Key & Compass presents:
Eat the Eldritch
by Olaf Nowacki

• Maps
  • Map 1: The Tataki
  • Map 2: The Dream?
• Walkthrough
• Events
  • Achievements, Amusing, Artwork (Unicode), Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory, Score
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Maps

Map 1: The Tataki

Map 2: The Dream?

Note: You can also reach the Void by examining the symbols on Carter's rug when it's unrolled on the upper deck.

Walkthrough

Bridge

You are Jun Do, captain of the fish processing vessel Tataki.

> x console. (Achievement!: Doing captaincy)

> x finder. scan.

> x screen. (Achievement!: Search for fish)

> x me. i. x key.

> a. (A is for AFT.)

Bridge Deck Staircase

> x exit plan.

> s.

Captain's Cabin

> x window. x bunk.

> look under bunk. take tableware. (+2)

> x plate. x goo.

> x gun. x arrow. take arrow.

> p. d.

Upper Deck Staircase

> x exit plan. f.

Crew Lounge

> x TV. x chairs. x tables.

> x doodle. (chevrons in a LLLLLRL pattern)

> s.

Galley

> x cooker. x pan.

> x shelves. x books. read books. x spices.

> x dishwasher. put plate and fork in it.

> close dishwasher.

> x calendar. take it.

> x safe. x knob.

Using the doodle as the safe's combo:

> turn knob left. g. g. g. g.

> turn knob right. turn knob left.

> push knob. (+5. The safe opens.)

> look in safe.

> take bottle. x it. (sake)

By now, the dishwasher has finished its cycle and opened.

> take plate and fork.

> a.

Rudolf Carter's Cabin

> x bed. look under bed.

> x closet. open it. (no)

> x porthole. x rug. take it. (no)

> f. p. a. d.

Processing Deck Staircase

> x exit plan. s.

Dim Corridor

> x doors. x paint. (Same as doodle as in lounge.)

> knock on doors. (no answer)

> open doors. (locked)

> p. f.

Fish Processing Hall

> x plant.

> x panel. (lever, button, small hole)

> x lever. x button. x hole.

> x belt. x lamps. x puddles.

> x intake. x blades. x door.

> a. d.

On the stairs to the engine deck

> d. d. d. d.

On the stairs to the engine deck

> open door. (locked)

> x door. x paint. (same pattern as doodle)

> d. d. d. d. d. d. d. d. d. (Achievement!: Getting (not) to the bottom of it)

Sorry, you can never get to the engine deck.

> u.

Processing Deck Staircase

> u. f. f.

Upper Deck

> x building. x railing. x spotlight. x door. x chute.

> x ring. take it. (Achievement!: And it floats, floats, floats)

> enter chute.

Fish Processing Hall

> stand. (Achievement!: Jump)

> f.

Cold Storage Hall

> talk to Carter. (+2. He leaves for the galley, saying to pick what you want cooked from here.)

> wear ring. tie rope to handle.

> f.

In the Mist

This location is deadly cold. Try to find the package as quickly as possible and get out of there.

> p. p. (You find a package.)

> take package. pull rope. (+5)

Cold Storage Hall

> x package. untie rope. remove ring.

> a. a. u. f. s.

Galley

> give calendar to Carter. (Achievement!: At least honest)

> give package to Carter. (+2)

> x pan. x oil. z. z.

Carter unexpectedly leaves while your food is cooking.

> put food on plate. (using the fork)

> eat food. (+5)

Head for the bridge. Two turns after eating, you hear an alarm to prompt you to go that way regardless.

> p. a. u. f.

Bridge

The nautical chart is flashing and beeping.

> x chart.

The ship is heading northeast, but something big is increasing on the left. If you don't do something, the ship will crash.

Turn the wheel until the ship is pointing west, directly at the growing circle.

> turn wheel left. g. g. (The ship points west.)

> z. (+5. Achievement!: Surviver)

The Void

> listen. (Something's in your ear!)

> touch ear. (Difficult without hands.)

> take thing. (It's a screwdriver.)

> i. x screwdriver.

Two turns after acquiring the screwdriver, you find yourself at...

Bridge (sort of)

> a.

Your Cabin (sort of)

> x speargun. unscrew it. (+5; it disappears.)

> f.

Bridge (sort of)

> wake.

Bridge

> scan. x screen. (You're heading for something large.)

> x chart. (Achievement!: Point Nemo)

However, there's a new island on the horizon. You need to change course again!

> turn wheel right. (That doesn't work now.)

Changing course isn't an option. Get that speargun.

> a. s.

Captain's Cabin

> take speargun. (Achievement!: Sure, what could go wrong?)

> p. f.

Bridge

As you enter, the ship runs aground on a something-mountain of endless sausage-tentacle intestines, one of which starts exploring the upper deck.

> p.

Upper Deck

> x worm. x Carter.

> ask Carter about rug. ask Carter about worm.

> tie rope to arrow. (+2)

> put arrow in speargun.

> shoot arrow at worm. (This fails because you shot at a thick part of the worm, and the arrow skids off.)

> put arrow in speargun.

> shoot arrow at tip. (+5)

> z. z. (Wait until the worm calms down.)

> enter chute. (+5)

You pull the worm tip into...

Fish Processing Hall

> stand. put key in hole.

> push lever. turn key. push button. (+2)

> put ring in intake. (+5)

> x workers. (Achievement!: Fishy brothers)

> talk to workers.

You are prompted to toast the catch with a sip of sake.

> drink sake. (+5)

There is a song at the end. Have your headphones or earbuds on.

*** FIN ***

You finished this game in T turns.
You collected N achievements (out of 27).
You died X times, discovering Z out of 7 individual deaths.
Also you went M meters down in your futile attempt to reach the engine deck.

Credits are also displayed.

> amusing

Events

Achievements

Use the ACHIEVEMENTS command to list your current achievements. There are 27 achievements, so this list (presented in alphabetical order) is sadly incomplete.

1. A glimpse of the future. Earn it by reading the handful of pulp (that used to be the calendar).
2. A lover and a fighter and a worm. Earn it by kissing the worm.
3. And it floats, floats, floats. Earn it by taking the life saver ring off the upper deck's railing.
4. Aquarius. Earn it by asking the ocean about the sky.
5. At least honest. Earn it by giving the calendar to Carter.
6. At least honest (with glitter). Earn it by giving the washed calendar to Carter.
7. Board member. Earn it by looking behind the board in the captain's cabin.
8. Cheater. Earn it by opening the safe without ever seeing any doodle that tells you how to unlock the safe.
9. Doing captaincy. Earn it by examining the console on the bridge.
10. Embarrassing. Earn it by letting Carter see you wearing the life saver ring.
11. Fishy brothers. Earn it by examining the workers.
12. Food chain. Earn it by trying to put the workers onto the conveyor belt.
13. Funky cold. Earn it by examining the missing fridge in the galley.
14. Jump. Earn it by entering the upper deck chute, then getting off the conveyor belt in the fish processing hall.
15. Getting (not) to the bottom of it. Earn it by going down the stairs to the engine deck fourteen times.
16. Make yourself at home. Earn it by taking the calendar when Carter is in the galley.
17. Point Nemo. Earn it by examining the nautical chart after surviving the tsunami.
18. Rickrolled. Earn it by trying to drop the screwdriver in the void.
19. Secret knowledge. Earn it by trying to eat the worm.
20. Search for fish. Earn it on the bridge by scanning then examining the screen.
21. Sure, what could go wrong? Earn it by taking the speargun.
22. Surviver. Earn it by surviving when the tsunami hits the ship.

Amusing

The response to AMUSING, after you win the game, is randomized:

Well you could try to...

• ask the ocean about the sky.
• drop the screwdriver in the void.
• give Rudolf Carter his calendar back after washing it.
• eat the tentacle.
• examine the fridge in the kitchen.
• kiss the tentacle.
• look at the symbols on the unrolled rug.
• look behind the board in your cabin.
• put the workers on the conveyor belt.
• read the calendar after washing it.
• take the calendar off the wall while Carter is present.
• wear the ring while Carter is present.

Most of these amusing actions are associated with achievements.

Artwork (Unicode)

This game has in-game maps made with Unicode characters.

The bridge deck map is seen by examining the exit plan on the Bridge Deck Staircase:

 B
 R    ┌──
 I    │
 D    │ ┌───┐   F
 G    └─┤BDG│ P ┼ S
 E      └─┬─┘   A
 │        │
 D      ┌─┴─┐ ┌───┐
 E      │  ↓├─┤Cpt│
 C      └───┘ └───┘
 K

The upper deck map is seen by examining the exit plan on the Upper Deck Staircase:

 U        ┌───┐
 P    ┌───┤UPD│
 P        └─┬─┘
 E          │
 R    F   ┌─┴─┐ ┌───┐
 │  P ┼ S │CRL├─┤KTC│
 │    A   └─┬─┘ └─┬─┘
 D          │     │
 E        ┌─┴─┐ ┌─┴─┐
 C        │↑ ↓│ │RCC│
 K        └───┘ └───┘

The processing deck map is seen by examining the exit plan on the Processing Deck Staircase:

 P      ┌───┐
 R      │CSH│
 O      └─┬─┘
 C        │
 E      ┌─┴─┐
 S      │FPH│
 S      └─┬─┘
 I        │
 N      ┌─┴─┐ ┌───┐
 G      │↑ ↓├─┤CRD│
 │      └───┘ └───┘
 D
 E        F
 C      P ┼ S
 K        A

Characters

• Rudolf Carter is your cook. It's strongly implied that he's some sort of wizard.
• The workers only show up when there's work for them to do. They appear to be completely identical.
• A tentacle monster as big as an island at Point Nemo. It's probably an eldritch elder god, and Carter assures you its flesh is tasty.

Credits

This is the response to CREDITS:

Eat the Eldritch
Everybody's got a hungry something.

The characters in this story are fictional and none of what is described here actually happened. It better have not.

Credits
The cover illustration is by Annette Köhn. The song at the end of the game is "Star Ocean" by Rainer Torres - many thanks for his kind permission to use it in the game.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone who was brave enough to test an unfinished version of this game and give me feedback on it: Andrew Schultz, Francesco Ariis, Patrick Amelung and Saskia Eckhardt. Likewise many thanks to David Welbourne, gadzoks, Jade, J.P. Tuttle, keltena, Knight Otu and Pinkunz from Club Floyd, who provided early feedback. Thanks also to Jacqueline Ashwell, for organizing ClubFloyd and making them available for beta testing. Thanks to Harumi for her feedback on all things Japanese. Thanks to deepl.com wich I used extensivly in finding the right words.

A German (and earlier) version of this game was released at the 12th IF Grand Prix in April 2023 with the title "Fischstäbchen". Many thanks to Christian Werner, Hannes Schüller, Heiko Spiess, Martin Oehm, StJohnLimbo and Stefan Hoffmann for their very detailed and constructive feedback on this! It has encouraged me to heavily revise a lot of things.

This game was written November 2022 to September 2023 by Olaf Nowacki.

Please send your very welcome feedback and transcripts to me at email redacted!

Endings

Deadly endings don't really end the game; the game undoes whatever you did to kill yourself and you can continue playing. There are seven deadly endings to be found, so unfortunately, this list is incomplete.

• DEADLY END: Frozen
• if you spend too many consecutive turns In the Mist.
• DEADLY END: Suicide by oil
• if you try to eat the hot oil from the pan.
• DEADLY END: Capsizing
• if you fail to align the ship perpendicularly to the approaching tsunami.
• DEADLY END: Deeply in love
• if you kiss the worm.
• DEADLY END: Minced
• if you enter the chute while the processing machine is turned on.
• FIN
• if you drink some sake after processing the tentacle.
• if you sleep in your cabin after processing the tentacle.

Inventory

• a key. You're carrying it.
• Examine it: it's the ignition key of the processing plant.
• In the fish processing hall, to turn on the machinery, put the key in the hole, push the lever, turn the key, then push the button.
• a plate and a fork. Look under your bunk in the captain's cabin and take the tableware.
• The plate and fork are filthy. In the galley, put them into the dishwasher and close it. After several turns, the dishwasher stops and opens. Take the plate and fork, which are now clean.
• In the galley, after Carter has started frying your food, then left, put the food on the plate (using the fork), then eat the food.
• an arrow. It's in the speargun in the captain's cabin.
• On the upper deck, when the giant worm is there, tie the rope (of the life saver ring) to the arrow. Put the arrow in the speargun, then shoot the arrow at the tip of the worm.
• a calendar. It's in the galley.
• Take it (when Carter isn't there) to reveal a wall safe.
• Optional: Give the calendar back to Carter.
• Optional: If you wash the calendar in the dishwasher, it becomes a handful of pulp (that used to be the calendar).
• a bottle of clear liquid. It's in the kitchen's wall safe. The doodle on the crew lounge tables is the clue to opening the safe. (The same doodle is repeated on the doors in the dim corridor, and again on the storage door on the stairs to the engine dock.)
• Examine the bottle: it's a bottle of sake.
• After the fish processing machinery starts processing the tentacle, celebrate your achievement by drinking sake; you'll be prompted to do so. This action ends the game.
• a life saver ring (with a rope attached). It's on the upper deck's railing.
• In the cold storage hall, wear the ring and tie the rope to the handle. Explore the mist fore from the door and try to find a package of food before you freeze. Pull the rope to return to the cold storage hall.
• Tie the rope to the arrow. On the upper deck, after shooting the arrow at the giant worm's tip (see speargun), drag the worm into the fish processing hall by carrying the ring into the chute.
• After turning on the machinery (see key), put the ring into the intake to force the tentacle into the intake.
• a package of frozen fish sticks. It's hiding somewhere in the mist fore from the cold storage hall.
• To find the package, you must first wear the life saver ring and tie its rope to the handle of the cold storage hall's door, then head fore into the mist, wander twice, grab the package if you see it. Whether you have the package or not, pull the rope to return to warmth and safety. If you must, try again until the package is yours.
• In the galley, give the package to Carter.
• food. It's in the galley's frying pan soon after you give the package to Carter.
• After Carter leaves, and if you have a clean plate and fork, put the food on your plate, then eat the food.
• a screwdriver. It's the thing in your ear when in the Void.
• Take the thing. In your cabin (sort of), unscrew the speargun with the screwdriver. Now, when you wake up, the actual speargun will be unscrewed in your actual cabin.
• The screwdriver is only in your dream. When you wake up, the screwdriver is gone.
• a speargun. It's bolted to the wall in the captain's cabin.
• You can't take the gun until you first unscrew it with the screwdriver in a dream sequence.
• The speargun contains an arrow. Tie the rope (of the life saver ring) to the arrow and put the arrow back in the gun. On the upper deck, when the giant worm is there, shoot the arrow at the tip of the worm.

Score

This is the response to SCORE:

You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 55, in several turns.

Points are awarded as follows:

• 2 points for acquiring the plate and fork.
• 5 points for opening the galley's wall safe.
• 2 points for asking Carter for something to eat.
• 5 points for escaping the mist with a food package.
• 2 points for giving the food package to Carter.
• 5 points for eating food.
• 5 points for surviving the tsunami.
• 5 points for unscrewing the speargun.
• 2 points for tying the rope to the arrow.
• 5 points for shooting the tied arrow at the tip of the worm.
• 5 points for getting a tentacle down the chute.
• 2 points for starting the fish processor.
• 5 points for starting the processing of the tentacle.
• 5 points for celebrating your success with sake.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

• the support of Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, Phil Tatro, Mitch, and Peter Berman;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen, Matthew Foxley, Thomas Insel, and Marius Müller;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer, Lance Campbell, and DrkStarr;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Jennifer Rexrode, and Durafen;
• and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.

Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!