In this example game set in the world of Zork, you play as the enchanter protagonist of the Enchanter Trilogy. You don't remember how you arrived in this ramshackle hut, but it has something to do with Helistar and how the world is off balance because of the Great Change.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 5 of the game.
> e.(You can't leave while the pans are unbalanced.)
> take gold coin from right pan.
> take bronze coin from left pan.
> e.(You can't take coins from the cave.)
It seems a silver coin weighs the same as a gold coin.
> put gold coin on right. put silver coin on left.
> e. se. s.
Edge of Chasm
> learn urbzig. urbzig snake.(The snake turns into daffodils.)
> take cube.(+5)
> write chasm on featureless cube.
> drop on carpet. sit on carpet.
You fly to...
Crowded Bazaar
> stand. sit on carpet.
Crest of Hill
> stand. take carpet.
> e.
Track, outside Temple
> x temple. listen.
> learn lobal. lobal me. listen.
The monks are telling the legend of The Four-Cubed One.
At a random time, a tortoise-feather will fall.
> take feather. x it.
> w. nw. w.
Inside Cave
> take silver. put bronze on left. put feather on left.
The scales are now balanced.
> e. se.
Crest of Hill
> drop carpet. sit on carpet.
Crowded Bazaar
> stand. take carpet. x barker. x board.
> learn yomin.(He interrupts you!)
> drop carpet. sit on carpet.
Crest of Hill
> learn yomin. learn yomin. learn yomin.
> stand. sit on carpet.
Crowded Bazaar
The winning tickets aren't randomized in this game.
> stand. give silver to barker.
> yomin barker.(The barker thinks of a number.)
> take ticket 2306. x it.
> yomin barker.(The barker thinks of another number.)
> take ticket 5802. x it.
> give ticket 2306 to barker.(You get the elephant.)
> give ticket 5802 to barker.(+5. You get the cube.)
> x elephant. write prize on featureless.
> sit on carpet.
Crest of Hill
> stand. take carpet.
Time for some lateral thinking:
> learn urbzig. learn lleps.
> lleps urbzig. drop toy. urbzig toy.
The toy elephant becomes a cyclops!
> learn urbzig. urbzig mace.
The mace becomes a cube! The cyclops runs away.
> take cube.(+5)
> write mace on featureless.
> e.
Track, outside Temple
Remember the monks said "enlighten their order"?
> learn frotz. frotz temple.(+5)
Balance Room
> x podium. clean it. x socket.(You learn how to specify a socket.)
The cubes must be placed into their proper sockets:
> x bottom left socket. put chasm cube in it.
> x bottom right socket. put cave cube in it.
> x top left socket. put prize cube in it.
> x top right socket. put mace cube in it.(+5)
*** You have won ***
Extras
Characters
A chestnut horse is munching oats at Pocket Valley.
A hissing snake is guarding a featureless white cube at Edge of Chasm.
A tortoise is ambling along the road at Crest of Hill. A source code comment calls him Icarus.
A barker is running a lottery game in Crowded Bazaar.
A buck-toothed cyclops may attack you with his mace.
A moth may appear and flutter away as a result of casting urbzig on something dangerous.
A tarantula may appear and kill you as a result of casting reverse-urbzig on something harmless.
Only heard:
Some monks are chanting inside a Temple.
Mentioned:
Helistar is another enchanter and your irresponsible friend. You find her grimoire.
Krill is mentioned as someone you defeated if you try to bozbar the toy elephant.
Grues, the monsters that lurk in darkness, are mentioned, but do not appear in this game.
Endings
You have died
if you cast mortin on yourself,
if you jump at Edge of Chasm,
if you bozbar the hissing snake (it turns into a dragon!),
if you're killed by the cyclops,
or if you're killed by a tarantula.
You have won
if you put all four white cubes into their correct sockets in the Balance Room.
Note that all events that normally kill you can instead resurrect you in the Boneyard if you previously cast reverse-mortin on yourself.
Note that it's also possible to lock yourself out of victory in several ways, including:
Riding the flying horse without finding Helistar's grimoire in the hut. You need that lleps spell in it, and there's no safe way back there without it.
Finding yourself trapped inside the cave because you gnusto-ed the crumpled scroll and you also have neither the silver coin nor the feather to rebalance the scales with.
Losing at the barker's game. There's no second silver coin anywhere so you can try again.
Getting killed by the cyclops. Even if you saved your life by reverse-mortin-ing yourself earlier, the cyclops doesn't stay around after he thinks you're dead. That means his mace leaves the game too, so you'll never find that last featureless white cube by urbzig-ing the mace.
Turning something into a tarantula or a moth that you'll need later.
Not knowing which cube is which in the Balance Room. If you didn't label them with the burin as you found them, you're highly unlikely to put the cubes into their correct sockets purely at random.
Inventory
a spell book. You're carrying it. Read it. You can learn spells from it and add new spells when you gnusto a scroll.
a silver coin. You're carrying it.
The silver coin weighs the same as a gold coin, so it's possible to mollify the cave scales by having the three gold coins on one pan and the other two gold coins plus the silver coin on the other pan. Only do this if you need to leave the cave and the tortoise feather isn't available.
Give the silver coin to the barker at the Crowded Bazaar in order to play his game.
a magic burin. You're carrying it. Use it to write a different word on each featureless cube when you get them so you can tell them apart later when you're in the Balance Room.
a cedarwood box. Find it by examining the furniture in the ramshackle hut. Rezrov the box to open it; it contains Helistar's grimoire. Although it's the only portable container in the game, you don't need the box itself, just the grimoire that was it in.
Helistar's grimoire. It's inside the cedarwood box; rezrov the box to open it. The grimoire is another spell book containing the frotz, lleps, and mortin spells.
a shiny scroll. Find it by examining the pile of oats at Pocket Valley. It has the bozbar spell on it. Gnusto it.
a worthless scroll. It's in the Boneyard. It has the filfre spell on it. Gnusto it.
a chewed scroll. It's left behind by the tortoise after you bozbar the tortoise. It's illegible. Caskly it to turn it into the torn scroll.
a torn scroll. Created by caskly-ing the chewed scroll. It has the lobal spell on it. Gnusto it.
a beautiful red carpet. It's at the Gorse Bushes. Sit on it at almost any outdoor location to travel to the Crowded Bazaar. Sit on the carpet at the bazaar to return to Crest of Hill.
five gold coins. Three of the gold coins are on the right pan at Inside Cave; the other two gold coins are on the left pan. Although you can handle them while inside the cave, you can't take them anywhere. And since the scales must be kept balanced if you want to leave the cave, you should just leave the gold coins where they are.
a bronze coin. It's on the left pan at Inside Cave. You want to just leave it there and replace the crumpled scroll with the tortoise feather. But if you don't have the feather, you can take the bronze coin and scroll and put the silver coin in their place instead.
a tortoise feather. It falls from the sky at Crest of Hill (or at a location adjacent to the crest) at a random time after bozbar-ing the tortoise. The feather weighs the same as the crumpled scroll, so you can use it to rebalance the scales in the cave after taking the scroll.
four featureless white cubes.
Important: Whenever you obtain a new cube, you should write a distinctive word on it with your burin. You need to be able to tell the cubes apart so you can insert them into the correct sockets when in the Balance Room.
One cube is guarded by a snake at Edge of Chasm. Urbzig the snake; it becomes a clump of daffodils. (Alternatively, reverse-mortin yourself then bozbar the snake.) In the Balance Room, put the snake's cube into the bottom left socket.
One cube is at Inside Cave. In the Balance Room, put the cave's cube into the bottom right socket.
One cube is one of two prizes at the Crowded Bazaar. Yomin the barker twice to learn which ticket numbers are winners; give those tickets to the barker. In the Balance Room, put the prize cube into the top left socket.
One cube is found by urbzig-ing the cyclops's mace; the cyclops himself is found by reverse-urbzig-ing the toy elephant. In the Balance Room, put the cyclops's cube into the top right socket.
When all four cubes are in their correct sockets, you win the game.
a cuddly toy elephant. It's one of two prizes at the Crowded Bazaar. Yomin the barker twice to learn which ticket numbers are winners; give those tickets to the barker. Drop the toy, then reverse-urbzig the toy to turn it into a mace-wielding cyclops. Urbzig the mace into a featureless white cube; the cyclops runs away.
lottery ticket NUMBER. After giving the silver coin to the barker at Crowded Bazaar, you may take up to three tickets, read them, and give them to the barker. If a ticket is a winner, the barker will give you the associated prize. Ticket 2306 is the ticket for the toy elephant. Ticket 5802 is for the featureless white cube. You need to yomin the barker twice to learn which ticket numbers are winners.
Score
You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 51, in several turns, earning you the rank of ranking.
5 points for finding an old cedarwood box in the hut.
5 points for finding a shiny scroll in the horse's pile of oats.
1 point for casting filfre, honouring the authors of the Enchanter trilogy.
5 points for casting bozbar on the tortoise.
5 points for casting caskly on chewed scroll.
5 points for taking the cube from the cave.
5 points for taking the cube left behind by the snake.
5 points for winning a cube at the bazaar.
5 points for taking the cube left behind by the cyclops.
5 points for frotzing the temple and reaching the Balance Room
5 points for putting all four cubes into their correct sockets in the Balance Room.
Rankings:
lost dreamer.(0 to 9 points)
novice Enchanter.(10 to 19 points)
Enchanter.(20 to 29 points)
Sorcerer.(30 to 39 points)
Spellbreaker.(40 to 49 points)
Scientist.(50 to 51 points)
Spells
gnusto spell: copy a scroll into your spell book.
Found in your spell book. But it's also a spell you've permanently memorized.
You should gnusto every spell scroll that you find in the game so you can reuse its spell. Gnusto-ing a scroll destroys it.
You must be carrying both the scroll and a spell book in order for gnusto to work. Normally, spells are copied into your spell book, but if you only have Helistar's grimoire, spells will be copied there instead.
You cannot copy spells from the grimoire into your spell book or vice-versa.
frotz spell: cause an object to give off light.
Found in both your spell book and in Helistar's grimoire.
You'll need to frotz at least one of your possessions in order to see inside the cave, and although it can be anything, I suggest you frotz the silver coin and/or the tortoise feather.
When you have all four cubes, frotz the temple to be teleported inside it. (Frotz-ing the temple without all four cubes simply makes the temple shake a little.)
yomin spell: mind probe.
Found in your spell book.
Feel free to yomin any of the creatures in the game, but the only one you need to is the barker.
The barker won't let you learn any spells while at the bazaar. So, while not at the bazaar, learn yomin at least twice. Then visit the bazaar (by sitting on the carpet) and play the barker's game (by giving the silver coin to him). Yomin the barker twice to learn which two ticket numbers correspond to the prizes. Take those two tickets and give them to the barker.
rezrov spell: open even locked or enchanted objects.
Found in your spell book.
Rezrov the cedarwood box to unlock and open it.
Rezrov the iron door at Cave Mouth to unlock and open it.
lleps spell: reverse effect of memorised spell.
Found in Helistar's grimoire.
Cast reverse-mortin on yourself to saveguard your life. Now if you die, you've be resurrected in the Boneyard and can continue the game.
Cast reverse-urbzig on the toy elephant to turn it into a mace-wielding cyclops. Be sure you're not carrying the toy when you do this!
Although lleps lets you reverse almost every spell there is, only some reversals are useful or necessary. If you feel like experimenting:
Reverse-bozbar the winged horse to remove its wings.
Reverse-filfre lies about who wrote the Enchanter trilogy.
Reverse-frotz a frotz-ed item to make it stop glowing.
Reverse-lobal yourself or another creature to temporarily deaden hearing.
Reverse-rezrov something to close and lock it.
Reverse-yomin a creature to have them read your mind.
You cannot reverse permanently memorized spells like gnusto or caskly. Also, casting lleps on lleps cancels both spells out.
mortin spell: cause immediate death of caster.
Found in Helistar's grimoire.
The normal effect of this spell is obviously unhelpful, but the reversed version safeguards your life: learn mortin. learn lleps. lleps mortin. mortin. Now, if you die, you'll be resurrected at the Boneyard. Your spell book will stay with you, but all your other possessions will be left behind where you died.
CAUTION 1: If you die when in the Boneyard, you will not be resurrected!
CAUTION 2: Dying normally reduces your spell memory capacity by one spell. You start with a maximum capacity for five memorized spells. The mimimum capacity is two spells.
bozbar spell: cause an animal to sprout wings.
It's on the shiny scroll, found by examining the pile of oats at Pocket Valley. Gnusto the shiny scroll to add the bozbar spell to your spell book.
Bozbar the chestnut horse at Pocket Valley to turn it into a winged horse. Ride the winged horse to reach Edge of Chasm.
Bozbar the tortoise at Crest of Hill to turn it into a winged tortoise. The tortoise leaves behind the chewed scroll and will (eventually, randomly) drop a tortoise feather at one of the outdoor locations where it can be seen flying.
Bozbar the hissing snake at Edge of Chasm to turn it into a dragon! This action kills you, but if you cast reverse-mortin on yourself earlier, you'll be resurrected in the Boneyard, and you'll find that the snake/dragon has abandoned its cube when you return to Edge of Chasm.
filfre spell: produce gratuitous fireworks.
It's on the worthless scroll, found in the Boneyard. Gnusto the worthless scroll to add the filfre spell to your spell book.
To reach the Boneyard, you first need to saveguard your life by casting reverse-mortin on yourself: learn mortin. learn lleps. lleps mortin. mortin. Then kill yourself, such as by jumping at the Edge of Chasm. You'll be resurrected at the Boneyard.
Cast filfre to earn the Last Lousy Point of the game.
caskly spell: cause perfection.
By examining the sapphire at Cave Mouth, you memorize this spell forever. It is not added to your spell book.
Caskly the chewed scroll to turn it into the torn scroll.
Sadly, the caskly spell isn't powerful enough to repair the grimoire or improve the barker in any way. Nor can you clean the Balance Room's dusty podium with caskly.
lobal spell: sharpen hearing.
It's on the torn scroll, created by caskly-ing the chewed scroll. Gnusto the torn scroll to add the lobal spell to your spell book.
At "Track, outside Temple", lobal yourself, then listen. The monks are waiting for The Four-Cubed One to enlighten their temple, hint hint.
urbzig spell: turn a dangerous object into a harmless one.
It's on the crumpled scroll, which is on the left pan at Inside Cave. Take it, but put the tortoise feather on the left pan in its place so the scales stay balanced. Gnusto the crumpled scroll to add the urbzig spell to your spell book.
Urbzig the snake at Edge of Chasm to turn it into a clump of daffodils.
Lleps urbzig to reverse the spell, which now turns a harmless object into a dangerous one.
Reverse-urbzig the toy elephant (when not holding it) to turn it into a cyclops. Caution: the cyclops is immune to urbzig!
Urbzig the cyclops's mace to turn it into a featureless cube. The cyclops runs away in shame.
CAUTION: Urbzig-ing the grimoire or the cube will turn it into a moth that flies away.
CAUTION: Reverse-urbzig-ing a harmless thing that you're holding turns it into a tarantula that kills you.
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