If you’ve just tumbled down a series of seemingly bottomless holes and landed in a cafeteria with Eddie, you’ve officially entered the most oppressive part of the game. Toluca Prison. It is dark, it smells like rust in your imagination, and the sound design is basically a sensory assault. Most players expect a straightforward "find the key, open the door" loop here, but the silent hill 2 prison walkthrough is actually built around a massive, multi-stage physics puzzle involving a set of scales in the courtyard.
Honestly, the prison is where many people get stuck because they try to solve it like a linear hallway. It's not. It's a hub. You’ll be returning to those scales in the Yard over and over again, swapping weights like a panicked pharmacist just to get the next door to click open.
The Scales of Justice: Your New Best Friend
Once you grab the Toluca Prison Map from the Armory—which is right near where you start—you need to head to the Chapel. Don’t overthink it. Walk in, grab the Heaviest Weight from the altar, and ignore the Lying Figure that bursts out of the confessional unless you're low on health and feeling spiteful.
Now, head to the Yard. In the middle of this pitch-black square is a statue with a pair of scales. This is the heart of the prison. By balancing different weights on the left and right plates, you’ll move a needle to point at specific animal icons: the Headless Serpent, the Hornless Ox, the Eyeless Boar, and the Wingless Dove. Each icon corresponds to a locked section of the 1F cellblocks.
Opening the Headless Serpent Door
This is your first real hurdle. You start with one weight already on the scales (the tiny one). To open the Serpent door, place the Heaviest Weight on the right side and leave the Small Weight on the left. You'll hear a heavy clunk. That’s the door near cell A6 unlocking.
Inside the Serpent section, you’ll find the Witness Room. There’s a generator here that looks like a nightmare of 1950s engineering. You have to flip the switches until they are all "up" to overcharge the electric chair in the next room.
✨ Don't miss: Lucario Mega Evolution Card: What Most People Get Wrong
- Light Difficulty: 4-5-2-1-3
- Standard Difficulty: 6-4-5-1-3-2
- Hard Difficulty: 4-5-2-1-3-6-7
After the generator screams and dies, head into the Death Chamber. Grab the Medium Weight off the electric chair. It’s covered in blood. Lovely.
Chasing the Hornless Ox and the Heavy Weight
Go back to the scales. To reach the next area, you need to hit the Ox icon.
The combo: Heaviest Weight and Small Weight on the left; Medium Weight on the right.
This opens the door to Block 2F. This floor is a bit of a maze of crawlspaces. You’re looking for the Warden’s Office and the Infirmary. In the Infirmary, you’ll snag the Upper Floor Key. But the real prize is in the Showers.
There is a hole in the wall in the showers. James, being James, has to stick his arm in it. After a few gross squelching sounds, you’ll get the Heavy Weight. Note: This triggers an ambush. Don't stand there admiring your new piece of lead; start swinging or start running.
The Typewriter Puzzle
Before you leave the upper floors, head to the Warden’s Office. There’s a typewriter on the desk. You need to type a specific word to open the drawer. The memos nearby hint at the warden's deteriorating mental state.
The word is: SICK.
Type it in, and the drawer pops open to give you the Light Weight.
Entering the Basement: The Wingless Dove
By now, you should have almost all the weights. Head back to the scales for the penultimate swap. To open the Wingless Dove door (which leads to the basement), you need to balance them again.
The setup: Put the Medium Weight on the right plate and literally everything else on the left.
📖 Related: Sparking Zero Vegeta Wicked Heart: How to Actually Trigger the Majin Branch
The basement is significantly more claustrophobic than the floors above. You’ll eventually reach a control panel near cell F15. You need to press the buttons to open Cell F6. Inside, sitting on the floor like a forgotten toy, is the Lightest Weight.
Pro-tip: When you pick up the Lightest Weight in F6, the door will lock and someone—or something—will start hammering on it from the outside. Stay calm. It’s a scripted scare. Just wait it out, and the door will click open after a few seconds.
The Final Balance and the Gallows
You have all six weights. It’s time to finish this. Go back to the scales in the Yard one last time. You need to get the needle to point exactly at the Sword icon in the center.
The Final Solution:
- Left Scale: Heavy Weight, Medium Weight, Small Weight.
- Right Scale: Heaviest Weight, Light Weight, Lightest Weight.
If you did it right, the scales will balance perfectly, and you’ll receive the Execution Lever. Use this on the slot near the statue. This triggers the final puzzle of the area: The Gallows.
Which Prisoner is Innocent?
Six nooses. Six poems. You have to read the stories of the condemned and decide who was actually "innocent" (or at least, the least guilty).
- Poem I: Arsonist.
- Poem IV: Burglar.
- Poem V: A man who killed his mother because she was abusing him.
In the world of Silent Hill, the "correct" answer is the person who acted out of desperate self-preservation rather than malice or greed.
Choose Poem V. Pull the corresponding noose.
🔗 Read more: Candy Crush Saga Online: Why We Still Can’t Stop Swiping Those Beans
If you choose correctly, you’ll fall through the floor into the Labyrinth. If you choose wrong, you just fall into a pit and have to climb back up to try again. There’s no "Game Over" here, just the shame of getting a logic puzzle wrong in front of a bunch of monsters.
Actionable Tips for Survival
- Spider-Mannequins: These things are the worst. They hide on ceilings. If you see a light switch, flip it. The sudden light stuns them and makes them drop to the floor, giving you a few seconds to cave their heads in with the pipe.
- The Roach Room: After the cafeteria, you’ll hit a room with a keypad and a swarm of bugs. The code is always a variation of 2, 3, and 9. Since it’s randomized, just cycle through the combinations (239, 293, 329, 392, 923, 932) while kicking the roaches off your boots.
- Ammo Conservation: You’ll find the Hunting Rifle in the Armory (once you get the key from the Witness Checkpoint). Save that ammo. You don’t need it for the Lying Figures in the halls. Use it for the "boss" encounters in the Labyrinth that follows.
The prison isn't about combat; it's about navigation. Keep your map open, track which weights you've placed, and don't let the ambient whispering get to you. You're almost out.
Next Steps for Your Run:
- Check your inventory for the Spiral Writing Key found in the flooded section before the cafeteria; you’ll need it to progress past the Roach Room.
- Ensure you have the Armory Key from the Witness Room before leaving the Serpent section, or you'll miss the Rifle entirely.
- Head straight to the Labyrinth after the Gallows; there is no returning to the prison once you descend.