The Zodiac Trial Complete Walkthrough

A complete walkthrough of The Zodiac Trial, both in text and in image form. Image is a flowchart similar to those found in the Zero Escape games, whereas the text-based one is just the breakdown of each choice you need to make to get each card.
If there are any errors, please let me know ASAP so i can fix them!
[AS OF PUBLISHING: The text-based guide is almost finished. The image-based ones will be uploaded once they’re finished. Wanted to get a guide out sooner rather than later. Should only take a day or so for them all. Thank you for your patience!]

 

Description/Spoiler Warning


With 54 named endings, The Zodiac Trial is no easy game to complete. 54 is… a lot, to be blunt, and this is coming from someone who got every single good and bad ending in every Zero Escape game. Without a flow chart? It would kind of suck trying to get them all, so I’ve comprised the simplest walkthrough I could possibly do.
For those of you like me, you want to make sure every decision is perfect- even if a little dialogue choice might not matter in this one run, some other mundane ones are important in others, so I’ve put every choice. This walkthrough tries to remain as spoiler free as possible, but at times that’s a bit difficult.
For text-based sections, this guide will be formatted by card suite in order of appearance in a traditional deck, which basically means it’ll go in the same order as it is on the Death Cards menu.(Ace-King in that order, and within that, Clubs, Hearts, Spades, and then Diamonds.)
For the image-based flowchart, It’s divided into three pictures based on who you searched with the 2nd round. (So image #1 is Ox, Image #2 is Horse and Sheep, and Image #3 is Bunny and Dog) The chart and text was entirely made by hand, so if there’s an error, let me know and I’ll fix it, though it should be right.
Happy playing, and remember to leave a positive review of the game once you’re done playing it, because oh boy it’s a lot of fun!

Text-Based walkthrough- Ace-9

Please note that the way I phrase these so that they’re as spoiler-free as possible. I like to say ‘Item’ instead of something specific, or use vague terms that make sense when you’re at the actual choice but not much sense prior. All Aces besides Diamonds and Clubs are spoiler hidden.
Ace Of Clubs:
Ace Of Diamonds: Horse+Sheep, Bunny+Dog, “Nobody has to die”, Get any password wrong
Ace Of Hearts: Horse+Sheep, Bunny+Dog, “Nobody has to die”, Davis, tool, Zahara, killer, Gerry, complicit, intervene
Ace Of Spades: Horse+Sheep, Bunny+Dog, “Nobody has to die” Davis, tool, Zahara, killer, Gerry, complicit, don’t intervene

2 Of Clubs: Search with Ox, (If you have the computer, use it, doesn’t matter here), Pig+Monkey, Confess
2 Of Diamonds: Search With Ox, unlock the computer, Pig+Monkey, stay silent, do anything else besides Roll Up/No Witness/Door/Weapons
2 Of Hearts: Search With Ox, unlock the computer, Pig+Monkey, stay silent, Roll Up pant, No Witnesses, Behind the door, ‘Because of the weapons used”, (You always win rock paper scissors), don’t say ‘Hide’
2 Of Spades: Search With Ox, unlock the computer, Pig+Monkey, stay silent, Roll Up pant, No Witnesses, Behind the door, ‘Because of the weapons used”, (You always win RPS), “Hide”, (Regardless of who gets the item you get the ending, but you not getting it is more fun imo)

3 Of Clubs: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, Go with Ox+Dragon, Let’s do this! (Choose anyone besides Bunny, Dog, and Tiger, or mess up with Dog. Snake’s is particularly interesting, if you want a hint about how the poison actually works.)
3 Of Diamonds: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, Go with Ox+Dragon, Let’s do this! (Search Bunny and Tiger like in the 3 of Spades route, but hit ‘Lower’ when prompted to’)
3 Of Hearts: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, Go with Ox+Dragon, Let’s do this! (Investigate Bunny, Dog, and Tiger- when Prompted, choose ‘Higher’ and ‘What do you know about corruption in the Morris case?’)
3 Of Spades: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, Go with Ox+Dragon, Let’s do this! (Investigate Bunny, Dog, and Tiger- when Prompted, choose ‘Higher’ and ‘Where did you search?’)

Note: Tiger’s route is… weird. You can do all of the actions to get the right end, but still get a bad end because it’s trust-based. While I playtest to see exactly what you can or can’t miss, for now just follow what’s written. Activities that build up trust include prodding her at the start, voting for her when its time to vote, and believing in her.
4 Of Clubs: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Dragon+Tiger, Vote for Dragon, Investigate,
4 Of Diamonds: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Dragon+Tiger,
4 Of Hearts: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Dragon+Tiger,
4 Of Spades: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Dragon+Tiger, Prod Tiger (while searching), Vote Tiger, Trust her innocence, (go through investigation), Rifle, No, Forgive her.
(Secondary note: I’m going to fix this one in the morning. Literally the entire guide is done besides the 4s and I want to get it out before I lose steam.)

5 Of Clubs: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, go with Bunny+Dog, Don’t use the tablet.
5 Of Diamonds: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, go with Bunny+Dog, Use the tablet, (You have a choice here. Either say “It does” and choose whoever, or choose “It doesn’t” and say Monkey and Dragon. All 3 options bring you here.)
5 Of Hearts: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, go with Bunny+Dog, Use the tablet, “It doesn’t.” Dragon, Monkey+Dragon.
5 Of Spades: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, go with Bunny+Dog, Use the tablet, “It doesn’t”, Dragon, Bunny.

6 Of Clubs: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, Go with Ox+Dragon, “There’s something else…”, Window
6 Of Diamonds: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, Go with Ox+Dragon, “There’s something else…”, Door, Don’t fight
6 Of Hearts: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, Go with Ox+Dragon, “There’s something else…”, Door, Fight back,Pick anything besides “I killed __”, “I lied”, and “I had a pack to protect, too.”
6 Of Spades: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Bunny+Dog, Go with Ox+Dragon, “There’s something else…”, Door, Fight back, I killed__, I lied, I had a pack to protect, too.

7 Of Clubs: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Dragon+Tiger, Lock, (Pick any choice), (Pick any choice again), Search Alone
7 Of Diamonds: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Dragon+Tiger, (Pick any choice), (Pick any choice again),Team up, Snake
7 Of Hearts: Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Dragon+Tiger, (Pick any choice), (Pick any choice again), Team up, Ox, Further proof he lied
7 Of Spades:Search with Ox, Go over to ox (Or computer, doesn’t change anything here), Dragon+Tiger, (Pick any choice), (Pick any choice again), Team up, Ox, Proof he wanted to separate the animals, before dragon found her, inside, crime scene.

8 Of Clubs: Horse+Sheep, Tiger+Dragon, Tell Sheep to Trust, (volunteering makes no difference), Get the Gun
8 Of Diamonds: Horse+Sheep, Tiger+Dragon, Tell Sheep to Trust, (volunteering makes no difference), Run!, (volunteering makes no difference), Right door
8 Of Hearts: Horse+Sheep, Tiger+Dragon, Tell Sheep to Trust, (volunteering makes no difference), Run!, (volunteering makes no difference), Upper right door, Anything except for “Who’s doing the Killing?” and Peroxide.
8 Of Spades: Horse+Sheep, Tiger+Dragon, Tell Sheep to Trust, (volunteering makes no difference), Run!, (volunteering makes no difference), Upper right door, “Who’s doing the killing?”, Peroxide

9 Of Clubs: Horse+Sheep, Tiger+Dragon, Tell Sheep to Be Wary, (Bringing sheep makes no difference), Look in the closet.
9 Of Diamonds: Horse+Sheep, Tiger+Dragon, Tell Sheep to Be Wary, (Bringing sheep makes no difference), Look anywhere but the closet, Anyone but Sheep
9 Of Hearts: Horse+Sheep, Tiger+Dragon, Tell Sheep to Be Wary, (Bringing sheep makes no difference), Look anywhere but the closet, Sheep, anything besides Arrived, Input, On its own, and Horse.
9 Of Spades: Horse+Sheep, Tiger+Dragon, Tell Sheep to Be Wary, (Bringing sheep makes no difference), Look anywhere but the closet, Arrived, Input, On Its Own, Horse. (Choosing to shoot makes no difference)

Text-Based Walkthrough, 10-Joker

I ran out of space. Figured it’d be easy enough to just break it up, especially because the joker sections are gonna be long.Please don’t read the jokers until you’re finished with all other routes. While I will keep those two specific sections in spoiler tags, you have been warned that they will contain more spoilers than the others.
10 Of Clubs: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Monkey, Do it Yourself, Can I?
10 Of Diamonds: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Monkey, Do it Yourself, I can. Right. (Or select anything besides ‘Sheep’ and then ‘Dragon and Snake’)
10 Of Hearts: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Monkey, Do it Yourself, I can, Wrong, Sheep, Anyone but Dragon and Snake
10 Of Spades: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Monkey, Do it Yourself, I can., Wrong, Sheep, Dragon and Snake

Jack Of Clubs: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Ox, Save
Jack Of Diamonds: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Ox, Run, Any option except ‘Above’
Jack Of Hearts: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Ox, Run, Above, Rooster or Dragon
Jack Of Spades: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Ox, Run Above, Nobody

Queen Of Clubs: Search with Ox, Go over to Ox (Or unlock the computer, it doesn’t make any difference), Search with Bunny and Dog, Choose Bunny and Dog, Let’s do this!, Go look for trinkets
Queen Of Diamonds:Search with Ox, Go over to Ox (Or unlock the computer, it doesn’t make any difference), Search with Bunny and Dog, Choose Bunny and Dog, Let’s do this!, Stay and watch, Run!
Queen Of Hearts: Search with Ox, Go over to Ox (Or unlock the computer, it doesn’t make any difference), Search with Bunny and Dog, Choose Bunny and Dog, Let’s do this!, Stay and watch, Give the code to Bunny, select anything except for (“one 1”, “three 3s”, and “call!”)
Queen Of Spades:Search with Ox, Go over to Ox (Or unlock the computer, it doesn’t make any difference), Search with Bunny and Dog, Choose Bunny and Dog, Let’s do this!, Stay and watch, give the code to Bunny, “One 1”, “Three 3s”, “Call!”

King Of Clubs: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Monkey, Let Pig do it, Sneaky Ride onto Pig
King Of Diamonds: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Monkey, Let Pig do it, Run, Stop, Right
King Of Hearts: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Monkey, Let Pig do it, Run, Encourage
King Of Spades: Horse+Sheep, Pig+Monkey, Side with Monkey, Let Pig do it, Run, Stop, Wrong, (Any choices about the note or body at this point all lead to the same endings, up to you here.)

Writer’s note: Try to figure this one out for yourself. This is such a well-done mystery and I would hate for it to get cheesed over- props to Themisian for this one, it had me in shock for a bit. 11/10 would solve again.
Red Joker: (Starts off from when you get Ace of Spades.)  Easy way is to just click someone who you know it isn’t for the first question. Like, someone it absolutely can’t be (Dragon or Snake is a good choice since they’re effectively clear.) If you go from there and pick random answers you’re almost guaranteed not to get the correct ones, and then you’ll get the red joker from there.
Black Joker: (Starts off from when you get Ace of Spades.) When you talk to each character, the dialogue only matters for the ending, aka it only matters if you want to unlock everyone in the interview room.  Very bottom selection, top selection, top selection, top selection, bottom selection. It doesn’t matter what you choose in the confrontation in the library, it ends the same way.
Extra/Best Endings for Each Character: Coming soon because I’m doing trial and error for this.

Flow Chart: Horse and Sheep


(Zoom in for more readable dialogue- I made it as large as I could)

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