Key & Compass presents:
History Repeating
by Mark and Renee Choba

• Map of the School
• Walkthrough
  • Ending 1
  • Ending 2
  • Ending 3
  • Ending 4
• Extras
  • Amusing, Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory, Score
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• External links:
  • This game at IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map of the School

Walkthrough

A High School Classroom

> x me. x desk. look under desk. take gum. (nope)

> x Miss Barry. x students. x blackboard.

> out.

Mr. Hopkins, the science teacher, meets you and takes you to his lab. If you don't leave the classroom by turn 11, he'll show up and take you then.

Science Lab

> x equipment. x poster.

> x newspaper. read it. (Mentions buried time capsule.)

> x picture. (by tree with shovels)

> x ladder. x window.

> u.

The Roof

> x Hopkins. (You can also call him Hop or Hoppy.)

> x machine. ask Hop about machine.

Although you can ask about topics, most conversation in this game is done with menus, but more awkwardly than usual, as you'll soon see. Just lawn-mow through it:

> talk. 1. (What...?)

> talk. 1. (Why...?)

> talk. 1. (How...?)

> talk. 1. (What do...?)

> talk. 1. (What about...?)

> talk. 1. (What limits?)

> talk. 1. (But why me?)

> talk. 1. (What critical...?)

> talk. 1. (What do...?)

> talk. 1. (What if this...?)

> talk. 1. (What if I...?)

> talk. 1. (I'm ready...)

No, you're not ready. You need to turn in your history report, and Hop needs an anchor.

> talk. 2. (Tell me...)

Hop needs a wire and weight. Seems like he ought to be able to handle that chore himself, but whatever.

> ask Hop about capsule. ask Hop about anchor. ask Hop about report.

> d. n. nw. w.

Little Courtyard

Note that the top of the cylinder is visible, but it's underwater.

> x pond. x circle. take cylinder. (Not that easy!)

> x large tree. x tiny tree. x mud. x fence.

We'll come back to this later.

> e. ne. s.

Cafeteria

> x tables. x paper. take paper.

> x tray. take it.

> e.

At the Lunch Counter

> x counter. x lady. listen to lady.

> put tray on counter. (+10; you auto-take the tray.)

> x meatloaf. eat meatloaf.

> w. n. e.

Middle of North Hallway

Note the flickering light.

> x lockers. open lockers. x light.

> e. s.

Library

> x chairs. x tables. x shelves. x books. read books.

> research report. (+10)

> write report. (Nothing to write on, and it needs to be typed.)

> n. se. e.

Gymnasium

> x bleachers. x students. x basketball.

> x rope. climb rope.

> n.

Janitor's Room

> x janitor. (Bill)

> x toolbox. x pump. x ladder. x supplies. x shelf. x bulbs.

> talk to mop. (Amusing suggested it.)

> talk to Bill. 1. (That's not helpful.)

> take ladder —or— take pump. (Bill stops you.)

> tell Bill about light. wait. (He leaves.)

> take pump. (+10)

> s. w. sw.

Entryway

> x mural. x Columbus. x Einstein. take Einstein.

> x eye. look through hole.

> x students. x computers. x board.

> n. open door. (locked)

> se.

Main Office

> x secretary. x desk.

> e.

Dean's Office

> x dean. x desk. x cabinets. x plant. (needs light)

> ask dean about plant. ask dean about Hop.

> tell dean about computer room. (+10; you're now in...)

Computer Room

> x table. x printer.

> type report. (+10)

> x report.

> s. w. w. nw. w.

Little Courtyard

Note that you need to have examined the circle before you can put the fence in the pond.

> take fence. put fence in pond.

> put hose in pond. turn on pump. (+10)

> open capsule. take all from capsule.

> x blueprints. x penny. x record. x book. read book.

You only need the record. Put the other stuff back.

> put blueprints, penny, book in capsule.

From the game's "amusing":

> enjoy mud. play hucka-bucka-beanstalk. talk to me.

> e. sw. w.

Music Room

CAUTION: Ms. Pratt is in her office to the north, and any noise other than good music will annoy her and she'll firmly shoo you out of the room, close the piano if it's open, and turn off the stereo if it's on, before retreating back into her office.

Your singing annoys Ms. Pratt. Your piano playing annoys her. And taking a wire out of her piano annoys her unless she can't hear you do it.

> x chairs. x stands. x piano.

> open piano. x wires. x hammers.

> x system. x speakers. x turntable. x arm.

The trick here is to time your wire theft when the music is intense.

> put record on turntable.

> turn on stereo. push start.

> z. z. z. (Music is intense.)

> take wire. (+10)

> e. se. se. s. u.

The Roof

> give wire to Hop. (+10)

> give meatloaf to Hop. (+10)

> d. n. nw. ne.

West end of North Hallway

If necessary, wait until Mr Mitchell has stopped lecturing, then you can go in. Incidentally, his lecture itself is a clue about how to use the pump with the fence.

> n.

History Class

> x map. x Mitchell.

> save. (So you can replay for the different endings.)

> give report to Mitchell. (+10)

Quickly, head back to the roof!

> s. sw. se. s. u.

The Roof

> talk to Hop. 1. (Ready)

Oops. He can't send you back to the future, so instead, he gives you a device to go back 15 minutes so you can get your report back. Don't waste time trying to examine the device or anything else.

> push button.

There's four possible endings, none obviously the best one.

Ending 1

If you handed in the report too long ago, you get this ending.

*** You have gotten trapped in the past ***

Ending 2

History Class

> give report to Mitchell.

This is just like ending 1, but on purpose? You're stuck in the past, but you are changing it for the better.

*** You have taken your second chance ***

Ending 3

History Class

> s. sw. se. s. u.

The Roof

> give report to Hop.

You return to your dull adult life without changing anything. Uh, yay?

*** You have repeated history ***

Ending 4

History Class

> s. sw. w.

Little Courtyard

> put report in capsule.

This ending is bittersweet. You're choosing to stay in the past and not change the critical event in your life, so there's a reasonable chance you'll return to your dull adult life eventually. But maybe you've helped somebody else in the future today?

*** You have learned from the past ***

If you want to get really meta, note that History Repeating was published in 2005, and I'm publishing this walkthrough fourteen years later in 2019. We are those future people being helped by this game and maybe by this walkthrough too, yes?

Please feel free to say a thank you to the people at the IF Archive, IFDB, IFWiki, ifwizz, the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation, and anyone else who helps preserve works of interactive fiction for future players. Thank you.

Extras

Amusing

Amusing things to try

You may want to wait until you've finished, but then again, you may not!

Have you...

• ...looked under your desk in the beginning?
• ...tried to get Einstein?
• ...played hucka-bucka-beanstalk?
• ...done any singing in the music room?
• ...enjoyed the mud?
• ...taken the menu after reading it?
• ...examined the piano keys?
• ...talked to the mop?
• ...talked to yourself?
• ...eaten the meatloaf?
• ...climbed the rope in the gym?
• ...asked the dean about Hopkins?
• ...listened to the lunch lady?
• ...played a certain game in the computer room?
• ...found all four endings?

Characters

• Miss Barry, the math teacher, looks concerned. You must look as shaken as you feel.
• Mr. Hopkins, the science teacher, is on the roof. He brought you back in time with his time machine! Kids call him "Hop" or "Hoppy".
• Ms. Pratt, the music teacher, is busy in her office. She has no patience for bad music.
• Mr. Mitchell, the history teacher, is lecturing to students in his classroom.
• A lunch lady is talking to herself behind the counter of the serving area.
• Bill, the janitor, is searching his toolbox in the janitor's room.
• Ms. Larsen, the dean, is looking a bit tired in her office.
• A secretary is busy talking on the phone in her office.
• Several students are busy in the math and history classrooms, the computer room, and the gymnasium.

Credits

About the game

History Repeating was an idea simmering away for some time, finally completed (more or less) for the 11th Annual IF Competition. It's not our first try at a game but it is the first we've released publicly.

History Repeating may be used and distributed freely. It may not be modified, sold, or included in any for-profit collection.

For bug reports, transcripts, constructive criticism or high praise, we can be reached at mrchoba@gmail.com.

Acknowlegements

Thanks to Graham Nelson, Roger Firth, Sonja Kesserich, Stephen Granade, David Glasser, the Propellerheads, and everyone on the newsgroups who asked our questions before we did. Many thanks to Lucas Killgore for his walkthrough skills and his beta-testing skills.

Special thanks to Howie for the introductions to both Infocom and Inform, and for finding those overly large, overly enthusiastic bugs.

Endings

• You have gotten trapped in the past
• if you handed in the report more than fifteen minutes before pushing the device's button.
• You have taken your second chance
• if you give the report to Mr. Mitchell again.
• You have repeated history
• if you give the report to Mr. Hopkins.
• You have learned from the past
• if you put the report into the time capsule.

Inventory

• a tray. It's in the cafeteria. Go east to the lunch counter and put the tray on the counter. The lunch lady will put a square of meatloaf on your tray.
• a square of meatloaf. Obtain it by putting the tray on the counter at the lunch counter. The meatloaf is a heavy brick, so give it to Hopkins on the roof for the "weight" he needs.
• a report.
• To create the report, first research the report in either the library or the computer room. Then type the report in the computer room. To get into the computer room, you'll need to spy on the students in there by looking through the hole in the entryway mural, then tell the dean about them.
• Don't hand in the report to Mr Mitchell right away. Do everything else first and give the wire and meatloaf to Hopkins.
• Outside the history room, wait until Mr Mitchell has stopped lecturing. Then you can go in and give the report to him.
• Head back immediately to Hopkins on the roof and tell him you're ready. You will need to replay the last fifteen minutes to get the report back by never handing it in in the first place.
• Once you have the report back, either give it to Mitchell again or give it to Hopkins or put it into the time capsule. The final fate of your report determines which ending you get.
• a fence. It's surrounding the tiny tree in the courtyard. It's in mud and shaped like a barrel open at both ends. Take the fence then put it into the pond. This puts a wall around the top of the submerged time capsule.
• Note: You won't be able to put the fence into the pond until you've seen that the time capsule's in there.
• a pump. It's in the janitor's room. First, you'll need to get Bill, the janitor out of there, so tell him about the light (assuming you've seen it flickering in the middle of the north hallway). After he's gone, take the pump to the courtyard. Put the fence in the pond, then the pump's hose in the pond, then turn on the pump. You can now safely open the capsule.
• some blueprints. It's in the time capsule. Examine it, but you don't need it.
• a penny. It's in the time capsule. Examine it, but you don't need it.
• a record. It's in the time capsule. Put record on the turntable in the music room. Turn on the stereo then push the start button; a piano sonata will start playing. Open the piano. Wait until the music is intense, then take a wire from the piano.
• a paperback book. It's in the time capsule. Read it, but you don't need it.
• a wire. It's in the music room's piano. Open the piano and play the record on the stereo system. You can only take a wire when the music is intense, otherwise Ms. Pratt will stop you. Give the wire to Hopkins on the roof.
• a device. After you've given the wire and meatloaf to Hopkins and given the report to Mitchell, talk to Hopkins and tell him you're ready. The time machine will fail, so Hopkins will give you this device to replay the last fifteen minutes, giving you a chance to get your report back. When you have the device, most commands, including inventory, just tell you to push the button. Do that. (You can examine the device, but time's rather critical.)

Score

You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 100, in several turns, giving you grade and the rank of ranking.

• 10 points for obtaining a square of meatloaf.
• 10 points for researching the report in either the library or computer room.
• 10 points for getting into the computer room.
• 10 points for typing your report in the computer room.
• 10 points for handing in your report to Mr. Mitchell.
• 10 points for obtaining a pump.
• 10 points for revealing the top of the time capsule.
• 10 points for obtaining a wire.
• 10 points for giving the wire to Mr. Hopkins.
• 10 points for giving the meatloaf to Mr. Hopkins.

Grades:

• an F average (0 to 20 points)
• a D average (30 to 40 points)
• a C average (50 to 70 points)
• a B average (80 to 90 points)
• an A average (100 points)

Rankings:

• Failing Freshman. (0 to 20 points)
• Struggling Sophmore. (30 to 40 points)
• Jittery Junior. (50 to 70 points)
• Soaring Senior. (80 to 90 points)
• Glad Grad. (100 points)

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 Matthew Foxley;
• 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.