Key & Compass presents:
How the Little Match Girl Got Her Colt Paterson Revolver, and Taught a Virtue to a Goblin
by Ryan Veeder

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Credits, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Post about this walkthrough on X.

Map

Note that WAKE in any location (other than the Study) returns you to the Study.

Walkthrough

There is a brief introduction about Ebenezabeth Scrooge.

>> SPACE

StudyLondon - 1846

> x me. i. (nothing)

> x father. x desk. talk to father.

> x fireplace.

WaterfallPaterson, New Jersey

> x river. x road. x woods.

> ne.

Woods

> x coat. take it.

> n.

Outside the Factory

> x door. x tower. x vane. x fence. (gun motif)

> in.

Inside the Factory

> x machines. x man. talk to man.

Samuel Colt demonstrates his gun's clever features, but no one's buying his guns or appreciates his cleverness. And he hasn't eaten much recently.

> wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

> show coat.

> x candle.

CourtyardA Paper Castle

> x lake. x swans. talk to swans.

> x green. x pink.

> in.

Great Hall

> x dancer. talk to dancer.

The dancer is in love with the tin soldier, but because she has a smudge on one foot, he could never love her; the goblin told her so.

> out. out.

Outside the Castle

> x pencil. x Bible. x twine. x soldier.

> talk to soldier.

He's in love with the dancer, but because he is poor, she could never love him; the goblin told him so.

> in.

Courtyard

> x gap. enter gap.

Dark Corridor

> x box. open it. SPACE

The goblin springs out and laughs.

> x goblin. (He's made of felt and sewn into the box.)

> talk to goblin. (He lied to the soldier to protect him from the misery of love.)

> wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

> x oil lamp.

DocksByblos, Phoenicia

> x canoes. x piers. x people.

> n.

Garden

> x trees. x platform.

> x stele. (A local tells you it's the stone of King Azibaal and a list of battles.)

> se.

Market

> x stalls. x florist. x flowers.

> talk to florist.

Eshak says he'd rather head to the frozen north.

> give coat to florist.

He's now convinced and gives you an orchid in a jar before he leaves.

> x orchid. smell it.

> x dark shop. enter it.

Shop

> x Zadar. x jars. talk to Zadar.

> wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

> show orchid.

> x streetlamp.

SpaceportTharsis, Capital of Mars

> x ships. x traffic. talk to it.

> x pavement. jump.

> e.

Shopping Center

> x monitors. x shop. ("the Hideaway")

> enter shop.

The Hideaway

> x wares. x skulls. x books. x weapons.

> x yogurt. x woman. talk.

> take yogurt. (not for sale)

> out. sw.

Public Park

> x fountains.

> x statue. (It's Mars-Emperor Professor Albus Burnside who brought so much water to Mars.)

> x person. talk to him. (The custodian needs something to reach the stain with.)

> g. (You could stand on his shoulders, but you don't want to suggest that.)

> wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

Okay, you've been everywhere, time to start solving this in earnest.

> x candle. out.

Outside the CastleA Paper Castle

> show orchid. (to the soldier; he gives you a needle in exchange)

> x needle. (It's almost as long as you are tall.)

> talk to soldier.

> wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

> show needle.

> x streetlamp. s.

Public ParkTharsis, Capital of Mars

> show needle. (to the custodian; he gives you a sponge in exchange)

> x eraser. (Perfect for cleaning things with.)

> wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

> show eraser.

> x candle. in.

Great HallA Paper Castle

> show eraser. (to the dancer; she gives you a spangle in exchange)

> talk to dancer. x spangle.

> wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

> show spangle.

> x oil lamp. e. enter shop.

ShopByblos, Phoenicia

> show spangle. (to Zadar; she gives you Tyrian dye in exchange)

> x dye. smell it.

> wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

> show dye.

> x streetlamp. e. enter shop.

The HideawayTharsis, Capital of Mars

> show dye. (to Hadar; she gives you the yogurt in exchange.)

> wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

> show yogurt.

> x fireplace. ne. n. in.

Inside the FactoryPaterson, New Jersey

> show yogurt. (to Colt; he gives you the revolver in exchange.)

> x gun. wake.

StudyLondon - 1846

> show gun.

> x candle. enter gap.

Dark CorridorA Paper Castle

> talk to goblin. g. out.

Courtyard

> scream.

The toys learn the truth and the goblin is punished. Colt taught her to try non-violence. What virtue did the little match girl teach to the goblin?

> truth. (no)

> fidelity. (no; note the capital letters hinting strongly)

> honesty.

The story is over, but the story doesn't actually end. You can't even QUIT or RESTART. Close your interpreter to quit the game and start thinking about how many many things Byblos and Tharsis have in common.

Extras

Characters

The narrator:

• Hans Christian Andersen created the little match girl and her many adventures. He briefly tells you some background information about Ebenezabeth before beginning this story.

Main characters:

• Ebenezabeth Scrooge is the little match girl introduced in The Little Match Girl, of course. She learned that she has the ability to travel to other places and times by looking at any fire, and she now plans to test this talent.
• Ebenezer Scrooge rescued, adopted, and named Ebenezabeth at the end of her first adventure. Besides being a rich philanthropist, he welcomes the chance to aid his new daughter however he can.
• Samuel Colt owns a munitions factory in Paterson, New Jersey. He is despondent because no one is buying his guns or appreciating his cleverness.
• A paper dancer stands en pointe inside the paper castle. She loves the tin soldier, but thinks he can never love her because of a smudge on one foot.
• A tin soldier stands on duty outside the paper castle. He loves the dancer, but thinks she can never love him because he is poor.
• A felt goblin, sewn into a snuff-box, lied to dancer and to the soldier.
• Eshak is a florist in Byblos, but his heart's not really in it.
• Zadar is the spiderlike proprietor of a dark shop in Byblos.
• Hadar is the intimidating proprietor of a quiet shop on Mars.
• A custodian is trying to clean a stain off a statue, but he's unable to reach it.

Background characters:

• The people in Phoenicia are busy everywhere, ignoring ghostly little girls.
• The people on Mars are rushing everywhere, ignoring the noise and chaos around them.
• A traffic algorithm on the spaceport is too overworked to chat with you.
• Wax swans swim on the looking-glass lake.

Mentioned:

• Puss is Ebenezabeth's brown cat.
• Urimedonte was a vampiress whom Ebenezabeth was forced to destroy.
• Poseidon provided his trident so Ebenezabeth could destroy Urimedonte with it.
• A calligrapher is mentioned. If you play The Little Match Girl, you know him as Yasushi.
• King Azibaal is named on a limestone stele.
• Eshak's father owned the flower business before him.
• Mars-Emperor Professor Albus Burnside brought a great deal of drinkable water to Mars.
• Pigeons were brought to Mars, but why?

SPECULATION. There is the slightest hint that the flames themselves are thinking creatures. When Ebenezabeth examines the candle the first time, its flame "seemed to understand" a kinship; on subeequent looks, it "welcomed" Ebenezabeth again. It's unclear if this is just a fancy of Ebenezabeth's, to personify the flames that aid her, or if the flames truly think at all. This personification becomes more pronounced in subsequent games, but the personhood of the fires remains an unresolved (and unasked) question.

Credits

This is the response to CREDITS:

(Thank you for for playing this game with its very long title. I wrote it for day thirteen of #EnigMarch 2023, but I didn't finish writing it until the fifteenth. The prompt was "Match." Learn more about EnigMarch at https://enigmarch.com/, and find my other EnigMarch puzzles at https://peoplemaking.games/@rcveeder.

This game was tested by NOBODY. I had to make it FAST. But then Sarah Willson found some typos.)

Inventory

While it's not necessary to show every inventory item you acquire to your Papa in the study, I suggest making the effort to do so just for his reactions.

Also, the first letters of your inventory items (not counting the revolver) spell out a virtue that you must state to complete the game: HONESTY.

• a heavy coat. It's on a fencepost in the woods near Paterson, New Jersery.
• In the Phoenician market, give the coat to the florist; he gives you an orchid in exchange.
• an orchid. In the Phoenician market, the florist gives an orchid to you when you give him the heavy coat.
• Outside the paper castle, give the orchid to the tin soldier; he gives you a needle in exchange.
• a needle. Outside the paper castle, the tin soldier gives a needle to you when you give him the orchid.
• In the Martian park, give the needle to the custodian; he gives you an eraser in exchange.
• an eraser. In the Martian park, the custodian gives the eraser to you when you give him the needle.
• In the paper castle's great hall, give the eraser to the dancer; she gives you a spangle in exchange.
• a spangle. In the paper castle's great hall, the dancer gives the spangle to you when you give her the eraser.
• In the Phoenician shop, give the spangle to Zadar; she gives you some Tyrian dye in exchange.
• some Tyrian dye. In the Phoenician shop, Zadar gives the dye to you when you give her the spangle.
• In the Martian shop, The Hideaway, give the dye to Hadar; she gives you the yogurt bowl in exchange.
• a yogurt bowl. In the Martian shop, The Hideaway, Hadar gives the yogurt to you when you give her the Tyrian dye.
• Inside the New Jersey factory, give the yogurt to Samuel Colt; he gives you a revolver in exchange.
• your revolver. Inside the New Jersey factory, Samuel Colt gives the revolver to you when you give him the yogurt bowl.
• You will not shoot anything or anyone in this game, but your revolver becomes an expected inventory item in several subsequent games in the Little Match Girl series.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

• the support of Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, Phil Tatro, and Mitch;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen, Matthew Foxley, and Thomas Insel;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer, Lance Campbell, and DrkStarr;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Jennifer Rexrode, and Durafen;
• and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.

Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!