Besides the common levels there is a lot of bonus content and collectibles in the game. On your first playthrough you will be most likely confused what the keys, padlocks and key vaults are about. In my opinion it is not self explanatory at all. As I noticed it wasn't only me but many others who were searching for an explanation. Therefore I decided to make this guide to give you a quick introduction into keys and everything you need to know about them.

The most important information first, on your initial contact with a key and a padlock, you can't do anything yet. To be able to get a key you'll have to beat almost half of a world to be able to activate them.


You can determine whether a level has a key by the start screen of a level, it shows a key and a chest. The keys are required to open padlocks that clear the way to an alternate route with a chest at the end. The chests contain bonus costumes for your characters which are required for some achievements and also count towards your score.



The game also shows you a pictogram with an explanation in levels with a key, but in my opinion that's more confusing than explaining.



On your first visit keys are greyed out and you can't collect them. Just pass along and return later. The one on the screenshot has already been activated and can be collected.



This screenshots shows a padlock that requires you to have the key. Onced unlocked it opens the way to the chest, which has already been opened in this screenshot.

To enable the keys you must first beat The Key Vault level in each world. This special level is located in the middle of the world, which means you first have to beat several levels until you get there. In addition the Key Vault levels are always locked and must be unlocked by exiting the previous level through an alternate route and exit. The alternate route is indicated by a blue sign with a questionmark.


On this screenshot you can see the unlocked Key Vault level in Welkin Wonderland.



Follow the blue sign with the questionmark to the alternate route and alternate exit. You will miss several gold on this route which means 3 more playthroughs are required to collect everything.



Following the alternate route and beating it you reach an alternate exit. By doing so Key Vault is now unlocked. Now beat the Key Vault level itself and all keys in Welking Wonderland get activated and wait for your return.

You're rewarded with points for collecting a key, opening a padlock and running over a chest, even if it is already open. That means, if you're going for highscores make sure to unlock the keys for a world first. It's a waste of time to try it before. Not only because of the extra points but padlocks quite often also lock the entrance of red routes which have more enemies and give you more points.


Therefore, if you have the intention to beat your friends highscore you can just beat the levels before the Key Vault in medium or easy difficulty. As soon as you've beaten the Key Vault you can return and replay the first levels in hard difficulty to be able to get the maximum of points available.

If you want a more in-depth look into the scoring system and what points you get from which obstacle or enemies, Steam user <DøP> Jeppy has made a great and detailed guide:
http://sp.zhabite.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=129945109

Thanks for using this guide! Please feel free to comment, ask questions, submit ideas for improvement and rate this guide.

• 2013-06-12 First version of the guide uploaded
  
• 2013-06-16 Improvements, finished the guide and published it