In Control, players are taken on a mysterious supernatural journey filled with confusing twists and problems that initially seem impossible to solve until you remember that things aren’t what they seem. One such spot comes early on in the story of Control. If you’re here, you’re likely a bit confused about how to reach the hotline phone in Control. Allow us to get you unstuck.

How to Reach the Hotline Phone in Control

The hotline phone in Control is a mysterious Object of Power that allows players direct communication with the even more mysterious “Board.” What exactly the Board is you won’t really know at this point in the story, but that said, you know that you need to get to the hotline in order to continue to progress.

When you reach the Hotline Chamber on the map, you’ll hear the phone ringing and you’ll see it across a chasm, but there’s a large gap separating you and it. You’ll also see a light bulb string nearby.

If you’re like me, saw the Control trailers and thought “oh I’ll just fly over there,” you’d be wrong. Don’t do that unless you want to die.

Your first instinct is probably to hit the light bulb string, and you’re right, but you need to do this three times for it to actually work. Once you do that, you’ll be transported suddenly to a hotel lobby. Weird but okay, so is everything else in Control.

Once you’re there, you’ll notice a bell on the front desk. Ring it, and you’ll notice the light from the sun changes each time you ring it will open one of three doors in the hallway further down.

Do that, enter each room, collect the keys there until you find the Pyramid Key. Once you have that, return to where you got transported in and interact the door with the pyramid symbol on it.

You’ll be brought back to Chamber and a walkway will now be there so you can reach the room with the hotline phone in it safely. Approach it, interact and you’ll be progressing through the story of Control once again.

That’s all you need to know for how to reach the hotline phone in Control. Enjoy having more strange conversations with The Board.

Now that you have the hotline phone, you can now upgrade various aspects about your character to improve Jesse’s skills in battle at any control point. Take a look at our guide wiki for more tips, tricks, and guides.

Step by step here’s how you reach the hotline phone in Control.

Interact the lightbulb string three times.
This will transport you to a hotel lobby.
Ring the bell on the hotel front desk to collect keys
Ringing the bell will open one of the three doors in the hallway in front of you. Go into all three and collect the keys until you have the Pyramid Key.
Use the Pyramid Key on the pyramid marked door.
The door is located nearby where you first were transported. This will bring you back to the Hotline Chamber area.
Interact with the hotline phone to continue the story.
A walkway will have now appeared and you can safely reach the hotline phone.