What to Do After the Casino Grim Fandango: A Complete Guide

After spending hours navigating the streets of Rubacava and running your own casino, you might feel lost once the doors finally close. Figuring out what to do after the casino Grim Fandango can be confusing if you’re relying on memory or vague hints from NPCs. The short answer: shut down the club by making the crooked roulette wheel fair, collect the suitcase of Double‑N tickets for a union card, print a winning cat‑race ticket, and head to the dock to board the SS Limbo. I’ll break down each step in a way that’s easy to follow, share personal tips from my own playthroughs, and connect you with helpful resources from our Eneba Hub along the way.

What to Do After the Casino Grim Fandango: Understanding Your Goal

Before diving into the specifics, it helps to understand why shutting down your own business is necessary. Glottis, your trusty driver, is addicted to gambling and refuses to leave Rubacava as long as he can play in the High Roller’s Lounge. To free him, you need to bankrupt yourself. The trick is to make the roulette wheel fair, causing Chief Bogen to lose his kickback and close the casino. 

Once the club is shut, you can focus on the tasks that let Manny and his friends continue their journey. If you enjoy classic puzzle adventures, check out our best point‑and‑click adventure games list. It features titles similar to Grim Fandango and might inspire your next gaming session.

Recap of Key Locations and Characters

You’ll spend most of Year 2 moving between Calavera Café, the Blue Casket, the cat track, the tattoo parlor, and other parts of Rubacava. Each area holds items or conversations that unlock the next step. Manny Calavera’s office houses the secret roulette controls. The Blue Casket, a beatnik club run by Olivia, is where you meet the revolutionaries and gather information. 

The cat track hides tools like the tin opener and a metal detector. Charlie in the casino offers a fake union card and ticket printer. Keeping these locations straight makes the upcoming tasks easier.

Your Inventory Matters

As you move through Rubacava, collect everything you can. Some items, like the scythe, gold flake liqueur, and turkey baster, are obvious. Others, such as the metal detector buried in kitty litter or the coat‑check tag hidden in a girl’s coat, are easy to miss. 

Many puzzles require combining items in creative ways. If you’re still new to adventure games, practicing inventory management in other titles can help. Our list of adventure games to try highlights games with similar puzzle structures, which is perfect for honing your skills even firther.

Securing the Union Card and VIP Pass

You can’t leave Rubacava without a union card. After the cutscene where Manny sees Meche being taken onto the SS Limbo, talk to Velasco at the dock and ask about sailing. He won’t let you board unless you have proper papers and tools for Glottis. The union card solves half of this problem. Head back to the casino and talk to Charlie in the seating area. Ask about fake betting stubs and a union card. Charlie gives you a ticket printer and a VIP pass to the High Roller’s Lounge. Showing this VIP pass to Glottis gets him upstairs, where his gambling habit intensifies. Don’t miss this dialogue option.

With the ticket printer in hand, note that it only works when you know the right race information. You’ll use it later to print a winning ticket. Keep the printer safe, because losing it means you can’t progress.

Navigating the High Roller’s Lounge and Collecting the Double‑N Tickets

The High Roller’s Lounge is both a social hub and a puzzle zone. Talk to Nick Virago, the smooth lawyer. Flatter him and threaten to expose his affair with Olivia; he’ll leave to talk to Maximino, his boss. Steal his cigarette case and take it to Carla at the security checkpoint. She detonates it, giving you a key. Here’s where inventory management comes into play: remember to drink the gold flake liqueur before walking through the metal detector. Without it, Carla won’t confiscate the detector, and you’ll never retrieve it later.

Use the key to access the kitchen in the lounge. Grab the turkey baster, then wait for the French waiter to enter the pantry. Close the pantry doors and jam them shut with your scythe. Glottis will drink the cask of wine, clearing a path. Climb the ladder, use the tin opener to open the cask, and jump inside. You’ll roll into a basement with a forklift.

Driving the forklift is tricky but manageable. Press the red button to move the elevator, then quickly hop back on the forklift and push the forks through one of the door slots halfway up the shaft. When the elevator stops, exit and use the lever on the forklift to pry open the door. Inside, you’ll find a suitcase of Double‑N tickets. After a cutscene, Charlie trades the tickets for the all‑important union card.

If the forklift timing frustrates you, take a breather and come back fresh.

Exploring the Blue Casket and the Rusty Anchor Clue

The Blue Casket may seem like a fun side area, but it holds essential clues and items. Inside, talk to Olivia, then open the left‑hand door to the kitchen. Fill the turkey baster with dirty hookah water. Next, show Salvador’s letters (picked up from Manny’s bedroom in the casino) to the revolutionaries at the table. They give you a book that you later use to inspire the Sea Bees. While talking to Lola, she takes photos of Olivia and Nick; return to the casino’s coat‑check area to find an empty envelope from her. It hints at a secret location.

After securing Nick’s key, visit the lighthouse with your new key. Inside you’ll find a photo of Lola pinned to the wall. Take the note off her body, revealing a clue: the Rusty Anchor tile. At first I ignored this item, thinking it was just flavor text. However, giving the tile to the coat‑check girl gets you a coat with a folded poem titled “Rusty Anchor.” This poem triggers an interaction later in the tattoo parlor, so make sure to stash it safely in your inventory.

Printing the Winning Ticket and Helping the Sea Bees

Remember the ticket printer from Charlie? Now’s the time to use it. Head back to the cat track and use your metal detector to find the device Carla threw out earlier. Then use the scythe to sift through the kitty litter and recover the metal detector. With the detector, you can help the pathologist identify bodies in the morgue, but the real purpose is retrieving the ticket printer in case you lost it. The printer itself doesn’t scan; it only prints. When you’re ready, input the combination 2‑2‑6 (Tuesday, Week 2, Race 6) to create a fake winning ticket.

Go to the photo‑finish booth with your printed ticket. Hand it over to the worker to receive a photo of the race’s winner. This proves the races are rigged, which gives Manny leverage over Nick. Return to the Sea Bees and give them the revolutionary book from the Blue Casket. Watching their strike get shut down by Chief Bogen is a moment that stuck with me. They’ll ask for a lawyer; show them the photo to convince Nick to represent them. This also sets up the final steps of closing the casino.

Shutting Down the Casino and Defeating the Police Chief

Armed with the race photo and union card, it’s time to shut down the casino. Go to Manny’s office and inspect the panel behind your desk. This panel controls the magnet under the roulette table. By default, the magnet ensures the police chief always wins. To go bankrupt, you need to make the game fair. Watch the pattern of the ball and switch the magnet off when the red light goes on. The chief will finally lose, become angry, and order a raid on the casino. In the chaos, Glottis is barred from gambling, and the club is closed.

This sequence can be tense because timing matters. When I first tried, I switched the magnet too early, and the chief won anyway. Patience is key. After the club closes, Glottis returns to the café depressed. Talk to him and mention that the union card grants him new opportunities. He’ll perk up and follow you again.

Handling Naranja and Securing Passage on the SS Limbo

One obstacle remains before leaving Rubacava: you need a crew position on the SS Limbo. Velasco won’t let you on the ship unless every spot is filled. Since Naranja hasn’t shown up, you must take his place. Go to the tattoo parlor. Open the fridge, pull out the bottom tray to prop it open, and while the tattoo artist is distracted on the phone, pour the dirty hookah water into the bottle near Naranja. He’ll fall asleep. Search his body to get the dog tag, then leave.

Next, visit the morgue. Use the dog tag on one of the “dead” bodies to fake Naranja’s death. Give the metal detector to the pathologist; he confirms your story, leaving Naranja’s position open. Velasco agrees to let Manny on board, and Glottis can come along because he has his union card and new tools. Board the ship, and Year 2 ends with a dramatic cutscene.

Sailing Into the Next Chapter

By now you should have a clear roadmap of what to do after the casino Grim Fandango. The steps may seem convoluted, but they’re part of what makes this classic adventure so satisfying. You managed inventory carefully, navigated the Blue Casket’s poetry slam, closed your own casino through a rigged game of roulette, and secured passage on the SS Limbo by tricking the morgue. I found each puzzle rewarding, especially the moment when Chief Bogen stormed out of the casino. That frustration and joy is why we still celebrate Grim Fandango decades later.

If you are ready to revisit the Land of the Dead or share it with a friend, make sure to consider picking up our Grim Fandango Remastered digital key. 

The remaster offers improved visuals, director commentary, and the same unforgettable story. Having it in your library means you can return to Rubacava anytime or give the gift of adventure to someone new.

FAQs

How do I close the casino in Grim Fandango?

To close the casino in Grim Fandango, you must turn off the hidden magnet that rigs the roulette wheel in Manny’s office. Waiting for the red light to flash and then flipping the switch ensures Chief Bogen finally loses, which leads him to shut down the club. This sequence triggers the closure cutscene and frees Glottis from his gambling addiction.

How do I get the union card in Grim Fandango?

To get the union card in Grim Fandango, you need to retrieve the suitcase of Double‑N tickets from the High Roller’s Lounge and trade it with Charlie. First, steal Nick’s key, access the basement using the forklift, grab the suitcase, and let Charlie exchange it for a fake union card. Without this card, Velasco won’t let you board the ship.

Where do I find the Rusty Anchor poem in Grim Fandango?

To find the Rusty Anchor poem in Grim Fandango, you must visit the lighthouse after getting Nick’s key and collect the tile Lola leaves behind. Giving this tile to the coat‑check girl at the casino returns a coat containing the Rusty Anchor poem. You later use this poem to distract the tattoo artist and put Naranja to sleep.

How do I print the cat race ticket in Grim Fandango?

To print the cat race ticket in Grim Fandango, use the ticket printer from Charlie and enter the combination for Tuesday, Week 2, Race 6 as 2‑2‑6. This creates a fake winning ticket, which you exchange at the photo‑finish booth to obtain a photo proving the races are rigged. That photo helps convince Nick to represent the Sea Bees.

How do I leave Rubacava in Grim Fandango?

To leave Rubacava in Grim Fandango, you must complete several tasks: secure the union card, shut down the casino, incapacitate Naranja with dirty hookah water, fake his death at the morgue, and obtain Velasco’s permission to board the SS Limbo. Finishing these steps allows Manny and Glottis to sail to Year 3.