Orphans in LISA The Painful
Screenshot via Dingaling Productions

Can You Save the Orphans in LISA: The Painful? Answered

Who just leaves an open bucket of gasoline lying around???

LISA: The Painful, a critically acclaimed indie role-playing game developed by Dingaling Productions, presents players with a morally challenging and emotionally charged journey through a post-apocalyptic world. Throughout the game, players encounter numerous heartwrenching situations, one of the most painful of which is the tragic death of the group of orphans.

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Along your journey through LISA: The Painful’s storyline, you will encounter a small group of orphaned boys being looked after by a benevolent man. This group of orphans ends up meeting an untimely end due to a tragic, fiery accident, but what if it were possible to save them from their fate? In this article, we will explore the heartbreaking truth behind their fate and the impact it has on the game’s narrative and players’ emotions. Read on if you want to find out whether or not you can save the orphans in LISA: The Painful!

Is It Possible to Save the Orphans in LISA: The Painful?

Relatively early on in the game, players will encounter a group of orphaned boys and their caretaker in the desert. While you’re speaking with the orphans’ caretaker, one of the boys accidentally starts a small fire after messing around with some matches. Their caretaker will ask you to grab him his bucket of water to put out the flame but fails to inform you that there are actually two buckets, one with water and one with gasoline.

The bucket containing gasoline is closest to the boys and is inevitably the one that the player chooses. After you pick up the bucket of gasoline, the game forces you to throw it onto the flame, which turns it into a massive inferno that engulfs the boys in seconds. The caretaker then calls you a fool and commands you to grab the actual bucket of water, which is located high above the burning boys on a cliff.

After you get up to the top of the cliff, grab the water, and make your way back down, you’ll discover that you’re too late, and the boys have already been reduced to nothing but ashes. You might try to redo this entire process, thinking that you simply weren’t fast enough, or attempt to grab the correct bucket the first time, but all of these efforts are ultimately futile. There is no way to save the orphans in LISA: The Painful.

Burning Orphans in LISA The Painful
Screenshot via Dingaling Productions

If you try to load your last save, redo the entire interaction, and attempt to grab the correct bucket on top of the cliff, you won’t be able to. Every time you try to get past the orphans’ caretaker to get to the water bucket, he stops you and says “Dude, can you hand me that bucket of water?” You won’t be able to get past him and will have to grab the bucket of gasoline.

Additionally, you’ll never be fast enough at grabbing the water bucket after the boys have already started burning. No matter how quick you are at getting that water down to the orphans, they’ll always be nothing but ashes by the time you reach them.

LISA: The Painful is known for its harsh and unforgiving narrative, and unfortunately, this fact holds true in the case of the orphaned boys. Despite the players’ heroic actions and intentions, the game intentionally makes it impossible to save the boys, further emphasizing the brutal nature of the game’s narrative.

Orphans and Caretaker in LISA The Painful
Screenshot via Dingaling Productions

Unfortunately, this game sort of forces you to murder a group of orphans in an ungodly gruesome way, and there’s really nothing that you can do about it except avoid the encounter altogether. This altercation is not ultimately required to happen in order to beat the game, so if you’d prefer to skip the mass murder of orphaned children, you totally can.

Where Are the Orphans in LISA: The Painful?

Whether you want to get a peek at the adorable little tykes (and not burn them) or just want to make sure you avoid their neck of the woods altogether, knowing where to locate the orphans in LISA: The Painful is helpful.

The orphans are located behind a secret cave whose entrance is located all the way to the right of this common area:

Let's Find Her Location in LISA The Painful
Screenshot via Dingaling Productions

When you climb up the ropes and go all the way to the right, you’ll find the cave entrance. Here is the location of the entrance to the cave and what it looks like:

Entrance to Orphan Cave in LISA The Painful
Screenshot via Dingaling Productions

Once you go through the hole, you’ll have to walk through a short cave, where you’ll exit and find yourself in the area where the orphans are located. If you don’t want to become an accidental child murderer in LISA: The Painful, then don’t enter this cave!!!

Related: LISA: The Painful vs LISA: The Joyful – What’s the Difference and Which is Better?


If you enjoy playing gruesome games like LISA: The Painful, then you’d love to play The Binding of Isaac. The Binding of Isaac and LISA: The Painful share notable similarities, despite being different in gameplay and setting.

Both games explore dark and disturbing themes, delving into the psychological and emotional turmoil of their protagonists. Check out Gamer Journalist’s guides on The Binding of Isaac for more information, like “How to Play Co-op in The Binding of Isaac: Repentance“!

Author
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Allysen Pierce
Allysen Pierce is a freelance writer with a passion for gaming who has been a part of the Gamer Journalist team since May 2022. Her main passions are horror games and dating sims (especially combinations of the two), but she has been known to play literally anything that is put in front of her. Her current favorite games include Skyrim, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, Cult of the Lamb, Slaughter Horse, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. When she's not playing games (or writing about them), she can be found reading, baking, watching horror movies, or playing with her cat.