Key & Compass presents:
The Basilisk and the Banana
by Jasper and Darren

• Maps
  • Map 1: From Hermes's home to the black castle's door
  • Map 2: From the black castle to Zeus's throne room
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Artwork, Characters, Credits, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Follow me at Bluesky, Ko-Fi, Mastodon, Patreon, and Wordpress.

Maps

Map 1: From Hermes's home to the black castle's door

Map 2: From the black castle to Zeus's throne room

Walkthrough

Do you want sound?

>> 1 —or— 2

The game begins in tutorial mode, which you can turn off with TUTORIAL OFF. Note also that you can CALL ZEUS for a hint, and use FONT to change the font from the Greek style to a conventional sans-serif font. I changed the font right away.

Your bedroom

Note that exits are listed above the picture to the right.

> x wardrobe.

> get toga. x toga. wear toga.

> x bed.

> x sandal. get it. wear it.

> x droppings. take droppings.

> x fluff.

> s.

Kitchen

> x hole —or— x rat.

> w.

Pantry

You aren't willing to take the bread.

> x bread. x cheese. take it.

> e.

Kitchen

> show cheese. (The rat pushes your right sandal into the room, takes the cheese, and goes.)

> get sandal. x it. wear it.

With both sandals on, you can now fly by going UP.

> u. (yes, it works)

> i.

> x table. x letter. take it.

> x chairs. x window.

> s.

Garden

The tutorial ends.

> x tree. x grass. take grass.

> u.

Sky

> w. w. (storm clouds appear)

> x clouds.

> w. w. (lightning!)

> x lightning.

> w. (A thunderbolt is heading at you!)

> w.

The bolt misses you but destroys your sandals. You're falling!

> d. (You need to slow your fall.)

> remove toga. (The toga acts like a parachute.)

> d.

Beach

The letter and the clouds are gone.

> wear toga.

> x beach. take pebble. x it. x sea.

> w.

Hill

> x castle. n.

Winding Path

> x mountains. n.

Pond

> x pond. x plants.

> x rubbish. x basket. (trolley on wheels)

> x junk. x lantern. take it.

> n.

Cliff Top

> x cliff. x bush. take key. x it.

> s. s. s. w.

Mountain Top

> x snow. x fruit. take it.

> w.

Valley

You can't "moo" back at the minotaur, alas.

> x minotaur. talk to minotaur.

> give grass. (He eats the grass and runs off.)

> w.

Black Castle

> x note. x door. x keyhole.

> unlock door with key. w.

Porch

> x windows. x monsters. x snake.

> w.

Sitting Room

> x chairs. (You might sleep if you sat in them.)

> s.

South Corridor

> e.

Library

> x books. x scrolls. (You find one in Greek.)

> take scroll. read it.

> w. w.

Kitchen (of castle)

> x equipment. take knife. x it.

> x cupboards. x jam. take it.

> x surfaces.

> e. n. n.

North Corridor

> x gadfly.

> give jam. (fail: the jar is too small to catch it)

You run back to...

Sitting Room

> put jam in lantern.

> n.

North Corridor

> give lantern. (You trap it!)

> x lantern. take lantern.

> e.

Store Room

> x gold. take gold. (no: just one coin)

> take coin. x coin.

> w. w.

Armoury

> x armour. x weapons.

> x sword. take it.

> upgrade sword. (with the fruit, it becomes a powerful sword!)

> x sword. ("BANANA")

> e. s. w.

Dining Hall

> x chandelier. x table. (found: trapdoor)

> x trapdoor.

> open it. (using the knife)

> d.

Cellar

The trapdoor slams shut behind you, and the snake is a basilisk! Don't look!

> shut eyes —or— close eyes. (You must do this first.)

Repeat these actions until you hear the basilisk gurgle its last breath:

• > slash left. (if you hear the basilisk to the left)
• > slash right. (if you hear the basilisk to the right)
• > slash forwards. (your default attack)

If you heard the gurgle, the basilisk is dead.

> open eyes.

> x blood. x basilisk.

> x bones. take letter.

CAUTION: Don't examine the bones again, or the letter goes back there.

> w.

Beach (with minotaur)

> x minotaur. (He gives you a tinderbox.)

> x tinderbox. (You can burn something now.)

> x beach. (You find wood.)

> x wood. burn wood.

An enormous eagle lands near you.

> x eagle. (It's Aetos.)

> talk to Aetos. (He wants payment.)

There are at least five possible payment items:

> give droppings —or— give pebble —or— give key —or— give coin —or— give tinderbox. (accepted)

> climb Aetos.

Sky

> x fruit. w.

Foot of Mount Olympus

Aetos leaves you here.

> x mountain. u.

Top of Mount Olympus

Athena wants you to answer a riddle.

If you guess the riddle wrong a lot, use LOOK to see the riddle again.

> say lantern. (The gate opens; she leaves.)

> x gate. u.

Throne Room

> x Zeus. give letter.

Happy birthday! Zeus gives you your first present.

*** THE END ***

Extras

Artwork

This game uses hand-drawn artwork for every location in the game. Additional artwork is used for changes in a location, close-up views of something, or events.

Here are some sampled images, reduced in size. Please play the game to view the artwork in their intended sizes and contexts.

Characters

• Hermes is the player-character, the Greek messenger god.
• A rat has made a hole in your kitchen wall.
• A minotaur blocks your way in a valley.
• An angry gadfly blocks your way in the black castle's north corridor.
• A basilisk threatens to kill you in its cellar.
• Athena is a Greek goddess and your sister. At the top of Mount Olympus, she insists you answer her riddle.
• Zeus is the king of the Greek gods and your dad. You need to deliver the letter to him.

Credits

This is the response to CREDITS:

-------
CREDITS
-------

Game : The Basilisk and Banana
Game Version : 0.1.0
Adventuron Version: 1.0.0 Beta 68j [PERSONAL USE ONLY]
Written by : Jasper & Darren
Copyright Message : (c) 2024
Parser type : The game requires only two word commands (VERB NOUN).

------------
SYSTEM FONTS
------------

- Delta10 - based on Delta 4 font, released into public domain by Fergus McNeill. Modifications by CA.

- Clairsys / Clairsys 10 by Paul Van Laan, SIL Font License.

- DAAD by Adventuras AD. Released into the public domain by Andrés Samudio. Minor adaptations applied (by CA).

- Bamburgh - Adventuron Font Created by Chris Ainsley. All Rights Reserved.

- Plotter Bold Extended by Damien Guard. Licensed free to use and redistribute (with games).

- Kitchen Sink created by Retroshark and Polyducks. The font may be used with attribution in commercial and non-commercial projects free of charge. The font may not be redistributed or remixed in whole or in part. It may not be resold elsewhere as an asset or part of an asset pack.

And these are the credits as listed on the game's homepage:

Written, designed, illustrated and coded by Jasper & Darren.

Tested by Garry Francis, Tabitha, manonomora, Noah Si, Elliot & Joe.

Much help was had from the Adventuron discord, particularly from Garry Francis and Chris Ainsley.

Adventuron was developed by Chris Ainsley, and is copyright of Adventuron Software Limited
(and is frankly brilliant for young / beginner coders).

Inventory

There are no inventory limits. Items are listed in the order you acquire them in this walkthrough.

• a loose white and blue toga. It's in your wardrobe in your bedroom.
• Wear it. You can't leave your bedroom without wearing the toga and left sandal.
• When you're falling in the sky, remove the toga. You use the toga as a makeshift parachute to slow your fall.
• After you land on the beach, wear the toga again. You won't leave the beach naked.
• the left sandal. It's under your bed in your bedroom.
• Wear it.
• rat droppings. They're under your bed in your bedroom.
• When Aetos, the giant eagle, lands on the western beach, you may give the droppings to him. Now you can climb him for a ride to the foot of Mount Olympus.
• a piece of goat's cheese. It's in your pantry.
• In your kitchen, show the cheese to the rat. The rat leaves your right sandal in the kitchen in exchange.
• the right sandal. A rat in your kitchen took it into its hole.
• Show the cheese to the rat. The rat leaves the sandal in the kitchen in exchange. Wear the sandal.
• With both sandals on, you can fly. Unfortunately, you lose your sandals when a rogue lightning bolt destroys them.
• an important letter. It's on your kitchen table.
• Take it. The letter is lost when you fall out of the sky later.
• After defeating the basilisk in its cellar, examine the pile of bones to find the letter again. Take it.
• In Zeus's throne room, give the letter to him.
• grass. Grass is growing in your garden.
• In the valley, give the grass to the minotaur. He eats it and leaves.
• a small white pebble. Find one on the beach.
• When Aetos, the giant eagle, lands on the western beach, you may give the pebble to him. Now you can climb him for a ride to the foot of Mount Olympus.
• a glass lantern. Find it by examining the junk amongst the rubbish in the pond.
• Put the jam into the lantern; it's now a glass lantern with some jam in it.
• In the north corridor, show the jam-filled lantern to the gadfly; you trap it! The lantern is now a glass lantern with an angry gadfly trapped on it.
• You can take the lantern again, but the only reason to is to try giving it to Aetos or Zeus.
• a small golden key. It's under the bush at the cliff top.
• This key unlocks the door to the black castle.
• When Aetos, the giant eagle, lands on the western beach, you may give the key to him. Now you can climb him for a ride to the foot of Mount Olympus.
• a strange, curved yellow fruit. Find it by examining the snow at the mountain top.
• This is a banana. With it, upgrade the small sword into a powerful sword.
• an old scroll. Find it by examining the scrolls in the library.
• Read the scroll to learn you must upgrade a sword with a banana to make a sword powerful enough to defeat a slithering creature (the basilisk).
• a rusty kitchen knife. It's amongst the cooking equipment in the castle's kitchen.
• In the dining room, when you try to open the trapdoor, you succeed if you have the knife to help you. Unfortunately, the knife breaks in the process.
• a small pot of jam. Find it by examining the cupboards in the castle's kitchen.
• Put the jam into the lantern. You now have a tiny empty pot which you may ignore.
• a gold coin. Gold is in the store room. You may take one coin.
• When Aetos, the giant eagle, lands on the western beach, you may give the coin to him. Now you can climb him for a ride to the foot of Mount Olympus.
• a small sword. It's in the armoury.
• As per the scroll, UPGRADE THE SWORD (using the yellow fruit). Together, they become a powerful sword!
• The powerful sword is needed to defeat the basilisk, but it's not as simple as KILL BASILISK. First, you must close your eyes, then STAB or SLASH to the LEFT, RIGHT, or FORWARD until you hear the snake gurgle its last breath.
• a tinderbox. On the western beach, the minotaur gives the tinderbox to you when you examine him there.
• Burn the driftwood (with the tinderbox) to summon Aetos, the giant eagle.
• You may also give the tinderbox to Aetos, especially if you have nothing better to give him. Now you can climb him for a ride to the foot of Mount Olympus.
• pieces of driftwood. On the western beach, find this wood by examining the beach itself.
• Burn the wood (with the tinderbox) to summon Aetos, the giant eagle.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

• the support of Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, Phil Tatro, and Daniel Stelzer;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen, Matthew Foxley, and Thomas Insel;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer, Lance Campbell, and DrkStarr;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Jennifer Rexrode, and Durafen;
• and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.

Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!