In this game, you are Benjamin the Baker. The king is hosting a ball. You want to present your plans and a fruit cake to the king in the hope you can get funding for your bakery. Unfortunately, you weren't invited to the ball, so you need to find your own way in.
This solution is by David Welbourn.
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.
Red paths indicate possible travel by climbing the grappling rope.
Walkthrough
Palace Gates
> x me. i. x small key.
> x wall. x gates. x decorations.
> x guard. x halberd. x helmet. x breastplate.
> x beard. x tunic.
> x box. x large key.
> w.(The guard stops you.)
> x laneway. x street.
> ask guard about ball. ask him about king.
> ask him about gates. ask him about large key.
> ask him about himself.("Horgard the Fierce")
> ask him about box. ask him about halberd.
> s.
Promenade
> x people. x post.
> s.
Town Square
> x fountain.(You see a coin.)
> take coin. x it.
> w.
Street Outside Butcher's Shop
> x shop. x cart. x crates. x rope.
> look under cart.(see a manhole)
> open manhole.(Not with cart in the way.)
> untie rope.(The cart rolls down the street and you hear a crash.)
> w.
Street Outside Benny's Bakery
The cart crashed here, spilling some potatoes and a wooden crate. You don't need the potatoes.
> x cart. x potatoes. x crate. take it.
> w.(You don't want to go to the river.)
> unlock door with key.
> open door. n.
Inside Benny's Bakery
Leave the cake here for now.
> close door. x cake. n.
Backyard of Bakery
> x chickens. x sacks.
> x gate. unlock gate.
> open gate.(Not while chickens are here.)
> drop all. take chickens.
> w.
Chicken Coop
You don't need the egg.
> drop chickens.
> x straw. x egg. take straw.
> e.
Backyard of Bakery
> take all. take sack.
> open gate. n.
Corner of Laneway
Since no one's coming down this way, feel free to leave the gates open.
> x stone wall.
> n.
End of Alley
> x gate. x padlock.
> s. e.
Laneway
Going east from here leads back to the palace gates, but don't go that way yet.
> x gate. open gate. s.
Backyard of Butcher's Shop
You need the hook. You don't need the bones.
> x grass. take hook. x it.
> tie rope to hook.(You now have a grappling hook.)
> x bins. open bins. x bones. close bins.
> n. w. s. s.
Inside Benny's Bakery
> open door. s.
Street Outside Benny's Bakery
> close door. e.
Street Outside Butcher's Shop
> open cover.(with the hook)
> d.
Sewer under Manhole
> w.(no, slippery and to the river)
> n.
Sewer under Grate
> open grate. u.
Farrier's Stable
Because of your trip through the sewer, you need to clean the stink off yourself. Do it now before you forget. And no, the water in the bucket isn't good enough.
> close grate. w.
Holding Yard
> x gate. x rail. x trough.
> wash me.(You get the stink off.)
> e.
Farrier's Stable
> x forge. x coals.(You get an idea to start a fire at the laneway corner. You need coals, something to carry them in, tinder, wood, and something that smokes.)
You can skip examining everything else here, but you'll miss a wealth of info about fitting horseshoes.
> x tongs. x rasp. x bucket. x anvil.
> x block. x clinch cutter. x clincher.
> x nippers. x pick. x stand. x tester.
> x horseshoe puller. x knife. x nail cutter.
> x nailing hammer. x pritchel. x rounding hammer.
Anyway, the items you need here are the coals, tongs, bucket, and rounding hammer, and you won't need the tongs or hammer for very long.
> take tongs and bucket. empty bucket.
> take coals.(You transfer them to the bucket.)
> drop tongs. take rounding hammer.
> break crate with rounding hammer.
> drop hammer. take wood.
> w.
Holding Yard
Note that you cannot climb the rope while carrying the bucket directly. I got around this restriction by putting the bucket in the sack, but I'm unsure if that was the intended solution.
> put bucket in sack.
> stand on rail. throw hook at wall.
> climb rope.
End of Alley
> s.
Corner of Laneway
> take bucket. drop bucket.
> s. s.
Inside Benny's Bakery
> take cake. n. n.
Corner of Laneway
> close gate. put wood in bucket.
> put sack in bucket. put straw in bucket.
> e. s.
Backyard of Butcher's Shop
> yell.(You hear the guard run past you.)
> n. e.
Palace Gates
> take large key. unlock gates with it.
> put it on hook. open gates. n.
Gravel Driveway
> close gates.
> x palace. x gravel. n.
Entrance to Palace
NOTE: If you still stink from the sewer, the herald will send you back to the palace gates. Unfortunately, SMELL ME won't tell you if you stink or not.
> talk to herald.(He wants an invitation or a bribe.)
> give coin to herald.(He announces you.)
> n.
*** You have won ***
Extras
Characters
Hogard the Fierce is the guard on dury at the palace gates.
People are crowding the promenade and town square, limiting how far you can wander in the town.
Your chickens are milling around in your backyard.
A herald at the entrance to the palace is your last obstacle before your audience with the king.
You might see a dog peeing on a hitching post.
Mentioned:
The king is hosting a ball inside his palace. Unfortunately for you, it's by invitation only and you don't have an invitation.
Farmer Joe left a cart of vegetables outside the butcher's.
The butcher has his shop next to your bakery.
Credits
This is the response to CREDITS:
Concept by Gareth Pitchford and Ramona G.
Game design and coding by Garry Francis.
Play testing by no one. Be prepared for bugs.
Inventory
You have a carrying capacity of 10 items; however, items can be put into the sack or crate to get around that limit.
Useful items
a small key. You're carrying it.
It's the key to your shop.
a coin. It's in the fountain in the town square. Examine the fountain to spot the coin.
In the entrance to the palace, give the coin to the herald when he tells you you need an invitation.
a rope. It's tied to the vegetable cart and the hitching post outside the butcher's shop.
Leave it in your bakery until you're about to set the fire. Do not carry the cake through the smelly sewer!
Carry the cake into the palace proper to win.
an empty flour sack. There's several in the backyard of your bakery, but you can only take one.
You can put most of your possible inventory into the sack so you can carry more stuff. However, the game won't do this for you automatically; it's not coded as a carry-all.
Put the bucket in the sack before climbing the rope; you can't climb with the bucket directly in your hand.
In the corner of the laneway, empty the sack, then put the sack in the bucket. The sack makes the fire smoky.
a handful of straw. There's straw in your chicken coop.
In the corner of the laneway, put the straw into the bucket. The hot coals turn the straw into a small fire.
some chickens. They're in the backyard of your bakery.
You can't open your back gate while the chickens are in your backyard. Drop everything else first, then take the chickens. Drop them off in the chicken coop; they stay there.
a meat hook. Find it in the backyard of the butcher's shop by examining the grass there.
a grappling hook. Make it by tying the rope to the meat hook.
On the street outside the butcher's shop, after untying the rope and exposing the manhole cover, open the manhole with either the meat hook or grappling hook.
In the holding yard, stand on the hitching rail, throw the hook at the wall, then climb the rope to escape the yard.
NOTE: After the grappling hook is hooked on the wall, you cannot get it back.
some hot coals. They're in the forge in the farrier's stable.
While carrying both the tongs and emptied bucket, take the coals; you transfer the coals into the bucket.
Once the coals are in the bucket, you are willing to remove them.
a pair of tongs. They're in the farrier's stable.
While carrying both the tongs and emptied bucket, take the coals; you transfer the coals into the bucket.
Drop the tongs after you've used them.
a quenching bucket (containing some water). It's in the farrier's stable.
Take the bucket and empty it. Now take the coals (with the tongs); you automatically transfer the coals into the empty bucket.
In the holding yard, before climbing the grappling hook, put the bucket into the sack. You cannot climb while holding the bucket directly.
In the corner of the laneway, drop the bucket. You should fetch the cake from your bakery before doing more with the bucket. Put the sack, wood, and straw into the bucket to create a large smoky fire.
some splintered wood. Create it by breaking the crate with the rounding hammer. (Possibly other tools may work as well.)
In the corner of the laneway, put the wood into the bucket. The small fire and the wood combine into a large fire.
a large key. It's hanging on a hook in sentry box outside the palace gates.
To get the guard out of the way, you need to set a fire at the corner of the laneway, then yell from the butcher's backyard. See bucket, hot coals, straw, wood, and sack.
The large key unlocks the palace gates.
Unneeded items
some potatoes. They're outside your bakery after you untie the rope.
You don't need any potatoes.
an egg. Find it in your chicken coop by examining the straw there.
You don't need the egg, but you can try throwing it at the guard. He chases you, but you hide in the crowd and he returns to his post.
some bones. They're in the garbage bins in the backyard of the butcher shop.
You don't need the bones and they also stink.
a rasp, a clinch block, a clinch cutter, a nail clincher, a pair of hoof nippers, a hoof pick, a hoof stand, a hoof tester, a horseshoe puller, a knife, a nail cutter, a nail puller, a nailing hammer, and a pritchel. These tools are all in the farrier's stable.
You don't need any of these tools. However, since finishing the game, I learned that you can use the rasp to file the padlock, then use the farrier's gate normally. Perhaps that's how you're supposed to get the bucket of coals past the stone wall?
