Escape from the Troll's Cave is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 6 (with PunyInform) and is © 2024 by Garry Francis.
In this short and very easy game, you play as a student who skipped school to visit a carnival. But the "Troll's Cave" wasn't a free ride. It's an administration building, and the resident troll demands you pay a toll of 41 cents to leave.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 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.
Inside Troll's Cave
> x me. i. (nothing)
> x sign. read it. (You need 41 cents.)
> x troll. talk to troll.
> ask troll about terms.
> ask troll about himself.
> ask troll about cave.
> xyzzy.
> s.
Corridor (north end)
> x door. open door. (locked)
> w.
Broom Closet
> x broom. take it.
> ride broom. (mocked)
> e. s.
Corridor (south end)
> x quarter. take it. (+10)
> w.
Dust Closet
> x dust. sweep dust. x key. take it.
> e. s.
Game Room
> x heads. x dime. take it. (+10)
> n. e.
Den
> x nickel. take it. (+10)
> w. n.
Corridor (north end)
> unlock door with key. open door. e.
Vault
> x penny. take it.
> w. n.
Inside Troll's Cave
> give quarter to troll. (+15)
> give dime to troll. (+15)
> give nickel to troll. (+15)
> give penny to troll. (+15)
> n.
*** You have won ***
> amusing
This is the response to AMUSING after you've won the game:
Have you tried:
- Examining yourself.
- Examining everything in every room, including scenery and the rooms themselves.
- Using the magic word XYZZY at the exit and elsewhere.
- Trying to leave without paying the full toll.
- Asking the troll about BUILDING, CARNIVAL, CAVE, COINS, CONDITIONS, DIME, EXIT, HIMSELF, ME, NICKEL, PENNY, QUARTER, SCHOOL, SIGN, TOLL and synonyms before and after paying the toll.
- Attacking or kissing the troll.
- Hitting the vault door.
- Coming out of the closets.
- Riding the broom.
- Getting the dust.
- Doing things a second time.
Mentioned:
This is the response to ABOUT:
This game was originally known as 'Cave of the Troll'. It was written in Turbo BASIC for IBM-compatible PCs by John H Doolittle circa 1989 and used in his 'Scientific Thinking in Psychology' classes when he was a professor of psychology at California State University, Sacramento.
It was ported to ZBasic by Eric Thornton and published by Critical Thinking Press as game 1 in the 'Adventures in Danger!' trilogy. This was released for the Apple II and Macintosh in 1992.
John continued to update the game until 1996 and released the Turbo BASIC source code in 2023. This was ported to Inform 6 by Garry Francis using the PunyInform library. It was then enhanced in collaboration with the original author to become 'Escape from the Troll's Cave'.
Original concept by John H Doolittle.
Game design and coding by Garry Francis.
Play testing by Audrey Lee, Jade J Aincioa, John H Doolittle and Timur Ozturk.
This is the response to SCORE:
You have so far scored N out of a possible 100, in T turns.
Points are awarded as follows:
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!
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