Sketchbooks are one of the collectible categories tracked across Control Resonant’s version of Manhattan, and they work differently from a standard pickup. You do not simply walk up to a sketchbook and grab it. Each sketch requires a subject, and that subject has to be assembled from parts scattered around the zone before Dylan can draw it.
Quick answer: Find a sketchable object in a zone, collect its missing parts from elsewhere on that map, rebuild it, then sketch it. Completing every sketchbook instance unlocks the Work-Life Balance trophy and achievement.
How the sketchbook loop works in Control Resonant
Every sketchbook entry follows the same two-stage pattern. Stage one is an object in the world that is incomplete. Stage two is the sketch itself, which only becomes available once that object has been put back together. Houses and birds are among the subjects that turn up, and the same structure repeats in each zone rather than changing rules from area to area.
Expect the searches to overlap with combat. Parts sit in the same contested spaces the Hiss and other hostiles occupy, and clearing an area first is usually faster than trying to pick up components while being chased around a platform.
Clearing those enemies is not wasted time either, since kills feed Source back to you while you comb the area for the missing pieces.
Which zones contain sketchable objects
Manhattan is split into named zones, and a sketchable object appears in each one. Plan your sweep zone by zone instead of hopping between them, since every part for a given subject stays within that subject’s own map.
- Downtown
- Central
- West Incursion Zone
- The Park
- Underpass
- The Unknown
- Evacuation Zone
Activate the Map Kit in each zone as you arrive. A revealed map makes the part hunt far less painful, and it also feeds the Mapping the New New York side story you are likely running anyway.
Traversal abilities you need before a full sketch sweep
Some parts sit in places Dylan cannot physically reach on a first pass. Two traversal abilities come from the Search for Jesse Fault missions, and both widen the amount of a zone you can actually cover.
| Ability | Unlocked by | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Shift | The Incursion Fault | Aligns Dylan with Gravity Anomalies to traverse walls |
| Reach | The Subway Fault | Pulls Dylan toward traversal points |
The Incursion Fault starts in the West Incursion Zone’s Parking Garage, and the Subway Fault begins at the subway in the Evacuation Zone and requires Shift first. Until you have both, treat any sketch part you can see but cannot reach as a return trip rather than a puzzle you are failing to solve.
Nothing is missable, so a post-game cleanup works
No sketchbook instance is permanently missable. Every zone stays open after the campaign ends, which means you can push the story to completion and then go back for anything you skipped. That makes a dedicated cleanup run the most efficient approach for most players, since you will have full traversal and a much stronger build by then.
New Game Plus carries over most progression, but traversal abilities reset. If you are relying on a second run to mop up sketch parts in hard-to-reach spots, you will need to re-earn Shift and Reach before those locations open again.
How to confirm the Work-Life Balance trophy has unlocked
Work-Life Balance pops the moment the final sketchbook instance is completed, with the standard trophy or achievement notification on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. There is no separate turn-in step and no NPC to report back to, so if you have sketched every subject and the notification has not appeared, at least one zone still has a subject you have not built yet.
Control Resonant launches on September 24th, 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Because the sketch subjects are tied to fixed zones rather than timed events, the sensible order is to grab whatever you stumble across naturally during the campaign, then finish the set once the map is fully open to you.
