Honk! is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2023 by Alex Harby. It was an entry in IF Comp 2023 where it took 4th place.
In this comedy game, you play as Lola, the circus's greatest and only clown. Your skills include pie-throwing, balloon-animal-making, and nose-honking. The Ringmaster whimpers about a ghost, a Phantom sabotaging the acts. You tell him you'll sort the Phantom out while he deals with the paperwork.
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.
Ringmaster's Camper
> x me. i. x nose. honk nose.
> x Ringmaster. x hat.
> x paperwork. (Marcus Pooting MP wants the circus to leave the greenfield site so it can be developed.)
> x panelling. x chairs.
> t boss.
> 1 (re phantom)
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3 (re Adagio, Freda, or Ken)
> 1 (re yesterday)
> 1 (re great clown)
> 1 (re brothers)
> 1 (re cave)
> 1 (end story)
> 1 (re letter)
> 2 (bye)
> n.
Staff Area, by the boss's camper
Let's start by exploring the staff area, and by talking to Freda, Ken, and Adagio.
> x camper. x tent.
> e.
Staff Area, by Freda and you
> x caravan. x camper. x car. x horn. honk horn.
> s.
Your Caravan
> x pies. take pies.
> x balloons. take balloons.
> x props. x medication.
> n. e.
Freda's Camper
> x Freda. x barbells.
Just talk with Freda for now. If you start Freda's show now, you get a better idea of what goes wrong, and from there, you can brainstorm what might need to be done, but because this is a walkthrough, I'm skipping that sort of exploration, and we won't start a show until we're ready for it.
> t Freda.
> 1 (re Phantom)
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3 ("Worse than" anecdote)
She explains that when she asks for a volunteer, Phantom makes sure he's the volunteer, but when she tries to lift him, he's too heavy!
> 3 (re what can I do)
> 4 (re ignoring Phantom)
> 4 (re "dense")
> 4 (bye)
> w. n.
Staff Area, by Adagio and Lawn
> x goose. x camper. x caravan.
> e.
Lawn's Caravan
> x pool. x Ken. t Ken.
> 2 (re "dense")
> 1 (re Phantom)
> 2 ("Blindfolded it?")
> 1 ("The boss told me.")
> 3 (re removing blindfold)
> 4 (re using words)
> 5 (re gestures)
> 1 (Hands to chest means "come here".)
> 2 (Lifting hands means "fly up".)
> 3 (Spreading arms means "spread wings".)
> 4 (Pointing at floor means "play dead".)
> 5 (dismiss the goose)
> 6 (bye)
> w. n.
Adagio's Camper
> x Adagio. x hat. x books. x hutch.
> x cards. x bowl.
> t Adagio.
> 2 (re hat)
She says it's the wrong hat and asks you to return it to the Ringmaster. And get her own hat and rabbit back.
> s. sw. s.
Ringmaster's Camper
> show purple hat to boss. (He takes the purple hat, and gives you the black hat which has a rabbit in it.)
> x rabbit.
> n. ne. n.
Adagio's Camper
As soon as you enter, the rabbit devours the salad then returns to the hat. Adagio thanks you and puts on the hat.
> t Adagio.
> 1 (re Phantom)
> 1 ("won't tell")
> 2 (re ropes)
She tells you there's normally a blade hidden in the pulleys, but the Phantom somehow stole it during the show.
> 2 (re new blade)
> 3 (re water tank)
> 4 (re plant: She thinks the Phantom is a circus guy.)
> 1 (re really?: yes)
> 5 (bye)
Now, explore the rest of the grounds, picking up anything useful, saving the Big Top for last.
> s. s. w. w.
Carnival, under the Big Wheel
> x wheel. (21 cabs, with Cab 1 currently reachable)
> x lever. (Pushing it goes three cabs forwards, and pulling it goes seven cabs back.)
> x ladder.
Hopefully, my diagrams make it clear what the possible progressions are. You just need to pull the lever twice and push the lever twice to get Cab 14 to ground-level. And you can do the pulling and pushing in any order too, as long as it's just two of each.
> pull lever. (at Cab 15)
> pull lever. (at Cab 8)
> push lever. (at Cab 11)
> push lever. (at Cab 14)
> take ladder.
> n.
Carnival, by the Entrance
> x help. ("Jenny")
> x stand. x canister. take it.
Inflate one of your balloons with helium, and note the possible shapes you can make.
> inflate balloon with helium.
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3 —or— 4.
> n.
Carnival, outside Monster Manor
> x manor. x Frankenstein. x Dracula.
> x Mickey. x Creature. x buggy.
> x operator. ("Arthur")
> t Arthur.
> x rules. g. g.
> n. ("NO STEPLADDERS")
> drop ladder.
> n.
In Monster Manor
The ride takes six turns.
> x mummy. z.
> x zombie. z.
> x hornist. take horn. (The ride ends.)
Carnival, outside Monster Manor
> take ladder. x horn. play horn.
> e.
Carnival, by the Love Booth
> x booth. push button. g. g.
> x Cupid. x bow. take bow. (out of reach)
> drop ladder. climb ladder. take bow.
While "down" does work here, it's interpreted as jumping off the booth. And "climb down" isn't understood properly at all, at least in Release 1.
> climb ladder. take ladder.
> s.
Seats
> x seats.
> in.
Ring
This is where all the shows are performed. After you've obtained the bow, leave the ladder here for later.
> drop ladder.
> out. w.
Entrance Tent
> x stand. take burger.
> x burger. x patty. x leaf.
> e. s.
Backstage
> x contraption. x rope.
Remembering how the rabbit attacked the salad, it will also likely go crazy for a leaf-on-a-rope snack.
> put leaf on rope.
> x cage.
Okay, you're ready for both Freda's and Adagio's shows, and with a bit of practice time with the goose, you'll be ready for Ken's show too.
Start with Freda:
> s. e. e.
Freda's Camper
Prep work for Freda's show: Obtain the pies and bow.
> t Freda. 1 (start show)
>> SPACE
Ring (during Freda's show)
The Phantom is here, masked, wearing a cloak, and crushing Freda.
> x Phantom. x cloak.
It's too dangerous to try to open the cloak by hand from the ground, and the Phantom bats you away if you try to climb the stepladder. You need to use long-distance attacks.
> throw pie at Phantom.
The cloak opens, revealing bags of flour. Act quickly before they re-close the cloak.
> shoot bow at flour. (Freda succeeds!)
>> SPACE
Freda's Camper
You get a big thank you and bear hug from Freda.
> t Freda
> 1 (re feeling)
> 2 (re flour trick)
> 3 (bye)
> w.
Staff Area, by Freda and you
> take car horn. (no: it's glued to the car)
> enter car. n.
Staff Area, by Adagio and Lawn
From the safety of the car's interior, practice your honks and see how the goose responds.
> honk nose. (It comes to you.)
> honk car horn. (It spreads its wings.)
> play French horn. (It plays dead.)
You still haven't got the goose to fly upwards, but you'll figure it out later. For now, get the car into the ring.
> w. in.
Ring
> leave car. out. e. e.
Lawn's Caravan
Prep work for Ken's show: Put both the stepladder and the clown car in the ring before starting Ken's show. Obtain the French horn.
> t Ken. 1 (start show)
>> SPACE
Ring (during Lawn's show)
Ken and the goose are in the cage and Ken starts telling a story.
Ken raises his hands to his chest.
> honk nose.
Ken spreads his hands.
> honk car horn.
Ken raises his hands to his chest.
> honk nose.
Ken points at the floor.
> play French horn.
Ken throws his arms wide.
> honk car horn.
Ken lifts his hands upward. For this, you need to elevate yourself above the goose, so "come here" acts as "up"!
> climb ladder. honk nose. (Success!)
>> SPACE
Lawn's Caravan
You get a sincere thank you from Ken. You can hardly believe it.
> t Ken.
> 1 (re show)
> 2 (re honking)
> 3 (bye)
> w. n.
Adagio's Camper
Prep work for Adagio's show: Put the lettuce leaf on the Contraption's wet rope. Obtain the bendy balloons and the helium canister.
> t Adagio. 1 (start show)
>> SPACE
Ring (during Adagio's show)
Adagio is tied up in the tank. The hat and its rabbit are nearby, but the rabbit can't reach the rope.
> inflate balloon with helium.
> 2 (basket)
> put hat in basket.
> drop basket. (The floating rabbit attacks the rope and Adagio escapes!)
>> SPACE
Adagio's Camper
The rabbit gets a carrot and you get a thank you.
After saving all three acts, the Ringmaster rushes into whichever camper or caravan you're in to tell you that they caught and tied up the Phantom, and he wants everyone in the Ring.
> s. w. in.
Ring (during unmasking)
> x Phantom. x mask. take mask.
>> SPACE
The Phantom knocks you backwards. He's cut the rope.
> 1 –to– 4
He's Marcus Pooting MP, and also Magnus, the former strongman.
> 1. ("Who's Magnus?")
> 1 –to– 3 ("Wait, wasn't he" anecdote)
> 1 (re sabotage)
> 1 –to– 4 (He's lost crowd support.)
> 1 ("updog")
> 2 ("updog")
> 2 ("updog")
> 2 ("updog")
> 1 (punchline)
> 1 (re methods)
> 1 (re Freda)
> 2 (re backstage)
> 3 (re goose)
> 4 (done)
> 2 ("Let's tie you up again.")
Instead, he runs out. You all follow. From atop the boss's van, he points a gadget at the Big Wheel and pushes a button.
Explosion! The Wheel rolls into the forest, and the Phantom steals the boss's van and drives off!
>> SPACESPACESPACESPACESPACE
Staff Area, by an empty camper-sized patch of land
> n. n. in.
Ring
> enter car.
Oh no. A tyre is shredded. Freda rips the tyre off, and Jenny tries to inflate it.
> inflate balloon with helium.
> 3 ("Perfect circle")
> put circle on wheel.
> enter car.
You, Ringmaster, Freda, Adagio, Lawn, Jenny, Arthur, and a little boy in a sailor suit licking a lollipop enter the car.
>> SPACE
Motorway
> x lad. x lollipop. x camper.
> throw pie at camper.
>> SPACE
Lakeside
The Phantom has the boss's paperwork! Let him monologue until some geese arrive.
> x camper. x lake. x Phantom.
Are the geese in the lake? You know how to attract them:
> honk nose.
>> SPACESPACE
The geese attack Pooting. Others grab the documents while you and everyone else shelter in the car.
The circus is saved.
*** Thank you for playing Honk! ***
> amusing
This is the response to AMUSING after you've won the game:
Have you tried...
- Throwing pies at everyone? Multiple times?
- Throwing pies at the Monster Manor inhabitants? Shooting them with the bow?
- Bringing the rabbit to the burger stand (before Adagio starts wearing the black hat)?
- Shooting Adagio's cards with the bow (before unmasking the Phantom)?
- Bringing the Ringmaster into Monster Manor? Bringing everyone else there at once?
- Trying the dog balloon as a fresh tyre instead of the circle? Trying the Robert Frost balloon?
- Exiting the car while on the motorway?
- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective? Ahh dude you gotta play Ghost Trick. You gotta let me watch you play it
- Falling asleep at the wheel on the motorway?
- Playing the French horn next to the flock of geese?
- Finding ways to end the game by going to hospital or going to jail?
Mentioned:
To view the credits, type ABOUT or CREDITS, then select About/Credits from the menu:
About/Credits
Honk! was written by Alex Harby, or rabbit or wisprabbit, whatever you want to call me. This is the first public version, submitted to the Interactive Fiction Competition 2023. It was exported from Inform on 23rd September 2023.
Honk! was programmed in Inform 9.3 (aka Inform 7 6M62), developed by Graham Nelson, and adapts some code from the Inform 7 documentation examples by Graham Nelson and Emily Short.
It also uses the following extensions:
- Hybrid Choices by AW Freyr
- Gender Options by Nathanael Nerode
- Nathanael's Cookbook by Nathanael Nerode (not actually included in the game code, but helped me sort out a few whitespace bugs)
- Basic Screen Effects by Emily Short
- Menus by Emily Short
In addition to the documentation and the extensions, I've stolen bits of code from all over the IntFiction forums like a magpie. This project uses code written by climbingstars, Dannii Willis, Felix Larsson, StJohnLimbo and zarf. Proper citations are in the source code, which should have been included alongside the game file if you downloaded a .zip to play this.
Thanks to StJohnLimbo and Mike Russo for providing help with using Hybrid Choices.
Huge thanks to alpha testers Garry Francis, Mike Russo, Andrew Schultz, and Jkj Yuio, and to beta testers Lance Cirone and Reiko Yukawa, for all their bug reports, feedback and advice. Any remaining bugs and imperfections are, of course, the work of the wizard who cursed my game to make me look bad.
Andrew "Drizzle" Bedno and Susan "Sweetie" Hooper's ebook Clowning 101 was the starting point for writing the main character. I deviated from it a lot, but it's interesting reading: http://tritontrouperscircus.com/clowning
I do not give consent for any of the source text of this game to be used in AI/machine-learning databases. I don't actually believe this is going to stop anything, but I just want it written down somewhere.
These are the endings I found. Possibly there are more.
Honking is mostly useful during Lawn's show in the Ring, to direct the blindfolded goose with your honks.
Note that you can also honk the car horn of your clown car, but the car horn is not detachable and never an inventory item. When the goose hears you honk the car horn, it spreads its wings.
This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with
Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!