Control: How to Fix The HRA Machine (Punch Card Puzzle)

The third-person action and atmospheric world of sometimes test your cunning with interesting puzzles, including one where you have to fix an HRA machine through punch cards. For those unfamiliar with the Federal Bureau of Control, this can be a difficult obstacle in their journey. With Jesse Faden's supernatural powers, you have plenty of tools to find the right solution.

This puzzle comes from the fourth main story mission,, where Jesse has to find the laboratory of Dr. Darling. Unlike many other games, lets you solve situations on your own without bombarding you with visual markers or obtuse mechanics. You have a ton of freedom to solve the punch card puzzle, an approach that many hope will continue with the highly anticipated sequel in the future.

The first step toward solving the puzzle is to collect all five punch cards in Dr. Darling's lab. The intricate world-building of 's setting can be a bit confusing, but you should have plenty of time to explore this space to find what you need. You can find four of the cards in these locations:

The final punch card can be discovered on the windowsill in the upper parts of the laboratory, which is just up a nearby set of stairs where you found the fourth card. Several terminals in the lab are also crucial to solving the puzzle, with four on the first floor and another on the second. Each terminal must be paired with a specific card based on the pattern of the items you've just spent some time collecting.

The image above shows every card in the lab with a number above it indicating which terminal they should be inserted into. However, you can also figure this out by investigating the whiteboards in different rooms of the area in. With this information in mind, the proper locations for each card are:

Terminal

Correct Card

Terminal #1

The card with its upper-right corner filled in black.

Terminal #2

The card whose center is completely filled in black.

Terminal #3

The card that doesn't have either its sides or center