Key & Compass presents:
The House
by Owen Parish

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Amusing, Characters, 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

Walkthrough

Sitting Room

You don't actually need the bottle. If you drink the liquid from the bottle, your vision becomes too blurry to read anything for a few turns.

> x sofa. x rug. x bottle. x fireplace. x soot. n.

Front Hall

You will not be able to open this door. Another way out must be found.

> x door. open it. x rack. xyzzy. w.

Corridor

> x carpet. s.

Kitchen

None of the taps in the house can be turned on. The larder and cupboard can't ever be unlocked or opened. All you really need from here is the fork, although the basket is quite handy as a general container.

> x sink. x hot. turn it on. x cold. turn it on.

> x board. x larder. read it. x cupboard. read it.

> x basket. x memo. read it. take basket.

> x table. x fork. take it. n. n.

Study

> x desk. x papers. read papers. x crystal. take it.

> x chair. x box. put crystal in box. (+10)

> d.

Secret Room

> smell. x circle. x thing. take it. xyzzy. x devices.

> x bed. look under bed. (+10)

> x cards. x sticks. x scroll. read it.

> put sticks in devices. (+5)

> turn on devices. z. z. z. z. (+10)

> x safe. x small key. take it. u. s. w.

Corridor

> x carpet. s.

Bathroom

You only need the stethoscope from this room. I have no idea what the bandages or pills are for; they might just be red herrings or scenery.

> x toilet. x sink. x hot. x cold. x bath. x cupboard.

> open cupboard. x stethoscope. take it.

> x letter. read it. x bandages.

> x pill bottle. open it. x pills. n. w.

Maze

There's only one maze location, and the available directions are randomly chosen from the four cardinal directions. The trick here is simply to walk through a wall by choosing a cardinal direction not offered.

> west. (+5 on success. If you don't get to the Computer Room right away, just keep going west until you do.)

Computer Room

The robot has little to say, and you can't really do anything with this computer.

There's an Easter Egg of Death here. If you want to kill yourself, make sure that you NEVER look at the canister. Drink the liquid from the bottle in the Sitting Room, then take or hit the canister very soon afterwards.

> x computer. read it. x robot.

> ask robot about robot. ask robot about Gralow.

> x bench. x diary. read it. x canister. x bed.

> x aquarium. drink it. x ornaments. x fish. x octopus. take it. (+5)

> x safe. put stethoscope on safe. (+10)

> x safe. x black key. take it. e. e. e. e.

Stair Room

> x stairs. u.

Library

> x table. x books.

> x west books. read it. (+5)

> x north books. read it. x south books. read it. x east books. read it.

> w.

Secret Lab

> x equipment. x table. x sheet. take sheet.

> x sheet. x dummy. open it. look in it.

> x computer. turn it on. x it.

> type log on computer. type parts on computer.

> put octopus in dummy. put fork in dummy. put thing in dummy.

> close dummy. type activate on computer. (+10)

> x safe. type 123 on safe. dummy, open safe. (+5)

> x safe. x dull key. take it. e. d. d.

Passage

A bug in version 1 lets you go "south" without checking if the door has been unlocked at all.

> x door. unlock door with small key.

> unlock door with black key. unlock door with dull key.

> open door.

*** You have won ***

> amusing. quit.

Extras

Amusing

Have you tried:

• XYZZY?
• XYZZY in a particular place?
• Finding the one way in the game to die?

Characters

• Three Gralow family members are apparently feuding with each other, communicating only with notes. You never learn their names or genders, but they all seem to be pathetic megalomaniacs who are all conveniently away from the house for different reasons.
• The evil one is mentioned by the scroll.
• A robot is slumped in the Computer Room. It's not very impressive.
• A dummy is missing some parts in the Secret Lab.

Endings

• You have died if you successfully hit the canister in the Computer Room.
• To manage this, you need to never examine the canister and drink the bottle immediately before hitting the canister. If you ever see the word GELIGNITE on the canister, you'll refuse to hit it.
• You have won if you escape from the house by opening the triple-locked door in the Passage.

Inventory

• a bottle. It's on the rug in the Sitting Room. You don't need it. If you drink from it, your vision is blurry for a few turns, and then the bottle is empty. Its only use is for an Easter Egg Death, where you hit the canister in the Computer Room while your vision is blurry so you never see that you're about to hit something extremely explosive.
• a basket. It's in the Kitchen; examine the cupboard to notice the basket beside it. It contains a memo. The basket is useful as a general container, but it's not strictly necessary.
• a memo. It's in the basket. Read it.
• a fork. It's on the table in the Kitchen. Put it in the dummy in the Secret Lab.
• a crystal. It's on the desk in the Study. Put it in the black box in the Study; this opens a secret trapdoor in the floor.
• a thing. It's in the circle in the Secret Room. It's too complex to describe. Put it in the dummy in the Secret Lab.
• some sticks. Find them by looking under the bed in the Secret Room. Put them in the devices, turn the devices on, and wait four turns. You'll find and open a hidden safe.
• a scroll. Find it by looking under the bed in the Secret Room.
• a small key. It's in the hidden safe in the Secret Room. To find and open the safe, put the sticks in the devices, turn the devices on, and wait four turns. This key unlocks one of the three locks on the door in the Passage.
• a stethoscope. It's in the bathroom cupboard. Put it on the safe in the Computer Room to open it.
• a letter. It's in the bathroom cupboard. Read it.
• some bandages. They're in the bathroom cupboard. Ignore them.
• a pill bottle. It's in the bathroom cupboard. It contains some pills. Ignore it.
• some pills. They're in the pill bottle. Ignore them.
• a diary. It's on the bench in the Computer Room. Read it.
• an octopus. It's initially presented as an ornament in the Computer Room's aquarium. Put it in the dummy in the Secret Lab.
• a black key. It's in the safe in the Computer Room; unlock this safe by putting the stethoscope on it. This key unlocks one of the three locks on the door in the Passage.
• a sheet. It's in the Secret Lab, covering a dummy on the table. It's stained with red paint.
• a dull key. It's in the safe in the Secret Lab. This key unlocks one of the three locks on the door in the Passage.

Score

In a total of several turns, you have achieved a score of your-score points out of a possible 75, which gives you the rank of ranking.

• 10 points for finding a secret trapdoor in the Study.
• 10 points for finding stuff under the purple bed in the Secret Room.
• 5 points for putting the sticks in the devices in the Secret Room.
• 10 points for finding and opening the hidden safe in the Secret Room.
• 5 points for finding the Computer Room from the Maze.
• 5 points for taking the octopus ornament from the aquarium in the Computer Room.
• 10 points for opening the safe in the Computer Room.
• 5 points for finding a secret door in the Library.
• 10 points for activating the mechanical dummy in the Secret Lab.
• 5 points for opening the safe in the Secret Lab.

Rankings:

• Idiot. (0 to 20 points)
• Meddler. (25 to 45 points)
• Revealer. (55 to 70 points)
• Burglar. (75 points)

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since I wrote this walkthrough prior to January 2015 when I began my Patreon account, and also because the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations (so I wouldn't have charged for it anyway). I've since reformatted this walkthrough to use my currently preferred style. I hope you enjoy it!

I'm still creating new walkthroughs! Larger ones too! Please visit my Patreon account if you're interested in helping me create more interactive fiction walkthroughs. I appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks again.