In this simple game, you play as a young man. You fell asleep reading about castles and somehow wake up in one. Now find as much treasure as you can and rescue the princess!
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 (Serial number 190627) of the game.
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.
The treasure room is accessed from a random dungeon cell. You must consult the in-game map to learn which it is.
Map 4: Forest and Cave
Walkthrough
Small Bedroom
Note that the premise of this game — find treasure and rescue the princess — isn't mentioned in the game itself, but only on the game's IFDB page.
Also, there's no score, and there's nothing you need to do with any treasure you find, so it's hard to tell if you're accomplishing anything at all. So in this walkthrough, let's just take everything that we can (whether we need it or not) and say that the player with the most inventory at the end wins the most, okay?
> x bed. n. e. s.
North/South Hallway
> x torches. s. w.
Balcony
> x binoculars. take it.
> look through binoculars.
> e. u.
Southern Turret
> look through binoculars.(see cave beyond forest)
> d. n. n. d.
Stairway
> x tapestry. take it.(a paper falls)
> take paper. x it.
It's a map. Note which corner of the dungeon has the X; it's randomized.
> d. w.
Throne Room
As you enter, the court jester gives you a box. He's gone.
CAUTION: Don't open the box until you're in the correct location.
> x box. x ribbon. x tag.("Explosive!")
> x king's throne. x queen's throne.
> w.
Sword Room
> x case. x sword. take sword.
> s. s.
Library
I wish the book actually told you something about the king and the kingdom, but it doesn't.
> x bookshelf. x book. take it.
> s.
Dining Room
CAUTION: If you eat the food, you'll teleport to a random location. Try it if you must, then UNDO so you're back here.
> x tables. x plate. x food. take food.
> w.
Ballroom
> x chandelier. x candle. take wand.
Head all the way back upstairs and explore the western half.
> e. n. n. n. e. e. u. u. e. e. n.
Central Turret
> look through binoculars.
> s. s.
Queen's Bedroom
> x window.
> n. w. s.
King's Bedroom
You must have the sword to be able to attack the king.
> x king. kill king.
"You fight well, my son." Then he vanishes. Was he a ghost? Or did he teleport away?
And are you really his son? Or is he welcoming you into his family as his son-in-law? It's open to interpretation.
> s.
King's Study
> x desk. x ring. take it. wear it.
Now head for the dungeon. The stairs down are in the southeast corner from the ground level.
> n. n. e. e. e. d. d. s. s. d.
Dungeon Entrance
Read the map again if you've forgotten and go to the indicated corner.
To northwest corner: > n. w. w. n.
To northeast corner: > n. w. n.
To southwest corner: > n. w. w. s.
To southeast corner: > n. w. s.
Dungeon Cell (appropriate corner)
> x shackles.
> open box. look.
> n —or— s.(as appropriate for the new passageway)
Treasure Room
> x treasure. x crown. x chalice. x necklace. x sac.
> take all.
Return to the dungeon entrance:
From northwest corner: > s. s. e. e. s.
From northeast corner: > s. s. e. s.
From southwest corner: > n. n. e. e. s.
From southeast corner: > n. n. e. s.
Dungeon Entrance
From here, return to the throne room then head south:
> u. n. n. w. s.
Inner Court
> x fountain. x statue. x staff. x jewel.
> take staff. s.
Outer Court
> x gazebo. enter it.
Inside Gazebo
> x bench. x pot. x flowers.
> take pot.
> out. s.
Gateway
> x drawbridge. x crank. turn crank.
> e. e. e.
Empty Stable
> take shovel. w. u.
Hayloft
> x lantern. take it.
> d. w. w. s.
On the drawbridge
> x moat. s.
Forest Path (near drawbridge)
> x trees. w. w.
Clearing
> search leaves. x lamp. take lamp.
> rub lamp.(Merlin says to wake him up later.)
Now head for the cave:
> e. e. s. e. s. e.
Cave Entrance
You'll need the light of the lantern to see past this point.
> n. e. n. e.
Inner Cavern
CAUTION: Once you enter the dragon's nest, you can't leave until the dragon's dead. Make sure you have the sword.
> save.
> e.
Dragon's Nest
The dragon breathes fire, decreasing your health by 2 to 3 units of something!
The damage that both the dragon and you do is randomized. I'm going to assume you win the battle, but if you don't, UNDO or RESTORE and try again until you do win.
> kill dragon. g. g. g. g.(Repeat attacking until the dragon is dead.)
> dig box with shovel. x box.(It's a treasure chest.)
> x marking. open chest.(locked)
> take chest.(It's too heavy.)
> unlock chest with ring.(this works!)
> open chest. x doll. take it.
Return to the throne room:
> w. n. w. w. s. w. n. w. n. n. n. n. n. n.
Throne Room
You must be carrying both the doll and the wand for this to work.
> rub lamp.(Merlin turns the doll into a princess.)
> x princess.
Unfortunately, the princess says absolutely nothing, not even her name. Awkward. Perhaps she needs time to recover from her ordeal as a literal plaything. Can we at least assume she's an adult and likes you?
By the way, if you wander, the princess will follow you wherever you go, but this is where you want to be.
> sit on king's throne.
*** You and the princess sit on the thrones taking your place as king and queen. ***
Forget about whatever life you had before. This is your new home now, son.
Extras
Characters
The king is in his bedroom. He orders you to defend yourself!
The court jester makes a brief appearance in the throne book to give you a gift-wrapped explosive.
Merlin the Sorcerer can be summoned by rubbing the magic lamp.
A fire-breathing dragon attacks you if you dare invade its nest!
The princess must be found, but where could she be?
A grue may eat you if you persist in wandering in dark caves without any source of light.
Mentioned:
The queen seems to be no longer in residence.
Endings
Ignoring the warning, you continue in darkness and are attacked by a grue and eaten alive.
if you persist in wandering in dark caves without the lantern.
The End
if the dragon succeeds in killing you.
You and the princess sit on the thrones taking your place as king and queen.
if you sit on the king's throne when the princess is with you.
Inventory
a pair of binoculars. It's on the balcony.
To use them, look through binoculars. Unfortunately, this is only vaguely useful while on the southern turret.
a map. Find it by trying to take the tapestry on the stairway.
Examine the map; it's a map of the dungeons. Note which dungeon cell is marked with an X; that's the cell that's adjacent to a hidden treasure room.
a box. The court jester gives it to you when you first enter the throne room.
Opening the box makes it explode. You are not damaged, but obviously you can only do this once.
Open the box in the dungeon cell indicated by the map to reveal the way to the treasure room.
Note: The explosion has no effect on the king or the dragon anymore than it does on you.
a King's sword. It's in the display case in the sword room.
This is the only weapon in the game.
Attack the king in his bedroom with the sword. He will compliment you, call you his "son", and vanish.
Attack the dragon in his nest repeatedly with the sword until the dragon is dead.
a book. It's on the bookshelf in the library.
It's a history of the king, but unfortunately you can't really read it or learn anything from it.
a morsel of food. It's on the plate in the dining room.
Eating the food teleports you to a random location. This isn't really helpful, except in reinforcing the idea that this is an enchanted castle where anything might be magical.
By the way, if you teleport while the princess is following you, the princess is not teleported, but she will attempt to walk to your new location until you're reunited.
a magic wand. It's the "unlit candle" in the ballroom's chandelier.
Although you can wave the wand, nothing ever happens when you try.
This is actually Merlin's wand. If you're carrying both the wand and the princess doll when you rub the magic lamp, Merlin will take his wand from you and turn the doll into a real princess.
a king's staff. It's held by the fountain's statue in the inner court.
It's not a weapon. It contains a jewel.
a jewel. It's embedded in the king's staff.
I suppose this is treasure? You can take it from the staff and put it back in. Nice.
a flower pot. It's on the bench inside the gazebo.
They contain flowers, but otherwise, you may ignore the flower pot.
some flowers. They're in the flower pot.
You may ignore the flowers or take them out from the pot. It's up to you!
a shovel. It's in the empty stable.
In the dragon's nest after the dragon is slain, dig the wooden box with the shovel. The box is revealed to be a treasure chest.
a lantern. It's in the hayloft.
It's already lit. Its light lets you see in the dark caves.
the king's treasure. It's in the treasure room.
These are the coins that were mentioned there. It was the king's most generic treasure and now it's all yours!
the king's crown. It's in the treasure room.
It's treasure. You may wear it.
a chalice. It's in the treasure room.
It's treasure. You can't fill it with anything.
a diamond necklace. It's in the treasure room.
It's treasure. Alas, you cannot wear it.
a sac. It's in the treasure room.
You can put your inventory into it, but since there's no carrying capacity restrictions, you don't need to use the sac at all.
a magic lamp. Find it by searching the leaves in the clearing.
When you have both the magic wand and the princess doll, rub the lamp. Merlin will appear, take the wand from you, and transform the doll into a real princess.
After you've found the princess, rubbing the lamp no longer summons Merlin.
an insignia ring. It's on the desk in the king's study.
You may wear the ring. In the dragon's nest, unlock the treasure chest with the ring.
a princess doll. It's in the treasure chest in the dragon's nest.
To find the doll, you'll first need to kill the dragon (see sword), dig the wooden box (see shovel), and unlock the chest (see ring).
While carrying both the doll and the magic wand, rub the magic lamp. Merlin will appear, take the wand from you, and transform the doll into a real princess.
The princess doesn't talk, accept gifts, or respond to orders, but she will follow you everywhere you go.
In the throne room, sit on the king's throne while the princess is there to win the game.