Welcome Home is an ARG that follows a lost children’s TV show called Welcome Home. The site is meant to archive and restore the lost show, and there are quite a few secrets baked into it. Here are all the secrets that we’ve discovered so far.
All Discovered Secrets in the Welcome Home ARG
(Update: July 23. The update has just launched. Secrets will be added here as they’re uncovered, usually at the bottom of each section so check back often!)
Because there are quite a few secrets, this article will break down the site in sections.
Table of Contents
- About Us
- Pictures on Home Page
- The Neighborhood
- Guestbook
- Secret Error Code
- Morse Code
- Merchandise
- All Secret Links Deciphered
- All Secret Bug Locations
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – About Us
When you navigate to the About Us page, things are fairly innocuous and normal until you reach the section that asks, “Why did you make this website?”
Wait long enough on the About Us
The first sentence of the paragraph is jumbled but seems to read, “It means it’s inside of you too, then Does it hurt?”. By highlighting the text, you can read the underlying message, which reads, “When I unwrapped the first letter, I felt it. I heard it. Open. Open. Open. I want it out. I’m going to get it out.”
Beneath the question, “How did you begin your research into Welcome Home?” there is hidden white text at the end of the paragraph. The text reads, “But it hurts.”
Beneath the question, “Do you know how many episodes of Welcome Home there are?” there is hidden white text at the end of the paragraph. The text reads, “The numbers are so hard to read. Sometimes I can’t see them.”
On the gif of Frank with his head rotating the spins of the books behind him read, “HELLO”, “It’s You Know Who?”, “I’m your neighbor.”, “Do you think about me? You do.” and “I’ve felt you.”.
On July 23, the About Us page has changed. Here are the new additions:
When opening the About Us page on full screen, you’ll be able to see two drawn eyes. Eyes are a reoccurring motif.
As of June 23, multiple hidden URLs were hidden on this page. Here they all are:
- House – Wait long enough and a drawn House image will appear beside Wally at the top of the screen. Click it, and you’ll go to a URL labeled “I”. There will be a sound file. Play it, and Wally says, “There you are. Welcome home. Ha ha ha!” The same message can be highlighted beneath the audio file.
At the bottom of the page is Eddie the mail carrier. Wait a bit here and three doodles of tulips will appear. Click on each one will lead to three new sound files.
- Yellow Tulip – The yellow tulip will lead you to a URL labeled “help”. There will be a sound file. Play it, and Wally will say, “What are you waiting for. To hear me again? Ha ha ha!I think… That means you can hear me.”
- Blue Tulip – The blue tulip will lead you to a URL labeled “will-2″. There will be a sound file. Play it, and Wally will say, “That’s what an eye looks like. My eyes are black. What color are yours?”
- About Us – About us has doodled hearts. Clicking them will lead you to a URL labeled “a”. There will be a sound file. Play it, and Wally will say, “I have more eyes than I did before. You know how to draw eyes. You draw mine many times. I know it is thanks to you, neighbor, that I can see. But it is still… I can’t… See.”
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – Pictures on Home Page
On the first page of Welcome Home, you can scroll to the very bottom to see a series of images. One of these images is a black and white illustration of Frank and Sally making a snowman. By opening up this image and editing it so its exposure and brightness is high and its saturation is low, you’ll reveal the message laid over “We’ll Be Right Back!” The message reads “May Your Home Be”.
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – The Neighborhood
The Neighborhood allows you to see the houses of each of the cast. By clicking on the houses, you can also see the profiles of each of the neighbors. But there are two secret links hidden on this page. If you’re curious about how you can find these links, use the tab key on your keyboard. This should highlight the clickable boxes on the page.
All Secret Neighborhood Links
- You – One secret link is attached to the word “You” at the top of the page. Click it, and you’ll be brought to a new URL, where you’ll get a secret message. “Wally is your best friend.” As of July 23, there is now a Heart with a smile doodle on this page. Select the heart, and you’ll be taken to a URL labeled “you-1” and an audio file. Play the audio file and Wally will say, “Can you see me? That’s okay if you can’t. Don’t worry, I know you’re there. You know I’m here too. I will talk to you.”
If you open the Welcome Home page while using your mobile device, you’ll see that Home (the house that Wally lives in) will be lifted off the ground. Beneath it will be a black hole with a vague grey spiral in it. This spiral might represent anything, but it’s interesting to note that it’s like Wally’s eye doodle but with the spiral in reverse.
- Hole – The second secret link is the hole / section below Home, Wally’s house. Select it, and you’ll be taken to a URL called “so-below”. The image it’s attached to is our first distinctly creepy image. The URL’s description “so-below” comes from the phrase “As above, so below”, which is from the Hermetic text, the Emerald Tablet.
- Neighbor – As of July 23, this image has been updated with a spiral that, predictably, goes downward. Clicking it leads to a new audio file. This audio file, called “neighbor” has a series of creaking noises associated with it.
- Wally’s Painting – Select Wally’s house. As of the July 23 update, Wally’s painting can now be clicked on. It leads to a URL labeled “will” and an audio file. Play it, and Wally will say, “You’re the most! Ha ha ha! ….You’re so still. What are you doing.”
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – Guestbook
The guest book is a major source of secrets in Welcome Home.
Upon entering the guest book, you’ll see a variety of messages, many of which seem to be real messages submitted to the site. Across some of these, messages are superimposed doodles, which seem to be drawn by Wally himself.
Eyes seem to be a reoccurring motif, depicted either as a circle with a dot or a spiral that is either red or colorful.
When inspecting the URL of these doodles you can see that they’re saved with filenames that are often times responses to some of the submitted messages. Other times the file names are innocuous, like an apple doodle that just has the filename “itsaapple.png”, or a ladybug that says “ilikebugs.png.”
Here are the highlights of the eight pages as of March 30, 2023:
In response to a message from Watchy that says, “Hey Wally I hope you’re cool and not super evil that’d be a real bummer” there is a doodle of a sad crying face. The doodle’s file name is “youdontlikemeneighbor.png.”
In a response to a message from Emily that says, “Why do you like eye contact?” there is a doodle of a colorful spiral. The file name is “soyouknowiamlookingatyouneighbor_iamtalkingtoyou.png.”
In response to a message from Alex that says, “this website has secrets I know it” there is a colorful doodle that blocks out the entire message. The image has no filename, but after inspecting the site I was able to read the message Alex left.
In response to a message from Mars that reads, “This site has reawakened so many childhood memories! Thank you for starting this restoration project, it’s a true shame what happened to the show :[“ there is a giant spiral that represents Wally’s eye. There is no filename, and the image makes it difficult to read the message Mars left.
In response to a message from a nameless person that reads, “where am I?? What is this place… if someone is reading this please help me, i have no clue what is happening here and there are these, people, i think thats what they are, they look almost like strange puppets from a child’s book… but if theres anyone out there reading this… help me… please” there is a series of red question marks. The file name reads “whyareyoufibbing_youarenothere_idontseeyou_pleasedonotlietome_.png.”
In response to a message from Jackob that reads, “Man, it’s been years since I thought about this show. I genuinely thought I made it up was I was a kid, the memory of it has always been this unreachable itch in the back of my mind. Hopefully, this project will help scratch it a bit,” there is a doodle of a red spiral that represents Wally’s eye. The file name reads “Scratchharder_.png.”
In response to a message from Nosipho that reads, “Hiya Wally! You and your friends sure seem like a bunch of wonderful folks! What’s your favorite memory with each of your friends?” there is a doodle that scratches out the words “Hiya Wally!”. The file name reads “nomemory_.png.”
All Secret Guestbook Links:
- Hello bubble – On July 23, a doodle bubble that says “Hello” was added on the front page beside the image of Wally. Click it, and you’ll be brought to a URL labeled “find” and an audio file. Play the audio file and Wally will say, ““…I can’t hear you …Do you know who I am? We’ve looked into each other’s eyes so many times. You’re looking at me now.”
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Welcome Home ARG Secrets – Secret Error Code
Throughout the Welcome Home site, there are certain letters that are askew. These letters are E, W, X, O, V, and Y. If you use these letters in a certain order, you’ll wind up on secret pages. These are the codes that we know of so far.
- https://www.clownillustration.com/eovwxy — Television with white noise. Interference can be heard at 16:13, 18:22, and 22:15. At 41:06, eyes can be seen.
- https://www.clownillustration.com/yxwvoe — Error message. Click on the phone to hear Wally sing Beautiful Dreamer with eerie background noise. At the end, Wally states “That’s all Barnaby taught me. Do you like it?” Home is believed to respond, as there are a series of knocks and creaks. Wally replies, “That’s good, I think.”
- www.clownillustration.com/ywxoev – A gif of Home with eyes superimposed across its windows and the word OPEN beneath it.
- https://www.clownillustration.com/voywex – leads to an animated image of Wally’s eyes and the message, “Hello. You’re there. I can’t see you. Do you see me? Then stay quiet.” If you turn up the exposure to max on this image, Wally’s full face is revealed.
- https://www.clownillustration.com/woxyve – A series of cutout images of what seems to be the script for Welcome Home and a central gif of all the Welcome Home Neighbors. The gif always lingers on Wally, and with each cycle Wally’s pupils get larger. The gif finally ends in a red background without Wally in it. A complete image of the script can be found here.
- https://www.clownillustration.com/: – This link leads to an error page. A rotating house spins to the left of an image that states, “Uh oh! Looks like you wandered too far away from Home! You should head back.” Doodle stars are in the background.
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – The Playfellow Exhibition
On July 23, The Playfellow Exhibition page was added. There is a photo carousel mid-way down the page. Scroll through this photo carousel and you’ll see a worksheet that asks questions about the Welcome Home characters.
The answers are:
- Who is the funniest neighbor? Barnaby
- Who shines brighter than any star? Sally
- Who is the biggest chicken? Poppy
- Which neighbor speaks to the flowers? Julie
- Who is your best friend? Wally
Take the first letter from each of these answers (BSPJW) and input them into the Staff Only page here.
Doing so will lead to a dairy-like page that describes a staff member’s encounter with Wally. There is also a photo carousel which depicts more staff e-mails, blood or ink-like stains, handprints, and doodles of eyes.
Using the same code (bspjw) for a URL, you can access a new error page. This error page reads “Uh oh! Looks like you wandered too far away from Home! You should head back.”
All Secret Links in the Playfellow Exhibition
- Doodled House – Wait long enough at the very bottom of the page and a doodle of House will appear. Clicking it will lead you to a URL labeled “understand” and an audio file. Play it, and Wally will say, “Do you like Home? Home is my house. Do you have a Home too? Do you hear it too? You can hear mine.”
- White Doodle Stars – While on the bspjw error page, white doodled stars will eventually appear. Click them, and you’ll be lead to a URL labeled “soon” and an audio file. Play it, and Wally will say, “Let me in.”
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – Merchandise
If you’ve accessed the new staff only page, you know that phones play a significant role in the darker sider of Welcome Home. The Merchandise section is absolutely full of them. Here are the secrets uncovered so far.
Wally’s recording section states, “Currently Unknown Records”. However, in the image there is a glowing red button. Click it, and an audio of static will start playing, along with a mostly disguised soundtrack of a heartbeat. The audiophile for this static is “duet”. A butterfly with eyes on its wings will also appear.
Current theories speculate that Wally sees through the eyes of these insects, which, as of the July 23 update, have begun to appear everywhere.
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – Stickers
Currently, there are two new secret links.
- Gold Doodle Star – Wait long enough and a gold doodle star will appear. Clicking it will lead to a URL labeled “i-2″ and a sound file. Play the sound file and Wally will say, “Do you like to draw? I do. Do you know how to draw an eye? First, you draw a circle. Next you draw a smaller circle inside. Then you color it in.” A pair of red eyes will also appear.
The second secret link is a bug, which has its own section below.
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – Morse Code
Throughout the site, moments of potential Morse Code have been found. Not enough evidence has been found to establish that Morse code is actually being used or if it happens to be a coincidence. We’ll likely know more as the site progresses from its prologue to Chapter 1 later this year.
Home Speaks — In the secret page accessed using the secret code yxwvoe, you can hear Wally singing to Home. Home then makes a series of bangs. These bangs spell out “IDO”, which is likely in response to Wally asking “Do you like it?” Wally then states, “That’s good, I think.” This is the strongest argument for Morse code in Welcome Home.
Frank Blinks — On the Welcome Home page, there is an image carousel at the very bottom. These images are in order. With the exception of one. Scroll to an animated image of Frank holding a two-tiered jelly. In this image, Frank is blinking. It’s possible that these blinks are Morse code and, if so, it spells out the letter “D”. This possibly refers to the first image in the carousel.
This image is meant to advertise a variety of toys related to Welcome Home. On this advertisement there are three displayed items, each related to A, B, and C. But if you look closely, in the right section of the image, there is a “D” that’s been crossed out. There is speculation that Wally himself is toy D.
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – All Secret Links Deciphered
As of July 23, a series of new links, generally associated with doodles, began to appear. I believe this is the correct order of the links, which form the script below.
- https://www.clownillustration.com/i
- https://www.clownillustration.com/will
- https://www.clownillustration.com/help
- https://www.clownillustration.com/you
- https://www.clownillustration.com/understand
- https://www.clownillustration.com/i-2
- https://www.clownillustration.com/will-2
- https://www.clownillustration.com/find
- https://www.clownillustration.com/a
- https://www.clownillustration.com/way
- https://www.clownillustration.com/soon
- https://www.clownillustration.com/neighbor
These link URLs read “I will find a way soon. I will help you understand, neighbor.”
Ominous! As for the contents of these URLs, it seems the transcript is:
- I – “There you are! Welcome home. Ha ha ha.”
- will – “You’re the most! Ha ha ha! ….You’re so still. What are you doing.”
- help – “What are you waiting for? To hear me again? Ha ha ha. I think that means you can hear me.”
- you – “Can you see me? That’s okay if you can’t. Don’t worry, I know you’re there. You know I’m here too. I will talk to you.”
- understand – “Do you like Home? Home is my house. Do you have a Home too? Do you hear it too? You can hear mine.”
- I (i-2) – “Do you like to draw? I do. Do you know how to draw an eye? First, you draw a circle. Then, you draw a smaller circle inside. Then, you color it in.”
- will (will-2) – “That’s what an eye looks like. My eyes are black. What color are yours?”
- find – “I can’t hear you. Do you know who I am? We’ve looked into each other’s eyes so many times. You’re looking at me now.”
- a – “I have more eyes than I did before.”
- way – : “…Why won’t you answer me, neighbor. Why can’t I hear you. You know me. You do. Please open. Let me in.”
- soon – “Let me in.”
- neighbor – (creaking noises, likely House, possibly Morse code. See the Morse code section above.)
Welcome Home ARG Secrets – All Secret Bugs
There are 14 hidden bugs in the site. Many of these bugs, like the doodles, will only appear after you’ve idled on a page long enough. Clicking on them will lead to videos. Note that the letters of these video urls are denote which characters are talking. PH, for example, stands for Penny and Howdy. Wally is present in each video, but silent in the background. The only time “h” doesn’t stand for Howdy is in video 14, where it stands for “House”.
To make your journey easier, here are all fourteen bug URLs, along with where you can find them.
- Media – https://www.clownillustration.com/1-14-ph
- Playfellow Exhibition (can be difficult to click, aim for its butt) – https://www.clownillustration.com/2-14-sp
- Guestbook (page 4) – https://www.clownillustration.com/3-14-hs
- Welcome Home Page – https://www.clownillustration.com/4-14-bf
- Transcripts – https://www.clownillustration.com/5-14-be
- Merchandise – https://www.clownillustration.com/6-14-jf
- Guestbook (on Zip’s comment) –https://www.clownillustration.com/7-14-ej
- Neighborhood (Eddie’s page) – https://www.clownillustration.com/8-14-ef
- Neighborhood – https://www.clownillustration.com/9-14-fp
- About Us – https://www.clownillustration.com/10-14-js
- Stickers – https://www.clownillustration.com/11-14-jb
- News – https://www.clownillustration.com/12-14-hb
- Guestbook – https://www.clownillustration.com/13-14-he
- Secret Error Code woxyve – https://www.clownillustration.com/14-14-bh
That certainly is a lot of characters! If you’re having a hard time keeping them all straight, check out the full cast of the Welcome Home characters, and everything we know about them, here: All Characters in Welcome Home.
