How to find and solve Nursery Rhymes in Alan Wake 2

By James On Oct 31, 2023

Nursery rhymes are one of Saga’s side-quest options Alan Wake2, and this is how you collect charms for her charm bracelet. Like Cult Stashes, these puzzles are spread across Cauldron Lake, Bright Falls and beyond, and it’s up to you to find the dolls that match the rhymes so you can solve the puzzle.

In this Alan Wake2 guide, we tell you how Nursery Rhymes work, where you can find Nursery Rhymes and how to solve the Nursery Rhymes you encounter.

Remark: This manual is a work in progress. We will add more nursery rhymes as we find them.

How to solve nursery rhymes in Alan Wake 2

A nursery rhyme crayon set in Alan Wake 2

You will first encounter Children’s Songs in Alan Wake2‘s second chapter, after removing the floods from Cauldron Lake and adventure in Streamside.

The Nursery Rhymes appear as chalk drawings on the floor, surrounding a sheet of paper with a rhyme on it. To solve the puzzle, you must find it dolls which represent and place within the central characters of the rhyme locations based on what happens in the story.

If you do this correctly, something in the world will change and a charm (passive ability) will appear for Saga’s charm bracelet. Sometimes these rewards appear right next to the Nursery Rhyme location, and sometimes you have to follow a trail of darkness to another part of the map. Some of these nursery rhymes also create enemies once you solve them, so be careful.

Cauldron Lake nursery rhymes

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

Private Cabin Nursery Rhyme Solution

A map of Cauldron Lake showing the location of a nursery rhyme in Alan Wake 2 — In this card image you can clearly see the nursery rhyme (the moon and the musical note) next to the private cabin

The first nursery rhyme is the most complex – at least of the first three in this flooded area. You’ll find it just outside the private cabin, which becomes a safe area once you turn on the nearby generator.

To solve the rhyme you need three puppets: Crow, WolfAnd Hero. You can pick up Crow next to the private cabin nearby, on a bench. Both Wolf and Hero are upstairs Witch Finder Station, so go there first and grab them. (You can also go to the Witchfinder Station rhyme first and finish it, since there’s no reason to do them in the order you find them).

Once you have the right puppets, it’s time to solve the rhyme:

A mother crow sits in her nest

Watching her babies, doing her best

To protect her home from the Beast that comes to feast

But only a hero who is brave can tell the two apart

Saga looks at a solved nursery rhyme puzzle in Alan Wake 2

Place the Crow chrysalis on the baby chick in its eggplace the Hero doll on the big heartand place the Wolf doll on the house.

Once you have solved the rhyme, the birdhouse near the lake, right along the slope of the private cabin, will fall down. Walk over and grab the Kalevala knights charm, which improves hand torches. But be prepared, because solving this riddle will create a wolf to fight in the area.

Witchfinder’s Station Nursery Rhyme solution

This rhyme is just outside the door Witch Finder Stationwhich you will find on your map in the northern part of the flooded area.

To solve this riddle you need the Wolf doll and the Hero doll, both located upstairs in the nearby house. Take them and then study this riddle:

The brave and strong hero left his home to right a wrong

Out of the forest came the Wolf, so greedy and hungry

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

The Hero returned to find that she had lost the thing she loved most

To solve the riddle, place the Wolf on the tree and the Hero on the boat. This creates wolf tracks that enter the house. Follow them, but don’t worry, because this rhyme doesn’t produce a wolf to fight like the first one (or as you might imagine). Follow the tracks to the box above and get 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

This rhyme is west of the private cabin And southwest of Witchfinder Station. You can find it in the picnic table section of the map. Make sure you have the Crow doll, which you can pick up in the Private Cabin.

This is the rhyme you need to solve:

One bird for light

Two for darkness

Three birds for a fight

Four for a fight

Five birds due to injury

Six for misery

Seven for the end, whatever it may be

Take the Crow doll and just drop it into the sun. This will immediately resolve the rhyme and 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 near the streetlight leading to the private hut, and one near the bridge.

More children’s songs coming soon!