Follow our Yooka-Laylee Moodymaze Marsh guide to find all the Pagies, Ghost Writers, and upgrades, plus the Mollycool and Arcade Token. Get tips on how to discover these collectibles quickly with this easy-to-follow walkthrough.
Related: Tribalstack Tropics locations
Pagies (25)
If any specific ability is necessary to obtain a Pagie, that ability will be noted in italics at the beginning of the description, along with the first stage you can purchase/obtain it from abbreviated in brackets. Hivory Towers is HT, Tribalstack Tropics is TT, Glitterglaze Glacier is GG, etc. If the ability you need is a freebie from Hivory Towers, the area in which it is unlocked will be included in the brackets.
Any Pagie (or other collectible) marked with an asterisk (*) can only be obtained in the extended version of the stage.
Unfortunately there is no filing system in-game to show which Pagies you have collected, so my order of collection may be wildly different to what you have done.
Related: Glitterglaze Glacier Guide
P01: Lizard Lash (MM) Across the water with the floating logs you’ll find Jolly the trolley. Accept his request to clean the muck out of the swamp, and Lizard Lash the crate through the grating to the right in order to pull it onto the switch. This activates a puzzle over the water where you must hit the center switch first, then slam the other four surrounding switches before time runs out. Ignore the wasps or you’ll quickly run out of time; also glide to each platform instead of jumping back to the center every time, as it shaves several necessary seconds off of your overall time. Not only do you get a Pagie for completing this challenge, but clearing the water is essential to obtaining several other Pagies as well.
P02: Slurp Shot (TT), Sonar ‘Splosion (MM) From Jolly (P01) go left, and jump across the lily pads to see a Pagie roped up high in the air. Use Sonar ‘Splosion on the blue block and slurp the fire flower, then us your fire power in the pipe until you have burned the rope up above, dropping the Pagie to freedom (i.e. your pockets).
P03: Once the water is clean (P01), from Jolly go right and jump in, swimming above and following the left wall until you see some platforms. Jump across, then once you’re on land follow the left path over the bridge. Roll around to the back of this area (you can go left or right, but left is marginally faster) to find Kartos, ready with another mine cart challenge. This time you must collect 125 gems to receive his Pagie.
P04: After walking past the bridge (P03) but before rolling to Kartos, enter the giant pipe to the right for fight Moodymaze Marsh’s boss, Trev the Tenteyecle. Defeat him to get a Pagie.
P05: Buddy Slam (TT), Bubble Buddy (HT) After cleaning the water (P01), dive in just in front of Dr. Puzz and use Bubble Buddy to go through the tube into the Murky Passage. In the first section, step on the switch and deactivate Bubble Buddy to quickly ride the current through the gate before it shuts. Follow the path and swim past (or through, if you’ve got the butterflies to spare) the prickly vines until the perspective shifts to side-on. Use Bubble Buddy on and off to navigate to the top and into the next area. In this room, step on the far left switch until the barrel on the right rolls onto one of the two center switches. Step on the other center switch to raise the gate, again deactivating Bubble Buddy to swim through. In the next couple areas, use Bubble Buddy to hit switches, then turn it off again to swim through the gates until you come to the rook with the Pagie. Defeat the nearby enemies and slam the switch to retrieve the Pagie and open the way out.
P06: Reptile Rush (CC) From the exit of P05, swim straight forward into another large tube to a swamp area. Spindash up the ramp and through the glass. Each of the four or five upcoming rooms requires some precision spindashing. Clear each room of any present enemies, then stand on the switch to open the gate at the end. Stepping off of the switches will cause the gates to begin lowering, so dash as straight and fast as you can to make it to the next room before getting shut out. The Pagie awaits at the end.
P07: After giving the Mollycool to Dr. Puzz (see below), transform into a school of fish and find the nearby Pagie trapped in thorns. The thorns won’t hurt you as fish, so just swim straight into them to collect the Pagie.
P08: As fish (P07), swim into the pipe blocked by thorns to the Dusky Duct. Wait for the vents on either side to stop blowing, then go attack the piles of bones near each vent to reveal and lift up two switches (one near each vent) to open a gate. Proceed and swim past the zappers, forward and down. Continue down this linear path, avoiding more zappers and taking out enemies until you find the trapped trolley at the end. Attack the bones weighing him down and he’ll give you a Pagie as thanks.
P09: Bubble Buddy (HT), Buddy Slam (TT) In front of the Pumping Plant, dive into the water to see a Pagie in a cagie. Swim to the far end and use Bubble Buddy to activate the switch, then run/swim back to the Pagie before the time runs out and it shuts up again.
P10: Inside the Pumping Plant, use the buttons at the end of the room to solve the puzzle by navigating the box from one side to the other. A Pagie will appear as your reward.
P11: Lizard Lash (MM) From the Pumping Plant, follow steps up to the left. Use Lizard Lash to make your way up the smaller platforms, dodging enemies and obstacles along the way Find a Pagie at the top.
P12: Once you’ve got this stage’s Play Coin, find Rextro’s arcade cabinet on the far side of the island, past the floating logs. Play the game Bee Bop once to gain a Pagie from Rextro.
P13: Beat Rextro’s high score in Bee Bop to earn a second Pagie from him.
P14: Lizard Leap (GG) From the start of the stage dive into the water and swim to the next area. Continue forward on land and pound the switch next to the googly-eyed pumpkin to lift the cage off of the Pagie ahead. If you splash the water at all the cage fill fall back down, so instead high jump to the right and walk across the platform to safely collect the Pagie.
P15: Sonar ‘Splosion (MM) From P14, continue straight past Trowzer and Vendi, then speak to Wally the trolley next to a mushroom patch. Use Sonar ‘Splosion to quickly destroy all the red mushrooms before they can start regrowing, then talk to Wally again for your Pagie reward.
P16: From P15, continue over the next two bridges and follow the big building around to Ollie the trolley. Talk to him and accept the maze challenge. In the maze, outrun the electric walls to find the Pagie at the end.
P17*: Lizard Leap (GG) From Trowzer, go right over the new logs and follow the dock around. High jump to the red frowny face, then immediately (before it has a chance to lower too far) jump to the next, and again from there to the wooden platform beyond. Glide over to the platform with the Pagie, then when the giant cage shuts you in, defeat all enemies to free yourself and the Pagie.
P18*: Buddy Slam (TT), Lizard Lash (MM) From P17, just back down to the dock and cross over both sets of lily pads. To the right, Lizard Lash onto the fiery platforms as the fire goes away. To the left of the third fire platform is a fire pit with some coal for you to slurp. With your fire resistance, continue lashing your way up until you see a switch on the topmost fire platform. Slam it to free the Pagie in a cagie just ahead.
P19*: From P18, jump down and head right until you find the googly-eyed pumpkin. Talk to it and accept yet another hoop challenge. As usual, jump through all the hoops before time runs out to receive another Pagie.
P20*: Sonar ‘Splosion (MM) From the pumpkin at the beginning of P19, continue down the path to find Clara the skeleton once again (on the left side). Talk to her then head inside the tube. Use Sonar ‘Splosion to break the blue blocks and temporary clear the fog. If you just hug one side you’ll find the gem at the end rather quickly. Take it back to Clara for a Pagie.
P21*: Buddy Slam (TT) From Clara (P20) continue down the path to the ramp with three quills on it. Stepping on the ramp causes it to sink into the toxic muck, so roll quickly across to the pipe on the other side and go to the next area. Slam the switch here to activate a new hoop challenge. Complete it in time to free the caged Pagie at the end of the course.
P22*: Dive into the water in the expanded area and use Bubble Buddy to go through the tube into Hot Switch Hollow. In each room of the Hollow you must hit every switch quickly before they start popping back up (four in the first room, five in all thereafter) to open the way to the next room. A Pagie awaits you at the end.
P23*: From Clara (P20) take the right path and follow the planks over the murky water. Climb up and around to find Planker, who has a new challenge for you. Knock the mushroom seeds down from the trees with a spin attack, then push them into the holes within the time limit to get a Pagie from him. Thankfully any successfully planted mushrooms stay planted when your time is up and the seeds reset, so when you try again you only need to focus on those still unplanted.
P24: Collect all 5 Ghost Writers (see below) to automatically unlock a Pagie.
P25: Collect all 200 Quills on this stage to unlock the final Pagie.
Ghost Writers
Each color of Ghost Writer requires a different tactic to capture them. Here’s the breakdown:
Yellow is the easiest, and can just be nabbed as soon as you find it.
Red will try to attack you, but you can dodge to make it change color. If you successfully dodge and counter-attack two or three times, it’ll turn green and you can capture it.
Green moves quickly, and must be attacked and subdued, but they are much easier to stop than the red ones.
Blue will giggle and laugh at you while blinking in and out of sight, so you must use a sonar ability to make it appear. Once you successfully hit it with your sonar, it’s yours.
Purple requires you to “feed” it by shooting it with an edible projectile such as the white snow flower pellets. Once it has had its fill, you can nab it.
Yellow: From the Pumping Plant, head left to the logs in the water. Jump on one closest to the shore and ride it right (jumping frequently to keep it from sinking) until you see a couple stationary platforms. Follow them to a corner where the yellow ghost hides.
Red: From Mr./Mrs. Pumpkin near the start of the stage, go forward to the caged Pagie and jump up to the right. Take a hard right and follow the bridge, then find the red ghost to the left. Normal tactics apply.
Green: Bubble Buddy (HT) From the exit of P05, swim straight forward into another large tube to a swamp area. Go forward and left, and jump into the small pool there. Use Bubble Buddy and normal tactics to catch it!
Blue: Past the underwater Pagie (P09) and through the prickly vines on land, you should hear it laughing. Use your sonar to uncover and collect it.
Purple*: From Clara (P20), climb onto the tube and walk to the center island. Slurp up the ice flower on the far side then jump up to the top to find the purple ghost. Shoot it with the ice pellets to capture it.
Rextro’s Token
Lizard Lash (MM) From P11, start again at the bottom and Lizard Lash up to the third platform. Turn right and continue up to find the Play Coin.
Mollycool
Bubble Buddy (HT), Sonar ‘Splosion (MM) After cleaning the water (P01), dive in to see the Mollycool underwater in a container topped with several mushrooms. Use Bubble Buddy to stand atop the container, then use Sonar ‘Splosion to remove all of the mushrooms, allowing the lid to lift up so you can claim the Mollycool.
Butterfly Upgrade*
Sonar ‘Splosion (GG) Dive into the water in the expanded section of Moodymaze Marsh and find the glowing blue block. Use Sonar ‘Splosion to destroy it, revealing the Butterfly Upgrade hidden inside.
Power Upgrade*
Lizard Leap (GG) From P19, look to the right to see the Power Upgrade floating above a pipe in front of a large tree. High jump and glide your way over to it, using the tree branch for the final jump.
Secret Pirate Treasure
Lizard Leap (GG) In front of the Pumping Plant, high jump to the top of it to find a shiny skull sitting in one of the tubes sticking up.
Other Tips and Information
Expanding the World: It costs 7 Pagies to unlock Moodymaze Marsh, and 8 more to expand it.
Expanded Area Shortcut: Just past Clara the skeleton (from P20) on the right is a switch that opens up a shortcut straight to the stage’s entrance.
Other guides: