solution
The Island of Infinity was written in TADS and is © 2003 by Alex Freeman.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1.1 of the game.
| Leo Cave | Oracle Cave | Corvus Cave | ||||||||||||||
| | | | | | | ||||||||||||||
| The Open | — | The Open | — | The Open | ||||||||||||
| | | | | | | ||||||||||||||
| — | Grassy Field (Lepus) | — | Grassy Field | — | The Open | — | The Open | — | The Open | — | Grassy Field | — | Grassy Field | — | Grassy Field (Ursa Major) | — |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||||||||
| — | Grassy Field (Hydrus) | — | Grassy Field (Taurus) | — | The Open | — | The Open | — | The Open | — | Grassy Field | — | Grassy Field (Cancer) | — | Grassy Field (Draco) | — |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||||||||
| — | Grassy Field (Aquarius) | — | Grassy Field (Capricornus) | — | The Open | — | The Open | — | The Open | — | Grassy Field | — | Grassy Field (Orion) | — | Grassy Field (Hydra) | — |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||||||||
| — | Grassy Field (Pisces) | — | Grassy Field (Corvus) | — | The Sphinx | — | The Tower | — | The Open | — | Grassy Field | — | Grassy Field (Pegasus) | — | Grassy Field (Virgo) | — |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||||||||
| — | Grassy Field | — | Grassy Field (Serpens) | — | West Side of Brown House | Brown House | East Side of Brown House | — | The Open | — | The Open | — | By the Sea | — | ||
| | | | | | | | | |||||||||||||
| The Open | — | The Open | — | The Open | — | South Side of Brown House | — | The Open | ||||||||
| | | | | |||||||||||||||
| Virgo Cave |
Hydrus Cave | |||||||||||||||
[Attic]
>x window. x ladder. x machine. x buttons.
>enter machine. push 1. x buttons. push 2.
>x buttons. push 3. x buttons. push 4.
>x buttons. out. d.
[Brown House]
>x roll. x card. take all from table.
>x rug. move it. open trapdoor.
[Cellar]
Stupidly, the sack is only good for carrying spheres.
>take all. x booklet. x sack. open it. x spheres.
>up. n.
[The Tower]
>x tower. x tower door. x lock. west.
[The Sphinx]
>x sphinx. x container.
>e. n. n. n. n. n.
[Oracle Cave]
>x oracle. x glow. talk to oracle.
>s. se. se. se. se.
[Grassy Field]
We're going to switch on the four signs that make up the parts of the Sphinx, to wit: Virgo, Leo, Corvus, and Hydrus. It doesn't matter which order you switch them, as long as you only switch those four. Caution: The switches aren't implemented as actual objects, and there is no way to tell if a switch is on or off except by assuming they're all off to start with and remembering which ones you've switched yourself.
Examine the sign. Make sure you're at Virgo.
>x sign. switch. n. n. n. w.
[Grassy Field]
Examine the sign. Make sure you're at Leo.
>x sign. switch. e. e. s. s. s. e.
[Grassy Field]
Examine the sign. Make sure you're at Corvus.
>x sign. switch. w. n. n.
[Grassy Field]
Examine the sign. Make sure you're at Hydrus.
>x sign. switch. take key. x it. se. se. e.
[The Tower]
Note that it's "in", not "enter tower".
>unlock tower door. open it. in.
[Inside the Tower]
There's five portals here, but you can't examine them. The northeast one is blocked by a force field until later in the game.
There's a ten item inventory limit, so I'm going to drop things here as our inventory stash.
>drop key. drop booklet. e.
| Inside the Library | East of Library | — | Plato Room | — | Out in the Open | — | Aristotle Room | |
| | | | | | | | | | | ||||
| Inside the Library | — | Entrance to the Library | — | In Front of the Laboratory | — | By the Portal | — | In Front of the Observatory |
| | | | | | | | | | | ||||
| Inside the Library | Between the Library and the Lab | The Laboratory | Between the Observatory and the Lab | The Observatory |
[By The Portal]
Caution: There's a coding bug in this room; avoid going north from here since that erroneously takes you to Nock (which looks very similar to Hok).
>w. w. w.
[Inside the Library] (middle)
Don't try to refer to "books". Use "shelf".
>x shelf. x pamphlet. take it. n.
[Inside the Library] (north end)
>x shelf. s. e. e. s.
[The Laboratory]
>x man. talk to man. give pamphlet to man.
You are now at In Front of the Laboratory, and the man is now in the library.
>x chemical. n.
[Plato Room]
>x writing. e. e.
[Aristotle Room]
>x writing. say "29". x crystal. take it. s. s.
[The Observatory]
Note: You can't pour the chemical; you must GIVE it. You can't look in the telescope; you must look THROUGH it.
>x telescope. look through it. x man. wake man.
>give chemical to man. look through telescope.
>n. w.
[By the Portal]
Use "in", not "enter portal".
>in.
[Inside the Tower]
>drop hydrus crystal. nw.
| The Open (card) | — | The Open |
| | | | | |
| The Open | — | The Open (safe) |
| | | | | |
| The Open | — | By the Portal |
| | | | | |
| The Open | — | In Front of a Gate |
| | | ||
| Behind the Fence (computer) | — | Behind the Gate (cabinet) |
[By the Portal]
>nw. n.
[The Open]
>take card. x it. s. s. s. e.
[In Front of a Gate]
>x fence. climb fence. x wire. x gate. x lock. x slot.
>put electronic card in slot. take it. open gate. s.
[Behind the Gate]
>x cabinet. x lock. x slot. x keypad. w.
[Behind the Fence]
>x computer. x screen. x keyboard. x slot.
>put electronic card in slot. x screen.
The sequence "1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ?" refers to the Fibonnaci series, where you add two adjacent numbers in the list to get the next number. Therefore, the next number is 5 plus 8, or 13.
>type 13. take card. e.
[Behind the Gate]
>put electronic in slot. x note. type 7. x disk.
>n. n. n.
[The Open]
>x safe. put disk in drive. x screen.
The sequence "0, 1, 5, 14, 30, ?" is adding square numbers: 0 + 12 = 1; 1 + 22 = 5; 5 + 32 = 14; 14 + 42 = 30; 30 + 52 = 55.
>type 55. take all from safe. x certificate. x corvus.
>s. in.
[Inside the Tower]
>drop corvus. n
| Rocket Place | The Open | Inside the Rocket Starter | The Open | The Open |
| The Open | The Open | The Open | The Open | The Open |
| Zeno Place | The Open | The Open | The Open | The Open |
| The Open | The Open | The Open | The Open | The Open |
| Moon Chamber | The Open | Mysty Tower | The Open | Mist Chamber |
[Inside the Mysty Tower]
>out.
[Mysty Tower]
Thick mist blocks the southern border of the Mysty map; it won't go away until later in the game.
>w. w.
[Moon Chamber]
These buttons cannot be pushed; you must TYPE them.
>x map. type 1. type 2. type 3. e. e. e. e.
[Mist Chamber]
According to the map, the Mist Chamber wants the missing number in the sequence 123, 244, ?, 486. The next number in the sequence is made by adding 121 to the previous number.
>x box. type 365. n. n. n. n. w. w.
[Inside the Rocket Starter]
According to the map, the Rocket Starter wants the missing number in the sequence 2, 6, ?, 20. The next number in the sequence is made by adding the next multiple of 2 to the previous number (0 + 2 = 2; 2 + 4 = 6; 6 + 6 = 12; 12 + 8 = 20).
>x meter. x suit. take suit. type 12. w. w.
[Rocket Place]
>x rocket. in.
[Inside the Rocket]
According to the map, the Rocket wants the missing number in the sequence 1, 22, ?, 4444. I do hope it's obvious why it's 333. Make sure you have your space suit, though, or it won't let you type it.
>x box. type 333.
| The Moon (circle) | — | The Moon | — | The Moon |
| | | | | | | ||
| The Moon | — | The Moon (rocket) | — | The Moon |
| | | | | | | ||
| The Moon (rocks) | — | The Moon | — | The Moon (face) |
[The Moon] (all locations)
You'll automatically put on your space suit and exit the rocket. Surprisingly, nothing stops you from taking the suit off. The "math circle" in the northwest corner is a clue to decoding the simple numeric cipher beside the face: 6-5-5-4 14-5 means FEED ME. You ought to be carrying the bread roll, but the game doesn't check for that (or even if you've already fed the face).
>sw. x rocks. take rocks. e. e. x face. feed face. nw. in.
[Rocket Place]
>s. s.
[Zeno Place]
>x medallion. take it. wear it. s. s. e. e. in. in.
[Inside the Tower]
>drop suit. w.
| Inside the Green House | ||||
| North of Library | West of Green House | In Front of Green House | East of Green House | The Open |
| Inside the Library | East of Library | By the Portal | The Open | The Open (bush) |
| Inside the Library | In Front of Library | In Front of Observatory | The Open | The Open |
| Inside the Library | Between Library and Observatory | Inside Observatory | East of Observatory | The Open |
[By the Portal]
>s. s.
[Inside the Observatory]
>x man. talk to man. give rocks to man.
>look through telescope. n. w. w.
[Inside the Library] (middle)
>x man. talk to man. n.
[Inside the Library] (north end)
>x man. x book. talk to man. ask man about club.
>show certificate to man. (password is Edc)
>s. e. e. e. e. n.
[The Open]
You can't examine the glint. The ladder isn't really there until the bush is moved. You can't push or pull the bush, you must MOVE it. You can't go down until the ladder is properly revealed. You cannot move the bush back once it's moved.
>x bush. look under bush. move bush. x ladder. d.
[In a Secret Underground Place] (all locations)
| In a Secret Underground Place | In a Secret Underground Place (ladder) | In a Secret Underground Place | In a Secret Underground Place |
| In a Secret Underground Place | In a Secret Underground Place | In a Secret Underground Place | Bandits' Meeting Room |
| Barracks (beds) | In a Secret Underground Place | In a Secret Underground Place | Secret Underground Place (chest) |
There are torches by the ladder, but not elsewhere underground. You can't take them. There are beds in the Barracks, but you can ignore them as well. Just find the bandits, escape their jail, then get all your stuff back (plus the fancy book) from the chest. Exactly where the jail is, is a mystery.
>s. e. e.
[Bandits' jail]
>look. x mirror. x saw. x table. saw table.
[Bandits' Metting Room]
The table and chairs are unimportant.
>s.
[Secret Underground Place]
>x chest. open chest. take all from chest. x book.
>wear medallion. nw. nw. u. sw. w. w. w.
[Inside the Library]
>give book to man. x mirror. e. ne. n.
[In Front of Green House]
NOTE: The password must be capitalized, 'say "edc"' won't work. Frankly, I'm not sure how you pronounce Edc at all, with or without a capital E. Logic? Was someone talking about logic?
>x man. talk to man. say "Edc". n.
[Inside the Green House]
>show mirror to sam.
Alas, you'll need 100 silver coins to get the Virgo crystal. We'll have to come back here later.
>s. s. in.
[Inside the Tower]
>drop saw. drop mirror. s. s. u.
[Attic]
The fifth button will be lit after you fed the face on the moon. Don't worry about recording the spike patterns on the slabs. Put the slabs into the holes in their appropriate caves.
>x buttons. enter machine. push 5.
>look. take all. x leo. x virgo. x corvus. x hydrus.
>d. n. sw. s. s.
[Virgo Cave]
>x holes. put virgo in holes. x net. take it.
>n. e. e. s.
[Hydrus Cave]
>x holes. put hydrus in holes. x card. take it.
>n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n.
[Corvus Cave]
>x holes. put corvus in holes. x coins. take coins.
>s. w. w. n.
[Leo Cave]
>x holes. put leo in holes. x bag. take it.
>s. s. s. s. s. e. in.
[Inside the Tower]
>n.
| Registration Place | The Open | The Open | The Open | The Open |
| Starting Point of the Race Track | Race Track | Race Track | Race Track | Finish Line |
| In Front of the House | In Front of the House (footman) | In Front of the House | The Open | The Open |
| Main Bedroom | Meeting Room | Guest Bedroom | Side of the House | Outside the Outhouse |
| Living Room | Living Room | Dining Room | Side of the House | The Open |
| Behind the House | Behind the House | Behind the House | The Open | The Open |
| By the Sea | By the Sea | Dock | Dock | Dock |
| Onboard Boat | Pier | |||
The mist blocking the south half of the map should be gone once you've placed all the slabs in the holes.
[Mysty Tower]
>out. s. w. w.
[Registration Place]
>x man. talk to jim. give registration to jim. give coins to jim.
[Starting Point of the Race Track]
It might help if you're a math geek and know about Zeno's paradox to understand what this is all about.
>x doc. talk to doc. x referee. talk to tom.
>say 'ready'. say 'Asimov'.
[Finish Line]
>take coins. s. s.
[Outside the Outhouse]
>in.
[Inside Outhouse]
Note: You examine WALL, not writing.
>x seat. x paper. x wall. (it reads: 123)
>out. w. nw. w.
[In Front of the House] (middle)
>x man. talk to man. give invitation. s.
[Meeting Room]
Good heavens. There's furnishings!
>x carpet. x walls. x picture. x table. s.
[Living Room] east end
There's more pictures and a couch in the west end of the Living Room, but you can ignore them.
>x pictures. e.
[Dining Room]
>x host. talk to host. ask host about zoid. x guests.
>x table. x chairs. x hole. x zoid.
>drop bag. throw net at zoid. give spheres to host.
You can pick up the bag and sack if you like, but you don't need them.
>w. n. e.
[Guest Bedroom]
You couldn't open the drawer before. Artmetic must give you permission first.
>x bed. x basket. x desk. open drawer.
>x note. take it. w. w.
[Main Bedroom]
The passcode was written in the public outhouse. Rather dumb place to put a passcode (not to mention it's an easy-to-guess passcode), but Artmetic is eccentric.
>x bed. x basket. x rubbish. x desk. x closet.
>type 123. open closet. take hammer. x it.
>e. n. ne. n. n. in. in.
[Inside the Tower]
A quick side-trip back to Nock...
>w. n. n.
[Inside the Green House]
>give coins to sam. x virgo.
>s. s. in.
[Inside the Tower]
...and return to Mysty, and head for the pier.
>n. out. s. s. s. se. s. s. s. s. w.
[Onboard Boat]
>x door. open door. knock. give hammer to sailor. knock.
| The Open | The Open | The Open (giant) | The Open | |
| The Open | The Open | The Open | Over the Tree Bridge | The Open (tree) |
| The Open | ||||
| The Open (axe) | The Open | The Open | The Open | The Open |
[The Open] (all of Terithia)
>w. w. x axe. take it.
>e. e. e. e. e. n. n. x tree. chop it.
>w. w. n. x giant. drop zoid.
>take crystal. x it.
>s. e. e. s. s. w. w. s.
[Pier]
Head back to the main tower and Sphinx.
>n. n. n. n. nw. n. n. n. in. in.
[Inside the Tower]
Make sure you are carrying all four crystals. (By the way, none of the crystals fit into the container that's beside the Sphinx. Grr.) Once you've obtained all four crystals, you should be able to go through the northeast portal. But beware: it's a one-way trip!
>take virgo, corvus, hydrus. ne.
| Town | The Open | The Open | The Open | Entrance to Library |
| Town | The Open | The Open | The Open | The Library |
| Town | The Open | Top of Mountainous Path | The Open | The Library |
| Town | The Open | The Open | The Open | The Library |
| Town | The Open | By the Portal | The Open | The End of the Library |
[By the Portal]
No, really, there's no portal here. Forget about going back.
>w. w.
[Town] (southernmost)
>x houses. x soldiers. x people. n. n.
[Town] (middle)
This is the wise man, eh? By the way, the sequence in his second riddle is the progression: 11, 22, 33, ...
>x old man. talk to man. say 'road'. say '256'.
>x coin. ne. ne. e. e.
[Entrance to Library]
>x guard. x laser gun. talk to man. give coin to man. s.
[The Library]
No books. No shelf either. Examine ASHES.
>x ashes. s. s. s.
[The End of the Library]
Worse, you must examine ashes here, even though they're not expicitly mentioned in this location.
>x ashes. x book. take it. read it.
>n. n. n. n. sw. s. s. w. n.
[Top of Mountainous Path]
Without the book, the gate is locked. With the book, the gate is open.
>x castle. x gate. n.
[The Great Entry Hall of the Castle]
"You must ask me a yes or no question where both yes and no would be the wrong answer! Ask me now the question."
You gotta be kidding me. No possible way to guess which question this guy has in mind. Well, you might be able to guess it, but the author doesn't go out of his way to hint which exact syntax he wants either. Fortunately, there are TADS disassemblers to help us. [Thanks, inky!]
The only two acceptable questions are "will you say no" or "will you say no to this question". No capital W on the word 'will'. No using 'answer' instead of say. No quotes around the word 'no'. No question mark allowed at the end. And forget about rephrasings like "Is the answer to this question 'no'". AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
>x blur. say "will you say no".
[Inside the Tower]
So now you're back in the tower with a new combined crystal. The rest of the game is easily done.
>s. w.
[The Sphinx]
>put crystal in container. ne. n. n. n. n. (win! finally!)