The Sinking City 2: All Lore Notes and Codex Entries

⚡ QUICK ANSWER
The Sinking City 2’s Codex is best tracked as separate Lore Codex documents, New Game+ Ex Oblivione entries, Tales of Arkham radios, and puzzle-relevant investigation notes.

This spoiler-aware reference separates story documents, biographies, audio stories, and utility clues so you can check names without exposing every revelation at once. It follows story threads rather than imposing a single pickup route.

Contents hide

Quick answer for tracking the Codex
Codex categories at a glance
How to use this list while exploring Arkham
Complete reference for lore notes and Codex entries
Puzzle and route-relevant notes
New Game+ Ex Oblivione guidance
Spoiler-light reading order for the Codex
Codex and evidence reference
Frequently Asked Questions
More The Sinking City 2 guides

Quick answer for tracking the Codex

Use the Lore Codex entry names as a chapter-by-chapter checklist, but treat investigation notes as clues rather than a mandatory route through the story. Some documents exist mainly for world-building, while others contain names, dates, diagrams, or directions needed for optional deductions.

Keep Ex Oblivione outside your initial checklist. Its eight biography-style entries belong to New Game+ Ex Oblivione Mode, so their absence during the first playthrough does not indicate missed first-run lore. Track Tales of Arkham radios separately as audio entries.

Codex categories at a glance

Codex type	Use
Lore Codex	Collect diaries, letters, clippings, research records, warnings, and other documents about Arkham.
Ex Oblivione Codex	Track a separate New Game+ layer of biography-style entries tied to From Oblivion.
Tales of Arkham radios	Listen to audio stories tracked separately from the ordinary document collection.
Puzzle and evidence notes	Use names, dates, diagrams, and relationships to solve optional investigations, locks, routes, and mechanisms.

A Lore Codex document can also serve as investigation evidence. Its place in the Codex does not determine whether the information inside has practical value.

How to use this list while exploring Arkham

Work through the archive chapter by chapter. Search accessible rooms and investigation spaces before a major transition, then compare your Codex with the matching story group below instead of trying to follow one enormous pickup order.

When completing an area, revisit collectible markers that have not turned blue or cleared. Entry names make reliable checklist anchors, but they do not imply that every document is required to advance the main story.

Goal	Approach
First playthrough	Clear each current chapter’s accessible markers and leave Ex Oblivione entries off the checklist.
Collectible cleanup	Compare entry names by story group and revisit uncleared markers before crossing a story transition.
Puzzle solving	Inspect related names, dates, diagrams, and room references together in the Investigation Space.
New Game+ planning	Create a separate checklist for the eight Ex Oblivione biographies instead of mixing them with first-run Lore Codex pages.

QUICK WIN

Collect and pin every nearby clue before entering a safe or lock combination. This preserves the intended investigation chain and any benefit attached to completing the deduction.

Complete reference for lore notes and Codex entries

The grouped table covers the named documents and Ex Oblivione entries by story thread. Open the disclosure summaries when you are ready for character, faction, and mythos details; Tales of Arkham remains a separately tracked radio category rather than being relabeled as written documents.

Entry	What it covers
Early Arkham, apartments, and public notices
About The Mask	Faye Bennett’s Dreamlands mask A reply to Mr. Rafferty connects the mask formed on Ms. Bennett’s face to the legendary Night Shade. It also recalls Walter Gilman and unfinished university work involving non-Euclidean calculus and quantum physics.
Become An Adventurer!	A small advertisement inviting children to join Ma’s dungeon and fight dragons.
Exceptional Specimens	A roster naming Cohh Carnage, Robin Rippmann, Vitas Varnas, Jason Stack, Leland O. Alexander, MacGregor, Lushen Skarn, Andrii Yatsechko, Duane D. Cary, Gavriel H. Gal, and Taras Korzhyk.
Excerpt From ‘The Dream Realm’	Dream entrapment and a return ritual The text describes an ethereal form trapped in a dream while its physical body remains comatose and must be fed and hydrated. Returning the spirit requires an incantation from Recitations of the Tenebrous Soul, proximity to the sleeper, and a gift of blood.
Farewell, Arkham!	The Arkham Chronicle’s final issue Sam Trench’s September 21, 1929 column announces the newspaper’s closure after Arkham is declared lost to the flood, offering a final goodbye to the city and its culture.
Final Warning!	A furious complaint to Mr. Rafferty about shaking walls, an unmarried visitor, occult chanting, flashing lights, and strange odors. Faye adds an affectionate margin note saying she will return by dusk.
Floodwaters Rise!	Evacuation, unexplained water, and a missing mayor An August 15, 1929 Arkham Sentinel story says an overnight surge flooded five blocks despite little rain, submerged the Cathedral District, and prompted an evacuation. It also covers Mayor Peabody’s disappearance after he entered the Devil’s Reef area.
From A Sister	A family letter inviting Ava and Martin to Providence. It recalls the recipient opening his shop twenty-one years earlier on the day he met his future wife and notes that their new ground-floor home will spare Ava the stairs.
Handwritten Note	An evidence item used in the investigation.
Local Residents	A list naming Thaddeus Lowe, Edmund Cartwright, Victor Hensleigh, Abigail Hartwell, Elias Mercer, Jamal Mamilov, Lydia Wainwright, Edward Grayson, Harriet Bellamy, Marcus Delacroix, Nathaniel Pierce, Kitty Williams, and Corentin de Grandemange.
Non-Existence of Arkham	The governor denies the flooded city exists Sam Trench’s August 8, 1929 article describes Governor Randall Yates dismissing Arkham and its flooding as unreal despite photographs and eyewitness accounts, prompting a response from Mayor Joseph Peabody.
Please!	A departing resident asks whoever finds the note to feed their cat, Poppy, and leave the window open in case she returns.
Restricted Section Inventory	Forbidden and missing library works The partial inventory includes De Vermis Mysteriis, the missing Olaus Wormius translation of the Necronomicon, Recitations of the Tenebrous Soul, the Pnakotic Manuscripts, The People of the Monolith, Memoranda of the Miskatonic Cthulhian Society, Traité des Chiffres, Regnum Congo, A Treatise on Astrology: Liber 536, and Unaussprechlichen Kulten.
To Martin	A father tells Martin that the needed numbers come from his proudest, most miraculous moment. He leaves survival supplies and asks the boy to protect his mother, who can no longer make the climb.
Miskatonic expedition, portal, and flood records
Adventure Awaits for Arkham’s Academics	A March 25, 1929 Arkham Sentinel article about Professor Jonathan Howells leading a secret archaeological expedition toward cyclopean ruins that may illuminate Earth’s prehuman history.
Endless Curiosity – July 15, 1929	Dr. Randolph Carter tells Professor Howells that strange worms react to the portal as though hearing something inside it, then announces that he will test their effects on himself.
Field Notes – April 9, 1929	Henry Wilmarth’s necropolis assessment The anthropology report identifies the subterranean structure as a necropolis built by the Elder Things. Its alien geometry, carvings, and apparent combination of scientific and ritual purposes point to an advanced prehuman civilization.
Incident During Study	A university letter thanks Ms. Ashcroft for a printing plate and accompanying letter, then describes the researcher’s office doors inexplicably turning red after the artifact arrived.
Internal Memorandum	A restricted-library order introducing sliding shelves, individualized access instructions, quarantine, and disciplinary action after repeated trespasses.
Journal – August 1929	The expedition camp collapses Entries dated August 1, 7, and 10 describe hunger, a collapsed tunnel, eyes opening in the air, missing people returning infested with worms, and an attack on the camp. The writer concludes that the portal must be deactivated.
Last Letter – September 3, 1929	The portal answers and Arkham floods A final message to Professor Lake says the expedition found an Elder Thing necropolis and a circular portal beneath Arkham. Jonathan activated it, an Eye appeared, the air froze, and the lake began draining in a way that seemed to flood the city.
Literature Review – Antikythera	A March 4, 1922 archive record describing Antikythera as a golden rotary device capable of displacement across decades. Its temporal resolution is too coarse for precise travel within a human lifetime.
Manifesto	Blackboard writing in the Miskatonic Library Annex claiming that a vast power lies behind the crawling multitude’s silence, deeper than either science or faith.
Miskatonic Findings	A confidential proposal for exploring a possible entrance to the City Below near Curwen Street. It recommends supplies from Buckland Bros. in the Fish Market, including diving suits, tents, and waterproof clothing.
Miskatonic University Flood	A July 21, 1929 notice naming Harrington, Alder, Tillman, Greene, Flynn, Chambers, Lovell, and Edwards among the flood’s victims while rescue teams struggle with turbulent campus waters.
Regarding Science – April 25, 1929	Henry writes enthusiastically to his mother that the expedition is learning from an ancient civilization and insists there is no forbidden science—only fear and ignorance.
Symbols and Pods – April 19, 1929	Henry tells Professor Howells that rotating patterned pods aligns their designs into unique symbols on a polyhedron, apparently providing the means to awaken the portal.
To The Crew – April 1, 1929	A joking emergency contact list naming anthropology Professor Freeborn, archaeologist Dr. Morgan, biologist Professor Lake, and engineer Professor Pabodie as colleagues who can be trusted with the expedition’s secrets.
Akeley Memorial Hospital and the Eye
Access Restricted	An administration notice closing the maintenance areas under the Head Surgeon’s authority because of continuing malfunctions.
Diary of Thaddeus Lowe	Lowe embraces transformation by the Mi-Go The surgeon rejects scalpels, sutures, and drugs as primitive beside the Mi-Go’s ability to reshape flesh and mind. What began as fear has become a longing to surrender his body so his brain can travel and learn without end.
Eye Technology	A promotional notice advertising an exclusive demonstration of the Eye, including limb regeneration and the decoding of a higher language through the legacy of dreamers.
Folded Note	A frightened observer claims Dr. Lowe whispers directly to stored brains, feels unnaturally cold, does not blink, and may be connected to patients disappearing without records or bodies.
For Akeley’s Widows, Questions Linger	A newspaper story about Dr. Milton Craw and two colleagues vanishing from Akeley Memorial. Dr. Thaddeus Lowe characterizes the unexplained event as one of the risks of advanced medical work.
Hasty Note	A hurried staff message about the missing Caduceus Key and Nurse Kitty’s recent movements in the West Wing.
Letter From Intern Dexter	Miraculous treatment at Akeley Memorial Dexter describes catastrophic injuries being repaired through neurovascular regeneration, osteogenic repair, and synaptic reactivation. He credits work begun by Dr. Mercer and perfected by Drs. Hensleigh and Lowe.
Letter with Digit ‘1’	An unfinished warning about the Order of the Timeless Dawn, its teachings about ascension and shedding the body, and suspected involvement by the Head Surgeon.
Memo: Repairing the Key	A clinical memo saying the latest key split in two after an improperly anesthetized subject reacted, and that the Prosthetics Workshop contains what is needed to repair it.
Morgue Worker’s Memo	Bodies arrive without brains A morgue worker warns Dr. Lowe that numerous corpses are missing their brains. The writer suspects unauthorized operations using the Eye and Prism, even though the Brain Depository is empty, and fears the specimens are being transported elsewhere.
On Mirror Doors	A security memo explaining that Akeley’s mirror doors come from Miskatonic’s Internal Gatekeeping Operation and should be opened only by someone with the correct face, such as Nurse Kitty.
Staff Memo: Incursions	A grotesquely reassuring notice calling a dark-matter entity stalking Akeley’s corridors an expected side effect of work with the Eye. It claims the creature seeks people of particular significance.
Torn Page From A Diary	A researcher records jars nearing capacity, worms bringing a body to the Eye for transport, and the return of a clumsy dark-energy creature that might later become another study subject.
Unsent Letter	A priest’s appeal describing the Eye as a crack emitting sickening red energy beneath Akeley Memorial. He asks church authorities to investigate Dr. Thaddeus Lowe if he disappears.
Fish Market, Joe Marsh, and the Filleter crew
A Message From The Depths	War is coming from the abyss A message written on human skin warns land-dwelling kin that rising water and a shift in the stars herald war below. J.M. orders the collection of shipwreck gold, its conversion into sacred jewelry, and the sacrifice of flood survivors to strengthen it with blood.
Instructions To Sybil	Joe orders Sybil to feed a special fish at exactly midnight using a sealed bag, threatening severe punishment if she misses a feeding.
Jessamine’s Lament	A mother is warned by her future daughter Jessamine tells Mr. Harcourt that Maisy appeared as her child from the future and begged not to be conceived, warning that she would inevitably become a monster of the deep. Jessamine believes the warning but is devastated by the choice.
Jeweler Job Offer	Joe Marsh recruits a master jeweler to make a tiara, bracelets, and rings from difficult materials, sends five ounces of gold as proof, and directs the craftsperson to the Fish Market.
Jewelers Be Warned!	J.M. threatens a captive jeweler after an escape attempt involving a grenade gun behind a double-starfish door. The crew demands blood-soaked jewelry prepared at the Eye.
Old Freddie’s Shanty	“The Fisherman’s Love” tells of a golden-scaled fish beloved and then abandoned when whiskey and money mattered more, ending with her body being sold by the pound.
Stained Scrap of Paper	Prisoners vanish through a broken ship A captive says twenty people were taken in one night and that the remaining cages are being refilled. The prisoners suspect they are food for something called Grindmaw, because anyone led through the broken ship disappears without a sound.
Surprise in the Safe	Sybil tells Mr. Marsh she will feed the man-fish once more before fleeing Arkham. A postscript asks about a promised safe in the locker room and wonders whether its combination matches the nearby door.
The Filleter Crew	A dated Fish Market roster naming Emily, Mary, Mason, Ethel, Marie, Joe, Thelma, and Sybil as the Filleter crew on April 19, 1929.
Warning for Sybil	A warning that the midnight-fed creature is intelligent, fast-growing, and capable of turning severed flesh into green rock. It also tells Sybil to look for squares when dealing with the door.
Holloway manor
Attention: Staff Notice	A manor order barring staff from the Museum while the family is present, restricting entry to a service stairwell, requiring gloves, and demanding silence on the upper floor.
Letter to Ezra	Edith tells Ezra that pregnancy has made the stairs difficult, so the servants are preparing a downstairs bedroom where she can rest near an open window and the garden.
Manor Mining Project	A notice for a mine established in the early 18th century and reopened in 1904. Workers must report to the foreman and tell only Mr. Holloway about unusual cold or other irregularities.
Notes for Dr. Hartwell	Mary records Mrs. Holloway’s overdue birth, irregular fetal movement, pain, sleeplessness, and poor appetite. Even Akeley’s Head Surgeon cannot diagnose the condition and instead shows unusual interest.
Notice to Staff	An April 11, 1901 instruction requiring the boiler to remain operational for the Mistress. Staff must obtain the Boiler Room key from the head servant and report pressure changes or the cold rising from below.
To The Next Girl	A departing servant warns her replacement about a locked room in a dead woman’s wing, saying the master insists she is gone but the house remains unnaturally attached to her.
Lorelei and the last party
Lorelei’s Request	Lorelei encourages Heloise and Eel-Boy to stage one final bloody game, promising her embrace to its sole survivor.
Mustard Gas	A jealous rival threatens Heloise and Eel-Boy with a lethal “hot and spicy” surprise after being excluded from their plan for Lorelei.
Run For Your Life	A survivor tells Woodrow that Lorelei’s influence drives people to murder while singing her name and begs him to escape to their old meeting place on French Hill.
Ventilation System Schematic	A diagram showing airflow from the Generator Room to the Stage and Cabaret Floor, with a warning that leaving the system open risks contamination.
Your Last Game	A challenge promising death in Lorelei’s arms to the last survivor of a no-mercy battle, with no cheating, shortcuts, or pity allowed.
Lost Letters
Lost Letters – A Twig In A River	A guilt-ridden survivor apologizes for failing to save Victor from the flood, only to hear wet, distorted voices outside the barricade—and perhaps Victor among them.
Lost Letters – An Artifact	A writer describes an ancient window onto Time and Space that produces unbearable sound and carries the name CENTREGAZE.
Lost Letters – Borrowed Smiles	A paranoid account of familiar people wearing overly smooth smiles, blinking incorrectly, and performing human behavior like rehearsed actors in a nightmare.
Lost Letters – Cruel Joke	Julie “Lili” Delaney records the flood erupting during “Singin’ in the Rain,” followed by sea-born monsters and nightmares more terrifying than the rising water.
Lost Letters – Death Awaits	A panicked farewell from someone fleeing Arkham with family valuables and cats as monsters, walking dead, and falling skies make remaining in the city a death sentence.
Lost Letters – Destroy It	A.S. Elric begs Professor Henel to destroy a supposed biological sample sent to a university in the Adirondack Mountains after realizing the organism can invade and control thought.
Lost Letters – Dominion	A victim describes an entity using a corpse, seeping through cracks, calling them “Student,” “Seeker,” and “Dominion,” then splitting their identity until “I” becomes “we.”
Lost Letters – Déjà Vu	A frantic ritualistic chant begging for release from flesh, mind, and a festering soul beneath an Eldritch Lord.
Lost Letters – Goodbye Maria	A final letter to Maria in Texas warns her never to enter Arkham because its alien horrors are real, then ends with a declaration of love.
Lost Letters – Meet Me At Dawn	Caroline tells Simone that the man who abused her can no longer cause harm and asks her to meet at their usual place at dawn so they can flee together.
Lost Letters – Sisters Of Fate	A parent warns Ayda that the Miskatonic and the air around Arkham feel charged with an approaching evil, as though fate is preparing to cut their life short.
Lost Letters – Staying With You	Thea refuses her parents’ request to come home because she will not abandon Cassie, even if remaining together in Arkham proves fatal.
Lost Letters – The Coming Reign	A rhyming prophecy moves from gentle rain to pain, madness, chains, and ancient sin, warning that the approaching reign cannot be stopped.
Lost Letters – The Conduit	Torment turns a victim into an observer Sister Lenore transcribes frantic writing produced by a blind and deaf man whose remaining hand was given a pen. The accompanying note claims sustained torment heightens his ability to act as a conduit for observing the Old Ones.
Dreamlands, relics, and survival tools
A Balm for Flesh and Relic	Herbal balm becomes Night Ore Equal measures of Arkham herbs normally create a healing balm, but exposure to a Dream relic transforms their vapors into Night Ore. Its piezoelectric potential may recharge the Night Shade, the Silver Key’s veil, or the Mirror of N’kai.
E.R.C. — User Manual	A manual for an Emergency Relief Crate with a dissolver lock. Opening it requires an E.R.C. Activator Pen, whose chemical agent unlocks the crate while consuming the pen.
Look for Dream Essence!	A message describing luminous crystals discovered during the flood. Touching one reveals dreams belonging to someone else and grants greater strength and sharpness, leading the writer to call the crystals Dream Essence.
Stained Note	The Star, Trident, and dagger A condemned prisoner says the Star is not a god but a hunger once defeated and bound beyond the veil. The Trident became the key to its prison, while a dagger sealed the wound through which it might return.
Ex Oblivione biographies
The Beauty of Survival	Faye’s Dreamlands experiences fill her with otherworldly energy that makes her powerful but vulnerable and draws attention. Calvin’s strength is his steadiness and resilience in the face of horror.
The Burden of Knowledge	Corentin de Grandemange’s biography follows a French polyglot who masters language after language, then becomes convinced that the universe itself speaks in a tongue he could learn.
The Joys of Discomfort	Faye Bennett grows beyond the privileged life expected of her, using her intelligence and impatience to challenge high society and pursue academic ambitions.
The Loss of Calvin Rafferty	Calvin’s biography begins with his Irish parents, Thomas and Niamh Rafferty, building a difficult but happy life in Boston. His childhood curiosity and resilience are tested when his mother collapses nearby.
The Mother of Invention	Maisy Orne becomes a gifted fisher and beloved adoptive daughter of the Fish Market. Born with the d’Innsmouth condition, she meets its eventual physical signs without shame.
The Pursuit of the Unknown	Faye and Calvin turn warnings into invitations, pursuing forgotten ruins and fabled relics together as each answer intensifies their desire for more knowledge.
The Son of Cthylla	Charles Reed’s biography covers his alienation in Boston, wartime service as a Navy diver, a shipwreck, the island ordeal, and the visions that reshape his life.
The View from Outside	Thaddeus Lowe’s childhood is marked by dreams of incomprehensible places, extraordinary intelligence, and profound isolation reinforced by the racism surrounding him.

Puzzle and route-relevant notes

Entry	Use
To Martin + From A Sister	Combine the father’s “proudest moment” clue with the shop’s family history to derive 1908 for the Apartment 5 wall safe.
Hasty Note	Points the search for the Caduceus Key toward Kitty, who had been locking the West Wing, and the Staff Room table.
Internal Memorandum	Explains that the Restricted Section uses sliding shelves and that authorized personnel receive individual operating instructions.
E.R.C. — User Manual	Explains why an Emergency Relief Crate needs an E.R.C. Activator Pen and warns that the pen is consumed during activation.
Ventilation System Schematic	Connects the Generator Room intake to the Stage and Cabaret Floor output while warning against leaving the circuit open.
Warning for Sybil	Supplies the visual instruction to look for squares when working out the related door.
Surprise in the Safe	Connects the locker-room safe to the nearby door and suggests that they use related locking logic.
On Mirror Doors	Explains that access depends on the correct face and identifies Nurse Kitty as an authorized user.
Memo: Repairing the Key	Establishes that the key has been split in two and directs the repair work toward the Prosthetics Workshop.
Notice to Staff	Directs staff to obtain the Boiler Room key from the head servant before going downstairs and flags air-pressure changes as significant.
Attention: Staff Notice	Identifies the Museum’s service stairwell as the staff entrance and restricts access while the family is present.
Manor Mining Project	Marks the lower mine as restricted and makes abnormal cold an environmental clue associated with Mr. Holloway.
Access Restricted	Warns that hospital maintenance routes are closed because of continuing malfunctions.
Instructions To Sybil	Establishes the creature’s exact midnight feeding routine and the sealed bag used for it.
Handwritten Note	Serves as an evidence item in the investigation.
Symbols and Pods – April 19, 1929	Explains that rotating the patterned pods aligns symbols on the polyhedron and awakens the associated portal mechanism.
Miskatonic Findings	Points toward a possible subterranean entrance near Curwen Street and names the Fish Market as the expedition’s supply route.
Stained Note	Identifies the Trident as the key to the Star’s prison and the dagger as the object that sealed its wound.

Collect these notes before acting on their clues so the Investigation Space can retain the relationship between the evidence, deduction, and mechanism.

New Game+ Ex Oblivione guidance

Ex Oblivione is a separate New Game+ layer tied to From Oblivion. Begin tracking it only after finishing the initial story and starting Ex Oblivione Mode.

The second-run set consists of The Beauty of Survival, The Burden of Knowledge, The Joys of Discomfort, The Loss of Calvin Rafferty, The Mother of Invention, The Pursuit of the Unknown, The Son of Cthylla, and The View from Outside.

These entries expand the histories of Faye Bennett, Calvin Rafferty, Corentin de Grandemange, Maisy Orne, Charles Reed, and Thaddeus Lowe. They supplement the first-run archive rather than replacing ordinary Lore Codex pages.

Spoiler-light reading order for the Codex

Scan the entry names first and leave disclosure sections closed during active exploration. After finishing an area, read its related letters, research records, and newspaper clippings together so their shared events and characters remain easy to follow.

Read utility notes immediately when they concern a safe, key, machine, door, or route. Save late biography and mythos summaries until after the relevant character, relic, or faction has entered the story.

Codex and evidence reference

These visuals come from the in-game assets for The Sinking City 2. They are included as a practical identification reference for the names and entries in this guide.

Starting Clue in-game visual in The Sinking City 2 — Starting Clue — extracted in-game visual from The Sinking City 2.

Icon Codex Map — extracted in-game icon from The Sinking City 2.

Icon Evidence Map — extracted in-game icon from The Sinking City 2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Ex Oblivione entries be collected during a first playthrough?

No. Their pickup layer appears in New Game+ Ex Oblivione Mode; ordinary exploration during the first run cannot complete From Oblivion.

Do Tales of Arkham radios count as Codex entries?

Yes. Tales of Arkham radios are audio-related Codex entries, and the set is tied to Mycophile. Activate each radio and let its story play before leaving the room.

Are Lore Codex documents required to finish the story?

Most are optional world-building or investigation material. A document can still reveal an alternate route, puzzle solution, secret, or upgrade-point deduction even when it is not a main-story objective.

Should I enter a lock code before collecting the related notes?

No. Opening the mechanism does not replace the associated investigation. Collecting, pinning, and connecting the notes first lets you complete the intended deduction before claiming whatever lies beyond the lock.

Why should the Codex category totals remain separate?

Lore documents, New Game+ biographies, and radio stories have different availability and completion conditions. Launch-era checklists separate 78 Lore Codex entries, 8 Ex Oblivione entries, and 10 Tales of Arkham radios; use the in-game category counters for your run instead of collapsing them into one universal total.