In this lighthearted scavenger hunt, it's your job to find twelve colorful Easter eggs in other works of interactive fiction! But who are you collecting them for and why?
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
When on the edge of the Big Lawn, you can use C or CW to travel clockwise, and CC or CCW to travel counterclockwise.
Walkthrough
Center of the Big Lawn
> x basket. take it. x pedestal. x grass.
> e.
3 O'Clock
> x archway. e.
Meditation Room
> x Jinjin. x cushion. x rug. x mural.
> sit.
> pick 3. pick 8.(pair of heads)
> pick 14. pick 15.(pair of eyes)
> pick 5. pick 16.(pair of granolas)
> pick 6. pick 19.(pair of arrows)
> pick 4. pick 24.(pair of keys)
> pick 7. pick 25.(pair of bunnies)
> pick 17. pick 21.(pair of crowns)
> pick 9. pick 11.(pair of zorkmids)
> pick 10. pick 13.(pair of ducks)
> pick 12. pick 17.(pair of swords)
> pick 1. pick 22.(pair of lamps)
> pick 20. pick 23.(pair of torches)
> pick 2.(Jinjin gives you a Rose egg then leaves.)
> x Rose egg. put it in basket.
> stand. w. c.
4 O'Clock
> x archway. e.
Living Room
> x sofa. x desk. e.
Seaside Cottage
> x door. ne. ne.
Beach
> x hat. take it. x Puce egg. x rocks.
> sw. sw. w. w. c.
5 O'Clock
> x archway. s.
In the Veldt
> x lions. x portal. x meat. x sun.
> s. z. z. z. z.(Lions vanish; portal opens)
> s.
Cramped Lab
> x pod. x console.
> set dial to 2. n.
Outside the Hamlet
The bridge, stream, and constructions are unimplemented.
> n.(force wall stops you.)
> s.
Cramped Lab
> set dial to 3. n.
Fantasy World
> x speckled egg. take it. s.
Cramped Lab
> set dial to 5. n.
Ship's Cabin
> x sack. open it. take it. look in it.
> x Ebony egg. put it in basket.
> s.
Cramped Lab
> set dial to 6. n.
Dark Dungeon
There's nothing here.
> s.
Cramped Lab
> set dial to 4. n. c.
6 O'Clock
> x archway. s.
The Baron's Study
> x maiden. x desk. x bookcase.
> take book. take paper. read book. read paper.
> x clock. x window.
> close window. look. take key. x it.
> set minute to 12. set hour to 12.
> put key in keyhole. turn key.
> take key. take Navy egg. x it.
> n. c.
7 O'Clock
> x archway. s.
Inside Cave
> x cube. take it.
> x scales. x left pan. x right pan.
> x gold coin. x bronze coin. x Teal egg.
The easiest way to solve this puzzle is just to ignore the coins and swap the cube for the Teal egg.
> take Teal egg. put cube on left pan.
> put Teal egg in basket.
> n. c.
8 O'Clock
> x archway. w.
In The Moat of Ye Olde Castle
> x rag. take it. x muck. x scorpions.
> clean muck. x grate. open it.
> w. w.
Cul-de-Sac
> x Amber egg. take it.
> e. e. e. c.
9 O'Clock
> x archway. w.
Western Courtyard
> x statues. x Aphrodite. x Hera. x Athena.
> x Paris. x apple.
> x doorway. x satyrs. x architrave. x door. x keyhole.
> u. s.
Bedchamber
> x bed. x arrow. x bow. take bow and arrow.
> x chest. open it.(locked)
> x window.("Magic word: QUIVVER")
> n. d.
Western Courtyard
> put arrow in bow. shoot apple.
> quivver.(door opens!)
> w.
Castle Orchard
> x Ruby egg. take it.
> x trees. x bench.
> e. e. c.
10 O'Clock
> x archway. w.
Hillside
> x goat. take goat. w.
Clearing
Don't sit or rest or sleep here!
> w. w.
10 O'Clock
> x Indigo egg. c.
11 O'Clock
> x archway. n.
Cragne Family Plot
> x crypt. x door. open it.(can't)
> x grave. x headstone. x urn. x flowers.
> take urn. bail grave. bail grave. d.
Inside the Flooded Grave
> dig west. x Umber egg. put it in basket.
> u.
Cragne Family Plot
> take urn. s. c.
12 O'Clock
> x archway. n.
Lagoon
> x ocean. x fish. x blue round. swim.
> w.
Oceanside Meadow
> x cows. x volcano. e. e.
Beach
> take popcorn. x it. eat it. w.
Lagoon
> feed popcorn to fish. swim.
> x Sapphire egg. put it in basket.
> s. c.
1 O'Clock
> x archway. n.
Laboratory
Feel free to give your junk items to Ram to transform, if you like. But if you change the thick book to the thin book, please change it back to the thick book before leaving here.
> x Ram. x machine.
> give speckled egg to Ram.
> x Silver egg. put it in basket.
> s. c.
2 O'Clock
> x archway. e.
Stone Porch
> x steps. e.
Garden Entrance
> x vines. eat grapes.
> x flowers. x trees. x belladonna.
> x bull. x emerald. take it. x it.
> quivver.
> w. w. sw.
Center of the Big Lawn
> x thick book.("Ophiuchus")
> put basket on pedestal.
Assuming the basket has all twelve Easter eggs in it, you're now in...
Gargantuan Gazebo
Feel free to look around before guessing. You only get three guesses, but you don't have to guess immediately.
> x man. x toga. x slippers. x snake.
> x dome. x system. x sun. x pillars. x floor.
> x furniture. x plants. x birds.
> xyzzy. plugh. plover. x plovers. x plover's egg.
> x basket.
The first letters of the egg's names spell out the snake's name, so:
> guess Serpentarius.
*** You won thirteen eggs and the top prize ***
Extras
Amusing
Did you try:
giving everything but the Easter eggs to Professor Ram?
putting the basket on the pedestal when it wasn't full?
try examining the thick book in every location?
looking under the cushion while Jinjin was there?
smelling in the meditation room?
giving popcorn or pretzels to the goat?
resting when in the clearing with the goat?
QUIVVER near the stone bull?
finding both force walls in the game?
XYZZY? PLUGH? PLOVER?
to get lesser prizes in the endgame?
unlocking the chest?
finding the super-secret testing command that collects every Easter egg at once? There is a hint for it in the game!
Characters
Professor Ram, is a talking ram. He invented a machine that alters things into other similar things, and in this game, he also represents Aries.
A stone bull may animate and speak briefly to you. He represents Taurus.
Jinjin is a non-binary sage and an advisor to the King. They administer the Concentration game and they themselves represent Gemini.
Sir Syd is a crab and represents Cancer.
Several lions in the veldt represent Leo.
The Maiden of the Moonlight, the spirit of a dead woman, represents Virgo.
A legless goat represents Capricorn.
Some scorpions in a moat represent Scorpio.
Some tuna fish in a lagoon represent Pisces.
Some cows and sheep are in a meadow near the lagoon.
Your host, Ophiuchus greets you in his gargantuan gazebo.
The snake has one of Ophiuchus's old names. Can you guess it?
Some exotic birds are also in the gazebo.
The Phil is the player-character in the Sagittarius section.
Mentioned:
There's a King that Jinjin advises; the meditation room is in the King's palace.
Scotty and Jack are fellow crewmembers in Leo's section.
The Baron whose study you visit and that the Maiden haunts.
Sir Lawrence owns the castle in the Sagittarius section.
Two satyrs, Aphrodite, Hera, Athena, and Paris all have statues in a courtyard.
Your family, your father, and a butcher are mentioned in the Capricorn section.
An unknown thief may steal your goat and your pants.
The Cragne family is mentioned in the Aquarius section.
Credits
The response to CREDITS is:
Easter Egg Hunt 2020 was written by me, David Welbourn, in the week from the end of the ClubFloyd session on Sunday April 5th to sometime before the ClubFloyd session on Easter Sunday April 12th, 2020. It was one of those just-for-fun projects.
However, it should be obvious that this is not just my own work by any means. It includes many bits and pieces from other interactive fiction games by other authors, which I quickly stitched together into this crazy quilt of a game. Hopefully it holds together without falling apart into a huge mess.
The works of IF that I, uh, pillaged for this game are:
Balances by Graham Nelson.
Best Gopher Ever by Arthur DiBianca.
Birmingham IV by Peter Emery.
A Boy and his Goat by Ola Sverre Bauge.
Cragne Manor by many authors and organized by Jenni Polodna and Ryan Veeder; the part I'm reusing is the Cragne Family Plot by Mark Britton.
Grayscale by Daniel T. Freas.
The Homework of Little Carl Gauss by Stefano Gaburri.
Krakatoa Tuna Melt by David Welbourn.
Maiden of the Moonlight by Brian P. Dean.
Oh No, Mr Crab Stole Your Hat! by Brown Cow.
Testing for Release 1 was done just by me. How foolish I am! Always get other people to test your work!
I must also admit that several of the borrowed locations had to be flipped around or turned sideways to fit into my new geography, and several borrowed items were also altered to fit into the new storyline or puzzles. Sometimes I simplified things to make it easier for myself or for the player. Regardless, this game has major spoilers for the smallest games I borrowed from, and minor spoilers for the larger games.
Please enjoy this mess! It should be a pretty easy game for most of you, but if not, please let me know!
Endings
You won [one to six] egg[s]
if your highest guess was worth 1 to 6 points.
You won [seven to nine] eggs and the second runner-up prize
if your highest guess was worth 7 to 9 points.
You won [ten to twelve] eggs and the runner-up prize
if your highest guess was worth 10 to 12 points.
You won thirteen eggs and the top prize
if your highest guess was worth 13 points.
See score to see how scoring in the final puzzle works.
Inventory
Easter eggs
Put all these eggs in the basket after you find them. Sometimes the game will automatically put the egg there. Also, each egg has a printed number on it, matching which "O'Clock" location has the archway to the region where that egg is obtained from.
a Silver egg. In the laboratory, give the speckled egg to Professor Ram; he gives you the Silver egg in return.
an Emerald egg. It's the "emerald" at the base of the stone bull in the garden entrance. Just take it. You don't need any tool to pry it out.
a Rose egg. Jinjin gives this to you in the meditation room when you win their game of Concentration.
a Puce egg. At the beach twice-northeast of the seaside cottage, take your hat; you'll automatically take the Puce egg as well that was underneath.
a Ebony egg. It's inside the burlap sack in the ship's cabin.
a Navy egg. It's hiding inside the clock in the Baron's study. To reveal the egg, you need to set both hands of the clock to 12, put the moon key in the clock's keyhole, then turn the key.
a Teal egg. It's on the left pan on the scales inside the cave. Swap one of the cubes for the Teal egg and leave the coins where they are.
an Amber egg. It's in the cul-de-sac, at the end of a stinky tunnel west of the scorpions' moat.
a Ruby egg. It's the "red apple" held by the statue of Paris. Put the arrow in the bow, then shoot the apple; the "apple" falls into the orchard. Still in the courtyard, use the magic word "QUIVVER" to animate the satyrs. They will break open the red door to the orchard for you. Take the Ruby egg from the orchard.
an Indigo egg. Obtain it by picking up the goat and heading west three times without resting, sleeping, or sitting on a hill.
an Umber egg. When inside the flooded grave, dig west to obtain this egg.
a Sapphire egg. In the lagoon, first give the popcorn to the fish. Then swim; you'll take the Sapphire egg from the lagoon floor.
Useful tools
a straw basket. It's in the center of the big lawn. Take it. Put all twelve Easter eggs in it. Return to the center of the Lawn and put the basket on the pedestal. You, the pedestal, and the basket of eggs will now be in the endgame location: a gargantuan gazebo.
The basket automatically sorts the eggs by their printed numbers.
If you give the (empty) straw basket to Professor Ram, the straw basket becomes a straw bucket.
a top hat. It's on the beach northeast of your seaside cottage. Take it to obtain the Puce egg.
If you give the top hat to Professor Ram, it becomes a bowler hat.
a speckled egg. It's in the Fantasy World. Give it to Professor Ram in his laboratory. His machine will turn the speckled egg into a Silver egg.
a burlap sack. It's in the ship's cabin. It contains the Ebony egg.
If you give the burlap sack to Professor Ram, it becomes a burlap sock.
a thick book. It's in the bookcase in the Baron's study. Read it at any location to see what the ruling star sign is there.
If you give the thick book to Professor Ram, it becomes a thin book.
a piece of paper. It falls to the floor when you first take the thick book in the Baron's study. Read it; it's a clue for the clock puzzle there.
If you give the paper to Professor Ram, it becomes a piece of newspaper.
a moon key. It falls to the floor in the Baron's study when you close the window shutters. Put the moon key in the clock's keyhole, set both clock hands to 12, then turn the key to find the Navy egg.
If you give the moon key to Professor Ram, it becomes the sun key.
a featureless white cube. It's inside the cave with the scales. It weighs the same as an Easter egg, so put it on the left pan after you take the Teal egg.
If you give the white cube to Professor Ram, it becomes a black cube.
a featureless black cube. This is the alternate version of the featureless white cube. It weighs the same as the white cube and can be used to solve the scales puzzle with the same way.
a filthy rag. It's by the scorpions' moat. Clean the muddy wall with it to discover a grate.
If you give the filthy rag to Professor Ram, it becomes a clean rag.
a clean rag. This is the alternate version of the filthy rag, and it can also be used to clean the muddy moat by the moat. Of course, the clean rag becomes the filthy rag if you do this.
a bow. It's with the arrow on the bed in the bedchamber. Put the arrow in the bow, then in the western courtyard, shoot the red apple.
If you give the bow to Professor Ram, it becomes a crossbow.
a gray arrow. It's with the bow on the bed in the bedchamber. Put the arrow in the bow, then in the western courtyard, shoot the red apple.
If you give the arrow to Professor Ram, it becomes an arrowhead.
a goat. It's on a hillside. Take it west three times without resting, sleeping, or sitting to obtain the Indigo egg.
a bronze urn. It's beside the flooded grave in the Cragne family plot. Bail the grave twice with the urn; now you can enter the grave.
If you give the bronze urn to Professor Ram, it becomes the copper urn.
a copper urn. This is the alternate version of the bronze urn. It works just like the bronze urn.
a bag of popcorn. It's on the beach east of the lagoon. At the lagoon, feed the popcorn to the tuna fish to make them go away.
If you give the popcorn to Professor Ram, it becomes a bag of pretzels.
Junk
Alternate versions of objects can almost always be turned back into their original forms by giving them back to Professor Ram.
a straw bucket. This is the alternate version of the straw basket. It's a container.
a bowler hat. This is the alternate version of the top hat. You may wear it.
a burlap sock. This is the alternate version of the burlap sack. You may wear it.
a thin book. This is the alternate version of the thick book. Read it for another clue about acrostics and easter eggs.
a piece of newspaper. This is the alternate version of the piece of paper. Read it for another clue about your host's identity.
a sun key. This is the alternate version of the moon key. It unlocks the chest in the bedchamber. Whatever could be inside?
some gold coins and a bronze coin. They're on the scale pans inside the cave. Leave them alone; you can't take them from the cave, nor can you leave the cave if they're not all on the pans. And, of course, the pans must be balanced as well.
a crossbow. This is the alternate version of the bow. It's useless to you.
a gray arrowhead. This is the alternate version of the arrow. It's useless to you.
a bag of pretzels. This is the alternate version of the popcorn. It's useless to you.
Score
There is no score during the main game, but during the endgame, you are scored on your guesses for your host's snake's name. Your final score is the point value of your best of three guesses.
For 13 points: guess SERPENTARIUS.
For 12 points: guess SERPENTAIRE or SERPENTINARIUS.
For 11 points: guess ANGUIFER, ANGUIGER, ANGUITENENS, SERPENTIGER, SERPENTIS LATOR, or SERPENTIS PRAESES.
For 10 points: guess OPHIULCHUS, OPHIULCUS, OPHIULTUS, OPHIUCULUS, or OPHIULCULUS.
For 9 points: guess OPHIUCHUS or SERPENT-BEARER.
For 8 points: guess SERPENS, SERPENTIS, or SERPENT-CHARMER.
For 7 points: guess ZODIAC or SERPENT.
For 6 points: guess GORGON, SNAKE, BOA, or CONSTRICTOR.
For 5 points: guess SLYTHERIN, VOLDEMORT, SALAZAR, NAGINI, PATRICK, or MEDUSA.
For 4 points: guess JOSHUA, EASTER, EGG, or EGGS.
For 3 points: guess BUNNY or EASTER BUNNY.
For 2 points: guess JESUS.
For 1 point: guess anything else.
Thank You to my Patreon supporters
This walkthrough is provided free of charge even though the work it's based on has fifteen or more locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!
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.