In this fantasy game, you play as Orange Mehringer, an apprentice to Mary Hollywood, the famous pastry wizard. As part of your midterm exam, you must find as many magic ingredients as you can from this dessert island. (And no, that's not a typo.)
This solution is by David Welbourn.
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.
This part is a tutorial, which you can skip with SKIP TUTORIAL.
> x balloon. x me. i.
> x spatula. x grimoire. read grimoire.
> look. x pilot. open panel.
> cast sesame. p pilot.
> look. x big gear. x small gear. x flux.
> take all.
> put big gear in pilot.
> put small gear in pilot.
> put flux in pilot.
> close panel.
You land safely in a field on the island.
Field
> x balloon. x flower. take it.(+1)
> n.
Marmalade Forest
> x cottage. x trees. x nest.
> u.
Up a Make-Believe Tree
> x branches. x nest. x spoon. x egg.
> take spoon. take egg.(+1)
> d.
Marmalade Forest
> open door. in.
Inside the Cottage Cheese Cottage
> x desk. x jar. x salver.
> open drawer.(can't: locked)
> say sesame. p drawer.(It's now open.)
> x note.(You learn SESAPE.)
> x plum.
> take jar. take salver. take plum.(+1)
> out. w.
Outside the Lighthouse
> x door.(It's silver.)
> say sesape. p door. in.
Bottom of the Lighthouse
> x debris.(Find a dollhouse and a crumpled letter.)
> x dollhouse.
> x letter.(You learn SEHILI.)
> x machine.
> x chalkboard.(You learn SAPE.)
> u.
Halfway up the Lighthouse
The game doesn't mention that this desk has a drawer, but remember when you examined the other desk in the cottage? It said all self-respecting desks have a drawer. So this desk has one too.
> x bed. look under bed.
> say sehili. p bed.(It shrinks, then explodes!)
> undo. say hlli. p bed.(It's now double in size.)
> x desk. x Kilner jar. take it.
> x letter.(It says they're defenseless against Warivald.)
> x clipping.(It's about the discovery of the SESAME spell.)
> x drawer. open drawer.(Two flans inside.)
> take all from drawer.(+2)
> u.
Top of the Lighthouse
> x lens. x crystal.
> x plaque.(You learn BAYA.)
> d. d. out. e. n.
By the Lake
> x lake. x island.
> eat creme. fill mason.(+1; with creme)
> say secana. p lake. fill Kilner.(with lake water)
> swim.
On the Floating Island
> take stick.(+1)
> swim. e.
Gelato Glacier
> x ice cream. x block.
> s.
Base of Mount Battenburg
> x scree. take pop rocks.(+1)
> e.
Shortbread Desert
> x cookies. x boulder.(actually giant smoutebol)
Here you need to deduce that SEHILI, the bed shrinking spell is made from SEHI- (reversed grow) and -LI (bed). And two of your original spells, HIKE and BAKE both target dough. So maybe -KE means dough or food, and SEHIKE should shrink a food.
> say sehike. p boulder.(+1)
> x cave. in.
Inside the Mesa
> x portal. x logo.
Come back to this later.
> out. s.
By the Cliffs
> x rift. x bush.
> pour water on bush. x bush.
You need light when underground.
> say secana.(Spatula glows white.)
> d.
Cavern
> w.
Secret Beach
> x beach. x sea.
> fill Kilner. say cana. p Kilner.(+1 for salt water taffy)
Deduce from SESAPE that SESA- means open and -PE means silver. So HIPE should enlarge silver.
> say hipe. p spoon.(The spoon enlarges.)
> dig.(Using the enormous spoon as a shovel, you find a chest!)
> open chest. take coin.(+1)
> fill Kilner.(with more salt water)
> say secana. e. u.
By the Cliffs
By now, the berries should be ripe.
> take berries.(+1)
> n. w. n.
Gelato Glacier
Only salt water melts the ice block.
> pour water on block.(+1; taking the jelly bean)
> s. u.
At the Summit of Mount Battenburg
> x jam.(boiling)
You need to cool down the jam. SEBAKE (chill food) should work.
> say sebake. p jam. fill Kilner.(+1)
> d. w. w. in.
Bottom of the Lighthouse
Time to use the vending machine. Shrink the silver salver into a suitable coin.
> say sehipe. p salver. x salver.
> put salver in slot. x lobster. take it.
> out. e. e. e. s.
By the Cliffs
> say secana. d. w.
Secret Beach
> drop lobster. take cake.(+1)
> e. u. n. in.
Inside the Mesa
If you review your spells with respect to color, you can make your spatula glow every color of the rainbow plus white. Also, remember that Warivald was the Prismatic Lord, so a rainbow sequence of colors seems called for here.
Spell prefixes determine the color. And from the top of the lighthouse, you know that -YA targets crystals. So, here we go:
> say sesaya. p portal.(Red portal)
> say baya. p portal.(Orange portal)
> say hiya. p portal.(Yellow portal)
> say caya. p portal.(Green portal)
> say sebaya. p portal.(Blue portal)
> say sehiya. p portal.(Indigo portal)
> say saya. p portal.(Violet portal, then the portal opens)
> in.
Small Room
> x cot. x aquarium. x shells.
> x table. read paper.(Warivald invented a carcination spell. So those shells are probably all that's left of Noel and Dell'Era.)
> x marshmellow. take it.(+1)
> score.(You've found all 16 ingredients.)
> out. out. w. w. s.
Field
> enter balloon. yes.
Professor Hollywood awards you an O for Outstanding.
*** The end ***
Extras
Artwork
These are thumbnails of the artwork in the game. Please play the game to see the artwork in its larger intended sizes.
The hot air balloon
The map of the island, without clouds masking the view
Characters
A cute lil' lobster can be vended from the vending machine in the lighthouse. She's also friendly.
Mentioned:
Professor Mary Hollywood is the famous pastry wizard to whom you're apprenticed to.
Noel lived in the lighthouse.
Dell'Era was a sugar plum faery who lived in the cottage cheese cottage.
Warivald was an evil wizard, also known as the Prismatic Lord. He once lived in a secret room inside the mesa, but fortunately for you, he left the island. Also, he was defeated in a war when your parents were your current age, so he's unlikely to return.
A playfair-bird probably built the nest and laid the chocolate egg.
Sharks infest the Sapphire Sea.
Susan Sapphire was a famous explorer. The Sapphire Sea is named after her.
Credits
This is the response to CREDITS:
Dessert Island Adventure was made by Nils Fagerburg for the 2022 TALP Jam.
This game was partially inspired by Arthur DiBianca's excellent The Wand which you should play instead as it's a much better game. Thanks to Amanda Walker for letting me steal the Bubbleberry bush from The Lonely Troll. A thousand thanks to my beta testers: Francine Fagerburg, Amanda Walker, Dee Cooke, Andrew Schultz, Sarah Hernu and Garry Francis. Without their help this game would be a mess.
Inventory
Readables
a grimoire. You're carrying it.
Read it. It initially has four spells: SESAME (to open something), CANA (to turn water into crème pâtissière), HIKE (to proof dough), and BAKE (to cook dough).
During the game, you will copy any new spells you learn about into your grimoire.
a scribbled note. It's in the locked desk drawer in the cottage. Cast SESAME on the drawer to unlock it.
Read the note to learn about SESAPE, and that Warivald, also known as the Prismatic Lord, once lived here.
a crumpled letter. Find it by examining the debris at the bottom of the lighthouse.
Read it to learn that SEHILI is used to make tiny beds.
an unfinished letter. It's on the desk halfway up the lighthouse.
Read it. The writer says, because of SESAME, they're now defenseless against Warivald.
a newspaper clipping. It's on the desk halfway up the lighthouse.
Read it. It's about the discovery of the SESAME spell.
a piece of paper. It's in the small room.
Read it. Warivald invented a carcination spell, then used it on Noel and Dell'Era before leaving the island.
Tools
a spatula. You're carrying it.
Treat it like a magic wand. When you say a spell, the spatula will glow a particular color, showing that the spatula is now charged with that spell. Then point the spatula at something to cast the spell at that something. You can abbreviate POINT SPATULA AT to P.
a big brass gear, a small bronze gear, and a flux capacitator. They all fall out of the hot air balloon's pilot's access panel when you open it (by casting SESAME on it).
Take all three and put them all back into the pilot. Close the panel afterwards. The balloon lands on the island safely.
a silver spoon. It's in the nest up a make-believe tree.
Cast HIPE on the spoon to make it an enormous silver spoon, then dig at the beach (using the spoon as a shovel) to find the chest. The chest isn't locked.
a silver salver. It's on the desk in the cottage.
Cast SEHIPE on the salver to shrink it. At the bottom of the lighthouse, put the tiny salver into the slot (of the vending machine) to obtain a lobster!
a mason jar. It's on the desk in the cottage.
On the secret beach, take some salt water using an empty jar. Cast CANA on the salt water to turn it into salt water taffy.
Take more salt water to the glacier and pour the salt water on the ice block to melt it; you take the jelly bean that was frozen inside.
At the lake, cast SECANA on the lake to turn its creme into water. Fill an empty jar with lake water. On the cliffs, pour the lake water on the bubbleberries bush.
At the summit of Mount Battenburg, have an empty jar handy and cast SEBAKE at the hot jam to cool it long enough for you to take some.
Take some creme by the lake, using one of your jars to hold it in. If the lake is water, cast CANA on the lake to turn it back into creme.
a Kilner jar. It's on the desk halfway up the lighthouse.
Use it just like the mason jar. They're interchangable.
a cute lil' lobster. It's vended at the bottom of the lighthouse when you put a tiny salver into the slot of the vending machine.
At the secret beach, drop the lobster. It will fetch a sponge cake for you before it leaves, going into the sea.
Magic ingredients
The goal of the game is to collect all these ingredients, but you don't do anything with them. Just return to the balloon and enter it once you have all the ingredients you can find.
a red chrysanthemum cookie. It's in the field where you land the balloon. It looks like a real flower at first. Examine the flower to learn it's a cookie.
a sugar plum. It's in the locked desk drawer inside the cottage cheese cottage. Cast SESAME on the drawer to unlock it.
a jar-type jar full of strawberry jam. Hot jam is available at the summit of Mount Battenburg.
Have an empty jar (mason or Kilner) handy and cast SEBAKE at the hot jam to cool it long enough for you to take some.
a jar-type jar full of crème pâtissière. Take some creme by the lake, using one of your jars (mason or Kilner) to hold it in.
a caramel flan. It's inside the desk drawer halfway up the lighthouse.
a chocolate flan. It's inside the desk drawer halfway up the lighthouse.
an orange jelly bean. It's embedded in a large ice block.
Get salt water from the secret beach. Pour salt water on the block to melt it. You take the jelly bean.
a chocolate egg. In the marmalade forest, climb a tree. The egg is in a nest.
a cinnamon stick. It's on the floating island.
To get to the island, first cast SECANA on the lake to turn its creme back into water. Then SWIM to the island.
some bubbleberries. There's a bubbleberry bush on the cliffs, but the bush needs water and the berries aren't ripe.
Firet, fill an empty jar (mason or Kilner) with lake water (not sea water) and pour the water on the bush. Several turns later, the berries ripen. Take them.
a smoutebol. The boulder in the shortbread desert is a giant smoutebol.
Cast SEHIKE at the boulder to shrink it down into a normal sized smoutebol, which you'll automatically take.
a black marshmallow. It's on the table in the small room.
a piece of salt water taffy. Make it from salt water.
On the secret beach, take some salt water using an empty jar (mason or Kilner). Cast CANA on the salt water to turn it into taffy.
a sponge cake. The lobster fetches this for you if you take the lobster to the secret beach then put the lobster into the sea.
a chocolate coin. It's in a treasure chest buried at the secret beach.
Cast HIPE on the spoon to make it bigger, then dig at the beach (with the enormous spoon) to find the chest. The chest isn't locked. Open it.
some pop rocks. They're at the base of Mount Battenburg. Examine the scree to find the pop rocks.
Score
During the game, the response to SCORE is:
You have found number out of 16 magic ingredients.
At game's end, when you re-enter the hot air balloon, Professor Hollywood gives you one of the following grades, based on how many ingredients you found:
a D for Dreadful. (4 ingredients)
a P for Poor. (5 to 6 ingredients)
a B for Barely Passing. (7 ingredients)
an A for Acceptable. (8 to 11 ingredients)
an E for Exceeds Expectations. (12 to 15 ingredients)
an O for Outstanding. (16 ingredients)
Note that you may not re-enter the hot air balloon until you have at least four of the ingredients.
Spells
Casting a spell is a two-part process that requires your spatula.
First, say a magic word, eg: SAY SESAME. Your spatula will be loaded with the spell and glow a specific color. Some magic words are written in your grimoire; others are learned elsewhere. If you say an unmagical word, your spatula stops glowing.
Second, point the spatula at the thing you want to change. You can abbreviate POINT SPATULA AT THING to P THING. If the thing is a suitable target for your spell, the spatula discharges a colored orb at it, and the thing changes as appropriate. If the thing is not a suitable target, nothing happens, but the game reminds you that you can WAVE THE SPATULA to see which nearby items the charged spatula is attracted to.
A four-letter magic word is built from two two-letter syllables. The first syllable specifies the intended action:
BA adds energy to something, usually heat or light.
CA makes something edible.
HI makes something bigger.
SA closes something.
The second syllable specifies the intended type of target:
LI for beds.
KE for edibles.
ME for doors (and door-like things)
NA for liquids.
PE for silver things.
YA for crystals.
If you want to reverse a spell, preface the magic word with SE; for example, SESAME is the reverse of SAME. This is the only way to construct six-letter magic words.
So there's 48 spells you can potentially play with, but of course, some of these won't work because they don't make any sense, and other spells will be nerfed in one way or another:
BALI (heat bed) and SEBALI (cool bed).
BAKE (cook edible) and SEBAKE (uncook edible).
BAME (heat door) and SEBAME (cool door).
BANA (boil liquid) and SEBANA (cool liquid).
BAPE (heat silver) and SEBAPE (cool silver).
BAYA (make crystal glow) and SEBAYA (make crystal stop glowing).
CALI (make bed edible) and SECALI (make bed inedible).
CAKE (make food edible) and SECAKE (make food inedible).
CAME (make door edible) and SECAME (make door inedible).
CANA (make liquid edible) and SECANA (make liquid inedible).
CAPE (make silver edible) and SECAPE (make silver inedible).
CAYA (make crystal edible) and SECAYA (make crystal inedible).
HILI (make bed bigger) and SEHILI (make bed smaller)
HIKE (make food bigger) and SEHIKE (make food smaller)
HIME (make door bigger) and SEHIME (make door smaller)
HINA (make liquid bigger) and SEHINA (make liquid smaller)
HIPE (make silver bigger) and SEHIPE (make silver smaller)
HIYA (make crystal bigger) and SEHIYA (make crystal smaller)
SALI (close bed) and SESALI (open bed).
SAKE (close food) and SESAKE (open food).
SAME (close door) and SESAME (open door).
SANA (close liquid) and SESANA (open liquid).
SAPE (close silver) and SESAPE (open silver).
SAYA (close crystal) and SESAYA (open crystal).
By the way, each spell has a color:
SESA- spells are red.
HI- spells are yellow.
BA- spells are orange.
CA- spells are green.
SEBA- spells are blue.
SEHI- spells are indigo.
SA- spells are violet.
SECA- spells are white.
So, where did you learn all this from?
The grimoire originally has SESAME, CANA, HIKE, and BAKE.
Read the scribbled note to learn that SESAPE unlocks the lighthouse door, which is silver.
At the bottom of the lighthouse, read the chalkboard to learn that SAPE locks the lighthouse door.
Comparing SESAPE and SAPE, you might deduce that the SE- prefix negates or reverses a spell.
Read the crumpled letter to learn that SEHILI is used to make tiny beds. Deduce that HILI makes a bed bigger.
Read the plaque at the top of the lighthouse to learn BAYA lights the lighthouse light.
Further deductions and experimentations are needed to work out what all the other syllables mean.
the support of Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, Phil Tatro, Mitch, Vivienne Dunstan, and Peter Berman;
the generous support of Janice M Eisen, Matthew Foxley, and Thomas Insel;
