In this simple sparse puzzle game, you play as a homeowner who needs to find four TREASURES near your house and put them on your kitchen table. You'll also need to solve a randomized slider puzzle, also known as a 15-puzzle.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
> ask charlie about charlie.(You learn the "whoever, something" command syntax.)
> charlie, puzzle.
> charlie, keys.
> ask charlie for puzzle.(He gives it.)
> x puzzle. info puzzle.(You learn the "play [numbers]" and "play cheat" commands.)
Unfortunately, you now need to solve the puzzle, and since it's randomized, I can't give you explicit instructions on how to solve it. I tend to tackle it this way:
First solve the top row. Move the 1 and 2 tiles to where they're supposed to go first. Then move the 3 and 4 tiles to their home positions. It may help to think of the tiles as train cars you want to link together, so you manuever the 1 and 2 tiles until they're beside each other, then move them like a train, with the 1 as the engine and the 2 as the caboose, going up and to the left on the top row. Then do the same with the 3 and 4 tiles, taking care never to move the 1 and 2 tiles that are already placed.
Now solve the second row. Make another train with the 5 and 6 tiles, move them to their home. Make a train with the 7 and 8 tiles and take them home.
For the last two rows, I solve the columns left to right. So now you've got to make a train from the 9 and 13 tiles and move them home. This can be the trickiest part since you have much less space to move your tiles in.
Once the 9 and 13 tiles are in place, move the 10 and 14 tiles home in tandem. Finally, cycle the last three tiles (11, 12, and 15) until they're home as well.
If you can't be bothered with this puzzle and you don't care you won't get a full score, type play cheat to have the game solve it for you. Honestly, it's fine if you do.
Puzzle all solved? Yay.
> give puzzle to charlie.
> ask charlie for keys.(He gives them.)
> e. e. s.
Alley
> x shed. open it. unlock shed with keys.
> x ladder. x can. x comic.
> take all from shed. read comic.
> n. w. n.
Kitchen
> put comic on table.(+1)
> take ladder. n. n.
Back Yard
You automatically lean the ladder against the tree.
> x tree. x kitten. x collar.
> climb ladder. take kitten.(She won't let you.)
> d. open can. take meat. u.
> give meat to kitten.(She bites you!)
> drop meat.(The kitten goes down after it.)
> d. take collar. s.
Living Room
Since there are so few items in this game, I thought you might want to look at the TV at least once.
> x tv. turn on tv. z. z. z. z. turn off tv.
> s.
Kitchen
> put collar on table.(+1)
> s. e. n.
Street (3)
> x fence. open gate. unlock gate with keys.
> open gate. e.
In the Site (southwest corner)
> take control. x it.
First of all, what you're trying to do in this maze is to get two treasures, one from each locked security box at the northeast and southeast corners of the maze. The boxes can be unlocked by pushing the button of the remote near them, but only when the remote is turned on. Unforunately, the remote never seems to be turned on when you're near a security box.
This maze is what I call a parity traversal puzzle. With every step you make while holding the remote, it will flip its on/off state from on to off or off to on. If you color the maze locations like a checkerboard, you'll realize that the remote will be in synch with the alternating colors unless you can move directly from one part of the maze to another part that are colored the same.
Note that the only place in the maze where the same colors are connected is the diagonal connection at the northwest corner of the maze. You need to go through that diagonal to get the remote to be turned on in locations where it was turned off before.
Head for the northwest corner, go through the diagonal connection, then head for the northeast corner:
> n. e. e. s. e. n. n. e. n. w. n. w. w. w.
> sw. e. e. n. e. e. s. e. n.
In the Site (northeast corner)
The green light on the remote should now be on.
> x box. push button.(The box clicks and the green light goes out.)
> open box. take diamond. x it.
Go back through the diagonal connection, then head for the southeast corner:
> s. w. n. w. w. w.
> sw. e. e. n. e. e. s. e. s. w. s. e. s.
In the Site (southeast corner)
The green light on the remote should now be on.
> x box. push button.(The box clicks and the green light goes out.)
> open box. take ruby. x it.
Head back home, you're almost done:
> n. w. s. w. n. w. w. s. w.(back on the street)
> s. w. n.
Kitchen
> put diamond on table.(+1)
> put ruby on table.(+1)
*** You have won ***
Extras
Characters
Charlie is a boy on the street west from your house. He has a puzzle and some keys.
A kitten is seemingly stuck in a tree in your back yard.
Mentioned: Albert, Bruce, Charles, Daniel, Edward, Frank, Gwen, Harriet, Ingrid, Janet, Kathy, and Lorraine are several characters on a soap opera on your television.
Inventory
a note. It's on the table in the kitchen. Read it to learn you need to put treasures on the table to win.
a puzzle. Charlie's carrying it. Ask him for it, solve it, then give it back to him.
some keys. Charlie's carrying them. Ask him for them after you return the solved puzzle to him. The keys unlock both the shed in the alley and the the gate on the side street.
a ladder. It's inside the alley's shed. Take it to the back yard and drop it. Climb it to reach the kitten.
The ladder is heavy; you'll put it down after carrying it X turns.
a can. It's inside the alley's shed. Open it; some slimy meat will fall out.
a RARE comic book. It's inside the alley's shed. It's a treasure; put it on the kitchen table.
a remote control. It's in the southwestern "In the Site" location. Every step you take with it reverses its on/off status. Carry it through the site maze passing through the diagonal at the northwest corner of the maze to change the polarity of which places the remote works. Note that you can't just shake the remote yourself to turn it on or off.
a DIAMOND. It's inside the green security box at the northeast corner of the site maze. Carry the remote control through the diagonal connection at the northwest corner, then go to where the green box is so the remote's light is on there. Push the remote's button to unlock the box. The diamond is a treasure. Put the diamond on the kitchen table.
a RUBY. It's inside the red security box at the southeast corner of the site maze. Carry the remote control through the diagonal connection at the northwest corner, then go to where the red box is so the remote's light is on there. Push the remote's button to unlock the box. The ruby is a treasure. Put the ruby on the kitchen table.
slimy meat. It falls out of the can when you open it. First, take the ladder to the back yard, climb it, and try to give the meat to the kitten. Then drop the meat. The kitten will follow it and leave the tree.
a SILVER collar. It's worn by the kitten in the back yard's tree. First use the ladder and meat to get the kitten out of the tree. While the kitten is eating the meat, take the collar. The collar is a treasure. Put the collar on the kitchen table.
Score
You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 5, in several turns.
1 point for actually solving the 15-puzzle. (This point is not awarded if you play cheat instead.)
1 point for putting the RARE comic book on the kitchen table.
1 point for putting the SILVER collar on the kitchen table.
1 point for putting the RUBY on the kitchen table.
1 point for putting the DIAMOND on the kitchen table.
Note that if you give any of the treasures to Charlie, he'll gladly accept them and keep them and you won't be able to win the game.
the support of Thomas Bøvith, Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Jason McIntosh, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, and Phil Tatro;
the generous support of Janice M Eisen and Amelia;