Key & Compass presents:
Epic Expedition
by dgtziea

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Credits, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Follow me at Bluesky, Ko-Fi, Mastodon, Patreon, and Wordpress.

Map

Walkthrough

Tutorial?

>> 1 (yes)

You are part of an expedition studying the ancient terrestrials. Find a small, non-hostile life form and bring it back for scanning. A full report is also expected.

Landing spot

> n.

In front of building

> n.

> open door. (locked)

> w.

Empty Lot

> x bushes. take key.

> i. x device.

> talk to comms.

> x unit.

> x key. drop key.

> L. get key.

> e.

In front of building

> unlock door with key.

> open door. n.

Seating area

The formal part of the tutorial ends.

> x booths. x pots.

> look in pot. (You see a shiny document, out of reach, floating on muddy water.)

> x shiny.

> n.

Front of kitchen

> x machine. (It's a mechanical chef. It has a keyboard, a display, and no power.)

> x door. open door. (no: rusted shut)

> n.

Back of kitchen

> x dispenser. (It has a spout, a button, and no power.)

> n.

Supply room

> x animal.

> talk to comms. (They decide you found a mouse.)

> x bucket. take it.

> x shelves.

> n.

Utility closet

> x box. open it. (The main kitchen switch is off.)

> push switch. (power is restored)

> close box.

> s. s. e.

Beside fryers

> x fryers. x oil. take it.

> n.

Small office

> x desk. open drawer.

> x card. take it.

> s. w.

Back of kitchen

> put bucket under spout.

> push button.

> take bucket. (It now has soda.)

> drink soda. (no: might not be safe)

> s. s.

Seating area

> pour soda into pot.

> take menu.

> read menu.

> n.

Front of kitchen

> x display. (Needs the Wi-Fi password to reconnect to the cloud.)

> type epicisthebest

Now the display error is "Smartcooler not detected".

> oil door. open door. w.

Cold storage

> x cooler. (has display, card reader, and a RESET lever)

> x display.

> put card in reader.

> pull lever.

The new display lists the ingredients available, which isn't much: 23 buns, 12 bread, and 1 cheese.

> e.

Front of kitchen

> close door.

> x display. (It lists the menu items you can order.)

> type 6 (for "KIDCHS", the kids' grilled cheese sandwich)

A grilled cheese is made!

> take cheese. x it.

> open unit.

> put cheese in unit.

> n. n.

Supply room

> drop unit. (You capture the mouse and take the unit back.)

> s. s. s. s.

In front of building

> close door. s.

Landing spot

The spaceship has its ramp lowered.

> x ship.

> u.

Back inside your ship

A scientist scans the specimen and soon releases it. The ship returns to orbit. Your mission is complete.

I hope you enjoyed this parser interactive fiction game. Thanks for playing! (The game will restart after this)

Extras

Characters

• A gray mouse is in the utility room, but hides inside a hole when you first enter there. This is the specimen you need to capture.
• The comms operator is who you talk to when you use your comms device.
• A scientist on your ship scans and releases the mouse in the epilogue.

Credits

This is the response to CREDITS:

Epic Expedition, by dgtziea. Written in Adventuron, for the Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2026. Thanks to Garry Francis for organizing the jam.

Thanks to my testers: Francesco Ariis, Allyson Gray, Leon Lin, Andrew Schultz, baezil, Daniel Stelzer, Deborah Sherwood, and HAL9000.

Thanks to Chris Ainsley for creating Adventuron. Thanks to Alexander van Oostenrijk for Trizbort.io (used for the map) and both Genstein and Jason Lautzenheiser for Trizbort. Type HELP if you'd like some guidance!

Inventory

• Your comms device. You're carrying it.
• You can talk to comms, and you're prompted to do so in the tutorial, but you never need to. Feel free to talk to comms as often as you like, informing them of your progress.
• a containment unit. You're carrying it.
• In the supply room, open the unit, put the grilled cheese in the unit as bait, then drop the unit. This lures the mouse out of its hole and into the unit; the specimen is now captured. Return to your ship with the specimen to win the game.
• a key. Find it by examining the bushes in the empty lot.
• When in front of the building, unlock the door with the key.
• a bucket. It's in the supply room.
• In the utility closet, open the box and push the switch to restore power to the restaurant's devices.
• At the back of the kitchen, put the bucket under the spout then push the button to fill the bucket with soda.
• In the seating area, pour the soda into the pot; you can now reach and take the menu.
• a container of oil. Find it by examining the fryers (at "Beside fryers").
• At the front of the kitchen, oil the door. Now you can open the door and enter the cold storage.
• a card. It's inside the desk drawer in the small office.
• In the utility closet, open the box and push the switch to restore power to the restaurant's devices.
• In the cold storage, put the card into the reader then pull the lever. This brings the cooler online and makes its stored food items available to the machine in the adjacent room.
• a menu. It's the document inside an otherwise-empty pot of water in the seating area, but out of reach.
• First, fill the bucket with soda, then pour the soda into the pot. The document is now within reach. Take the menu.
• Read the menu to learn which items the restaurant used to serve, and by extension, which items the machine in the front of the kitchen can potentially make.
• The menu also tells you the Wi-Fi password. When the machine in the front of kitchen asks you for it, type it in.
• a grilled cheese. It's made by the machine in the front of the kitchen, but you need to set up both the machine and the cooler first.
• In the utility closet, open the box and push the switch to restore power to the restaurant's devices.
• At the front of the kitchen, TYPE EPICISTHEBEST; you know the Wi-Fi password from the menu. Now the machine is online.
• In the cold storage, put the card into the reader then pull the lever. Now the cooler is connected to the machine.
• In the front of the kitchen, TYPE 6 to make a grilled cheese.
• In the supply room, open the unit, put the grilled cheese in the unit as bait, then drop the unit. This lures the mouse out of its hole and into the unit; the specimen is now captured. Return to your ship with the specimen to win the game.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!

I create larger walkthroughs too! 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.

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