Key & Compass presents:
In a Tomb with a Donkey
by Dee Cooke

In this small fantasy game, you play as Evidence Sweet, a young witch fleeing from the pharaoh's palace on a stolen donkey. As you race across the desert, you remember how you just wanted to win the Annual Spellcasting Competition, but your arch-rival Snackajack blasted you to ancient Egypt and scattered your spells. Evade your pursuers, find your spells, and return to your own time.

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Version 0.1.1 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.

Map
Walkthrough
Extras
- Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory, Magic
Thank You to my Patreon supporters
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External links:
- This game at Homepage, IFDB, and IFWiki.
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Map

Walkthrough

Have you played interactive fiction before? 1 —or— 2

Desert

You're being chased by sword-wielding guards. You must run for four turns. You can't even start a transcript with the TSTART command yet!

> run. run. run. run.

Tomb entrance

> magic. (Lists your magic powers and spells.)

> scramble time. (You are now in your time zone but trapped.)

> x me. i. x wand.

> x donkey. x sarcophagus. (has a mummified cat)

> x cat. x bandages. (You take a map.)

> x map. (The word DOOR is on it.)

> n.

Crumbling Room

> x skeleton. (leather jacket and odd glow)

> x glow. x jacket. take it. unfasten it. (You acquire the sweetening spell!)

> x chest. open chest. x coins. search coins. (You acquire the heavy movement spell!)

> x boulder. heavymove boulder. x indent. x cracks.

> e.

Stone Tombs

> x cylinder. x gap. x indentations.

> x coffins. (limestone, granite, basalt, and alabaster)

> x limestone. x emeralds. x hieroglyphics.

> x granite. x amber.

> x basalt. x amethysts.

> x alabaster. x diamonds.

If you try to open any of these coffins, you'll fail because they're locked. The cylinder is the key to unlocking them.

> turn cylinder. (It emits coloured light beams.)

> x beams. (blue and yellow)

Mentally add the colours of the beams and match with the gems' colours. So when the beams are blue and yellow as they are now, the sum is green, the same colour as the emeralds on the limestone coffin. So, currently, the limestone coffin is unlocked.

> open limestone. (You get the translation spell!)

> z. (Repeat waiting until the beams are red and yellow.)

> open granite. (You get some stale bread.)

> x bread.

> z. (Repeat waiting until the beams are red and blue.)

> open basalt. (You get the alchemy spell!)

> x mummy.

> z. (Repeat waiting until both beams are white.)

> open alabaster. (You get a tin of tuna.)

> x tuna. (It's a British brand and has a pull tab.)

The beams cycle through the four combos for quite a while, giving you multiple chances to open the correct coffins.

> w.

Crumbling room

> literalise door. (No, the word must be isolated.)

> tear map. (This leaves a fragment.)

> literalise door. (A door appears in the north wall, but with a grumpy-looking guard!)

> talk to guard. translate guard. talk to guard.

> 1 (He's guarding the door.)

> 2 (He wants treasure.)

> 3 (He scorns the wooden coins.)

> 4 (He has no interest in your troubles.)

> 5 (Isn't the donkey yours?)

> 6 (end conversation)

> alchemise coins. (They're now gold.)

> talk to guard.

> 3. (The gold coins convince the guard to let you through.)

> 6. (end conversation)

> n.

Statue room

> x ladder. x hatch. x statue.

> heavymove statue. (You sense something underneath, but this doesn't help.)

> u.

Treasure room

> x treasure. heavymove treasure. (You get the levitation spell.)

> x treasure. x disc. (It's a small gold bowl.)

> take bowl.

> d.

Statue room

> levitate statue. (You get the soul dissolution spell!)

> e.

Pool room

There's a lot to look at here.

> x portraits. (of pharaoh and queen; their necklaces shine)

> x queen. (unhappy)

> x pharaoh. (cruel)

> x necklaces. (The necklace materials are presented in a specific but randomized order.)

> x platforms. (lower set near water; higher set near ceiling)

> x lower set. (They're iron, steel, and bronze, same as the queen's necklace.)

> x upper set. (They're copper, glass, and ivory, same as the pharaoh's necklace.)

> x pool. (extends northward into low tunnel)

> x stones.

You want to get to the platforms and step on them in the order suggested by the necklaces.

> step on stones. (The soul of the drowned queen stops you with her distress.)

> dissolve queen.

> step on stones.

> step on QUEEN'S-FIRST-MATERIAL.

> step on QUEEN'S-SECOND-MATERIAL.

> step on QUEEN'S-THIRD-MATERIAL. (You get the visualisatioh spell!)

> visualise bread. (You see an archaeologist leave it behind in a tomb.)

I assume that ivory is always the pharaoh's first material.

> step on ivory. (Too high.)

Oddly, you may not levitate yourself directly.

> step on stones. levitate stones.

> step on ivory. dissolve elephants.

> step on ivory.

> step on PHARAOH'S-SECOND-MATERIAL.

> step on PHARAOH'S-THIRD-MATERIAL.

A grate opens above you, and you recover your animal talking power!

> x grate.

Use the stones to get back on solid ground.

> levitate stones. step on stones.

> z. z. z. step on ground. (The grate closes.)

Get the donkey's aid for the water-filled tunnel.

> n. (No. The water's too deep and you can't swim.)

> talk to donkey. (He won't give his name.)

> talk to donkey.

> 1. (He suggests stilts or chariot for making you taller in the water. You suggest riding him. He demands food.)

> 2. (end conversation)

> sweeten bread. (It's now some sweet bread.)

> give bread to donkey. (He agrees to two trips, once in and once out.)

> ride donkey.

Sarcophagus room

> x sarcophagus. x carvings. x jewels.

> open sarcophagus. x mummy. x bandages.

> visualise mummy. (It's the pharaoh.)

> dissolve pharaoh. (You get the healing spell.)

> heal donkey. (You get the cheering spell.)

> x mummy. close sarcophagus.

> w.

Porch

> x guard. (sad)

> translate guard. talk to guard.

> 1. (He won't say what's wrong.)

> 2. (He doesn't know what's past him.)

> 3. (The other guard is Cepos, his brother.)

> 4. (end conversation)

> cheer guard. talk to guard.

> 1. (He misses his dog, sky, family.)

> 2, (He pets your donkey, and will let you pass.)

> 3. (You tell him where Cepos is.)

> 4. (You end the conversation.)

> w.

Sphinx's room

> x sphinx. talk to sphinx.

> step on platform. (She can grant your heart's desire.)

> tell heart's desire.

You say you want to finally win the Spellcasting Competition. But something feels wrong. The sphinx asks, 'Are you sure?'

> 2. (no)

> visualise wand. (Your time travel spell is the only one missing.)

> tell heart's desire. (You now want your time travel spell back.)

> 1. (You get your time travel spell!)

> talk to sphinx.

Return to the tomb entrance:

> e. e. s. w. s. s.

Tomb entrance

If you don't feed the cat, it won't let you cast UNSCRAMBLE TIME.

> put bowl in sarcophagus.

> open tin. (You sense purring, your vision blurs, and the bowl and tuna are gone.)

> unscramble time. travel.

The sandstorm and guards are gone. The donkey is still with you.

> s.

You and donkey travel back to the frozen lake where you were fighting Snackajack. Using a new time unfreeze spell you picked up on the way to London, you unfreeze a lady. She hands you a bouquet of catnip from your friend, the mummified cat.

The donkey wants to go to your home. You want to know his name. It's 'aA', or just Donkey. You hope your cat, Avocado, will get used to the donkey and hope the catnip will help.

*** You have won! ***

Extras

Characters

Evidence Sweet is the player-character and a witch who specialises in non-combative spells.
Several guards chase you through the desert.
A donkey is your ride through the desert, and it follows you everywhere in the tomb if it can.
A mummified cat is in the sarcophagus in the tomb entrance. While you never see it move or hear it speak, you sense emotions from it, and it will accept an appropriate tribute.
A guard appears with the door you conjure in the crumbling room. You later learn his name is Cepos.
An unhappy queen's soul is trapped in the pool where she drowned.
A cruel pharaoh's soul is trapped in his sarcophagus.
Elephant souls are trapped in the ivory platform.
A sad guard is on the porch. The misses cute animals and his family. Cepos is his brother.
A sphinx is in her room and grants hearts' desires.
A woman, frozen in time, is at the site of the spellcasting competition.

Mentioned:

Snackajack is an evil wizard and your arch-rival.
An archaeologist accidentally left the bread in one of the coffins, as one does.
Avocado is your pet cat back home.

Credits

These credits are shown in-game just after the cover art is displayed:

In a Tomb with a Donkey © Dee Cooke 2023 | Created for SeedComp 2023 Version 0.1.1 | Adventuron 1.0.0. Beta 77 Story based on the seed 'In a Tomb with a Donkey' by Rovarsson Adventuron system created by Chris Ainsley (https://adventuron.io) In-game font: 'Open Sans' by Steve Matteson Cover font: 'Papyrus' Cover image and design by Dee Cooke, with a little help from GIMP Playtesting by Geth Rees

Endings

You have lost

if you tell the sphinx that your heart's desire is winning the Spellcasting Competition. You find yourself alone in an empty tomb, clutching the trophy. You can UNDO this fate.

You have won!

when you and the donkey return to your own time and the now-deserted site of the Competition. You plan to take the donkey home to meet your cat, Avocado, and to practice for next year's Competition.

Inventory

This is just your physical inventory. For your magical inventory of powers and spells, see the Magic section.

your wand. You're carrying it.

Just hold onto it. It holds all your spells. Use the MAGIC command to list them all.

a map. Acquire it by examining the mummified cat's bandages in the tomb entrance.

Examine the map; it has the word DOOR on it.
Tear the map to get the fragment with just that word; the rest of the map is lost.
In the crumbling room, literalise door. A doorway with an unexpected guard appears in the north wall.

a tin of tuna. Acquire the tin by opening the alabaster tomb when the beams are white.

In the tomb entrance, put the gold bowl in the sarcophagus, then open the tin. Somehow, the mummified cat enjoys the meal. Both the bowl and tuna are gone.

some stale bread. Acquire the bread by opening the granite tomb when the beams are red and yellow.

Sweeten the bread. It is now some sweet bread.
After you recover your talking to animals power, talk to the donkey in the pool room about the pool. He offers you a ride through the underwater tunnel if you give him some food. Give the sweet bread to the donkey. You may now ride him.

a gold bowl. It's in the treasure in the treasure room, but you won't notice it until after you heavymove the treasure. It initially appears as a gold disc.

In the tomb entrance, put the bowl in the sarcophagus, then open the tin of tuna. Somehow, the mummified cat enjoys the meal. Both the bowl and tuna are gone.
Note that if you try to UNSCRAMBLE TIME without feeding the cat first, it stops you with an indignant miaow.

Magic

You have or can acquire the following powers and spells.

Powers

These are innate magical powers that you can use even when wandless.

LITERALISE something. You start with this power.

This power lets you turn a written English word into an actual object. Since you didn't bring a pen and notepad with you, you can only use this power once: to turn the fragment with the word "DOOR" on it into a real door in the crumbling room.

TALK TO animal. You start with this animal-talking power, but it's damaged so you can't use it at first.

This power lets you talk to animals (such as the donkey) as easily as talking to people.
This power is restored when you solve the platforms puzzle in the pool room. You need to step on the platforms in the order suggested by the queen's and pharaoh's portraits; the order is randomized.

Spells

These spells are stored in your wand.

SCRAMBLE TIME. The time-scrambling spell and its counter, UNSCRAMBLE TIME are in your wand from the start.

As soon as you can, cast SCRAMBLE TIME in the tomb entrance to evade your pursuers.
When you have all your spells and powers back, return to the tomb entrance, UNSCRAMBLE TIME, then TRAVEL to return to your own time properly.

HEAVYMOVE something. Recover thie heavy-moving spell by searching the wooden coins in the chest in the crumbling room.

This spell lets you move heavy items, pushing them to one side, assuming they aren't fastened in place.
In the crumbling room, HEAVYMOVE BOULDER. Now you can go east into the stone tombs.
In the treasure room, HEAVYMOVE TREASURE. You find the levitation spell and expose the gold bowl.

SWEETEN food. Recover the sweetening spell by unfastening the jacket worn by the skeleton in the crumbling room.

This spell makes an edible object sweeter. SWEETEN BREAD to turn stale bread into sweet bread.

TRANSLATE someone. Recover the translation spell by opening the limestone coffin when the beams are blue and yellow.

This spell lets you understand other people's languages.
In the crumbling room, when the guard is there, TRANSLATE GUARD.
In the porch, TRANSLATE GUARD.

ALCHEMISE something. Recover the alchemy spell by opening the basalt coffin when the beams are blue and red.

This spell turns things into gold. In the crumbling room, ALCHEMISE COINS.

LEVITATE something. Recover the levitation spell by heavy-moving the treasure in the treasure room.

This spell levitates objects for a few turns. It doesn't work on you or things that are fastened in place.
In the statue room, LEVITATE STATUE to acquire the soul dissolution spell.
In the pool room, LEVITATE STONES. If you're on the stones, you go up with them and and reach the upper set of platforms. Also, levitate the stones when you're ready to leave the platforms.

DISSOLVE soul. Recover the soul dissolution spell by levitating the statue in the statue room.

This spell frees unhappy souls from being stuck to things associated with them. You need to know the soul is there.
In the pool room, after trying to step on the stones, you learn that the queen's soul is there and unhappy. DISSOLVE QUEEN.
In the pool room, after trying to step on the ivory platform, you learn that the elephants' soul are there and unhappy. DISSOLVE ELEPHANTS.
In the sarcophagus room, after visualising the mummy to learn the pharaoh's soul is there, DISSOLVE PHARAOH.

VISUALISE something. Recover the visualisation spell by stepping on the low platform in the pool room that's made of the same material as the third part of the queen's necklace.

This spell lets you see into an object's past. This works on several items in the game, but a couple items must be visualised.
In the sarcophagus room, VISUALISE MUMMY to learn that it is, indeed, the pharaoh.
In the sphinx room, VISUALISE WAND to learn that your true heart's desire is to recover your time travel spell.

HEAL someone. Recover the healing spell by dissolving the pharaoh's soul in the sarcophagus room.

After the donkey carries you north from the pool room to the sarcophagus room, he is injured. HEAL DONKEY.

CHEER someone. Recover the cheering spell by healing the donkey in the sarcophagus room.

In the porch, CHEER GUARD to improve his mood.

TRAVEL. Recover the time-travel spell in the sphinx's room by first visualising your wand, then telling your heart's desire to the sphinx.

This spell lets you time travel, but only from a time travelling point (whatever that means). There's only one such point in the game: the tomb entrance. Note that you must UNSCRAMBLE TIME first before you can TRAVEL, because you can't have two time-based spells operating at the same, uh, time.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

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I create larger walkthroughs 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.

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Key & Compass presents: In a Tomb with a Donkey by Dee Cooke

Map

Walkthrough

Extras

Characters

Credits

Endings

Inventory

Magic

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

Key & Compass presents:
In a Tomb with a Donkey
by Dee Cooke