If you only follow the objective markers in The Last of Us Part I on Steam, you'll miss the game's richest material: Ish's doomed settlement, the Savage Starlight comic trail, Bill and Frank's unseen history, Ellie's joke-book routines, and a stack of tiny Naughty Dog references. The best secrets aren't random loot rooms; they're optional conversations, environmental clues, and deliberately hidden corners that make Joel and Ellie's journey feel lived-in.
This guide focuses on the PC version of The Last of Us Part I, including the Left Behind expansion bundled with the Steam release. Most discoveries are available on any difficulty, and New Game Plus is ideal if you want to clean up collectibles without rushing. Before starting, check the game's official Steam page for the current edition and PC features. A few entries below are technically optional conversations rather than collectibles, so Chapter Select is your friend.
1. Ish's Sewer Settlement Is The Game's Hidden Tragedy
The Suburbs chapter contains one of the most memorable stories in the entire game, and you can walk past nearly all of it. After escaping the sewers with Henry and Sam, explore the suburban houses before climbing toward the sniper's position. The key discovery is the locked-looking entrance into the sewer network, reached by following the shoreline and checking the area around the wrecked boat. Joel and Ellie eventually find an opening that leads to a children's shelter and the remnants of a community built by a survivor named Ish.
Ish never appears on screen. Instead, his personality emerges through notes, children's drawings, room layouts, and the defensive preparations left behind. The sequence begins with Ish's first account of meeting another survivor, then expands into a settlement that includes families and children. The optional notes gradually shift from cautious optimism to panic. That structure matters: Naughty Dog isn't simply hiding lore in a collectible dump; it's making you reconstruct a miniature version of the apocalypse from the evidence people left behind.
Search every room around the school area, especially the spaces with desks and children's artwork. One of the most important clues is the note describing the infected breach. The final messages explain why the residents abandoned the shelter and where Ish's story ends. You don't receive a trophy just for understanding the whole chain, which is why many players never realize they found a complete narrative.
There's also a practical reason to slow down here. The sewer contains supplies, including crafting components and ammunition, but the real reward is context for the Suburbs' later devastation. Henry's group is moving through another settlement that failed for the same reasons: noise, limited exits, and too many people depending on a fragile safe zone.
| Discovery | Where To Look | Why It Matters | Missable Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ish's first notes | Early sewer rooms | Introduces Ish and his survival mindset | High if you follow Henry directly |
| Children's shelter | Large room near the settlement | Shows the community's attempt at normal life | Medium |
| Infected breach notes | Later rooms and corridors | Explains the settlement's collapse | High |
| Final survivor messages | End of the optional route | Completes Ish's tragic arc | High |
Use Chapter Select under Suburbs if you missed it. You don't need to replay the whole chapter: start from the relevant encounter, keep a flashlight on, and inspect every side room before the group reaches the sniper's house.
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The Savage Starlight comics are among the most obvious collectibles in The Last of Us, yet their importance is easy to underestimate. There are fourteen comics in the main campaign, and each one gives Ellie something to talk about. They aren't just completionist decorations: the recurring science-fiction series is one of the clearest windows into Ellie's personality and her need for an imaginative escape.
The first issue appears during Pittsburgh, in the chapter's early hotel section. After Joel and Ellie enter the flooded lobby, don't sprint straight toward the elevator route. Search the upper hallway and side rooms around the hotel encounter. Later issues appear across Pittsburgh, the Suburbs, Tommy's Dam, the University, and the Bus Depot. The comic placements generally reward players who check desks, bathrooms, overturned furniture, and dead-end corridors before triggering the next story beat.
What makes the set interesting is the way the comic titles echo the game's themes. Space travel, scientific progress, isolation, and survival all mirror what Ellie and Joel are experiencing. Ellie treats the issues as prized possessions while Joel initially dismisses them as another thing slowing him down. That small disagreement says more about their relationship than a long exposition scene could.
On Steam, the Endure and Survive trophy is tied to finding all comics. If you want a clean run, enable the Enhanced Listen Mode accessibility option only if you need help scanning rooms; it can make collectibles easier to locate, but it also changes the rhythm of exploration. A better approach is to use the pause menu's collectibles tracker after every chapter and replay only the gaps.
Don't confuse comics with Firefly pendants. Pendants are small military tags, often placed in dark corners or hanging from trees, while comics are larger and usually sit on flat surfaces. If a chapter summary shows missing collectibles, check both categories rather than assuming the comic count is wrong.
| Collectible Type | Main-Campaign Count | Best Search Habit | Steam Trophy Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Savage Starlight comics | 14 | Check side rooms before story triggers | Endure and Survive |
| Firefly pendants | 30 | Look above eye level and behind cover | Look for the Light |
| Artifacts | 85 | Read notes immediately after finding them | It Was All Just Lying There |
| Training manuals | 12 | Inspect workbenches and abandoned buildings | Useful upgrades |
For a useful external reference, compare your chapter totals with the community collectible index, then verify locations in the game itself. Guides are best used to fill one missing entry, not to spoil every discovery before it lands.
3. Bill And Frank's House Tells A Different Story
Bill's town is packed with environmental storytelling, but the most revealing details sit away from the main route. After Joel, Ellie, and Bill leave the church area, explore the houses and buildings before heading toward the truck. The surrounding town establishes that Bill wasn't merely a paranoid prepper. He was maintaining a system designed to keep other people out, even as the remnants of Frank's life kept forcing their way back into the space.
The sharpest detail is found in the house associated with Frank. Search the interior carefully for notes and personal belongings rather than treating it as a quick supply stop. Frank's note, along with the surrounding photographs and room arrangement, gives you a much fuller picture than Bill's angry dialogue. The game deliberately contrasts Bill's defensive traps with Frank's desire to leave. One man sees survival as permanent isolation; the other sees it as a reason to keep moving.
There are smaller jokes in the area, too. Bill's safehouse contains unusual magazines and crude humor that fit his abrasive personality. Those details aren't there to turn the scene into comic relief. They make the later argument between Bill and Joel feel grounded in two people who have been surviving together, badly, for a long time.
On higher difficulties, this exploration has a genuine gameplay payoff. Search before the infected sequence and you can collect extra parts, supplements, and crafting materials. Parts let you improve weapons at workbenches, while supplements unlock skills such as Maximum Health, Shiv Master, and Listen Mode Distance. Don't spend every component immediately; the Pittsburgh workbench arrives soon after, and saving enough parts for a weapon holster upgrade can be more valuable than a minor reload improvement.
The original game's treatment of Bill and Frank was already subtle, but Part I's performance and visual upgrades make the house details easier to read. The Steam version's higher-resolution textures also expose small objects that were easy to overlook on older hardware. This is one of those locations where pausing to inspect the room is worth more than rushing toward the next infected encounter.
4. Ellie's Joke Book Has Specific Trigger Conditions
Ellie's No Pun Intended, Volume Too routine is one of the most charming secrets in the game, and it doesn't trigger whenever you feel like hearing a joke. You need to create breathing room after certain optional conversations. The clearest examples occur in Pittsburgh, after the survivors clear an area and Ellie begins flipping through the book, and later during the Suburbs chapter after the group has time to wander and talk.
When Ellie says she has something to show you, stop moving. Don't walk into the next trigger zone, open a door, or climb into a vehicle. Stand near her and wait through the full exchange. Several jokes are tied to a sequence of optional conversations, including her comments about the comic books and the infected. If you skip one, the next interaction may not appear until the next suitable quiet section.
This is a classic Naughty Dog trick: the content isn't hidden behind a puzzle, but behind patience. The game assumes that Joel might pause while Ellie catches up. Players who sprint from encounter to encounter can finish the chapter without hearing the complete routine.
The jokes also change the emotional temperature of the campaign. Ellie uses humor as a shield, especially after violent encounters. Joel's reactions begin as irritation, then gradually become participation. The comedy is doing character work, not merely rewarding players for standing still.
For the best chance of hearing every optional exchange, use this simple routine:
- Clear the current combat encounter completely.
- Search nearby rooms for artifacts, supplements, and ammunition.
- Return to Ellie instead of advancing toward the objective.
- Wait until her idle animation changes and she starts speaking.
- Stay nearby until the conversation ends before moving on.
On PC, avoid using a high movement speed mod or rushing with keyboard shortcuts during these sections. The game's conversational triggers are proximity-based, and leaving the area can cancel them. The official Naughty Dog page for Part I also highlights the remake's accessibility options, which are useful if you want to replay chapters without combat interruptions.
5. Left Behind Is A Treasure Chest Of Arcade References
If you own the Steam version, don't treat Left Behind as a short epilogue. Its abandoned mall is a concentrated collection of secrets, fake games, and playful references that show Ellie and Riley before the main campaign hardens them. The most famous stop is the Mortal Kombat II arcade cabinet, but the scene has several layers of optional interaction.
During the mall sequence, Riley leads Ellie through the arcade area. Interact with the Mortal Kombat II machine to trigger a playful fight sequence and a conversation about the fictional fighting game The Turning. The scene is intentionally presented as a substitute for a real playable arcade title: Ellie and Riley act out the experience while the game cuts between their imagination and the grimy machine.
Look for other cabinets and attractions before following Riley. The photo booth, water-gun game, Halloween store, and carousel all have unique interactions. The photo booth is especially easy to rush past because the story nudges you onward. Explore every marked station, then wait for the prompt to finish rather than immediately turning away. Some interactions lead into dialogue choices, and the complete sequence is part of the emotional payoff of the DLC.
The mall works as a deliberate mirror to the main story. In the present-day sections, commercial spaces are dangerous ruins filled with clickers and hunters. In the flashback, Ellie briefly gets to experience what those spaces were meant to offer: games, music, costumes, and pointless fun. That contrast is why the arcade references land so well. They're not advertisements disguised as Easter eggs; they're artifacts of a normal life Ellie never really had.
There are also smaller Naughty Dog nods throughout Part I. Keep an eye out for fictional brand names, background posters, and visual motifs that echo the studio's earlier games, but don't assume every blue logo is a secret reference. The strongest references are integrated into the scene and give the characters something to react to.
| Left Behind Stop | How To Trigger It | What You Get | Why It Is Easy To Miss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortal Kombat II cabinet | Interact with the arcade machine | The Turning sequence and Riley dialogue | Story movement encourages you forward |
| Photo booth | Use the booth when Riley presents it | Optional photos and conversation | It looks like background decoration |
| Water-gun game | Accept Riley's challenge | Competitive dialogue and a playful detour | Easy to ignore after the mall entrance |
| Carousel | Interact during the flashback | Unique dialogue and character development | It is surrounded by visual clutter |
For context on the standalone expansion's place in the series, the official PlayStation listing confirms that Left Behind is included with Part I. If your Steam installation separates the DLC in the menu, launch it from the main menu's Left Behind option rather than assuming it is missing.
6. The Smallest Details Reward A Slower Steam Playthrough
The most satisfying secrets in Part I aren't always tied to trophies. Tommy's Dam contains optional conversations and a chance to inspect the settlement before the story pushes Joel and Tommy into conflict. At the University, examine the science-building rooms and the abandoned Firefly equipment to understand how much the group was trying to accomplish before disappearing. In the Bus Depot, stop at the giraffe scene and let Ellie respond naturally; rushing past this quiet moment robs the sequence of its purpose.
Several locations also hide character details in plain sight. Sam's toy and drawings in Pittsburgh make the later tragedy hit harder. Hospital documents reveal how desperate the Fireflies have become. Ellie’s drawings and jokes change depending on which conversations you've already triggered. These aren't collectible checkboxes, but they form a consistent pattern: the game rewards curiosity with emotional context rather than loot.
On Steam, the PC version makes this kind of hunting more comfortable with adjustable field of view, ultrawide support, unlocked frame rates, and detailed accessibility controls. For exploration, a stable 60 frames per second at 1440p is usually a better target than pushing every texture setting to its maximum and accepting stutter. Part I is CPU-heavy in busy scenes and can compile shaders during the first run, so don't judge performance from the opening minutes.
| PC Setting | Recommended Exploration Profile | Performance Cost | Visual Trade-Off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texture Quality | High if VRAM allows | High VRAM use | Sharper notes, posters, and collectibles |
| Shadow Quality | Medium to High | Moderate GPU cost | Lower settings soften interior depth |
| Screen-Space Reflections | Medium | Moderate | Water and wet floors lose some detail |
| Volumetric Effects | Medium | High in foggy areas | Lower settings reduce atmospheric lighting |
| Motion Blur | Off for collectible hunting | Minimal FPS impact | Cleaner camera pans and text reading |
| Frame Rate | Locked 60 FPS where possible | Depends on hardware | More consistent aiming and traversal |
If your installation stutters, our PC crash and FPS troubleshooting guide covers the same basics that matter here: update drivers, allow shader compilation to finish, close overlays, and avoid judging a demanding game from a freshly loaded save. For broader performance advice, the max-FPS settings breakdown is also useful, even though it covers a different game.
Finally, use Chapter Select intelligently. The collectibles menu tells you which chapters still contain missing items, while the pause screen separates artifacts, comics, pendants, manuals, and optional conversations. Make a short checklist before replaying instead of grabbing everything again. That approach turns The Last of Us Part I into a tighter second playthrough: listen for Ellie's jokes, inspect the room behind the objective, follow the Ish notes, and never assume an abandoned arcade cabinet is just scenery.
For more hidden-content hunting, Steamoz's guides to secret locations and hidden rewards and Everspace 2's concealed discoveries use the same practical approach. In Naughty Dog's world, though, the best reward is rarely a weapon upgrade. It's the extra sentence, photograph, or survivor note that makes an already famous story feel unexpectedly personal.