Key & Compass presents:
Journey from an Islet
by Mario Becroft

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Artwork, Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory, Score
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map

Walkthrough

DarknessBefore dawn

> verbose.

> x me. i. e. (We cannot walk to the sunrise.)

You must wait for sunrise:

> z. z.

MountaintopEarly morning

> x snow. search snow. (Something metallic, but you need a tool to dig more.)

> e. e.

Wooded fieldMorning

> x hut. x door. x window.

> open door. (The door falls inward off its hinges!)

> x ocean. x meadow. x trees.

> take door. (too heavy)

> in.

A small hutMorning

> x spade. take it.

> x shears. take it.

> x bed. x wheel. spin wheel.

> out. w. w.

MountaintopMorning/Noon

> dig snow with spade.

> x pipes. take pipes. (It's now noon.)

> x birds. x bird. (Red, magenta, blue, cyan, green, or yellow?)

> x red. play pipes. (Notes A to G.)

> play A. (No sound.)

> sw.

Southwestern mountainsideNoon

> x crags. x shadows.

> w.

Edge of a forest below a mountainNoon

> x trees. x forest.

> w.

Deep inside a dark forestNoon

> x trees. x debris.

> search debris. (You get a rock.)

> x rock. climb tree.

> w.

Edge of forest near the seaNoon

> x sea. x bush. x berries.

> take berries. (You can only take one at a time?)

> eat berry. (You think other creatures would like it.)

> take berry. g. g. g. g. g.

> e. e. e. ne. e. e.

Wooded fieldNoon

The pipes thaw a bit when you enter here with them.

> n.

Open fieldsNoon

After the third turn of thaw, the pipes play A.

> x flowers. x grass. x trees. x bushes.

> nw.

Open fields near riverNoon/Afternoon

Note: If you don't give a berry to the sheep, attempts to shear it will make it run to the other field.

> x sheep. (Very woolly.)

> give berry to sheep. (It likes it. It's now Afternoon.)

> shear sheep. (You now have wool.)

> x brooks. x trees. x flowers.

> se. s. in.

A small hutAfternoon/Late afternoon

> spin wool (on wheel). (You have yarn. It's now Late afternoon.)

> x yarn.

> out. sw.

DesertLate afternoon

> x band. take band. (It's a snake!)

> x snake. x sand.

> n.

Leafy gladeLate afternoon

> x spring. drink water. x cliff.

> x bush. take leaves.

> cut leaves with rock. (You have a broad leaf.)

> x broad leaf. split leaf. (You have a flax string.)

> x string. s.

DesertLate afternoon

I'm not sure why I thought the snake might talk. I just tried it and it worked.

CAUTION: If you ask the snake to touch you, you will die.

> ask snake about snake. ask snake about desert.

> ask snake about mountain. ask snake about me.

> ask snake about flax. ask snake about wool.

> ask snake about pipes. ask snake about hut.

> ask snake about berry. ask snake about sheep.

> ask snake about birds. ask snake about power.

> ask snake about escape. ask snake about travel.

> kill snake. ask snake about help. ask snake about innocence.

> ne. w. w.

MountaintopLate afternoon/Evening

You need at least six strings or lengths of yarn. You already have a string, so cut the yarn into five pieces:

> cut yarn with shears. g. g. g.

If you've watched the birds long enough, you should realize that the birds glide up on an ascending scale, then sing a descending scale to carry themselves downward.

> play G.

> play F. (The red bird lands.)

> play E. (The magenta bird lands.)

> play D. (The blue bird lands.)

> play C. (The cyan bird lands.)

> play B. (The green bird lands.)

> play A. (The yellow bird lands.)

It's now Evening, and the moon replaces the sun in the sky.

> x moon.

> give string to red bird. give yarn to magenta.

> give yarn to blue. give yarn to cyan.

> give yarn to green. give yarn to yellow.

> play A. play B. play C. play D. play E. play F. play G.

The birds pull you up and you all fly from the island.

*** You have won ***

Extras

Artwork

These are thumbnails of the artwork in the game. Please play the game to see this artwork in their actual sizes.

Characters

• A lone sheep, with a thick wool coat, grazes in the open fields. It's skittish around you, but you can make it a friend.
• A golden snake is in the desert. You may talk to him.
• A sextet of rainbow birds fly above the mountaintop, singing a rising and descending scale. There's a red bird, a magenta bird, a blue bird, a cyan bird, a green bird, and a yellow bird.

Credits

Journey from an Islet was written and illustrated by Mario Becroft. The game may be played and redistributed unmodified for free. The game may not be redistributed for profit without the author's permission.

The author is always eager to hear comments on the game. You may contact him via email to email redacted. If for any reason this address no longer works, you may also try email redacted or email redacted. Also, the game has a WWW page at http://gem.win.co.nz/mb/if/journey/ .

The game was made using TADS, the Text Adventure Development System version 2 by Michael J. Roberts.

Many thanks to my beta testers who so kindly assisted in the development of this game on such short notice and at the last moment: T.M., Z.C., T.S., P., J.S., and others.

Endings

• You have died
• if you ask the snake to touch you.
• You have won
• if you fly away from the island, borne by six birds with lengths of yarn or flax strings.

Inventory

• a spade. It's in the hut.
• On the mountaintop, dig the snow with the spade to acquire the pipes.
• a pair of shears. They're in the hut.
• After befriending the sheep with a berry, you can shear the sheep with the shears to obtain some wool.
• You can cut a length of yarn in two with the shears, resulting in two lengths of yarn.
• In the leafy glade, you can cut the flax bush with the shears and obtain a broad leaf.
• a set of pipes. Obtain them on the mountaintop by digging the snow with the spade.
• The pipes are frozen with ice, so take them to the fields or desert to thaw them.
• You can play any note from A to G on the pipes.
• On the mountaintop, play all seven notes from G to A in descending order to make the rainbow birds descend.
• On the mountaintop, play all seven notes from A to G in ascending order to make the rainbow birds ascend.
• a sharp rock. Acquire it by searching the debris when deep inside the dark forest.
• You can cut a length of yarn in two with the rock, resulting in two lengths of yarn.
• In the leafy glade, you can cut the flax bush with the rock and obtain a broad leaf.
• number red berries. Take them one at a time from the bush at the edge of the forest near the sea.
• Give a berry to the sheep to befriend it.
• You may also eat these berries.
• a bundle of wool. In the open field or the open field near the river, obtain wool by shearing the sheep with the shears, but you'll need to give a berry to the sheep first before it'll let you do that.
• In the hut, spin the wool on the spinning wheel to create a length of yarn.
• number lengths of yarn. Create the first length of yarn by spinning wool on the spinning wheel in the hut.
• It's pretty long, so you can cut a length of yarn in two with either the shears or the rock as your cutting tool.
• Give lengths of yarn or flax strings to each of the birds on the mountaintop.
• number broad leaves. Obtain them one at a time from the flax bush in the leafy glade by cutting the bush with either the shears or the sharp rock.
• Split a leaf to turn it into a flax string.
• number flax strings. Create a flax string by splitting a broad leaf.
• The strings are already short, so you cannot cut the strings into more strings.
• Give lengths of yarn or flax strings to each of the birds on the mountaintop.

Score

The response to SCORE is:

This game does not have a score, only a time-of-day which passes as the story progresses. It is now time-of-day.

The times-of-day are:

1. Before dawn.
2. Early morning.
3. Morning.
4. Noon.
5. Afternoon.
6. Late afternoon.
7. Evening.

Events that advance the clock are:

• Waiting for sunrise.
• Arriving at wooded field for the first time.
• Obtaining the pipes.
• Giving a berry to the sheep or obtaining six leaves.
• Spinning wool into yarn or obtaining six flax strings.
• Playing the pipes so all the birds land on the mountaintop.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!

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.

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