How to Unlock Secret Levels in Swan Song (True Ending Guide)

Figuring out how to unlock secret levels in Swan Song requires you to find and assemble all of Tristan's maker marks—hidden blueprint fragments scattered across the game's nine chapters—before completing the final puzzle. Once the blueprint is fully restored in your inventory, a new set of highly complex post-game puzzles becomes available on the chapter select screen. Completing these hidden stages is the only way to access the true conclusion to Business Goose Studios' emotional indie title and read Tristan's final, unredacted letter to Edith.

If you have already guided the wooden swan through the main story, you know that the base game is a relatively forgiving experience. The post-game is not. The hidden levels strip away the tutorial wheels, demanding flawless placement of loud notes, cloaked notes, and wide notes on the music sheet. This guide breaks down exactly how to track down the maker marks, where every secret level is located, and the advanced mechanics you need to master to solve them.

01

The Blueprint: Tracking Down Tristan's Maker Markstag

The music box at the center of the game is more than just a flat puzzle board; it is a physical, 3D artifact built by Tristan as a final tribute to his family. While the main path simply asks you to place notes on the musical scale to reach the exit tile, unlocking the secret levels requires you to interact with the physical housing of the box itself.

Between the standard puzzles, the game transitions to quiet story sequences where you examine letters, cassette tapes, and personal items. During these interludes, you must rotate the camera and inspect the hidden compartments of the music box to find Tristan's maker marks. These marks take the form of engraved swan logos and torn blueprint fragments hidden out of plain sight.

Key requirements for finding the blueprint fragments:

• Examine the physical environment: Do not immediately turn the brass key to start the next puzzle. Read the letters scattered around the box and pull open the small wooden drawers built into the base.
• Listen to the tapes: The audio logs between Amber and Tristan often contain subtle mechanical audio cues indicating a hidden compartment has unlocked nearby. Pay attention to a cassette tape labeled 'Amber' in Chapter 3 for a specific audio trigger.
• Assemble the blueprint: Once you have collected all the fragments across the nine chapters, the "Blueprint for hidden levels" will automatically assemble in your inventory. This completed document on a parchment background is the literal key that unlocks the secret stages on the chapter select screen.

02

All 9 Secret Level Locationstag

Once the blueprint is complete, the secret levels do not appear as a separate "Chapter 10." Instead, they are seamlessly integrated into the existing chapter select menu as hidden decimal stages. There is exactly one secret puzzle per chapter, acting as the ultimate mechanical test for that specific chapter's theme.

Here is the exact numerical designation for the first five hidden levels, which appear at the end of their respective chapter nodes:

• Chapter 1 (Sinking Feelings): Chapter 1 - 11
• Chapter 2 (Smiling Through Tears): Chapter 2 - 7
• Chapter 3 (The Inevitable): Chapter 3 - 8
• Chapter 4 (How to Grieve): Chapter 4 - 12
• Chapter 5 (Breaking Point): Chapter 5 - 4

The final four secret levels (Chapters 6 through 9) unlock sequentially at the very end of their respective chapter nodes, culminating in the ultimate puzzle following the "Regrets" and "The Final Letter" chapters. You must beat them in order to trigger the true ending sequence.

03

Mastering the Musical Scale: Advanced Note Mechanicstag

The puzzle board in Swan Song is governed by a strict rhythm. There is an 8-bar loop that alternates between "music" and "swan" phases, stretching across four colored rows: pink, blue, yellow, and green. During a music bar, the game reads the notes you have placed on the scale. During the subsequent swan bar, the wooden swan meeple moves forward one tile.

In the base game, this rhythm is predictable. You place a note on the blue row, the blue platform activates, and the swan crosses safely. By the time you reach the hidden levels, this 8-bar loop becomes a hostile environment. You must manipulate the turn-based system using the following advanced note interactions.

The Golden "Loud Notes"tag

Introduced late in the main campaign, the loud note is marked by a distinct golden color. When the music box plays a golden Loud Note, it stuns the swan, effectively skipping its movement for one turn, while simultaneously rotating the platforms. In the secret levels, you must use loud notes defensively. You will frequently face enemy hunters that move on the same beat as your swan, forcing you to intentionally stun your own piece to throw off the hunter's pursuit.

Cloaked and Wide Notestag

You will frequently need to place Cloaked notes on the pink or blue lines to hide a platform, immediately followed by Wide notes on the green line to bridge a gap. The secret levels intentionally give you fewer notes than there are obstacles. This forces you to use Wide notes to trigger multiple platform movements simultaneously, creating temporary bridges that collapse the moment the swan steps off them.

Clock Hands and Rotational Tilestag

The later secret levels reintroduce the Clock hands obstacles. Because you cannot manually stop the music once the key is turned, you have to calculate the exact bar where the clock hand sweeps across the board. You must place a golden Loud Note precisely one beat prior to stall the swan, allowing the Clock hands to pass harmlessly. Failing to time this correctly forces a complete reset of the board.

04

The True Ending: Resolving Tristan and Amber's Storytag

The base game's 108 Base Puzzles conclude with the heavy revelation of Amber's terminal illness and Tristan's inability to cope. He retreats into his workshop, obsessively building the music box while neglecting Edith. The standard ending leaves this grief raw and unresolved, showing only Tristan's broken state and a fragmented family.

However, unlocking the 9 Hidden Levels reveals Tristan's true final masterpiece. The secret puzzles represent his ultimate "swan song"—a desperate, complex attempt to leave Edith a permanent mechanical legacy. By repairing the blueprint and finishing the ultimate compositions, you help Tristan finally articulate what he couldn't say in life. Completing Level 9's hidden puzzle unlocks his unredacted final letter. This document proves his obsession with the 9 Maker Marks and the music box was never an act of abandonment, but the only way he knew how to leave Edith a permanent piece of his love.

05

Frequently Asked Questionstag

Do I need to start a new game to find the maker marks? No. Your completed save file allows you to revisit any of the nine chapters via the chapter select screen. You can jump directly into the story sequences to hunt for missing blueprint pieces without replaying the puzzles.

Why are my notes unclickable in the secret levels? Version 1.0.6 of Swan Song has a known bug where picking up and placing notes too rapidly can lock them in place. If a wide note or cloaked note becomes unresponsive on the musical scale, simply pause and restart the level to reset the board state.

Is there a built-in hint system for the hidden levels? No. The game relies entirely on "show, not tell" puzzle design. If you are stuck on a secret level, the best strategy is to work backward from the exit tile to determine which color lines (pink, blue, yellow, or green) need to be activated during the final bars of the 8-bar loop.

What happens if I miss a blueprint fragment? The "Blueprint for hidden levels" will not assemble in your inventory, and the decimal stages (like Level 1-11 or Level 2-7) will remain locked with a grayed-out icon. You must find all of Tristan's marks to proceed.