Key & Compass presents:
Escape from Ice Station Hippo
by Jason McWright

Escape from Ice Station Hippo is a Hugo interactive fiction game and is © 2012 by Jason McWright.

You play as Thor Heyerdahl Anderson, hired to work at Ice Station Hippo with several other experts. Unfortunately, life on the station was a series of incompetent disasters ending with an ill-conceived party to celebrate abandoning the place. You pass out drunk, then wake up to a deserted station. They all left without you! How are you going to escape?

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Version 1.3 of the game.

Walkthrough
Extras
Thank You to my Patreon supporters
External links:
- This game at IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
- Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Walkthrough

Main Dome

Everyone's evacuated except for you!

First, a command to stop Findbot from wandering. I don't feel like chasing after it.

> findbot, follow me.

Okay, start playing normally:

> x me. i. x bottle.

> take device. x device. (Since Findbot's following us, we won't need to use this.)

> take paper. read paper. (This isn't helpful.)

> x core equipment. x computers.

Now check out the radio:

> x radio.

> turn on radio. x cord.

> open panel. (It's empty.)

> x blue breaker. (Diagram of four squares: red-blue-blue-red.)

> x squares.

If Findbot is with you, "search debris" is done by it, not you. And this is what you need Findbot for, to search all the piles of debris at least twice to make sure you've found everything. Everything to find in the debris is randomly placed, but there seems to be at most two items to find per pile. When Findbot has searched all the debris everywhere, then this walkthrough will examine everything you've found. Okay?

> search debris. search debris. take all.

> n. w.

Lavatory

There's two exits: north and east.

> x chest. x toilet. x sink. x shower.

> search debris. search debris. take all.

> n.

Sleeping area

> x beds.

> search debris. search debris. take all.

> e.

Dining area

> x tables.

> search debris. search debris. take all.

> n.

Kitchen

> x stacks. x machine.

> search debris. search debris. take all.

> s. s. s. e.

Restricted room

If you let Findbot wander at the beginning, you might never see the sliver of paper. By default, Findbot is looking for pieces of paper and putting them in the file cabinet where they get lost within the "smashed papers".

> x sliver. x cabinet. open it. x smashed papers.

> search debris. search debris. take all.

Okay, let's examine what was found in the debris:

> x coat. x gloves. x phone. x battery.

> x new breaker. x key.

And let's head outside; Findbot won't follow you out:

> wear coat. wear gloves. e. s.

Near Shed

> unlock door with key. s.

Supply shed

> x meals. x equipment.

> x fresh battery. take it.

> n. n. w. w.

Main Dome

> remove gloves.

> put fresh battery in panel.

> take blue breaker. x new breaker.

> put new breaker in plug.

You want the first and fourth buttons up and the second and third buttons down. The problem is that sometimes pushing a button flips its neighbours too. So frustrating.

> push second. (up-down-up-up)

> push third. (up-up-down-down)

> push third. (up-up-up-down)

> push third. (up-down-down-up)

The radio crackles to life and Point DWPX129 responds. Eventually, you're rescued.

*** YOU'VE ESCAPED THE STATION! ***

Extras

Characters

Thor Heyerdahl Anderson is the player-character, trained as a mathematician and computer expert. Unfortunately, your training won't help you now.
Your co-workers left the station without taking you with them; the game says very little about them.
Findbot is much better at searching debris than you are.
Someone at Point DWPX129 answers your call for help.

Inventory

a wine bottle. It's in your initial inventory. It's empty and useless to you.
a tracking device. It's in the Main Dome. Push its button to find Findbot.
a piece of paper. It's in the Main Dome. Findbot may take it and move it, though, unless you've given it other orders.
a sliver of paper. It's in the Restricted Room. It's much the same as the piece of paper, and you might not even see it if Findbot found it first and filed it away.
a large key. Found by Findbot in a pile of debris. It unlocks the shed.
a pair of gloves. Found by Findbot in a pile of debris. You need to wear both the coat and the gloves when going outside the station.
a blue breaker. Found in the radio's plug. It doesn't work but has the red-blue-blue-red pattern on it.
a new breaker. Found by Findbot in a pile of debris. Put it in the radio's plug and push its buttons to an up-down-down-up pattern.
a heavy coat. Found by Findbot when it searches the debris. You need to wear both the coat and the gloves when going outside the station.
a satellite phone. Found by Findbot when it searches the debris. Examining it reveals it is a broken satellite phone.
a Thundervolt battery. Found by Findbot when it searches the debris. Putting it in the radio's panel reveals that it's out of power.
a fresh battery. Found in the supply shed. Put it in the radio's panel.

Score

You have scored a total of this-much out of 5.

1 point for taking the key.
1 point for taking the coat.
1 point for taking the gloves.
1 point for taking the new breaker.
1 point for getting the radio to work.

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.