Key & Compass presents:
Desolation
by Earth Traveler

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Endings, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at CASA, IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map

Walkthrough

(prologue)

You must RUN.

> run. run. run.

The Desert (several locations)

> i. x phone. x flashlight.

> x mansion. x sun. x sand. x range.

> w. w. w. w.

You find a skeleton.

> x skeleton. take canteen. x it. (empty)

> w. w. w. w. w. w. w.

You stop and sleep...

Your Apartment

This location is obviously strongly inspired by Shade by Andrew Plotkin.

> i. x phone. x loveseat. (didn't you have a bed?)

> x flytrap. x window. x desk. (The lamp burns out.)

> x notepad. ("Make lunch, water plant, throw out old stereo stand.")

> x kitchen. open fridge. (sand)

> open cupboards. take jar. open it. (sand)

> turn on kitchen sink. (sand)

> x bathroom. turn on shower. (sand)

> turn on bathroom sink. (sand)

> x toilet. turn on phone. (sand)

You think you're dreaming.

> wake up. (doesn't work)

> x door. open door. (why?)

> take stand. (sand)

> x notepad. ("drink water, do NOT look outside")

> open blinds. (You see the desert.)

There's knocking at the door.

> open door. (It's HER.)

> get lamp. (The lamp turns to sand, and then the entire apartment.)

> SPACE

The Desert (several locations)

> w. w. w. w. w. w.

Closer to the Mountains / Near the Mountains / At the Mountains

> w. w. s.

Tunnel Entrance

> x rocks. d.

Darkness / Underground Tunnel

> listen. turn on flashlight.

> take pickaxe. (too heavy right now)

> listen. (water)

> x skeleton. take pickaxe. dig water.

> fill canteen.

Uh-oh. She's back and with the faceless men.

> d.

Maze Entrance

All entrances are to the west.

> w.

Maze (five locations)

You need to listen then go whichever direction you heard the howl from, repeating the cycle five times:

> listen. HOWL-DIRECTION.

> listen. HOWL-DIRECTION.

> listen. HOWL-DIRECTION.

> listen. HOWL-DIRECTION.

> listen. HOWL-DIRECTION.

Bottom of a Rocky Slope

> u.

Middle of a Rocky Slope

> x dog. (No skin!)

> x skeleton. x bag. x rope.

> hit dog. g. g. (It's down but you're hurt.)

> open bag. (You bandage yourself with a torn hoodie.)

> look in bag. x fruit. eat fruit.

> take bag and rope.

> x skeleton. x dog.

> u.

Top of a Rocky Slope

> x something. (It's a stake.)

> throw rope at stake. climb rope.

Top of the Rock Wall

> take rope. d.

Oasis

You drink water, and decide you need shelter and sleep

> x gap. x tree. x cacti.

> take leaves. (too high up)

> take fruit.

> chop tree. take leaves.

> put leaves in gap. enter gap. sleep.

*** You have survived ***

*** For now ***

Extras

Characters

• Ty is the player-character.
• The two-braided girl is your pursuer. She's very evil, unnaturally pale, wears a dark dress, has blood-red eyes, and very sharp teeth. She grins like a shark, and laughs and giggles at your attempts to escape her.
• White-robed men are the girl's cronies. They swarm after the girl, like bees following their queen. They have no faces, and chains are wrapped around their tattered white robes.
• A skeletal dog is hungrily chewing on a skeleton on a rocky slope. The creature has no fur or skin. It's just muscle and bone.

Found dead:

• A skeleton lies half-buried in the desert sand. It holds an empry leather canteen.
• Another skeleton is on a rocky slope, chewed on by the dog. This skeleton is fresher than the first one and has a bag containing strange fruit.

Mentioned:

• Lisa. You remember planning to go on a trip with her.
• The Callista family. The two-braided girl said you were in her mansion to perform an exorcism for the Callista family. But while you remember hearing of the Callistas, you can't remember anything about them.

Endings

• You have been consumed by evil...
• if you fail to navigate the maze correctly.
• You have survived * For now
• when you sleep in a leaf-covered crevice at the oasis.

Surprisingly, I couldn't find any other endings. You never die of heat or thrist in the desert. You can't just let the dog kill you. And you don't die of blood loss if you don't bandage yourself promptly after the battle with the dog.

Inventory

Items are listed in the order acquired in this walkthrough.

• your phone. You're carrying it.
• The phone is useless to you. There's no signal for most of the game, and the game doesn't understand any common commands for using a phone.
• a flashlight. You're carrying it.
• Turn it on in darkness and not before. Don't worry about turning it off later.
• You're told that the flashlight can be used as a weapon, but I never tried to use it that way.
• a canteen. The skeleton in the desert is holding it.
• After finding water in the underground tunnel, fill the canteen.
• a jar of peanut butter. It's in your kitchen cupboards.
• Open the jar. It's filled with sand.
• a pickaxe. It's in the underground tunnel beside the second skeleton.
• You don't have the strength to take the pickaxe until you listen and hear water nearby. Dig water with the pickaxe.
• At the middle of the rocky slope, hit the skeletal dog three times to kill it. You will use the pickaxe as a weapon during this fight.
• At the oasis, chop the palm tree with the pickaxe.
• a bag. It's beside the skeleton at the middle of a rocky slope.
• First, attack the dog three times. You can't reach the bag while the dog's alive.
• When the dog is dead, open the bag. You automatically bandage yourself with a hoodie that you tear into strips.
• Look in the bag: it contains some strange fruit.
• some strange fruit. It's in the bag.
• Eat the fruit. You don't have the strength to climb the rope later unless you do. You find more of this fruit on the cacti at the oasis.
• a rope. It's at the middle of a rocky slope.
• First, attack the dog three times. You can't reach the rope while the dog's alive.
• At the tope of the rocky slope, throw the rope at the stake, then climb the rope to reach the top of the rock wall.
• palm leaves. They're out of reach on the palm tree at the oasis.
• Chop the tree with the pickaxe to bring the leaves within reach.
• Put the leaves in the gap to create a shelter you can sleep in.

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!

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