Key & Compass presents:
A Christmas Game
by Luke A. Jones

In this game, you play as a homeowner on Christmas Eve. Although you have no money, you need to find the seven items on your shopping list and bring them home to have a Merry Christmas. Featuring Santa, Jon Pigeon, and Ebenezer Scrooge.

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on the Quest version of the game.

Map
Walkthrough
Extras
- Characters, Credits, Inventory
Thank You to my Patreon supporters
External links:
- This game at Homepage, Homepage (for Inform port), IFDB, and IFWiki.
- Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map

Walkthrough

Your Home

> x list. take list.

> x calendar. open it. take chocolate. x it. eat it.

> x sofa. x armchair. x boxes. x paper.

> n.

Your Garden

> x shed. x ground.

> open shed. x spade. take it.

> x toolbox. take it. (too heavy!)

> dig. x hole. take carrot. x carrot.

> put spade in shed.

> s. out.

Chester Street

CAUTION: The pigeon is really foul-mouthed.

> x pigeon. x KFC. talk to pigeon.

> ask Jon about KFC. take KFC. ask Jon about Christmas.

> ask Jon about Santa. ask Jon about turkey.

> ask Jon about crackers.

> e.

Town Square

> x gluhwein. take it. drink it. x cup.

> x leader. x singers.

> sing. (The carol leader gives you Port.)

> x port.

> n.

Santa's Christmas Emporium

Note: You don't need the holly or the teddy.

> x holly. x scarf. x teddy.

> take scarf.

> x Santa. talk to Santa.

> sit on Santa. (He gives you a parcel and card.)

> i. x present. x card.

> ask Santa about Rudolph.

> open present. (No, you'll save it for tomorrow.)

> d.

An Elves Workshop

> x chief. x gang. x poster.

> take poster.

> talk to chief. ask chief about poster.

> ask chief about writer. ask chief about Santa.

> ask chief about elves. ask chief about toys.

> u.

Santa's Christmas Emporium

> ask Santa about elves.

> ask Santa about Chief Elf. (Needs to be happy or drunk.)

> d.

An Elves Workshop

> ask chief about beer. ("Chance would be a fine thing!")

> u. e.

Tib Street

> x bench. sit on bench. (You find and take a mobile phone.)

> x phone. (7 missed calls from Marley)

> e.

A Stable

> x reindeer. x foot. x nail. take nail.

> x straw. x trough. x oats.

> stroke reindeer.

> give carrot to reindeer.

> x dung. take dung. (using the empty plastic cup)

> s.

The Cross Keys Inn

> buy beer. (Man says landlady is out back, maybe asleep)

> x man. talk to man.

> x satsumas. ask man about satsumas. ask man about weather.

> give scarf to man. (He gives the satsumas.)

> x jukebox. (needs coin)

> x table. (isn't level)

> x machine. play machine. (You win a pound coin.)

> x coin.

> turn on jukebox. (using the coin. Landlady arrives.)

> x landlady. talk to landlady. buy beer. (Make yourself useful.)

> ask landlady about pool table.

> fold card. use card on table.

> buy beer. (The landlady gives you one.)

> x beer.

> w. se.

A Garden Centre

> x tree. x gardener. talk to gardener.

> ask gardener about tree.

> give dung to gardener. (He gives you the tree.)

> nw. s.

Ebenezer's Cash Convertors

> x Scrooge. x Skyrim.

> talk to Scrooge. ask Scrooge about Skyrim.

> give phone to Scrooge. (He gives you the Skyrim.)

> w.

The Backroom of Cash Converters

> x Bob. x computer. x spreadsheet.

> talk to Bob. ask Bob about Scrooge.

> ask Bob about computer. ask Bob about jokes.

> give poster to Bob. (He gives you the Bumper Special, quits, and leaves.)

> x Bumper.

> e. n. n. d.

An Elves Workshop

Bob Cratchit is now here.

> ask Bob about jokes.

> give beer to chief. (The elves go back to work.)

> look. take crackers. x crackers.

> u. s. w.

Chester Street

> ask Jon about landlady. ask Jon about Bob.

> ask Jon about rake thin man.

> ask Jon about jokes. ask Jon about Chief Elf.

> in. n.

Your Garden

Had trouble guessing the correct command:

> pick lock. (with the nail)

> x toolbox. x oil can. take it.

> s. out. w.

A Butcher's Shop

> x turkey. x butcher. (Robin U'blind)

> x bike. (basket of parcels and stiff pedals)

> talk to Robin. ask Robin about turkey.

> ask Robin about bike. ask Robin about oil.

> oil bike. (using the oil can. Robin gives you the turkey, then leaves.)

> e.

Chester Street

> in.

You return home with everything you need and you settle in for a pleasant evening. You awake to a gentle knocking at the door. James wants you to come somewhere with him...

Congratulations and thanks for playing!

*** The END ***

Extras

Characters

Jon the pigeon is a foul-mouthed fowl enjoying some KFC on Chester Street and no you can't have any.
The butcher, Robin U'blind, is behind on his deliveries because the pedals on his bike are too stiff to turn easily.
A carol leader and some singers are trying and failing to entertain the passing shoppers in Town Square.
Santa is meeting the public in his Christmas emporium. Have you been good this year?
The Chief Elf and a gang of elves are on strike in their workshop. What does the Chief Elf want?
A reindeer, Rudolph, is limping in the stable. Unlike Jon, he doesn't talk.
Ebenezer Scrooge, owner and operator of the pawnshop, has fallen back into his miserly ways and needs a reminder of how he ought to be.
Bob Cratchit is busy managing the spreadsheets in the backroom of the pawnshop. I don't think he likes his job much.
A rake thin man named James is in the Cross Keys Inn. He wants a white Christmas and is eager to see some snow.
The landlady of the Cross Keys Inn has a problem drinking too much gin and then needing to sleep it off.
The gardener is selling Christmas trees in the garden centre and he has just one left.

Mentioned:

Marley is someone who left seven calls on the mobile phone.
Unnamed people, mostly shoppers, pass by in the Town Square and are in a queue in the pawnshop.

Credits

The credits are displayed at game's end when you win:

Credits: Written and coded by Luke Jones (email redacted), using the Quest text adventure engine (www.textadventures.co.uk). Thank you to Alex Dimmer for creating the artwork and to Jennifer Thompson, Daniel Buxton and Joe Dillon for alpa and beta testing, and for their excellent suggestions for improvements. Thanks also to the excellent support from the Quest forum members. I was inspired to write this game after playing the wonderful text adventures of Robin Johnson, you should check them out: http://versificator.net/ If you didn’t get James’ character (The Rake Thin Man), then you should watch The Snowman by Raymond Briggs (the music at the end of the game is the theme music by Howard Blake) The pigeon was inspired by the twitter account @pigeonjohn Merry Christmas! Be excellent to each other. Luke xx

Inventory

Wanted items for Christmas | Useful items | Useless items

Wanted items for Christmas

These are listed on your shopping list. When you have all seven, return home to win.

a Skyrim Special Edition. It's in Ebenezer's Cash Convertors. Give the mobile phone to Ebenezer and he'll give you the Skyrim in exchange.
a Bottle of Port. Acquire it by singing in the Town Square; the choir leader gives it to you as thanks for your participation.
a Christmas Tree. It's in the garden centre. Give the reindeer dung to the gardener and he'll give you the tree in exchange.
a bag of satsumas. James (the rake thin man) in the Cross Keys Inn has the satsumas. Give the scarf to him and he'll give the satsumas to you.
The Last Turkey In The Shop. It's in the butcher's shop. Acquire it by oiling the butcher's bike with the oil can.
the Bumper Radio Times Christmas Special. Bob Cratchit gives this to you when you give him the poster.
a Christmas Crackers. They appear in the Elves Workshop after you've given the poster to Bob and the beer to the Chief Elf.

Useful items

a Shopping List. It's in your home. Examine it. It lists all seven items you need to acquire and bring back home.
a spade. It's in your garden's shed.

In your garden, dig with the spade. Examine the hole to find a carrot.

a Carrot. Find it by digging in your garden with the spade. The carrot is in the hole.

In the stable, give it to the reindeer; it will produce dung.

Glühwein. It's in the Town Square.

Drink the glühwein to acquire an Empty Plastic Cup.
In the stable, take the dung (see carrot), using the empty cup as a container. You now have a Plastic cup (filled with Reindeer Dung).
In the garden centre, give the dung to the gardener and he'll give you a Christmas tree in exchange.

a Scarf. It's in Santa's Christmas Emporium.

Give the scarf to James (the rake thin man) in the Cross Keys Inn; he'll give you his satsumas in exchange.

a Mobile Phone. Acquire it by sitting on the bench on Tib Street. Examine the phone and note the missed calls from "Morley".

Give the phone to Ebenezer in his shop; he'll give you the Skyrim Special Edition.

a nail. It's in the foot of the reindeer in the stable. Examine the reindeer to notice it's limping, then examine the foot to find the nail. Just take the nail.

In your garden, pick lock with the nail to open the toolbox that's in the shed.

a Pound Coin. Acquire it by playing the fruit machine in the Cross Keys Inn.

Now turn on the jukebox. You'll automatically insert the coin and the landlady will appear.

an Oil Can. It's in the toolbox that's in your garden shed; pick lock with the nail to open the toolbox.

In the butcher's shop, oil the bike with the oil can. The butcher will give you the turkey as thanks.

a Poster. It's in the Elves Workshop.

In the backroom of Cash Converters, give the poster to Bob Cratchit and he'll quit his job and go work for the elves. Also, he gives you a Bumper Radio Times Christmas Special as a thank you.

a Christmas Card. You receive the card from Santa after you sit on him. That is, when you sit on his lap.

Fold the card. It's now a Folded Christmas Card.
In the inn, use the folded card on the pool table to fix it. Now you can buy a beer from the landlady if she's there.

a pint of beer. You can buy beer in the inn if the landlady's there (see coin) and you've fixed the pool table (see card).

Give the beer to the Chief Elf in the workshop. The elves will start working again.

Useless items

a chocolate. It's in the advent in your home. Open the door to find it. You may eat it, but it's stale.
a Sprig of Holly. It's in Santa's Christmas Emporium. You can ignore it.
a Present From Santa. In Santa's Christmas Emporium, acquire it by sitting on Santa. You won't open it, but will be good and save it for tomorrow.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!

I create larger walkthroughs too! Please visit my Patreon account if you're interested in helping me create more interactive fiction walkthroughs. I appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks again.

Key & Compass presents: A Christmas Game by Luke A. Jones

Map

Walkthrough

Extras

Characters

Credits

Inventory

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

Key & Compass presents:
A Christmas Game
by Luke A. Jones