Interface is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2009 by Ben Vegiard. It was entered in IF Comp 2009 where it took 8th place.
You play as a young boy whose mind is trapped in a pyramid-shaped robot body. Your uncle Floyd, an electronics genius, invited you to his home to be the first person to try out his latest invention. But something went wrong. Uncle Floyd orders his scrawny assistant, Gilby, to take you home and fix everything. But Gilby is planning to quit and just leave you in his house like this! How can you escape your predicament?
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.
Living Room
The game starts at 7:48 a.m. inside Gilby's home.
> x me. (You're a 4-foot high pyramid-shaped robot with four gripper arms.)
> x desk. (Gilby goes north with the keys.)
> open drawer. (Inside: papers, pencils, candy wrappers, plastic card.)
> x papers. (Sketches of your robot body, including mention of a "Transfer Mechanism", a removable pyramid-shaped module.)
> x card. (A "Caliber Laboratories" keycard.)
> take card.
It will take three attempts to move before you manage to succeed.
> e. e. e.
Entryway
Note: You can't go up the stairs.
> open door. (locked)
> n. n.
Hall Bathroom
> x mirror.
> open cabinet. take towel.
> s. w.
Rec Room
> x tv. x stereo. (Its volume knob is turned up high.)
> n.
Bedroom
Don't try to take the keys yet. You'll fail, and you won't get any points when you do get them later.
> x Gilby. x keys.
> s.
Rec Room
> turn on stereo.
> n.
Bedroom
Gilby gets up and heads south. The keys are on the bed.
> take keys. (+20)
> s. s. e.
Entryway
If necessary, wait for Gilby to leave before unlocking the door.
> unlock door with keys.
> w. n. n.
Bedroom
> put keys on bed.
> s. s. e. e.
Neglected Kitchen
Note that you can't deliberately cross the pool.
> open cabinet. (nothing useful)
> open fridge. (ketchup and something moldy)
> take knife.
> x pool. (Very dangerous for your robot body.)
> put towel on pool —or— clean pool. (+10; wet towel is discarded)
> n.
Dining Room
> x cabinet. (Note the scratches in the floor.)
> s. e.
Minuscule Garage
> take plyboard. (You can't reach it with the car in the way.)
> throw knife at button. (Car is in the way.)
> w. w. n.
Hallway
You hear the shower in use.
> z. (Repeat waiting until Gilby emerges, starts looking for his keys, then passes with his keys.)
> s. e. e.
Minuscule Garage
> z. (Wait until Gilby leaves in his car.)
> throw knife at button. (+5)
> take knife.
> s.
Driveway
CAUTION: If you go south from here, you escape, but you'll be stuck in this robot body.
> n.
Minuscule Garage
> take plyboard.
> w. w. s.
Dilapidated Porch
> put board on steps. (+10)
> s.
Sidewalk
> open mailbox. take package. x it.
> open package with knife. (+5; circuit board and note inside.)
> read note.
> n. n. e. n.
Dining Room
> move cabinet. (+10; An alcove is revealed.)
> e.
Hidden Alcove
> put card in slit. (+10; the door opens. The card is gone.)
> e.
Secret Lab
> x machine. (It connects to both your body and the harness. It has a empty rectangular port, a lever, and a switch.)
> x port. (For circuit board.)
> x lever. (At up position: "H to R", meaning human to robot.)
> x switch.
> put board in port.
> wear harness.
> push lever. (Now at "R to H", meaning robot to human.)
> drop all.
> push switch. (+25)
You're restored to your body, then your uncle Floyd and the police arrive.
*** You have won ***
Mentioned:
From the ABOUT menu-item Credits/Contact :
If you have enjoyed the game, or have any comments, bug fixes, etc., please drop me a line at
email redacted. These e-mails are my payment for the work I have done with this game, so please don't hesitate to click "send"This game would not be what it is without the beta testers, who are (alphabetically) Martin Bays, Richard Boss, Jeremy Freese, Wesley Osam, Poster, Brandon Scheuerman, Jason Travis, and Ramona White.
A big thank you goes out to Michael Callaghan for his Patrollers extension and, of course, Emily Short for several extensions. Also, I'd like to thank the IF community, especially Jeremy Freese, for their assistance with technical challenges of the Inform 7 tool.
This is the response to SCORE:
You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 90, in several turns, earning you the rank of your-rank.
The maximum score is actually 95 points. Points are awarded as follows:
The known ranks are:
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