In this delightful puzzlebox game, you play as someone who's managed to cuff their hands behind their back. You were trying a magician's trick and it didn't work. There is no key, but you do have your cousin's "Remarkable Egg" thst he brags does all sorts of things. Maybe it can pick locks too and save you?
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.
"Rules: All usable parts must be round, square, or red. Grooved parts must be square, unless they are blue. Triangular parts must be toothed. Round parts must be orange, unless they are bumpy. Say GOOD if a part is usable; BAD if it's not."
You are shown four parts, one at a time, to be rated as GOOD or BAD according to the rules. If any of your assessments is wrong, you're told the part replacement was unsuccessful, and you'll have to rate another four parts.
The parts you're shown are randomized; for example:
round blue part > bad
oblong white grooved part > bad
square yellow part > good
triangular white grooved part > bad
If you're having trouble following the rules, maybe my flowchart will help.
Assuming lockpick module was repaired.
> lockpick.
*** You have freed yourself ***
> space
> continue.(Rank is now Very Good Egg; more Extra Credit items added.)
> extra.
Let's name the rest of the zodiac:
> virgo. aquarius. sagittarius.
> libra. cancer. scorpio.(Extra Credit: All the Year Round)
By this time, a megafly should have entered via the window.
> x megafly.(Attracted to pink flowers.)
> pink.(The egg becomes pink, attracting the megafly.)
> swat.(Extra Credit: Exterminator)
> dance.(Egg briefly tap dances.)
> unitron.(Steam pressure at 35%)
> z.(Pressure at 70%)
> z.(Pressure at 105%)
> z.(Pressure at 140%)
> z.(Pressure at 175%)
> z.(Pressure at 210%)
You're told to aim for 100% and to use VENT to do it. Further experimentation will show that pressure increases by 35% every turn, that VENT halves the pressure before the 35% increase, and that 100% has to be reached on the fifth turn after starting UNITRON.
Let's skip all the ugly number-crunching and just solve this one, shall we?
> unitron. vent. vent. z. z. vent.(The drity unit and modules are now clean.)
> sweep. x sweeper.
> guard. x guard.
> z.(Repeat waiting until Extra Credit: Sweep Up.)
> sweep.
> lullaby. z. z.(The guard sleeps.)
> alarm.(Extra Credit: On Your Feet!)
> lullaby.(It stops.)
At some point during the UNITRON business, auto-repair stopped. It's easy to miss that sometimes, so if you're wondering why nothing new has happened in a while, examine the display.
> x display.(RESUPPLY required.)
> look.(The drone is still here from lockpicking.)
> resupply.
> z. z. z. z. z.
> z. z. z. z. z.
After several turns, you're told the drone was damaged by a bird. Use ONE, TWO, and THREE to direct the drone home. The map on the fridge can help you. In this context, ONE turns the drone 90° left, TWO turns the drone 90° right, and THREE moves the drone forward unless that would move it outside the local area and into the fields.
It's not immediately obvious, but the drone is initially in the northwest corner of the map, facing north, and all you have to do is direct it to the southeast corner. Here's the simplest route home:
> save.(In case you want to explore from here later.)
> z.(If necessary, wait until the guard starts sneezing because of the drone's dusting. You earn Extra Credit: Someone Has Allergies.)
> drone. guard.(They return to the egg.)
By this time, the egg has summoned Microbot to repair a loose screw. Unfortunately, Mircobot is at the bottom of the egg, and the loose screw is at the top. You'll have to direct Microbot with ONE, TWO, and THREE commands.
ONE tells Microbot to engage stabilizers. TWO tells him to apply polarizers. THREE tells him to climb higher.
> 3.(Microbot sees a sparking component.)
> 2.(Polarizers stop the sparking.)
> 3.(Microbot sees a spinning part.)
> 1.(Stabilizers slow the spinning.)
> 3.(Microbot is a quarter of the way up.)
> 3.(Microbot is blocked by a large tail.)
> dog. 3.(Microbot sees sparking doodad.)
> 2. 3.(Microbot sees spiky metallic part.)
> comb. 3.(At "egg-quator".)
> 3.(Microbot blocked by white object with red stripe. It's a bowling pin.)
> juggle. 3.(Microbot sees sparking component.)
> 2. 3.(Microbot sees calm component.)
> 2. 3.(At three-quarters way up.)
> 3.(Microbot blocked by black object. It's the speaker.)
> music. 3.(Microbot sees complicated spinning part.)
> 1.(This has no effect.)
> 2.(The part starts sparking.)
> 1.(The part stops spinning.)
> 2.(The part stops sparking.)
> 3. 3.(Microbot tightens the screw!)
> z.
SURVEY restored. Auto-repair complete. You earn Extra Credit: Hundred Percenter.
> extra. dog. retrieve.
You're now just trying to earn the rest of the Extra Credit points.
The next three points all require the airplane. Only the airplane can knock the flowers off the counter. When the Egg drops a bowling pin again, leave it there.
> airplane. target.
> z.(Repeat waiting until the airplane fires at the target three times. Extra Credit: Bull's-Eye.)
Did you notice how the airplane sometimes zooms right in front of you?
> extinguish. extinguish.(Repeat EXTINGUISH until you get a mouthful of water. Extra Credit: I'm Thirsty.)
I'm assuming the flowers and pin are on the floor by now. Return the airplane to the egg and litter the floor with all the other retrievable objects.
> airplane. catch. comb. brick.
> badminton. bone.
> retrieve.(7 items taken. Extra Credit: Big Haul)
For the last two points, summon the brick and racecar and start guessing unknown commands. When the racecar hits the brick, you earn Extra Credit: Fender Bender. When you make 31 bad guesses, you earn Extra Credit: Trial and Error. You've already made some bad guesses like BROWN and XYZZY.
> brick. racecar.
> xa. xb. xc. xd. xe.
> xf. xg. xh. xi. xj.
> xk. xl. xm. xn. xo.
> xp. xq. xr. xs. xt.
> xu. xv. xw. xy. xz.
> ya. yb. yc.(etc.)
When you get all the points, the game graciously moves MANUAL into the "used successfully" list.
> com.
That's almost everything. There's a bit more you can do though before putting this game to bed:
Watch all three movies.
Hear all three jokes.
Litter the floor with everything and see how the dog and racecar interact with all of them.
Replay the lost drone section and explore the town more.
> quit.
Extras
Characters
Note: There is a maximum unit deployment of three; for example, if the dog, sweeper, and guard are currently deployed, you cannot deploy the drone, airplane, racecar, or retrieval unit.
The Egg, of course, responses and acts to many voice commands, but it doesn't seem to have any personality, per se. Its panel instructions aim for a neutral tone, and its actions try to mildly entertain you.
The dog is a small robot dog programmed to act like a real dog, except of course, it never produces doggy doo. It is friendly and playful.
The airplane is another robotic unit that flies around the kitchen indefinitely and at random, which seems rather alarming.
The racecar is much like the airplane, except it's a hellion on wheels instead of hellion in the air.
The drone dutifully hovers by the window when its summoned until you give it a task.
The guard is a robotic toy soldier that marches back and forth on top of the table. But how does a toy have allergies?
The sweeper is a specialized unit that only sweeps. It's useful, but not entertaining.
The retrieval unit is an ungainly little robot that can retrieve objects. It does its job and re-enters the Egg as quickly as it can.
The megafly arrives soon after you're freed of the handcuffs, and is the only organic creature in the game other than yourself.
Microbot is a tiny bot inside the Egg.
Grandma Bethlinda is the public face of Grandma Bethlinda Inc. You'll see a hologram of her talking to you if you use the BETHLINDA command.
Mentioned:
Your cousin Buck owns the Egg.
The GAG Club meets tonight.
Your aunt gave you your table.
One of the kids drew an X on the map.
A bird damages the drone during its second resupply mission.
Carl K. Profferson directed Night of the Crumbs.
Dana Zing and Philip Gruntz star in The Last Shrug.
Credits
When the game begin, after the banner text, the following paragraph is printed:
Special thanks to Andy Fleming, Lorne Harris, Isaac Orf, and Luke Pebler for testing, and to Nadia Bellazola for cover art.
The response to ABOUT is:
Grandma Bethlinda's Remarkable Egg is (obviously) a love letter to Grandma Bethlinda International, Inc. I've been a fan of the company almost since it was founded, and I've spent way too much money on its products. I bought a Variety Box as soon as I could get my hands on one, and my Remarkable Egg still sees daily use. The stuff is durable.
Thanks to Carol and Will at GBI for permission to use the trademarks.
Comments are welcome. Drop me a line at <email redacted>.
Egg Commands
To list all the egg-commands you know of or have used, use COMMANDS or COM for short.
ACTIVATE[mentioned on the note]
Turns on the Egg. But you need to wait three turns for it to warm up before you can issue any other commands.
Once the Egg is on, ACTIVATE is ignored. I did not find any command that turns the Egg off.
AIRPLANE[restored by auto-repair, 4th group]
Either deploys a toy airplane that flies randomly around the kitchen or returns the airplane back inside the Egg.
Note that the airplane cannot be deployed if there are already three other active units; see DRONE, DOG, GUARD, RACECAR, SWEEP.
The airplane can knock the FLOWERS off the counter onto the floor.
If you attempt to RETRIEVE the bone while the DOG is playing with it, the dog will growl and the robot will return to the Egg without the bone. You earn Extra Credit: Grrrr.
BRICK[restored by auto-repair, 2nd group]
Tosses a brick to the floor, unless the Egg doesn't have the brick.
Every turn that the RACECAR and brick are both on the floor, there's a chance the racecar will crash into the brick. When that happens, you earn Extra Credit: Fender Bender.
DIAGNOSTIC[mentioned by the Egg when you attempt any command after you ACTIVATE it and it's warmed up]
Use DIAGNOSTIC when prompted to. The first time initiates the entire auto-repair sequence, and for a few turns, disables all Egg commands while it assesses the damage.
Subsequent DIAGNOSTIC reports tell you what percentage of the Egg commands are operational. As the game progresses, this percentage slowly climbs from 59% to 100%.
DOG[restored by auto-repair, 5th group]
Either deploys a mechanical dog to scamper on the floor and play with what it finds there, or recalls him back inside the egg.
Note that the dog cannot be deployed if there are already three other active units; see AIRPLANE, DRONE, GUARD, RACECAR, SWEEP.
If you attempt to RETRIEVE the BONE while the dog is playing with it, the dog will growl and the robot will return to the Egg without the bone. You earn Extra Credit: Grrrr.
The dog, if inside the Egg, can be in Microbot's way.
Either deploys a drone or recalls it back into the Egg.
Note that the drone cannot be deployed if there are already three other active units; see AIRPLANE, DOG, GUARD, RACECAR, SWEEP.
The drone cannot be deployed if it is being repaired.
The drone cannot be recalled if it's outside the kitchen, fetching supplies.
The drone hovers by the window until you give it a task; see: DUST, LOCKPICK, RESUPPLY.
DUST[restored by auto-repair, 5th group]
DUST is a command for the DRONE; the drone must be deployed first.
Either the drone obtains a feather duster from the Egg and starts dusting things at random, or it stops dusting and returns the duster to the Egg.
If the GUARD is active while the drone is dusting, there is a chance every turn that the drone will try to dust the guard and make him sneeze. After the guard sneezes from both LAVENDER and DUST, you earn Extra Credit: Someone Has Allergies.
EXTINGUISH[restored by auto-repair, 7th group]
Sprays a stream of water at any nearby fire, or at the AIRPLANE if the Egg's camera sees it. There isn't any fire.
If you EXTINGUISH while the airplane flies right in front of you, you'll get a mouthful of water and earn Extra Credit: I'm Thirsty.
FLOWERS[restored by maintenance puzzle, 6th group]
Tosses a bunch of fake flowers to the counter, unless the Egg doesn't have the flowers.
The AIRPLANE, when active, has a chance every turn of knocking the flowers off the counter onto the floor.
You can only RETRIEVE the flowers if they're on the floor.
FOREST[restored by auto-repair, 10th group]
The Egg briefly produces a woodsy scent, mostly pine. It does not linger.
During the LOCKPICK parts-assessment mini-puzzle, answer GOOD if you believe the part described is good according to the rules.
During a SURVEY, answer GOOD if you personally believe the thing described is generally a good thing. If you answer GOOD to all four survey questions, you earn Extra Credit: Positive Attitude.
GOOD has no effect when the Egg isn't asking a good-or-bad question to answer.
GUARD[restored by auto-repair, 8th group]
Either deploys a guard (a toy soldier) to march back and forth on the table, or recalls him back inside the egg.
Note that the guard cannot be deployed if there are already three other active units; see AIRPLANE, DRONE, DOG, RACECAR, SWEEP.
The DRONE, when ordered to DUST, can also make the guard sneeze when the feather duster gets too close. After the guard sneezes from both lavender and dust, you earn Extra Credit: Someone Has Allergies.
HELLO[guess it from EXTRA]
The Egg displays a welcome message from Grandma Bethlinda, and you earn Extra Credit: Greetings.
JOKE[guess it from EXTRA]
The Egg tells one of the three jokes it knows. With the first joke, you earn Extra Credit: Snicker.
JUGGLE[restored by maintenance puzzle, 6th group]
Either the Egg starts juggling some bowling pins, or the Egg stops juggling.
The Egg will stop juggling on its own if it drops a bowling pin onto the floor. Use RETRIEVE to return the dropped pin to the Egg.
The Egg not start juggling if it doesn't have all its pins.
JUGGLE to get a bowling pin out of the way of Microbot in its climb within the Egg.
The Egg briefly produces a lavender scent. It does not linger.
If the GUARD is present and awake, he sneezes violently at the lavender smell. If both LAVENDER and DUST have made the guard sneeze, you earn Extra Credit: Someone Has Allergies.
LOCKPICK is a command for the DRONE; the drone must be deployed first.
A missing parts error occurs when you first try LOCKPICK, and a mini-puzzle where you must identify four parts as GOOD or BAD begins. After four answers, if you made any mistakes, the mini-puzzle restarts and you must assess another four parts.
After the lockpick module is repaired, say LOCKPICK again. The drone will unlock your handcuffs and return the lockpick to the Egg. You have won the game, but you have the option to CONTINUE playing to earn more Extra Credit points. Your current rank is also displayed in the status bar.
Subsequent LOCKPICK attempts have little effect, since there's nothing more for the drone to unlock.
LULLABY[restored by auto-repair, 4th group]
The Egg's black speaker starts (or ends) a wordless lullaby. Any other speaker activity (MUSIC, YODEL) immediately halts.
If the GUARD hears the LULLABY, he falls asleep two turns later.
Should print a new copy of the Egg's user manual, but it doesn't because the Egg is out of paper. And there's no way get more paper; RESUPPLY doesn't help at all.
The sad truth is that you never get a manual — unless you think this walkthrough counts as one.
When you earn all 21 Extra Credit points, the game graciously moves MANUAL into the completed paragraph in the COMMANDS listing.
MOVIE[guess it from EXTRA]
Either starts projecting one of three movies onto a wall or stops projecting the crrent movie. When the first movie begins, you earn Extra Credit: Feature Presentation.
The Egg's black speaker starts (or ends) one of three musical selections. Any other speaker activity (LULLABY, YODEL) immediately halts.
Musical pieces play for several turns. When they end, the speaker returns inside the Egg. Music can also be interrupted with any other speaker command.
Deploys a toy racecar to zoom around the floor or recalls it back into the Egg.
Note that the racecar cannot be deployed if there are already three other active units; see AIRPLANE, DRONE, DOG, GUARD, SWEEP.
The racecar requires a RAMP to get down to the floor from the tabletop and back up again. If there is no ramp, the racecar goes back inside the Egg immediately.
Every turn that the racecar and BRICK are both on the floor, there's a chance the racecar will crash into the brick. When that happens, you earn Extra Credit: Fender Bender.
If the drone gets lost, you will need to pilot it home with ONE, TWO and THREE commands.
RETRIEVE[restored by auto-repair, 1st group]
Deploys an ungainly robot to fetch and return to the Egg every inanimate object originating from the Egg that it finds on the floor.
Note that the robot cannot be deployed if there are already three other active units; see AIRPLANE, DRONE, DOG, GUARD, RACECAR, SWEEP.
The objects that can be retrieved are: the red ball (see CATCH), the birdie (see BADMINTON), the BONE, the BRICK, the COMB, the FLOWERS (if knocked to the floor by the AIRPLANE), and the bowling pin (see JUGGLE). If the robot retrieves all seven at once, you earn Extra Credit: Big Haul.
If you attempt to RETRIEVE the bone while the dog is playing with it, the dog will growl and the robot will return to the Egg without the bone. You earn Extra Credit: Grrrr.
The Egg briefly brandishes a flyswatter, but usually finds nothing to swat.
If the megafly is in the kitchen, and if the Egg is PINK, the megafly will hover near the Egg. SWAT kills and disposes the megafly, and you earn Extra Credit: Exterminator.
Either the Egg produces a target of concentric circles or it puts it away.
If the AIRPLANE is flying while the target is displayed, there's a chance every turn that the airplane will fire at the target. On the airplane's third attempt, you will earn Extra Credit: Bull's-Eye.
ONE, TWO, and THREE are the user maintenance commands. What they do exactly depends on which module is active.
For the relay module, THREE rotates the third linkage.
For command storage, THREE cycles the third bracketed letter to its next possible letter.
For piloting the drone, THREE flies the drone forward, unless that would move it outside its local area.
For piloting Microbot, THREE tells Microbot to try going upward. CAUTION: If his path is not clear and safe, he may fall down to the bottom of the Egg, losing all his progress.
TUTORIAL[mentioned by the note]
Starts a short tutorial where you'll be prompted to try the commands BLUE, CATCH, SWEEP, and MUSIC over the next few turns. You're also told about the MANUAL.
ONE, TWO, and THREE are the user maintenance commands. What they do exactly depends on which module is active.
For the relay module, TWO rotates the second linkage.
For command storage, TWO cycles the second bracketed letter to its next possible letter.
For piloting the drone, TWO turns the drone 90 degrees right.
For piloting Microbot, TWO applies polarizers. This usually stops a nearby part from sparking.
UNITRON[restored by auto-repair, 9th group]
Begins an internal pressurization sequence that begins at 35%, increases by 35% every turn, and must reach exactly 100% after five turns. If successful, the dirty sweeper (see SWEEP) will be steam cleaned. If unsuccessful, you're told you should have used the VENT command.
Success is achieved with the sequence VENT, VENT, WAIT, WAIT, VENT.
if you successfully use LOCKPICK to unlock your handcuffs.
However, the game need not stop there, and you can CONTINUE to play with the Egg some more and try to earn all the Extra Credit points and be awarded the highest rank: Egg Beater. But there is no epitaph ending for this grand achievement, since of course, you may wish to play with the Egg even further, just for the fun of it.
Extra Credit Points
These are the Extra Credit points in the game and terse summaries on how to earn them:
Greetings
HELLO.
Shiny
GOLD.
Vroom, Vroom
RAMP. RACECAR.
Sweep Up
UNITRON. VENT. VENT. Z. Z. VENT. SWEEP. WAIT repeatedly until enough of the floor has been swept.
Grrrr
DOG. BONE. WAIT repeatedly until dog has bone. RETRIEVE.
Exterminator
Megafly must be in kitchen; it arrives soon after you're free of the handcuffs. PINK. SWAT.
I'm Thirsty
AIRPLANE. EXTINGUISH repeatedly until your mouth gets water.
Alpine Talent Show
YODEL. JUGGLE. DANCE.
Snicker
JOKE.
Positive Attitude
SURVEY. GOOD. GOOD. GOOD. GOOD.
Fender Bender
RAMP. RACECAR. BRICK. WAIT repeatedly until crash.
Someone Has Allergies
GUARD. LAVENDER. DRONE. DUST. WAIT repeatedly until guard gets a noseful of feather duster.
Any 31 commands that the Egg doesn't know; eg: XA. XB. XC. XD. XE. XF. XG. XH. XI. XJ. XK. XL. XM. XN. XO. XP. XQ. XR. XS. XT. XU. XV. XW. XX. XY. XZ. YA. YB. YC. YD. YE. YF. YG. YH. YI. YJ. YK. YL. YM. YN. YN. YO.
Feature Presentation
MOVIE.
Laid-Back Sauna
MUSIC repeatedly until laid-back jazz is playing. STEAM.
Big Haul
FLOWERS. AIRPLANE. JUGGLE. BADMINTON. BONE. BRICK. CATCH. COMB. WAIT repeatedly, if necessary, until both airplane has knocked flowers to floor and Egg has dropped a bowling pin. RETRIEVE.
On Your Feet!
GUARD. LULLABY. Z. Z. ALARM.
Bull's-Eye
TARGET. AIRPLANE. WAIT repeatedly until airplane has fired at target three times.
Hundred Percenter
Get to the end of the auto-repair sequence.
Inventory
You don't really have any physical inventory in this game except for a pair of handcuffs. Either they're locked onto your wrists or they're in your pocket. Getting the cuffs unlocked is the main goal of the main part of the game; see the LOCKPICK command.
I think your real inventory in this game are the commands you can order the egg to do. See Egg commands.
Ranks
Your current rank is displayed on the status bar after you're free of the handcuffs, and is based on how many Extra Credit points you've earned.
The possible ranks are:
Good Egg ... 0 to 4 Extra Credit points
Very Good Egg ... 5 to 9 Extra Credit points
Egg Master ... 10 to 14 Extra Credit points
Egg-ceptional Player ... 15 to 20 Extra Credit points
Egg Beater ... 21 Extra Credit points
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