Key & Compass presents:
Haunted House
by rockersuke

Haunted House is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2011 by rockersuke. (The author's real name is in the game's banner text, but he prefers to be credited as rockersuke.) This game was written for the Indigo New Language Speed-IF minicomp in 2011 and is a remake of a 1979 game originally published by Device Oriented Games. Its final version was published for the 2016 Year of Adventure jam.

In this game, I play as a teenager named Mike. Today, I can't clearly remember what the rumours said about the old McDaniel Mansion. Something about monsters in the basement? But one summer day, for lack of anything better to do, me and my improbable friends, Doc and Rose, decided to explore the place, abandoned for decades and as isolated from the rest of our boring village as it was from the rest of the world.

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 2 of the game.

Map
Walkthrough
Extras
- Characters, Inventory
Thank You to my Patreon supporters
External links:
- This game at Homepage, IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
- Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map

Walkthrough

Outside of the house

> about.

> x door. take paper. read paper.

Overwhelming darkness

> turn on torch.

Foyer

> x furniture. s. s.

Den

> e.

Corridor

> x debris. x gap. e. s. e.

Servant's quarters

> open cabinet. x key. w. n.

Kitchen

> take paper. read it. plugh. xyzzy. n.

Dining room

> x table. w. w. w. n.

Green bedroom

> x bed. look under bed. w. w.

Blue bedroom

> x bed. look under bed. s.

West end of hall

Note that the door will be locked unless you saw Rose take the key in the servant's quarters.

> x door. open door. s.

Master bedroom

> x bed. look under bed.

> e. e. e. e.

Library

> x shelves. x ladder. x gap. u.

Dimly lit room

> w. w.

Corridor

> x balcony. w. w. w. w. n.

Upstairs bedroom

Reading the letter unlocks the door to the attic.

> x bed. x desk. open drawer.

> x clippings. x mail. x letter.

> s. e. e.

Attic

You must look at Indigo three times to reach the ending.

> x window. x Indigo.

> ask Indigo about anything.

> x Indigo. again.

*** END ***

> amusing

The AMUSING text lists, in detail, the differences between this game and the original "Haunted House" game. The game makes a lot more sense after reading it all, so please don't skip it.

Extras

Characters

Mike is the player-character. He seems to carry a torch for Rose.
Rose is a female friend of Mike's.
Doc is a male friend of Mike's.
Indigo is a blue-ish ghost haunting the house. She sends you visions throughout the game and meets you personally in the attic.

Also:

Shirley McDaniel, a heiress in the 1950s, is mentioned mainly by the clippings and letter in the upstairs bedroom.
The McDaniel family is represented in a vision of a portrait in the downstairs corridor.
An army of ghosts and an animated suit of armour bedevil Doc in different visions.

Inventory

a switched off torch. You're carrying it. Turn it on in the darkness to turn it into a switched on torch and also to see where you're going.
a crumpled piece of paper. It first appears outside of the house when you examine the door. Take it and read it. You'll find it again later on your second visit to the kitchen. Again, take it and read it.
a handwritten letter. It's in the upstairs bedroom's desk drawer, but only after examining the mail. Read the letter to unlock the door to the attic.
a handful of press clippings. This is also in the desk drawer, but you don't need to take the clippings.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

the support of 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;
the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer;
the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Marius Müller, and Jennifer Rexrode;
and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.