Roach Puzzle · Version 1.6.3
How to Do the Roach Puzzle in Servant of the Lake
- Reading time
- 5 minutes
- Difficulty
- Plan each push
- Checked
- 2026-08-29
On this page
Guide details
Before you begin
Push each roach into a black hole with adjacent light stones, preserve reachable sides, and recover safely with Undo or Reset before taking the tablet.
The Roach board's adjacent-light-stone push rule, black-hole win condition, safe-state method, Undo and Reset recovery, and Stone Tablet reward without inventing a fixed move string.
- Status
- Rule and reward cross-checked
- Edition
- Version 1.6.3
- Platform
- PC · Steam
- Checked
- 2026-08-29
- Check note
- GameSpew and IGN Day 1 evidence agree on the push rule, black-hole goal, stuck-state recovery, and Stone Tablet reward.
Before you set out
Prerequisites#
- Open the Roach board during the puzzle route.
- Identify the light movable stones, roaches, black holes, and board edges.
- Use a state-based method because the saved evidence does not support one universal move string.
Visual reference
The safe push rule#
Route 02
Use a safe-state method for every roach#
The useful rule is positional: a stone must reach the correct side of a roach before that roach can be pushed toward a hole.
Choose one reachable black hole#
Start with a roach that still has open squares between it and a black hole rather than forcing the most distant insect first.
Place a light stone on the pushing side#
Move a light stone beside the roach on the side opposite the intended direction of travel.
Check the next pushing side before moving#
Do not send a roach to an edge or blocked square unless the next required side remains reachable by another light stone.
Push every roach into a black hole#
Repeat the same reachability check until the board contains no roaches, then collect the Stone Tablet reward.
Pocket list 03
Before each push#
- The target black hole is still reachable
- A light stone can reach the current pushing side
- The next required pushing side will remain open
- The roach will not be stranded against the board edge
Fault ledger
Undo or Reset a trapped board#
- The last push removed the only reachable side
- Use Undo immediately and approach the same roach from a square that preserves the next push.
- Several earlier moves have boxed a roach against an edge
- Use the puzzle's Reset and rebuild from the reachability rule instead of repeating the same fixed-looking route.
- The board is clear but a later tablet panel is incomplete
- Confirm the Roach reward was collected, then check the separate Flower puzzle and Mailbox tablet sources.