In this short one-room fantasy game, you play as a thirteen year-old. It's time for you to enter the cavern where your family has summoned their familiars for generations. Shame you didn't study how it's done, but surely you can summon something better than Uncle Steve's whatever-it-is.
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.
The only way to learn how to do anything in this game is by experimenting, playing over and over again to see which setups give the best results.
Look at what's obvious to look at.
> x me. i. x tablecloth. x candles.
> x altar. x bonfire.
> x shelf. x skull. open skull. x matchbook. take it.
> x player. x red cassette. x blue. x green.
> x gypsy. x plank. x stool. x boxes.
> open boxes. x fish. x opener. x ball.
Look at the shelf again. You missed a couple things.
> x shelf. x globe. x base. x feather.
Look in the room again. You missed a crack!
> look. x crack. x coin.
Get and use that coin. It's very out of reach, so you need to stack up a few things.
> put plank on altar.
> put stool on plank.
> put player on stool.
> stand on player. get coin.(You have it!)
> stand. stand. stand. stand.
> take player. take stool. take plank.
> put coin in gypsy.(Its head and pendant fall off.)
> x pendant. wear it.
There's some optional nonsense with the stuffed red fish:
> take fish and opener. sacrifice fish.
> i. x cotton ball.
Set up the altar:
> put tablecloth on altar.
> put skull on altar.
> put candles on altar. light candles.(with the matchbook.)
> take globe. take base. put globe on altar.
CAUTION: Once a cassette is in the player, you can't change it.
> put green cassette in player.(You hear somber chanting.)
Okay, to sum up, there should be a tablecloth, skull, lit candles, and a snow globe on the altar. The player is playing chanting, and you're wearing the pendant. You're ready.
> summon familiar.
You summon an awesome living shadow as your familiar.
*** The End ***
Extras
Characters
This is a solo game, but your parents wish you luck in the prologue, and you do get your familiar at the end. See Endings for more about your possible familiars.
In this world, everyone gets a familiar.
Your mother has Wybie, an "awfully sweet but mentally challenged wyvern".
Your father has a brute of a hamster.
Your sister Mistra has a legless ostrich.
Gran has a flying goldfish.
Uncle Steve has a whatever-it-is. He built the bonfire, failed to label the cassettes properly, and he's a bit of a nutcase in general.
Grandpa, aunts, uncles, Cousin Ray, and other cousins are also mentioned. Your family always uses this cavern for summoning familiars.
Aya is a classmate. Her familiar is a miniature jaguar.
Steve Urkel is mentioned when you take the base off the snow globe.
Endings
The game always ends with The End whenever you finally summon familiar. However, there are six familiars which you might get. From worse to best, they are:
A miniature python.
It's missing an eye, a fang, and a leg. This pathetic familiar is the default one, and you can get it immediately. Just summon familiar. You don't need to do anything else.
A pissed-off rat.
This one literally pisses on your shoe. One way to get the rat: put the skull and candles on the altar, light the candles (with the matchbook), then summon familiar.
A miniature kangaroo.
This one's just silly. One way to get the 'roo: remove the base from the snow globe; put the snow globe on the altar, wear the pendant, then do what I suggested for the rat.
The cutest bunny.
For the bunny, put the tablecloth on the altar, then do what I suggested for the kangaroo.
The cutest kitten.
This a very respectable familiar, but not the best one. For the kitten, put the red cassette into the player, put the tablecloth on the altar, then do what I suggested for the kangaroo.
A massive shadow.
This is the best possible familiar. For this prize, put the green cassette into the player, put the tablecloth on the altar, then do what I suggested for the kangaroo.
Inventory
All of your possible inventory is used to "set the stage" for your summoning ritual, or to get better inventory. The better your set-up is, the better a familiar you can expect to get.
a tablecloth. You're carrying it.
Put the tablecloth on the altar.
a pair of candles. You're carrying them.
Put them on the altar, and light them (with the matchbook). Oddly, you can't light the candles with the bonfire.
a skull. It's on the shelf.
Examine the skull to notice something's inside. Open the skull to find the matchbook. Note: If you open the skull without examining it first, you don't find the matchbook.
Put the skull on the altar.
a matchbook. It's inside the skull, but examine the skull first before opening it!
Light the candles, with the matchbook in your inventory.
a cassette player. It's on the shelf.
You can stand on the player. See coin for details on how the player helps you get the coin.
You can put a cassette into the player to play it, but only one. The player locks shut and your choice is final. I recommend the green cassette.
a red cassette. It's on the shelf.
If you put the red cassette into the player, it plays synthpop, which is somewhat better than nothing.
a blue cassette. It's on the shelf.
If you put the blue cassette into the player, it plays Cheech and Chong, which doesn't help you at all.
a green cassette. It's on the shelf.
If you put the green cassette into the player, it plays somber chanting, which is the best background sound for summoning a familiar.
a plank. It's in the cavern.
You can stand on the plank. See coin for details on how the plank helps you get the coin.
a wooden stool. It's in the cavern.
You can stand on the stool. See coin for details on how the stool helps you get the coin.
a coin. It's in a crack near the ceiling. You won't notice the crack until you LOOK at the room a second time.
To reach and take the coin, first put the plank on the altar (you swing the plank over so the shelf also supports it), then put the stool on the plank, then put the cassette player on the stool, then stand on the player and take the coin. Stand four times to get back onto the floor.
Put the coin into the coin-operated gypsy. You don't hear any prophecy, but it does drop a pendant.
a snow globe. It's on the shelf when you examine the shelf a second time.
Take the tacky base from the globe, then put the globe onto the altar. It's not a crystal ball, but it's the best substitute available.
a pendant. It's worn by the gypsy. It falls off their neck and onto the floor when you put the coin into the gypsy.
Remove the base from the globe. Now the globe fits in the altar's depression. You have no use for the base itself.
a goose feather. It's on the shelf when you examine the shelf a second time.
The feather is just junk, as far as I know.
a stuffed red fish. It's in the boxes.
If you have the letter opener, you can sacrifice the fish, pulling out its "heart", a cotton ball. But, y'know, I think this fish is just a red herring.
a brass letter opener. It's in the boxes.
With the letter opener, you can sacrifice something, as if the opener was a dagger. But the only thing you're willing and able to sacrifice is the stuffed red fish. If you do sacrifice it, you get a cotton ball.
a blue rubber ball. It's in the boxes.
The blue rubber ball is just junk, as far as I know.
a cotton ball. It's inside the stuffed red fish, but the only way to get it is to "sacrifice" the fish, using the letter opener as a dagger.
The cotton ball is just junk, as far as I know.
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