In this western-style treasure hunt, you play as a grizzled old prospector who's down on his luck. Scavenge this abandoned town for treasures to fund your trip back home.
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.
Because you have a ten-item carrying capacity limit, leave the rope here until you need it.
> w.
Rattlesnake Wells
> x snake. d.(snake blocks you)
> xyzzy.(Cameo by Yosemite Sam!)
> e. e.
Sandy Desert
> x sand.
> w. s.
Street (north end)
> e. open jail door.(locked)
> w.
Last Chance Saloon
> x kettle. take it.
> read sign.(riddle)
> say mirror.(A mirror appears opposite the sign.)
> x mirror.
> say coffee.(A coffee appears.)
A prospector rushes in, takes the coffee, and leaves a gold nugget as payment.
> take nugget. x it.
> e. n.
Hanging Tree
> drop gold.(+10)
> s. s.
Street (middle-north)
> x hotel. x tea room.
> w.
Steep's Tea Room
> x stove. read sign.
> x chair. x jug. drop kettle.
> x man. talk to man.
> ask man about himself. ask man about tea.
> e. s.
Street (center of town)
> x rock. take it.
> w.
Doctor's Office
> x magazines. read them.(should burn them)
> x tweezers. x oil.
> take all.
> e. e.
Livery Stable
> x hay. x shovel. x bucket.
> take shovel. take bucket.
> w. n. e.
Golden Well Hotel
> x matches. take it.
> x safe.(rusty hinges)
> oil hinges. open safe.
> take jade. x it.
> w. w.
Steep's Tea Room
> drop matches, magazines
> drop can, tweezers.
> e. n. n.
Hanging Tree
> drop jade.(+10)
> take rope. tie rope to bucket.
> w.
Rattlesnake Wells
> throw rock at snake.(dead)
> x snake. take it.
> d.
Ledge inside Well
> x silver. take it.
> fill bucket with water.
> u. e.
Hanging Tree
> drop silver.(+10)
> e.
Sandy Desert
> dig(with shovel). look. take key. x key.
> w. s.
Street (north end)
> unlock door with key. drop key.
> open door. e.
Hardrock Jail
> x cup. take it.
> w. s. w.
Steep's Tea Room
> drop cup.
> put water in kettle.
> e. s. e.
Livery Stable
> take hay.
> w. s. e.
Limping Horse Corral
> take sugar. x sugar.
> w. w.
Pasture
> x cow. give hay to cow.
> milk cow.(using bucket)
> e. s. w.
Miner's Shack
The dog don't attack you because you're carrying the dead snake.
> x dog. x tea. x trapdoor.
> take tea.
> e. n. n. n. w.
Steep's Tea Room
> put milk in jug.
> drop leaves, bucket.
> make tea.(+30; the man leaves a big tip)
> look. take emerald.
> fill cup with tea. drink tea.(good!)
> drop kettle.
> take jug.
> e.
Street (center of town)
A shy and hungry kitten is now here.
> x kitten. pet kitten.(too shy!)
> drop jug.
The kitten laps up the milk, then brings a pack rat which drops something. They run off.
> look. take ruby. x it.
> n. n.
Hanging Tree
> drop emerald.(+10)
> drop ruby.(+10)
> s. s. w.
Steep's Tea Room
You should still have the matches and sugar.
> take oil. take chair. take tweezers.
> e. s. s. s. s.
Range
> x horse.(scared, something in her hoof)
> give sugar to horse.
> x hoof. remove thorn.(using tweezers. She drops something and heads for the corral.)
> look. x thorn. x turquoise.
> drop tweezers. take turquoise.
> n. e.
Field
> x boulder.
> drop chair. stand on chair.
> climb boulder.
Top of Boulder
> x map. read it.("DOWN WEST WEST SOUTH SOUTH DIG")
> d. w. w.
Miner's Shack
> open trapdoor. d.
Cellar
> x lantern. take it. shake it.(empty)
> fill lantern with oil. drop can.
> light lantern.(using matches)
Follow the map directions:
> d. w. w. s. s.
Mineshaft (southwesternmost dead-end)
> dig. look. take diamonds.
> n. n. e. e. u. u.
Miner's Shack
> blow out lantern.
> e. n. n. n. n. n.
Hanging Tree
> drop diamonds.(+10)
> drop turquoise.(+10)
*** You have won ***
> amusing
Extras
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 verbs like ATTACK, BURN, JUMP, LISTEN, PRAY, SING, SHOUT, SMELL and THINK.
Using the magic word XYZZY.
Climbing the rope.
Jumping or going any direction other than down when you're in the tree.
Taking the live snake.
Attacking the snake with the shovel.
Digging the sand without the shovel.
Breaking the mirror.
Talking to the Englishman and the animals.
Asking the Englishman about HIMSELF, ME, TEA, TREASURES, various ingredients and so on.
Attacking the Englishman.
Drinking the milk or water.
Drinking, getting or examining the milk before milking the cow.
Eating the sugar cubes.
Reading the magazines.
Hanging around the street after trying to enter the shack without the snake.
Reading the tea leaves.
Patting the dog.
Shaking the can of oil.
Shaking the lantern before and after filling it, and after it's lit.
Closing the trapdoor when you're in the cellar without the lit lantern.
Wandering around in the dark (save the game first).
Examining, searching or reading in the dark.
Pouring yourself a cup of tea after the Englishman leaves.
Riding the horse.
GET or DROP TREASURES, rather than doing it one at a time.
Doing things a second time.
Characters
An Englishman in the tea room waits for someone, anyone, to make him a cup of tea.
A rattlesnake blocks your way to the well.
A vicious dog guards the miner's shack, but it's afraid of snakes.
A hungry cow is in the pasture.
A hungry kitten appears outside the tea room after you've made some tea.
A horse appears in the range after you've made some tea. It's shy and limping.
Cameos
A prospector grabs the coffee in the saloon, leaving some gold in exchange.
A passing tourist comments on how dogs can be afraid of snakes.
A pack rat drops a ruby at your feet after you feed the kitten.
A vulture is sometimes heard screeching.
An eagle sometimes flies by overhead.
A coyote might appear, but it runs away at the sight of your dead snake.
Yosemite Sam can by briefly summoned with the magic word XYZZY.
Mentioned:
James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill, Coloma.
Credits
This is the response to ABOUT:
This game was originally known as 'Hangtown'. 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 'Hangtown' trilogy. This was released for the Apple II in 1989 and the 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 'Hangman's Gulch'.
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.
Inventory
You have an inventory limit of ten (10) items.
☕ Tea things
Bring all the tea things to the tea room, then MAKE TEA to make tea.
a kettle. It's in the saloon.
Put the water (from the bucket) into the kettle. A kettle of water is needed for making tea.
a jug. It's in the tea room.
Put the milk (from the bucket) into the jug. A jug of milk is needed for making tea.
After you've made tea, drop the jug of milk in the street where the kitten is. The kitten drinks the milk and leaves a ruby in return.
When you make tea, the Englishman leaves you an emerald as a tip.
Feel free to put some tea into the cup and drink the tea yourself.
💎 Treasures
Drop all these treasures at the Hanging Tree, as suggested by the sign there. Don't worry; no one will steal anything in this game.
some *gold*. A prosepector leaves a gold nugget in the saloon when you summon coffee there.
some *jade*. It's in the hotel's safe; oil the safe's hinges, and you can open the safe.
some *silver*. It's on the ledge inside the well.
some *diamonds*. At a dead end in the mines, as directed by the map, dig (with the shovel) to find the diamonds.
an *emerald*. In the tea room, the Englishman leaves this gem as a big tip when you successfully MAKE TEA there; see tea things.
a *ruby*. In the street outside the tea room, if the kitten is there, drop a jug of milk. The kitten consumes the milk, and (via a pack rat) leaves this gem in exchange.
a *turquoise*. On the range, the horse drops this gem when you remove a thorn from her hoof with the tweezers.
🛠️ Other stuff
a rope. It's tied to a branch of the hanging tree. Climb the tree and untie the rope from up there. Pick up the rope from the ground.
You needn't take the map; just read it. Its directions tell you where to dig in the mineshafts for a treasure; see diamonds.
The directions aren't randomized; you always want to dig in the southwesternmost mineshaft.
a dead snake. At the rattlesnake wells, throw the rock at the snake to kill it. Take the dead snake.
While you carry the dead snake, the vicious dog in the miner's shack stays away from you, and you can enter the shack. You may not drop the snake there.
a lantern. It's in the cellar below the miner's shack.
Light the lantern with matches. Now you can see in the dark mine.
After you're out of the mine with the diamonds, feel free to blow out the lantern, although there's no penalty for leaving the lantern burning forever.
a key. Find the key in the sandy desert by digging there with the shovel.
The key unlocks the jail door.
a thorn. It's in the horse's hoof; the horse appears in the range after you've made tea.
After giving sugar cubes to the horse (to make the horse trust you), remove the thorn (using the tweezers).
Ignore the thorn after you've pulled it from the horse's hoof. You need the horse, not the thorn.
Score
This is the response to SCORE:
You have so far scored N out of a possible 100, in T turns.
