Cave Adventure is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2007 by Jazz Remington.
In this cave-crawl adventure, you play as someone lost in the woods during a nature hike, but when you take refuge inside a large cavern, the ceiling caves in behind you, blocking your exit. Escape the caves if you can. Features an underground lake and a scary troll.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction game. Please make an honest effort to play the game before reading this walkthrough.
The game is billed as for beginners, but its rooms are connected in a bizarre unintuitive way, and the game rarely mentions the valid exits in a room's description. Trust me, I've been playing IF for decades, and that feature alone disqualifies this game as beginner-friendly. There's even a "Dead End" location with five exits, for pity's sake.
So everything is maze-like, there's darkness, there's some guess-the-verb, and there's some insta-death. The usual term for this style is "old-school".
Forest
> x sky. x trees. x foliage.
> x meat. take it.
> w.
Wolf's Den
> drop meat. (The wolf drops the flashlight, takes the meat, and returns to the forest.)
> take flashlight.
> e. n.
Darkness / Cavern
As you enter, the cave collapses behind you.
> turn on flashlight.
> x columns. x ceiling.
> n. (This is a one-way connection.)
Damp Cavern
> x floor. dig. (no: need a tool)
> n. w.
North-South Path
> x vest. take it. x tube.
> e. n. d. s.
Edge of Lake
Good luck trying to guess that the command for inflating the vest is BLOW ON TUBE.
> wear vest. blow on tube.
> i. (The vest is now styled as "inflated")
CAUTION: You can only safely enter the lake while wearing the inflated vest.
CAUTION: If you ever find yourself in a narrow or small space and the inflated vest is preventing you from leaving, take off the vest.
> s. d.
Under Water
I note that you can stay in this location indefinitely without drowning.
> take shovel.
Return to the Damp Cavern and its dirt patch:
> u. n. n. u. w. s.
Damp Cavern
> dig. (using the shovel)
> take key. x it.
> n. n. d. s.
Edge of Lake
You're still wearing the inflated vest, yes? If not, put it back on before continuing.
> s. e.
Another Dead End
> x bones. x door. open door. (locked)
> unlock door with key. open door.
> e.
Living Area
EXTREME CAUTION. The troll wanders in and out of his rooms at random. He doesn't attack if you enter a room that he's already in, but he will eat you if you attempt to leave or otherwise move in his presence.
If you're not moving, the troll ignores you. WAIT is safe. EXAMINE is safe. INVENTORY is safe. If he's in a room with you, just wait until he leaves.
> x TV. x recliner. x table.
> x troll. (when he's here)
> z. (until the troll isn't here)
> s.
Dining Area
> x rock. x stains. x blood.
> z. (until the troll isn't here)
> s.
Storage Area
> x door. x chest. (which?)
> x first chest.
CAUTION: The six chests are identical. There's no way to tell in advance what's inside them except by opening them. If something bad happens, use UNDO or RESTORE to nullify that mistake. Learning by trying and dying is not beginner-friendly!
Obviously, you want that Amulet. Leave all the other chests alone. Don't act while the troll is here!
> open fifth.
> take amulet. x it. wear it.
> open door. (with the amulet's aid, you succeed)
> e. u.
Dirt Path
You should be able to go south from here, but most unfortunately, the game has a minor bug that prevents it. As near as I can tell, by using a debugging tool, going south from here should print out the following text:
You walk down the dirt path amongst the trees and foliage. For a while you enjoy the scenery, long absent from your sense. As you walk, the sun continues to sink slowly over the horizon. You reach the edge of the forest and spy a small hill. Climbing it, you see out over the now dark field before you a small ocean of tiny bright lights...
*** You have won ***
Yeah, it sucks that the game fails to end properly, but you have the only treasure (the Amulet) and you got out of the caves. You must know you won, right? You did. You did win. You're a winner!
This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with
Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!