Key & Compass presents:
Dr Ludwig and the Devil
by SV Linwood

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Amusing, Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory, Score
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Post about this walkthrough on X.

Map

Walkthrough

Laboratory

> about.

> x me. x coat. x stains.

> i. x list.

> x devil. (has robe and wings; you may GREET them)

> x robe. x wings. x circle. x runes.

> x table. x experiment. x scalpel. take it.

> x machinery. x lever.

> x beakers. x shelves. x clock.

> x desk. x notes. x inkwell. x ooze.

> x grimoire. take it.

> look up summoning demons in grimoire.

> look up controlling demons in grimoire.

> look up banishing demons in grimoire.

> greet demon. (He wants you to impress him with your power.)

> demon, dance. (You may now ask him about topics.)

> a himself. a Hell. (He summons a flyer into your hand.)

> x flyer. a soul.

> a life. (New topic: the Deal.)

> a deal. (A ringing doorbell interrupts the discussion.)

> u.

Entrance Hall

> open door.

Manor Grounds

> greet Hans.

> x Hans. x mob. x weeds. x road. x manor.

At this point, Hans holds out a charter for you to take.

> take charter. (He wants you to read it, sign it, then bring it to him in the tavern outside of town. They all leave.)

> read charter. n.

Entrance Hall

> close door. d.

Laboratory

> a deal.

The Devil offers you knowledge in exchange for your soul. Agree?

>> yes

The Devil conjures up a floating contract.

> x contract. take it.

He wants you to read it and sign it. Deja vu. Oh, and you get a dip pen.

> read contract.

> a limitations. a agency.

> x pen. (needs ink)

> open drawer. g. g. g. (empty)

> x drawer. (just more red ooze)

> dip pen in inkwell. (no: use demonic ink)

> a demonic ink. (He doesn't remember the recipe.)

> look up ink in grimoire.

> look up divine blood in grimoire.

> a divine blood. a divine radiance.

> a ancestor's bone. a eyes. ("ask a hunter")

> x Devil. x wings. x light.

> look up Devil in grimoire.

> take feather. (no)

> Devil, give feather. (You get one.)

> look up deal in grimoire.

> look up hell in grimoire.

> look up dip pen in grimoire.

> look up Theophrastus in grimoire.

For once, TELL is different from ASK, because phrased this way, it's a command he must obey.

> Devil, tell me about limitations.

They can only take a soul if its owner believes in Heaven and Hell.

> a belief. a God.

> u.

Entrance Hall

> take shovel.

> s. s.

Country Road

> x tavern.

> x head. x eyes. take eyes. (no: too high up)

> s. (no: no wish to visit the town)

> e.

Graveyard

> x stone. x weeds.

> x grave. ("Thomas the Unhandy")

> x tomb. ("the Unknown Soldier")

> x mound. ("hunter named Clare")

> x cenotaph. ("the Great Manini")

> n.

Churchyard

> x priest. greet priest. (He ignores you.)

> x cassock. x church. x ivy. x steps. x doors.

> n. (You think not.)

> s. w. w.

Tavern

> greet Hans. a himself. sit on stool.

> a his name. a work. a love.

> a lads. a ladies. a bartender.

> a crazy doctors. a graverobbing.

> a grave. ("he could never have children")

> a mound. (his great-grandmother, the bear hunter)

> a cenotaph. (A magician who vanished in this tavern; his fortune went into the cenotaph.)

> a tomb. ("... never having children")

> a priest. ("quite handsome")

> a church. (He can't read.)

> a shopkeeper. a her shop.

> a society. a town. a beer.

> stand.

> x stool. x counter. x bottles.

> w.

Back of the Tavern

You find the shopkeeper who sold you the grimoire; she greets you.

> x shopkeeper. x wine. x table. x smoke.

> greet her.

> a herself. a her name. a her shop.

> a vacation. a unionizing.

> a cursed doll shop. a dating. a wine.

> a communion —or— a transubstantiation. (A priest can turn wine into the blood of Christ.)

> a Christians —or— a priest —or— a angel.

> a tavern. a bartender.

> a divine blood —or— a divine radiance.

> a grimoire. a devil. a me. a smoke.

> show flyer to shopkeeper. (She's tempted but can't take it while anyone is watching.)

> put flyer on table.

Now leave the room and return.

> e. w.

She's now looking at the flyer, and the wine is on the table instead.

> take wine.

> e.

Tavern

> take stool. (can't carry it, but...)

> push stool east.

Country Road

> stand on stool. (Hans stops you from inside.)

> close door. stand on stool.

> take eyes. (using the scalpel)

> stand. x eyes.

> e.

Graveyard

> dig mound. x tibia.

> n.

Churchyard

> show wine. (The priest consecrates the wine and hands it back to you, then he enters the church.)

> put eyes in glass.

> put bone in glass.

> put feather in glass.

> x ink.

> s. w. w.

Tavern

> a belief. (He doesn't really know.)

> a charter. (All legal documents look alike to him.)

> x contract. x wiggle.

This won't work unless you first forced the Devil to tell you about limitations and asked Hans about belief.

> give contract to Hans.

> dip pen in ink.

> give pen to Hans.

Hans signs the contract. The pen vanishes. Hans gives the contract back to you.

> e. n. n. d.

Laboratory

> a his gender.

"what gender do you think we are?"

>> male —or— female —or— enby.

> a bill.

> a priest. (He mentions a bet he made with the Lord.)

> a the bet.

> a Great Manini.

> a humanity.

> laugh. pull lever.

> give contract to Devil.

You learn secrets of the universe, but you need to get rid of him first.

> say ipamis kuras.

You say it wrong, so the Devil decides to make himself comfortable inside the circle.

> x phonograph. x drink.

> look up Enochian in grimoire.

> Devil, tell me about Enochian. (The phonograph drowns you out, and the Devil isn't forced to obey you.)

> read charter. x clock. (It is after 8 pm.)

> give charter to Devil. (can't just give it to him)

> Devil, give phonograph to me. (It appears, crumples to ash, then a new one appears in the circle)

> Devil, sign charter. (This works. The phonograph is gone.)

> Devil, tell me about Enochian. (Your spell isn't strong enough.)

> Devil, say ipamis kuras. (He banishes himself!)

Much later...

Laboratory

> i. (just scalpel and to-do list)

> x list. (ha!)

> x machines. x desk. x notes. x clock. x chair.

> x books. x letter. x postcard. x catalogue.

> x marks. smell.

> x slab. x creation. greet creation.

> pull lever.

*** It's alive! ***

> amusing

Extras

Amusing

This is the response to AMUSING after you've won the game:

Have you tried:

• opening the drawer?
• asking the Devil his name?
• ordering the Devil to:
• sing?
• dance?
• whistle?
• kneel?
• pray?
• go up?
• say something?
• greet something?
• touch something outside the circle?
• giving orders to Hans or the Shopkeeper?
• giving orders to Hans after asking him out on a date?
• dipping the pen in the inkwell twice?
• examining the to-do list during the epilogue?
• talking to the successful creation?
• finding out what the word 'xyzzy' does?

Characters

• Dr Ludwig is a mad scientist and the game's protagonist. He wants to learn the secret of creating life, bring something to life, then laugh in God's face.
• The Devil is trapped inside Ludwig's summoning circle. The Devil wears a white robe, has glowing feathered wings, and is ambiguously gendered until you decide the gender.
• Hans is a handsome, muscular, blond young man and the spokesperson for the Torch and Pitchfork Society (who are the appropriately armed mob of villagers behind him). He demands you sign a charter, limiting your unsocial activities. You later learn that he is lonely, gay, illiterate, and irreligious.
• The shopkeeper is sitting at the back of the tavern, sipping a glass of red wine.
• The priest is pacing feverishly in front of church.

Found dead:

• The experiment on the operating table is currently inert, unthinking flesh; a new experiment is on the table in the winning ending.
• A stuffed bear's head is hung above the tavern's doorway. The bear was killed by Hans's great-grandmother, Clare the hunter.
• Thomas the Unhandy, the Unknown Soldier, Clare the hunter, and the Great Manini are all buried in the graveyard.

Mentioned:

• Theophrastus the Wise is the author of the grimoire.
• John Dee is mentioned when you look up grimoire in the grimoire.
• The bartender is mysteriously missing. Hans says he went to check something in the back.
• An angel once visited the shopkeeper's shop and blessed an entire shelf of cursed sigils.
• The lady who owns the cursed doll shop is someone that the shopkeeper wants to ask out on a date.
• The Devil's collection agency can find anyone, anywhere, just from their signature, or even from an X.
• An old experiment escaped from the desk drawer, leaving only a strange red ooze.
• The previous owners of Ludwig's home left some furnishing and ornaments, now covered in dusty white sheets.
• The priest's parents will be so disappointed with him if he can't perform transubstantiation.
• God, Christ, Christians, and Protestants are sometimes mentioned, particularly when discussing creating life or transubstantiation.

Credits

This is the response to ABOUT or CREDITS:

A deal-making simulator by SV Linwood.

This game was made in Inform 7, created by Graham Nelson, and uses the extensions Basic Screen Effects, Punctuation Removal, Modified Exit by Emily Short, and Epistemology by Eric Eve. Some code was adapted from In-Line Hints by Andrew Schultz and Compliant Characters by Nathanael Nerode.

Many thanks to my beta testers: Austin Auclair, Jade, Peter M.J. Gross, and Tabitha O'Connell.

This is a work of fiction. Do not try robbing graves, summoning demons, or reanimating the dead at home.

[ Type HELP to learn more about how this game works, VERBS to see a list of useful commands, or HINT if you're stuck on how to proceed. ]

Endings

• Better start looking for a brass lantern
• if you order the Devil to say XYZZY, PLUGH, or PLOVER.
• It's alive!
• if you truly bring your creation to life.

Inventory

Note that all your inventory is held inside your lab coat. Your pockets are like another dimension, so don't worry about carrying too much.

After you banish the Devil, months pass, and your inventory changes. Things you don't need any more will be gone.

• a to-do list. It's in your lab coat.
• Read it remind yourself of your current tasks and goals, which are updated during the course of the game.
• the Grand Grimoire. It's on your desk in your laboratory.
• You need not take the Grimoire, but you will want to look up many topics in it, many of which are essential for you to know. Known topics include: the Grand Grimoire, summoning demons, controlling demons, banishing demons, the Devil, Hell, the Deal, divine blood, ancestor's bone, eyes of a hunted beast, divine radiance, dip pen, Theophrastus the Wise, and Enochian.
• The grimoire cannot tell you about Life, or about anyone born after the grimoire was written, and all topics associated with Heaven refer to the grimoire's sequel.
• a scalpel. Find it by examining your experiment.
• You need the scalpel when taking the bear's eyes from its head.
• an infernal flyer. Acquire it by asking the Devil about Hell.
• At the back of the tavern, after learning that the shopkeeper wants a vacation, put the flyer on the table, then leave and return. (For decorum's sake, she doesn't want to be seen taking the flyer, so you can't just give it to her.) When you return, she's now avidly reading the flyer and has put her glass of red wine unattended on the table. Take her glass.
• If, for some reason, you want the flyer back, just talk to her again.
• a shovel. It's in your entrance hall.
• After talking to Hans about the burial mound to learn his great-grandmother is buried there, dig the mound (with the shovel) to acquire a bone of hers.
• the Society charter. Hans holds it out for you to take after he finishes reciting all the villagers' grievances against you.
• Read it, and note that it forbids making loud noises after 8 pm.
• After the Devil has conjured a noisy phonograph into the circle, order him to sign the charter. Even though is it an ordinary document, he abides by its terms (just as he must obey your commands) and banishes the phonograph. (Look at your clock; it is after 8 pm.)
• the infernal contract. When you agree to the Devil's deal, he conjures the contract and it floats in front of you.
• When you take the contract, you also acquire a dip pen.
• Read the contract. Ask the Devil about the limitations. He seems reluctant to be specific.
• Order the Devil to tell you the limitations. He reveals the loophole: that Hell cannot claim souls that don't believe in Heaven and Hell.
• Ask Hans about the charter to learn that all documents look alike to him; he can't read.
• Ask Hans about belief to learn that he doesn't believe in Heaven or Hell (because he just doesn't know), and therefore his soul should be safe if he signs the contract.
• Give the contract to Hans. Of course, he thinks the contract is the charter he gave you earlier, and that the Devil's signature is yours.
• After dipping the pen in infernal ink, give the pen to Hans. Hans signs the contract and hands it back to you. The pen vanishes.
• Give the signed infernal contract to the Devil.
• an infernal dip pen. The Devil conjures it into your hand when you take the contract.
• Try to dip the pen into the inkwell on your desk. It comes up dry, and you learn that you need infernal ink.
• After making infernal ink, dip the pen in it.
• After giving the contract to Hans, give the dipped pen to him so he can sign it. The pen vanishes afterwards.
• the bear's eyes. They're in the bear's head above the tavern door, as seen from outside.
• From inside the tavern, push the stool east (and outside).
• Close the tavern door, so Hans can't see what you do next.
• Stand on the stool, then take the eyes (using the scalpel to cut them out).
• The bear's eyes are an ingredient for making infernal ink.
• a bone of Clare the hunter. After asking Hans about the burial mound, go to the graveyard with the shovel and dig the mound to obtain the bone.
• The bone is an ingredient for making infernal ink.
• a glass of red wine. The shopkeeper at the back of the tavern is holding it.
• After learning that the shopkeeper wants a vacation, put the flyer on the table, then leave and return. (For decorum's sake, she doesn't want to be seen taking the flyer, so you can't just give it to her.) When you return, she's now avidly reading the flyer and has put her glass of red wine unattended on the table. Take her glass.
• In the churchyard, give the wine to the priest. He turns it into a glass of consecrated wine for you.
• The consecrated wine is an ingredient for making infernal ink.
• a Devil's feather. The Devil's wings are made with feathers that glow with an ethereal light.
• Look up the Devil in the grimoire to learn more about his wings. He was formerly an angel.
• Order the Devil to give you a feather; he does so.
• The feather's etheral light counts as "divine radiance". Therefore, the feather is an ingredient for making infernal ink.
• a glass of demonic ink. Create it by putting the bone, eyes, and feather into the glass of consecrated wine.
• Dip the pen into the ink.
• a cease and desist letter, an infernal postcard, and a mail order catalogue. They're all on your desk after you banish the Devil.
• Feel free to examine and ignore them. They provide some backstory on what's been happening in the months since you banished the Devil.
• Note that the letter and your reaction to the catalogue are slightly different if you asked Hans on a date earlier.

Honorable mention:

• your lab coat with bloodstains. You're wearing it.
• It holds all your inventory. ALL of it.

Score

The response to SCORE is simply:

Genius can't be quantified!

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