Keys 1-4

Key 1

Players are started off with a gif of a blinking computer monitor and a new website, www.thetheorystone.com/gate7.

This leads to the start of a DOS text adventure-styled game where putting extensions at the end of links took players through different pathways.

gate7/

Appending any of the three options (themysticalportal/ (important for later), adeadend/ (a dead end), amysterioushouse/) to the URL would take players to a new page. The correct one to go to first would be amysterioushouse/. The page states we can return back to the previous room or continue on to the living room.

amysterioushouse/

Going into thelivingroom/, three more options were listed in the text on the display: aholeinthefloor/ (leading to death), thebackyard/ (leading to nowhere), and thebasement/.

thelivingroom/

The next step is to enter thebasement/. This leads to the familiar Drama Llama.

thebasement/

Continuing on to findthepath/, players are confronted with a puzzle. The puzzle consists of road tiles that the player must connect from the start to the exit.

findthepath/

Connecting the paths to the exit gives the word "drama", which can be used as drama/ to get to the next link.

First road puzzle solved

The next puzzle is similar to the first, but is now a longer pathway.

drama/

Linking the roads gives the word "pandamonium" (a misspelling of "pandemonium") and will be used to get the next extension of pandamonium/.

Second road puzzle solved

This leads to the final section of this road puzzle.

pandamonium/

This file has a hidden layer called "(⌐■_■) SECRET LAIR", which is at a zero opacity when viewing. Increasing the opacity level shows a hidden message saying to use the leftover letters rather than the used letters (if using the used letters to go to sorry4troll/, it will lead to a dead end).

(⌐■_■) SECRET LAIR

Arranging the text as it says by the hidden message, the string "yayyoudidit" is left.

Third road puzzle solved

Going to yayyoudidit/, players are greeted by the Drama Llama and a congratulations message.

yayyoudidit/

As the image states, adding gameover/ to the previous themysticalportal/ extension gives the next game artifact needed, and the password to the key being game over.

gameover/

Coordinates are 73°16"35.9"N 125°06"45.9'E, seen on top left of both sides

Key 2

Players start off with a callback to the backyard extension.

Start to Key 2

Returning back to the living room and entering thebackyard/ will lead to nowhere at first. The text makes sense now because the flash of lightning can explain the "scorched earth and foliage" described.

thebackyard/

Appending flashoflightning/ to the URL gives instructions for moving on by solving nonograms, a special type of puzzle involving a grid and blacked out squares. By adding solvethenonogram/ to the URL, players will be taken to a download link to the first nonogram. Opening the file in Photopea, players are greeted to a number grid puzzle and instructions for how they work to solve.

The first nonogram

Solving the grid, the remaining letters spell out "chaostheory" which when added (chaostheory/), unlocks the next nonogram puzzle.

First nonogram solved

The second nonogram features a larger grid to solve, but with the same concept.

The second nonogram

Filling out the nonogram grid creates the iconic Game Theory trophy logo, and the spaces between the cup and the handle give the next URL extension of hikynk/.

Second nonogram solved

The third nonogram is hidden deeper into the Photopea file, and when solved will complete a QR code.

Glyphs under QR code read "thank you Kynk"

The third nonogram

Third nonogram solved, with the surrounding QR code

Completing the nonogram and scanning the QR Code leads back to the extension gate7/NonoPassword/, where it directs players to return to themysticalportal/ with the added extension heroes/. This gets the key password "heroes" and the next final clue image.

NonoPassword/

heroes/

Coordinates are 3°39"47.'1 N 33°45"59.8' E, found on the left side of image.

Key 3

Heading into Key 3, players immediately see a new set of important text as follows:

not all ends are dead seek therabbithole at the seventh crossing

"another" is spelled out with the yellow crosses flashing

Returning back to the pathway area, players need to go through adeadend/. Where it seems like a dead end, adding onto the URL another adeadend/ gives a slightly different page.

The second crossing

At the fourth crossing (adeadend/adeadend/adeadend/adeadend/), it becomes apparent that this is what the player needs to do to traverse, as the monitor text notes the player’s persistence in the dead end. After the sixth crossing, the player needs to append anotherdeadend/.

With nothing there, remembering back to the starting image for this key, add therabbithole/ to get the next set of puzzles.

The first puzzle

For these puzzles, players must match the symbols with the letters. The first puzzle gives the next URL extension, ja5on/.

First puzzle solved

The next set of symbols is a larger grid and adds the twist that some symbols need to be rotated to get the correct URL extension.

The second puzzle (glyphs at bottom read "case sensitive, theorist")

Going through, finding the characters, and rotating the ones to match the symbols gives the URL extension PE3pAChou/.

This will lead to the third type of this puzzle, and once again it is a larger grid.

The third puzzle

The third puzzle has the same method of solving, and leads to the URL extension of dowzZbXpdWnI/.

Third puzzle solved

Reaching this link gives the next artifact and the next extension, /theincredible.

dowzZbXpdWnI/

Returning back to the mystic portal with the added extension theincredible/ gets the key password, theincredible, and the next game.

/theincredible

Coordinates are 77°50'44.1"S 166°38'28.4"E, found on left side of game art.

Key 4

Key 4 begins with a new url extension, beyondhell/. Upon entering this link, users are immediately taken to a replica of the Gate 4 shooter game, tasking players to score 1000 points on the hell mode.

Seeing how the game slowly begins to rotate the obstacles faster as players earn points, it becomes apparent that the game is impossible, and is simply a troll to induce the nightmares of Gate 4.

Thankfully this is just a troll. Checking MatPat's face on the top right shows that his eyes blink at seemingly sporadic times, but in reality, the blinks are in Morse code which translates to “view source”. Viewing the source code reveals this:

OK seriously, can we talk?
Was Gate 4 really that bad? 
Yeah I know. To be fair, I still haven't passed it myself. 
t(ಠ益ಠt)
But let's keep that between you and me.
So can we let bygones be bygones? Water under the bridge?
So we can be like...

 .*.        /~ .~\    /~  ~\    /~ .~\    /~  ~\
 ***       '      `\/'      *  '      `\/'      *
  V       (                .*)(               . *)
/\|/\      \    MatPat . *./   \       YOU  . *./
  |         `\ .      . .*/'    `\ .      . .*/'       .*.
  |           `\ * .*. */' _    _ `\ * .*. */'         ***
                `\ * */'  ( `\/'*)  `\ * */'          /\V
                  `\/'     \   */'    `\/'              |/\
                            `\/'                        |
                           GATE 4
						   
Awesome. You’ve been patient enough.
Are you ready?
The Key 4 password is “dearmatpatweforgiveyouforgate4”
But you can only enter it if you truly forgive me.
See, I knew you would :)
GODSPEED THEORIST! And from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Checking the source code reveals various messages from MatPat, who asks for forgiveness at the end by using the key dearmatpatweforgiveyouforgate4.