Nursery Rhyme locations and solutions in Alan Wake 2

Nursery Rhymes are one of Saga’s side quest opportunities in Alan Wake 2, and it’s how you’ll collect charms for her charm bracelet. Like Cult Stashes, these puzzles are scattered around Cauldron Lake, Bright Falls, and beyond, and it’s up to you to find the dolls associated with the rhymes so you can solve the puzzle.

In this Alan Wake 2 guide, we’ll tell you how Nursery Rhymes work, where you can find Nursery Rhymes, and how to solve the Nursery Rhymes you find.

Note: This guide is in progress. We’ll add more Nursery Rhymes as we find them.

How to solve Nursery Rhymes in Alan Wake 2

Image: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing via Polygon

You’ll first come across Nursery Rhymes in Alan Wake 2’s second chapter, after removing the flooding from Cauldron Lake and adventuring into Streamside.

The Nursery Rhymes appear as chalk drawings on the ground, which surround a piece of paper that has a rhyme on it. To solve the puzzle, you’ll need to find dolls that represent the central characters of the rhyme and place them in locations based on what happens in the story.

When you do this correctly, something in the world changes, and a charm (passive skill) for Saga’s charm bracelet appears nearby. Sometimes these rewards appear right next to the Nursery Rhyme location and sometimes you’ll need to follow a trail of darkness to a different area of the map. Some of these Nursery Rhymes also spawn enemies once you solve them, so be careful.

Cauldron Lake Nursery Rhymes

There are five total Nursery Rhymes in Cauldron Lake, but you can only get three on your first adventure through the area. You’ll need to return to find the other two later in the game.

Private Cabin Nursery Rhyme solution

Image: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing via Polygon

The first nursery rhyme is the most complex — at least of the initial three in this flooded area. You can find it just outside the Private Cabin, which becomes a safe area once you turn the nearby generator on.

To solve the rhyme, you’ll need three dolls: Crow, Wolf, and Hero. You can pick up Crow next to the Private Cabin nearby, on a bench. Both Wolf and Hero are upstairs in the Witchfinder’s Station, so head there first and grab them. (You can also skip to the Witchfinder Station rhyme first and complete it, as there’s no reason to do them in the order you find them).

Once you have the correct dolls, it’s time to solve the rhyme:

A mother-Crow sits in her nest

Guarding her babies, doing her best

To protect her home from the Beast coming to feast

But only a Hero brave of heart can keep the two apart

Image: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing via Polygon

Place the Crow doll on the baby chick in its egg, place the Hero doll on the big heart, and place the Wolf doll on the house.

When you solve the rhyme, the bird house by the lake just down the ramp from the private cabin will fall down. Walk up to it and grab the Kalevala Knights Charm, which improves hand flares. But be prepared, as solving this riddle spawns a wolf to fight in the area.

Witchfinder’s Station Nursery Rhyme solution

Image: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing via Polygon

This rhyme is just outside the door to Witchfinder’s Station, which you’ll find on your map in the northern part of the flooded area.

To solve this riddle, you’ll need the Wolf doll and the Hero doll, both of which are upstairs in the nearby house. Grab them and then study this riddle:

The Hero brave and strong left home to right a wrong

From the woods came the Wolf so greedy and hungry

That he ate what he found in the house without a host

The Hero returned to find she’d lost the thing she loved most

Image: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing via Polygon

To solve the riddle, place the Wolf on the tree and the Hero on the boat. This spawns wolf tracks leading into the house. Follow them but don’t stress, as this rhyme doesn’t spawn a wolf for you to fight like the first one does (or like you might imagine it might). Follow the tracks to the playpen upstairs and pick up the Coffee Mug Charm, which will save your life if you die, but shatters the charm in the process.

Streamside Picnic Area Nursery Rhyme solution

Image: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing via Polygon

This rhyme is west of the Private Cabin and southwest of Witchfinder Station. You’ll find it in the picnic table section on the map. Make sure you have the Crow doll with you, which you can pick up from the Private Cabin.

Here’s the rhyme you need to solve:

One bird for light

Two for darkness

Three birds for a fight

Four for a struggle

Five birds for injury

Six for misery

Seven for the ending, whatever it may be

Image: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing via Polygon

Take the Crow doll and just drop it on the sun. This will instantly solve the rhyme and spawn the Hammer Charm on a nearby picnic table — which improves your ability to stun Taken.

Be warned: when we finished this rhyme, it spawned three Taken enemies in the area, two by the streetlamp leading to the private cabin, and one by the bridge.

More Nursery Rhymes coming soon!