Impossible Stairs is a Z-machine work of interactive fiction written with Dialog and is © 2022 by Mathbrush. It was an entry in ParserComp 2022 where it took NTH place. It's also an authorized sequel to Impossible Bottle by Linus Åkesson.
In this puzzling game, you play as CJ, a young woman at her family home who gets a list of chores in an odd way. Did you forget that you have spatio-temporal disjunction? That is, whenever you go upstairs, you go 20 years into the future, and whenever you go downstairs, you go back 20 years into the past, aging or de-aging as appropriate.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the work.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of a work of interactive fiction. Please make an honest effort to play the work before reading this walkthrough.
Front Lawn (2001)
> look. take airplane. (It's a chores list?)
> i. x list.
> x me. x house.
> e.
Family Room (2001)
> x center. x carpeting.
> x calendar. (August 20th, 2001)
> n. (can't. Also, Ada had her projects in there.)
> s.
Office (2001)
> x easel. x pedestal. x towel. x board.
> x grandfather. (outside a coal mine)
> x grandmother. (in nurse's uniform)
> x mom. (at picnic. recipe card corner behind it)
> take card. read it.
> x Dad. talk to Dad.
> 1. (re strange woman)
> 1. (re dish: downstairs)
> 2. (re plates: treehouse)
> 3. (hi)
> n. e.
Kitchen (2001)
> x Joe. talk to Joe.
> 1. (re strange woman)
> 1. (re work)
> 2. (re garage: shame maple was planted too close)
> 2. (re Uncle Rob: he eats and wanders)
> 2. (re butter)
> 3. (re help with potatoes)
> x tarps. x counter. x gap. (dish in gap)
> x dish. (dirty)
> take dish. (adult's arm is too big for gap)
> x oven.
> e.
Outdoors (2001)
> x tree. x treehouse. x houses.
> w. s.
Pantry (2001)
> x shelves. x walnuts. x beans.
> take walnuts.
> n. w. d.
Family Room (1981)
> x calendar. (May 17th, 1981; Grandma's birthday)
> x rug. x paneling.
> x boombox. open it. x battery.
> x Grandma. talk to Grandma.
> 1. (re list)
> 1. (Happy Birthday)
> 1. (re plates: ask Dad)
> 2. (re Rob: he wanders, ask Ada)
> 3. (re dish: she dropped it years ago)
> 4. (bye)
> x TV. x recliner. x Sprite.
> n.
Garage (1981)
> x whiteboard. x equations.
> x Ada. x sweater. talk to Ada.
> 1. (re strange woman)
> 1. (re dinner)
> 1. (re math)
> 1. (re Rob: he's non-spatio-temporally anchored, like you and our other cousin)
> 2. (re time: you have spatio-temporal disjunction)
> 2. (re mom)
> 2. (bye)
> s. s.
Office (1981)
> x desk. x form. (for crossword puzzle books, 1961)
> x computer. x Dad. x National.
> take form.
> n. e.
Kitchen (1981)
> x chicken. (One drumstick is sticking out.)
> x drumstick. take it.
> talk to Joe.
> 2. (re butter: no, stopped using it)
> 3. (re potatoes)
> s.
Pantry (1981)
> x cereal. x oatmeal. x beans.
> n. e.
Outdoors (1981)
> x maple. (not big enough for climbing yet)
> w. w. d.
Family Room (1961)
> x calendar. (March 5th, 1961)
> x wallpaper. x carpeting. x Grandma. x recliner.
> x TV. (has only 3 channels)
> talk to Grandma.
> 1. (re house)
> 1. (re watching)
> 1. (watch with you?: lady makes cinnamon gelatin)
> change channel. (It's Perry Mason; Grandma's future changes.)
> u.
Family Room (1981)
> x poster. d.
Family Room (1961)
> change channel. (It's now a cooking-with-cinnamon show.)
> u. e. s.
Pantry (1981)
NEW: can of ground cinnamon.
> x cinnamon. take it.
> n. w. d. e.
Kitchen (1961)
You're young enough now that your arm can reach into the narrow gap.
> x gap. take dish.
> give dish to Joe. (It's too dirty.)
> talk to Joe.
> 2 (re butter: you get some)
> x butter.
> talk to Joe.
> 1 (re work)
> 3 (bye)
> s.
Pantry (1961)
> x honey. take it.
> x Cheerios. x peanut butter.
> x peach. x beans.
> n. e.
Outdoors (1961)
> x sapling. take sapling. (Need someone bigger to do it.)
> w.
Kitchen (1961)
> talk to Joe.
> 1. (re sapling)
> 2. (re too close to the house)
Joe goes outside.
> e.
Outdoors (1961)
> pull sapling. (You're now carrying a sapling. House's future changed.)
> w. w. s.
Office (1961)
> give form to Dad. (Father's future changes)
> talk to Dad.
> 1. (re family)
> 2. (hi)
> n. u. s.
Office (1981)
> x puzzle book. take it.
> n. d. n.
Garage (1961)
> talk to Ada.
> 2. (bye)
> s.
Family Room (1961)
> d. (You refuse to go any lower.)
> u. u. e. e.
Outdoors (2001)
> put sapling in hole. (Your future changes.)
> w. w. u.
Family Room (2021)
> x calendar. (December 23, 2021)
> x tree. x rug.
> s.
Office (2021)
> x board. x Dad. x paintings.
> n. e. s.
Pantry (2021)
> x dough. take it.
> x granola. x beans.
> n.
Kitchen (2021)
> make recipe. (It's in the oven now in all eras.)
> e.
Outdoors (2021)
NOTE: The tree won't be here unless you planted the sapling in 2001.
> x fence. x tree.
> w. w. u.
Family Room (2041)
> x calendar. ("MOVE OUT: April 4th, 2041")
> s.
Office (2041)
> x board. x Joe.
> n. e. s.
Pantry (2041)
> x beans.
> n. e.
Outdoors (2041)
> x tree. x ladder. x treehouse.
> u.
Treehouse (2041)
> x plates. take plates.
> d. w.
Kitchen (2041)
> put plates on table. (The plates will now be on the kitchen table in all eras.)
> w. n.
Garage (2041)
> talk to Ada. (She gives you a small book, wishes her younger self could see it.)
> x small book. ("Robot Empire" by Ada S.)
> read it. (The main character upgrades itself often.)
> s.
Family Room (2041)
> u. (You won't go any higher.)
> d. d. d. d. n.
Garage (1961)
> talk to Ada.
> 1. (re robots book: Ada starts making a robot.)
> s. u. n.
Garage (1951)
> x robot prototype.
> talk to Ada. 1. (re liking robots)
> 2 (bye)
> s. u. n.
Garage (2001)
> x robot prototype. x screen.
> s. u. n.
Garage (2021)
> x robot prototype. x wires.
> talk to Ada. 1. (re upset: she needs a big battery)
> 3. (bye)
> s. d. d.
Family Room (1981)
I'm assuming you left the boombox open; open it if it's closed.
> take battery.
> u. u. n.
Garage (2021)
> give battery to Ada. (Ada's future changes)
> s. u. n.
Garage (2041)
> x robot. talk to Ada. (She gives you Toaster Bot.)
> x bot. x screen.
> talk to Ada. 1. (re robot: inspire someone with it)
> 2 (bye)
> s. d. d. d. d. n.
Garage (1961)
> talk to Ada.
> 1. (re bot: Ada's future changes)
> s. u. n.
Garage (1981)
> x walking robot. (missing legs)
> talk to Ada.
> 1. (re what's wrong)
> 1. (re drumstick: a non-decaying version would be better)
> 4. (bye)
> s. u. s.
Office (2001)
> take towel. wipe dish. x dish.
> put drumstick on pedestal.
> n. u. s.
Office (2021)
> x paintings. (of drumstick)
> take paintings.
> n. d. d. n.
Garage (1981)
> talk to Ada.
> 1. (re paintings: Ada's future changes)
> s. u. u. u. n.
Garage (2041)
> x robot. (looks finished)
> talk to Ada. (She gives you Walkbot, who walks behind you.)
> talk to Ada.
> 1. (re robot: show it around!)
> 2. (bye)
> s. d. e.
Kitchen (2021)
> show Walkbot to Joe. (He'd like it to chop potatoes.)
> w. d. s.
Office (2001)
> show Walkbot to Dad. (He's proud of Ada.)
> n. d.
Family Room (1981)
> show Walkbot to Grandma. (She's proud of Ada.)
> d. n.
Garage (1961)
When you walk in with Walkbot, Ada tries to talk to it. When it doesn't respond, she decides to fix that.
> s. u. u. n.
Garage (2001)
> x android. (wires in head)
> talk to Ada.
> 1 (what's wrong: needs imperfect concenrated knowledge)
> 1 (re puzzle book: Ada's future changes.)
> s. u. u. n.
Garage (2041)
> x android.
> talk to Ada. (She introduces you to "Uncle Rob". She says to let her know when everyone's here for dinner.)
> x Rob. x mustache.
> talk to Rob.
> 1. (re sentience)
> 1. (re eating)
> 1. (re songs)
> 1. (end chat)
I prefer to finish the last chore in 1981 to be sure Grandma is at dinner.
> s. d. d. d. e.
Kitchen (1981)
You did wipe the dish with the towel earlier, yes?
> give dish to Joe.
When all the chores are done, someone knocks on the front door.
> w.
Family Room (1981)
> open door. (Cousin Emma enters. Everyone heads to the kitchen.)
> e.
Kitchen (1981)
Dinner begins. Grandma and Emma want to talk to you.
> talk to Grandma.
> 1. (re present: She opens it. It's a Klein bottle.)
> x bottle. x Emma.
> talk to Emma.
> 1. (re day: Emma goes upstairs, throws the note, and returns.)
Try some of the food!
> take mashed. take fries. take au gratin.
> take baklava. take chicken.
Talk to your family:
> talk to Dad. 1. 1
> talk to Rob. 1. 1
> talk to Ada. 1. 1
Finally, you should talk to Emma some more:
> talk to Emma.
> 1. (re her family: She pats the dollhouse.)
> 1. (re doing something fun)
*** You have won! ***
> amusing
This is the response to AMUSING, after you've won the game:
Have you tried...
- ...xyzzy?
- ...ripping the list?
- ...pushing the easel repeatedly?
- ...turning off the robots?
- ...singing in different time periods?
The slightly-pushable easel is in 2001; the easel in 2021 isn't pushable at all.
Mentioned:
This is the response to CREDITS:
This game was written in fulfillment of a prize in the 2020 IFComp. The winner was Impossible Bottle, by Linus Åkesson, and the prize was a small game set in the same universe. This game was written by Mathbrush using the Dialog programming language. It was beta tested by Radioactive Crow, Prosewitch, Beau S., Brett Witty, Jade, Amanda Walker, Rovarsson, Dee Cooke, Mike Russo, Angelique Po, Ade McT, Greg Frost, and Linus Åkesson. You can type HINT at any time to get a hint. Typing COMMANDS will give you a list of all commands necessary to complete the game. This may spoil some puzzles.
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!