Deer & Boy is a cinematic platformer built around a simple premise: a boy sneaks out of his home, meets a baby deer, and the two slowly form a bond that carries them through dark, corruption-filled environments. There are no combat systems to master and no skill trees to optimize. What the game demands instead is careful observation, environmental puzzle-solving, and an understanding of how the boy and deer work together. This walkthrough covers all 53 levels across eight major chapters.
Sneaking out: how do you get past the construction site? (Levels 1-3)
The game opens with the boy leaving his house at night. Head right and cross the first road by waiting for the police car to pass before moving. A second road follows shortly after.
Planks block the path near a fence. Pull them away and keep moving right. You'll pass an abandoned house with a car parked outside. Drag the car to the wall and use it as a stepping stone.
Cross the parking lot and you'll reach a statue of a man and a deer. The boy pauses here, then rain begins. Continue right into a construction site.
Pulling planks here has a catch: workers will catch you unless you time your moves to coincide with the drill noise. Only pull when the drill is running. Once inside the building, climb the ladder and head right. A man is talking on the phone in a corridor ahead. Wait for him to turn away, then pass. Drop onto the haystack below.
A baby deer appears near the road and dashes across traffic. Follow it right until you reach a bus stop, where the deer sits beside you. Come morning, the deer is gone. Keep moving.
Into the wilderness: how do you navigate the early forest? (Levels 4-9)
A diner ahead has news coverage of the boy's disappearance playing on TV. Officers appear further along, so keep running. You'll enter a warehouse where workers carry cargo on beams above. Stay out of their line of sight while moving across the beams.
In the warehouse's second section, hide behind the second shelf. When an officer comes to check, move to the first shelf. Once the coast is clear, proceed to the ladder on the far side. The boy falls from the ladder and wakes up with the baby deer nearby.
Cross the road to reach the wilderness entrance. A log blocks the path ahead, so climb the cliffs in the background using available vines. Spot the deer in the distance, but approaching directly causes it to flee.
You'll fall into a ditch. At the cliff below, push the log from the upper left all the way right to use it as a platform. A tree branch helps you clear the next height obstacle.
At the waterfall, climb to the top to find the baby deer with its mother. Both flee when danger sounds. At a crossroads, a gunshot pushes the boy deeper into the forest. The mother deer is gone. The baby deer runs from you, but a short cutscene follows where the two finally connect.
The backpack mechanic begins here. The boy carries the deer in his backpack, but can't jump while doing so. Every obstacle from this point requires putting the deer down, solving the puzzle, then retrieving it.
Water mill and the trapped boar
At a cliff you can't climb with the backpack, set the deer down, get on top, roll the log down, then pick the deer back up. A log bridge crossing ends with the boy falling while the backpack catches on the trunk. Find your way back up to retrieve it.
The water mill presents a bigger challenge. Set the deer down and jump across the gap to land on wooden planks below. Climb the wooden structure, go down the ladder, and push the planks outside. Return to the deer, place it on the planks, then climb back up and pull the planks inside. Place the deer on the wooden switch to redirect water to the wheel. Push the wooden cart into the wheel to jam it, then safely cross with the deer.
A trapped boar blocks the path. It's aggressive, and pulling the trap from the ground won't work. Take the downward path to reach the cliff above the boar, then jump on the branch holding the trap rope. The branch breaks, the boar goes free, and runs ahead.
On the road, the freed boar crashes into a car and gets absorbed by dark matter, turning violent before disappearing into the forest.
The boar's corruption begins here
Dark boar: how do you survive the corrupted forest? (Levels 10-13)
Dark matter puddles now cover sections of the ground. Contact with the corruption spreads visibly across the boy. Full coverage means a checkpoint restart. Stepping onto any clean surface immediately removes the corruption, so keep moving between safe ground.
Deep in the forest, you'll need to put the deer down to climb a tree. Drop onto the weakened log below to break it, which creates a flat crossing you can use while carrying the backpack.
A field introduces the corrupted boar as a stealth obstacle. Hide behind huts and wait for it to look away before advancing. One section forces you to drop down to find an alternate route. Later, you drag a small boat along as cover while the boar watches.
A tunnel ahead contains a large dark matter puddle. Use the ledges to navigate it. Stone slabs are held by tree roots. Pull the roots from both sides to free the stone and drop it into the puddle as a stepping platform.
Back on the surface, keep hiding behind objects while the boar patrols. Eventually, the boy finds a bicycle in the trash. The boar catches up during the ride, and for the first time the baby deer uses its purification power to cleanse the boar completely.
Partnering with the baby deer: what changes after the boar fight? (Levels 14-19)
After the boar encounter, the deer no longer stays in the backpack and moves freely alongside you. A Call button lets you summon it when it hesitates, such as at river crossings.
At a barn, a ditch stops the deer from following. Climb the crates to enter from the upper section. Inside, push the large haystack off its platform and drag it to the ditch so the deer can jump across.
At a fence with a small hole at the bottom, the deer can squeeze through. Command it to pull a lever, which lowers a haystack for you to climb.
A train arrives at the station. The boy and deer spend the night together on board. At the next station, push cartons away from both sides of a fence to reveal a hole the deer can use.
The section across the train rooftop requires timing around a flickering light bulb. Walking under it while it's active gets you caught by workers. A second pump truck with boxes waits at the far edge.
Inside a building, the deer accidentally triggers an alarm instead of the gate button. Hide in the empty box nearby. Follow the worker inside, then alternate between moving the boy and gesturing for the deer to distract the worker. For the final obstacle, command the deer through a vent, then hide under the table when the worker investigates.
At a reception desk with a sleeping guard, drag a crate close, get the deer onto it, then into the small gap on the counter. The deer presses the button to open the gate. Inside, the deer is on cargo shelves while the boy is on the ground. Ask the deer to push down the remote controller, press the button to lower the lift, and the deer can proceed.
The deer falls into a crate of apples and heads toward a factory. Rush ahead and hide behind boxes. Watch the worker's button-press pattern on the escalator controller to learn timing, then press the button yourself when the deer's crate is in position to get packed rather than discarded.
Corrupted tunnel: how do you get through the underground? (Levels 20-30)
A long ladder drops you underground into a corruption-heavy zone. The deer's purification ability clears the way through most of it.
The first puzzle involves a parted bridge with its lever on the far side. A crate and a button that briefly activates a spotlight sit on the left. Drag the crate as far left as possible to reveal a path for the boy to reach the lever. Command the deer to press the button, then sprint to the lever before the light cuts out.
An area filled with water separates you from the deer. Drag a crate to the broken staircase so the deer can safely descend. Clear corruption to open the gate ahead, but the lever won't work. A vent near the crate leads to a room above with a switch. Adjust the device to mirror the room below, which activates the lever. Before pulling it, push the crate into the middle of the gate it controls, preventing it from closing fully.
Corruption tentacles fill the next stretch. Use the deer to purify them. A glass-covered path requires guiding the deer using spotlights. You'll get separated briefly, navigating rooms where flickering lights destroy tentacles in your path. One gap is too wide to cross before the light turns off, so jump onto the hanging platform and wait for the next cycle. Reunite with the deer in the following room.
A short-circuit door won't open normally. Ask the deer to press the nearby button, but doing so floods the corridor with dark matter liquid. Sprint right at full speed. A lever at the far end opens an escape path for the deer and clears the corridor. Drag a shelf right and exit through a vent.
Separated again, use spotlights to destroy corrupted creatures threatening the deer. A long elevator goes down, and a chase sequence follows. The deer helps distract enemies. Later creatures shoot on sight rather than charging, so stay hidden and let them pass. The deer presses a button to open a final gate.
After escaping underground, a short scene shows the boy and deer exploring together. The deer grows up before the next chapter begins.
Snow and wolves: how do you survive the mountain section? (Levels 31-36)
The grown deer can now boost you to heights you couldn't reach before. Follow the flags through the snow-covered mountains.
At a dead end, ask the deer to push a log down from above. Roll it left and use it to jump onto the cliff. Further ahead, ask the deer to kick a snow-laden tree, creating a safe landing pile below a high drop.
The boy and deer reach a small house, but wolves attack. The deer blocks the gate. Drop into the hole in the floor. The pillar inside is held by a block of wood. Push the block away, then climb back up and push the pillar the other direction. Climb the ladder, push a crate all the way to the door the deer is blocking, then return to the right section. Jump onto the ground-level door from the shelves to open an escape route.
A mountain cave follows, lit by the deer. A boulder blocks the exit. Ask the deer to move it, then stand clear so it doesn't roll into you.
A blizzard section requires holding onto the deer to advance. Wolves attack again near the end. Run and jump at the path's end. The duo reaches the mines and rests for the night.
Corrupted mines: what happens when the duo gets separated? (Levels 37-45)
The boy wakes to find the blocked path now open, with corruption spreading. An elevator here is a trap: activate it, then jump off because the real path runs underneath the elevator.
Purify tentacles and use the deer to reach high areas. When tentacles block the path and the deer is separated, command it to purify the source from above independently.
A mine cart puzzle follows: sit in the cart and ask the deer to push. In the next area, the deer is absent but tentacles block a lift lever. Use the spotlight to clear them, pull the lever, then move the spotlight away. The tentacles hold the lift up, letting you reach the button to summon the deer.
The deer knocks down a pillar to bridge a large gap. In the following section, hold onto the deer as it creates a path across a huge dark matter lake. Near the end, the deer gets separated and the boy falls deep into the corrupted mine alone.
On his own, avoid bubbling areas in the dark matter. Slide deeper into the mine. When the path blocks to the right, go left. A strange creature waits here. It responds to the boy's call and becomes a temporary companion. It controls tentacles and can launch you great distances.
Working with the creature
The creature interacts with tentacle sources to lower stones for platforms. It also activates glowing ground patches for high jumps. To cross a large gap, retract the tentacles with the creature's help, use a jump patch to pull out planks above, then get to the left platform and command the creature to extend tentacles again. Without the planks blocking them, the tentacles form a walkable bridge.
Through a long tunnel, the deer rejoins you. With both companions, move right until a gap stops you. Backtrack left and let the creature launch you upward. A locked gate opens automatically as the creature intervenes. Use the deer to reach the roof, pull a cart with the deer's help after using a lever, and jump onto the roof from the cart.
A second cart on the roof requires the creature to push while you adjust position to avoid bubbling dark matter. The deer helps you over a blocked gate at the end. Get on the elevator with the deer.
The creature betrays you. The elevator breaks. The deer is consumed by the dark matter, and the boy falls.
Memories and conclusion: how do you reach the ending? (Levels 46-53)
The final chapter gives you the deer's broken antler as your only tool. The environment is dark. A line on the ground marks the correct path. Stay close to it.
Glowing orbs appear throughout. Interact with each to reveal a memory. In one area, the path leads to the boy's hometown in memory form. Orbs float in the air here. Hold the interact button to absorb them in groups, which triggers more memories.
Tentacle sources appear in the dark sections. Use the antler on their orb-like cores to destroy them. The path eventually leads to the corrupted statue of a deer and a boy from the game's opening. Purify it with the antler.
At the boy's home, explore the memory rooms. One shows his father. Interact with the phone in the father's jacket to trigger the next sequence.
Follow the line to a pulsing, heart-like core. Shockwaves radiate outward with each pulse. Anything not anchored gets blown back, so grab onto surfaces before each pulse hits. Stones on a crumbling bridge near the top provide cover. Reach the core to find the deer. Freeing it transforms the deer into a fully adult deer.
The final sequence puts you on the deer's back. Jump covers long distances. Dashing through corrupted tentacles destroys them. Glowing circles on the ground are jump spots: step in and hold the jump button. Orbs floating in gaps grant a free mid-air dash, extending your range significantly.
Complete the sequence, watch the final cutscene, and the credits roll.
Chapter summary and key mechanics at a glance
Eight chapters across 53 levels
For more help with the game, the full Deer & Boy guides collection covers individual puzzle breakdowns and tips for specific sections. If you enjoy story-driven adventure games with environmental puzzles and minimal combat, the genre has plenty more worth exploring.