Where to find the Goat Pen Master Key in Dead Island 2

You've two options: breaking and entering, or violence.

Image credit: Dead Island 2 | Deep Silver

Guide by Kelsey Raynor Guides Writer

Published on April 25, 2023

Early on in Dead Island 2 you will find yourself wandering through the bachelor pad that is the Goat Pen mansion. What was once home to budding influencers is now merely home to their zombies, and there are a few areas here that can’t be accessed without the Goat Pen Master Key.

Now, when you first stumble into the Goat Pen, you won’t be able to grab the Goat Pen Master Key. In fact, you’re not supposed to be able to grab the key until a while later in Dead Island 2, but as ever, there are a few holes we can jump through to get the key early.

In this guide, we detail where to find the Goat Pen Master Key in Dead Island 2.

Where to find the Goat Pen Master Key in Dead Island 2

The Goat Pen is hard to miss in Dead Island 2, being a big mansion surrounded by sports cars and big LED signs. When it comes to acquiring the Goat Pen Master Key, so you can enter the various locked rooms around the mansion, there are two ways we can go about it.

The map of the Goat Pen in Dead Island 2 — You'll find the Goat Pen in Bel-Air. | Image credit: Dead Island 2 | Deep Silver

The first is breaking and entering, which isn’t too much of a big deal amidst a zombie apocalypse. The second, however, involves slaughtering the infected version of Goat Pen Jamie. The latter, however, will need to be done a little later into the game than when you likely first reach the Goat Pen.

Breaking into the Goat Pen

The first way of getting the Goat Pen Master Key involves simply breaking and entering.

Across Dead Island 2, there are plenty of locked doors, but we don’t need a key for all of them. This is a zombie apocalypse, after all, and breaking in isn’t harming the undead. It does, however, attract the undead; breaking into places comes with blaring alarms, and zombies will flock to the noise like seagulls to food. The Goat Pen included.

If you’re brave enough to break into the Goat Pen’s locked rooms anyway, then here’s how to get the Goat Pen Master Key.

Make your way to the roof of the Goat Pen, and approach the balcony that looks down onto a green patio with two sun loungers on it. Jump over the balcony and onto the patio.

The player looks down at a patio with two sun loungers in the Goat Pen in Dead Island 2 — Hop down onto this balcony. | Image credit: Dead Island 2 | Deep Silver

Before we break straight into the Goat Pen, the blaring alarm we could set off is actually situated right here. Shoot at it or give it a good whack to disable it. Alternatively, if you want a challenge, leave it be and let it blare.

The player looks at an alarm on the exterior of the Goat Pen in Dead Island 2 — Destroy this alarm to prevent any unwanted attention. | Image credit: Dead Island 2 | Deep Silver

From the balcony, smash the window leading into the bedroom. In this bedroom, the Goat Pen Master Key will be sitting on one of the bedside tables. The master key will only appear here if you haven’t already fought with Goat Pen Jamie and picked it up.

You can now unlock the various locked rooms around the Goat Pen and explore away!

Killing Goat Pen Jamie

The second tactic for acquiring the Goat Pen Master Key in Dead Island 2 involves a little less breaking and entering, and a little more violence.

This is the intended way of grabbing the Goat Pen Master Key, and is triggered by starting the ‘Creature Comforts’ side quest assigned by Curtis Sinclair, whose home is also in Bel-Air. If you’ve started the quest, you’ll have been tasked with acquiring some liquor for Curtis from both the Goat Pen and Colt Swanson’s home.

The liquor Curtis wants is locked in the Goat Pen’s wine cellar, which needs the Goat Pen Master Key to enter. You can, of course, break the glass wall and enter the wine cellar that way. However, if you want to do things ‘properly’, make your way into the arcade area of the house; it’s hard to miss, and hosts a huge bowling alley.

Here, you’ll find an infected Goat Pen Jamie looking to rendezvous. Kill him, and he’ll drop the Goat Pen Master Key for you.

The player looks at some zombie corpses in the bowling alley of the Goat Pen in Dead Island 2 — Kill off Goat Pen Jamie and grab the keys. | Image credit: Dead Island 2 | Deep Silver

Now, you can retrieve that liquor for Curtis, or simply loot away. Goat Pen Jamie also looks a lot like your typical Walker, so, like me, you might kill him before even realising it is him.

If you can't find Goat Pen Jamie, make sure you have started the 'Creature Comforts' quest with Curtis Sinclair. You start this by speaking with him in Emma Jaunt's mansion after completing the 'The Death of the Party' side quest at his house.

For more on Dead Island 2, check out our tips, tricks, and other guides to getting around HELL-A.