this confusing button puzzle, you’ve got to first locate and interact with a specific object in the room. If you look on the right side of the room, you’ll see a large print with a handle sticking out. You need to grab and pull this handle to reveal a hidden note, and that note is the indispensable clue you need for the puzzle. This note clearly shows a pattern of white and black buttons, which gives you the precise sequence required to properly activate the device.
This visual guide is the absolute key to understanding the timing and button choices needed to move forward, just like most puzzle games. With the clue finally in your hands, the way you solve the puzzle changes a bit depending on which character you’re controlling. If you’re playing as Alone with a CPU companion, the whole thing becomes pretty straightforward.
Alone just needs to smack the large button with her wrench, and the CPU-controlled Low will automatically and accurately hit the correct smaller buttons following the sequence on that note you found. The AI companion handles all the timing and selection, which makes it much simpler for the Alone player.
If you or a friend is controlling Low, the execution requires you to be much more active. Low has to wait for Alone to hit the large button, then carefully watch the smaller buttons. As their individual light bulbs light up, Low must shoot arrows only at the black buttons, sticking strictly to the pattern shown on the note. You’ve got to be precise with your timing here; if you hit the wrong button or shoot at one that isn’t lit, you’ll have to reset the whole thing.
Once you successfully complete the button sequence, the puzzle will engage and power up a handle that was previously dead. You and your companion then have to work together to pull this large handle, which will open the door that leads back to the previous room. In that room, located next to a circular area, the handle will now be functional and active.
Using this newly working handle will cause a rotating platform to spawn, finally allowing you to continue your perilous journey through the Carnivale chapter and get deeper into The Nowhere. It’s a multi-step process that really emphasizes teamwork, observation, and the critical importance of finding hidden clues to overcome obstacles in Little Nightmares 3.
What Buttons Do I Press to Solve the Puzzle in Little Nightmares 3?

Once you’ve got the clue, the next steps again depend on your character. If you’re Alone with a CPU Low, you just hit that large button with your wrench again. CPU Low, who’s now “aware” of the clue, will automatically target and hit the correct smaller buttons following the pattern of black buttons shown on the note.
If you’re playing as Low, with either a CPU Alone or a human companion playing Alone, Alone must hit the large button first to activate the device. Then, as Low, you need to carefully watch the smaller buttons. You’re looking for their tiny light bulbs to illuminate. The critical thing here is to only shoot the buttons that correspond to the black buttons indicated in the note, unlike other puzzles.
Timing is super important: you only shoot an arrow at a small button when its light bulb lights up, and if it matches a black button from the clue. Basically, the solution involves hitting a specific sequence of these black buttons as their lights activate. After you successfully input the correct sequence, a new mechanism will power up. Head back to the previous room, where you’ll find a large handle next to a circular area that was inactive before. Pull this handle. This action spawns a rotating platform, which lets you keep going through the “Carnivale” chapter and progress deeper into The Nowhere in Little Nightmares 3.
