Key & Compass presents:
Lethe Flow Phoenix: A Flight of Fantasy
by Dan Shiovitz

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

Map

Notes:

• To reach "Climbing the cliff", the waterfall must be gone (see grenade).
• To reach "Flying near cliff", you must be wearing the hang-glider.
• To reach "A burning desert", you must travel an unmarked compass direction from any of the river locations. Any unused compass direction will do, excluding a few directions blocked by walls, such as the north and west walls in the garden, and west from the cliff base. For example, you can go east, north, or south from the apple tree and find the desert. You will have to make the attempt twice to succeed; reality gets fuzzy at the map borders and there's something like surface tension there so you have to make an extra effort to pass through.
• Returning from "A burning desert" is automatic after a few turns; you will return to the same location from where you entered the desert.
• CAUTION: If you enter the desert via Control Central's viewscreen, you'll be trapped in the desert with no way to return.
• To reach "On a frozen lake", you must first create an arch to enter (see mushroom). You can only visit the frozen lake once. You will automatically be returned to the wide stream after a set number of turns.
• To leave "Control Central", you must use the remote. Turn the black dial to a number from 1 to 12, then touch the viewscreen to go to the corresponding numbered location on the map.
• The map connections to the gazebo change when the gazebo lifts several meters off the ground. When the gazebo is hovering, use the map connections marked in red instead of the normal connections marked in black.
• "Inside the hole" is not available until very late in the game.
• When the river and waterfall are gone, "Cliff top, by a waterfall" is just called "Cliff top" and "By a wide stream" becomes "By an empty stream bed".

Walkthrough

Although there's no way to know at first, you're inside an artificial environment, what comic book fans would call a "pocket universe". As such, it has boundaries. Instead of telling the player where the valid directions of travel are, the game usually only says which way the river flows, and you're meant to follow the river. Going away from the river, in an unblocked direction, takes you out of the environment into a burning desert.

But first, we need to solve a hunger puzzle. You'll start to get hungry at turn 15, and you'll die of hunger at turn 65 unless you eat something. This puzzle is sufficiently annoying and critical that it's worth skipping normal casual exploration until after the puzzle is solved.

A grassy field, by an apple tree

There's a talking apple tree here. He won't let you have an apple until you get rid of the robin in its branches. Trust me when I tell you the tree does not let you climb it nor let you throw anything at the robin (or at its apples).

> i. (You are empty-handed.)

> x tree. x robin. x face. x apples. x kite.

> take apple. (Just out of reach.)

> climb tree. (The tree yells at you.)

> ask tree about tree. ask tree about apples.

> ask tree about kite. ask tree about robin.

> w.

In a garden

> take red paper. x it.

> fold it into bird. (You make an origami crane.)

> s.

An open field

> x gazebo. in.

Inside the gazebo

> take cage. put crane in it.

> out. s.

Cliff top, by a waterfall

> take all. x box. x fly.

> n. n. e.

A grassy field, by an apple tree

> drop cage. turn crank. (You wind up the music box.)

> z. (Classical music plays.)

> z. (Water sounds play.)

> z. (Birdcalls play. The robin attacks the crane.)

> close cage. (Fire crackling sounds from the box now.)

> z. (Windchimes play. The robin sees it's trapped, and the tree is happy.)

> ask tree about apple. take apple. (The branch bends down and gives you one.)

> x your apple. eat apple.

Now that the threat of starvation is over, let's examine things properly.

> drop box.

> x flowers. x cage. x scraps. x brook.

> ask tree about kite. take kite. x kite.

> open cage. (The robin flies away.)

> w.

In a garden

Given time, some of the bushes will uproot themselves and tend the garden. The game calls them hedge beasts.

> x dragon. drink water.

> x bushes. x bridges. x beasts. x rocks. x walls.

> s. in.

Inside the gazebo

> x sundial. ("Tempus Non Fugit")

> x studs. (at six, eight, ten, twelve, two, and four o'clock.)

> x gnomon. x tiny crystal. x large crystal. (It's sad?)

> out. s.

Cliff top, by a waterfall

> x crack. x bottle. take it.

> open bottle. look in bottle.

> x magnet. (It's doughnut-shaped.)

> x paper. (A message from "D", welcomes you, and asks you to visit.)

> x stone. (Apple-sized.)

> drop stone. (You don't need its weight.)

> x waterfall.

Make sure you have the bottle and fly before using the kite.

> save.

> wear kite. jump. e. e.

Flying near cliff

CAUTION: Going other directions than east from here is fatal.

> e.

Amidst the mushrooms

> remove kite. x mushrooms. (A spider spins words in its web.)

> x web. ("Altered visions")

> x spider. (It's poisonous.)

> z. (New words form.) x web. ("All are doomed to die")

> z. z. x web. ("Reborn in fire")

> z. z. x web. ("Truth in death")

> z. z. x web. ("Phoenix")

After this, there are no new words on the web. Let's explore a bit first, to see what this area looks like normally, then get a mushroom for its "altered visions".

> w.

At base of cliff

> x waterfall. x river. x cliff.

> e. s.

End of path

> x hole. x bushes. x river.

> n. e.

By a wide stream

> x trees. x moss. x flowers.

> x stream. x glow. x quartz.

> w.

Amidst the mushrooms

> x mushrooms. x gray mushroom.

CAUTION: If you try to take the gray mushroom without throwing the fly, you are threatened by the spider on your first attempt. If you try to take the mushroom a second time without throwing the fly, the spider bites you and you die.

> throw fly at web. take gray mushroom. (You still get bitten, but you don't die immediately.)

> eat mushroom.

You go a bit mad, black out, then awaken to find your twin, a hallucination, standing here. He has a few things to say, and you can't leave until he's said them all.

> x twin. z. z.

> w.

At base of cliff

Zippy, your pet dog, is here.

> x Zippy. pet Zippy. e. s.

End of path

You great-aunt Polly is here.

> x Polly. n. e.

By a wide stream.

> x fish. (The lightfish are trying to tell you something?)

> take fish. (The fish jump and form an arch into pure darkness.)

> enter arch. (Twin, Zippy, and Polly stay behind.)

On a frozen lake

> x constellations. x ice. x star. z. look. (Daniel is here.)

> x Daniel. (He's a fallen angel.)

Daniel will now tell you a very long story.

> z. z. z. z. z.

So you're a Phoenix, a defender of mankind. And now you can ask up to seven questions:

> ask Daniel about phoenix. (Symbol of rebirth.)

> ask Daniel about Daniel. (Just a fallen angel.)

> ask Daniel about God. (He watches still.)

> ask Daniel about invaders. (Beings from another star.)

> ask Daniel about Zippy. (A faithful friend.)

> ask Daniel about Raphael. (They all died.)

> ask Daniel about father. (Try not to blame him too much.)

Question time is over, and you're back in...

By a wide stream

Your father is here.

> x father. (He gives a large speech and a hand grenade.)

> take grenade. x it.

> w. s.

End of path

Use the grenade to get rid of the artificial river. Note that the grenade won't work if it gets wet.

> take all from bottle.

> pull pin. put grenade in bottle. close bottle.

> put bottle in hole. n.

Amidst the mushrooms.

> z. z. z. z. (The grenade explodes, and the stream drains away.)

> save. w.

At base of cliff

> x cliff. (A cave-mouth is where the waterfall was.)

> u. in.

Small cave

> x floor. x knob. pull knob. (The floor tilts, dropping you into...)

Control Central

There's no exits from this room except the viewscreen portal.

> x handwritten note. (From Daniel about the portal.)

> x remote. take remote.

> x green dial. (range is 0 to 20; currently 8.)

> x black dial. (range is 0 to 12; currently 0.)

> x buttons. (The silver one is "Piping Repairs".)

> x chair. x viewscreen. x machines.

> touch touchpad. ("Portal access denied")

> push silver button. (Clanking noises.)

> z. z. (Clanking replaced by sound of running water.)

> push blue. (Gurgling/flushing; water stops.)

The black dial sets the location. Unfortunately, you cannot examine things remotely.

> turn black to 1. (See: A grassy field, by an apple tree.)

> turn black to 2. (See: In a garden.)

> turn black to 3. (See: An open field.)

> turn black to 4. (See: Inside the gazebo.)

> turn black to 5. (See: Atop the gazebo. Note the golden chain.)

> turn black to 6. (See: Cliff top.)

> turn black to 7. (See: Climbing the cliff.)

> turn black to 8. (See: At base of cliff.)

> turn black to 9. (See: Amidst the mushrooms.)

> turn black to 10. (See: End of path.)

> turn black to 11. (See: By an empty stream-bed.)

> turn black to 12. (See: A burning desert.)

CAUTION: If you touch the screen when the desert is showing, you will be stuck in the desert with no obvious way back.

Let's go to cliff top instead:

> turn black to 6. touch screen.

Cliff top

I want to lighten our load and leave the kite here for later.

> drop kite, paper, pin.

> n. u.

Atop the Gazebo

> x wall. (It's a gnomon.)

> x vane. (A turtle?)

> x chain. take chain. (It's out of reach.)

> d. n.

In a garden

Wait for the hedge beasts to finish their chores.

> z. (Repeat waiting until they're bushes themselves.)

When the hedge beasts are asleep:

> look under bush. (You find and take three tools, assuming your load isn't too full or too heavy.)

> drop bucket and spade. (You only need the rake.)

> s. u.

Atop the gazebo

> take chain with rake. wear chain.

> d.

An open field

> push yellow button. (A pillar appears.)

An open field

> x pillar.

> x panel. (joystick and status meter; meter has 4 blocks filled out of 11.)

> x joystick. (can be pulled left or pushed right.)

> pull joystick. (Status meter loses a block; the sun has moved.)

> x sun.

Experimenting with the joystick, you can learn:

• 0 to 3 blocks showing, the sun is rising in the east.
• 4 to 7 blocks: the sun is high in the sky.
• 8 to 11 blocks: the sun is setting in the west.

> in.

Inside the gazebo

You can remove the studs with the magnet, leaving holes:

> put magnet on two. take it.

> put magnet on four. take it.

> put magnet on six. take it.

> put magnet on eight. take it.

> put magnet on ten. take it.

> put magnet on twelve. take it.

> x sundial. (Holes are where the studs were.)

Now use the chain's sphere:

> put sphere in two. (Chime; violet light strikes the large crystal.)

> put sphere in four. (Chime; blue light strikes the large crystal.)

> put sphere in six. (Chime; green light strikes the large crystal.)

> put sphere in eight. (Chime; yellow light strikes the large crystal.)

> put sphere in ten. (Chime; orange light strikes the large crystal.)

> put sphere in twelve. (Chime; red light strikes the large crystal.)

That does the trick. After a sound and light show, the crystals vanish, the roof retracts, and floor starts to tilt.

> look. (The gazebo is going up!)

> z. (The gazebo stops in midair at 3 or 4 meters up.)

Note that the gazebo's shadow now reaches the boulders in the field; it's a sundial too. A rope ladder is somehow now here so you can climb down.

> d.

An open field

Note: There's six boulders: first to sixth, all surrounding the gazebo, just like the studs/holes in the gazebo. With the gazebo's shadow, this entire field is a sundial!

> x boulders. x shadow.

Pull/push the joystick until the shadow hits the fifth boulder. You want the meter to be 8 blocks full, so you probably want to push the joystick.

> push joystick —or— pull joystick. (Repeat as necessary.)

The fifth boulder is a turtle! It walks away west, into the desert, leaving a large hole in the ground.

> x hole. d.

Inside the hole

> x floor. x mirror. clean it.

> x mirror.

You get a huge textdump review of your sad past. After you cry, Daniel tells you it's time for your rebirth, to turn on the portal, and to go home.

> touch touchpad. ("Portal engaged")

> u. s.

Cliff top

> drop all. take glider. wear glider. e. e.

Flying near cliff

> x portal. enter portal.

At peace with yourself, you return back to the cliff you fell from, still falling (even though it's half a day later), and you spread your flame wings and fly.

*** THE END ***

Extras

Characters

You are the "Phoenix". Although it's never fully explained what that means, at the very least it gives you the power to manifest flames and wings — except not during this game because you first need to accept and be at peace with yourself. Sorry about that. The power was gifted by Daniel to one of your ancestors in order to help mankind repel invaders. We're not told who the invaders are, nor how your abilities are supposed to help with that task. The power of the Phoenix is genetic; your father was the Phoenix before you, and your great-aunt Polly was the Phoenix before him.

You'll meet the following characters in approximately this order:

• An apple tree. It lives in "A grassy field, by an apple tree" and has a face, a grumpy disposition, some apples, a hang-glider, and an unwanted robin. You'll have to get rid of the robin before he'll let you have an apple or the hang-glider.
• A robin. It's in the apple tree, singing away, and this really annoys the tree. To remove the robin, you'll need to find a sheet of red paper, a bird cage, and a music box. Fold the paper into a red origami crane, put the crane into the cage, and drop the cage near the tree. Turn the crank on the music box and wait. When the music box plays birdcalls, the robin will fly into the cage and attack the crane. Close the cage and take it away. The apple tree will be thankful. Open the cage elsewhere to free the robin; this fulfils a minor goal.
• Some hedge beasts. They live in the garden, tending it. They go through a cycle of working and dormancy. Look under a bush while they're sleeping to find their tools: a bucket, a spade, and a rake. The green dial on the remote controls how long their cycle is.
• The brown spider. It spins its web amidst the mushrooms; read its web. The spider is poisonous and guards a gray mushroom. Throw the fly at the web to distract the spider to grab the mushroom. The spider will still bite you, but eating the mushroom will cure you, sorta.
• Your long-lost twin. This is one of several hallucinations. This one appears immediately after you eat the mushroom and will chat at you for several turns, then follow you until you enter the arch made by the lightfish.
• Zippy, your pet dog. This is another hallucination; Zippy died years ago. He appears in the next room you visit after eating the mushroom. You can't do much with him, but he will follow you until you enter the arch made by the lightfish. He does point out the lightfish to you, though, as a hint to do something with them.
• Your great-aunt Polly. Yet another hallucination; she died years ago. You may find her after finding Zippy. Like your other self, she'll chat with you for a few turns before falling silent and following you until you enter the arch made by the lightfish.
• Some lightfish. They swim in the river at "By a wide stream" but only while you're under the influence of the mushroom. If you try to take a fish, they'll form an arch that leads to the frozen lake and Daniel.
• Daniel. He's a fallen angel who's exiled to roam the stars, but you can meet him on the frozen lake. He's the one who orchestrated this whole situtation, rescuing you from your fall, creating this entire refuge of pleasant-yet-odd locations, and empowered you as a "Phoenix". He takes several turns to explain things to you, then allows you ask him a short number of questions before he sends you back to the stream. Elsewhere in the game, he leaves notes. He will also talk to you for one last time via a mirror at "Inside the hole".
• Your father aka Dad. The final hallucination of someone who died years ago, you'll meet him immediately after your interview with Daniel. He quickly reveals himself as a coward and former Phoenix and you forgive him. He leaves, but not before gifting you with a hand grenade, which is a weird gift from a dead man if you ask me, Dad.
• An enormous turtle. He's easy to miss since he looks like a boulder, but he's really the fifth boulder in the open field. He's sleeping there until you manage to cover him with the gazebo's shadow, then he wanders off into the desert to rest there where it's always very sunny.

Credits

From the HELP menu: 5. Credits and Thanks

[This is my first game. Bear with me, these are going to be long credits.]

Well, let's see. There are a good number of authors I could thank for this game, but I'll just name one. Barry Hughart, author of Bridge of Birds and other novels of semi-historical China, is not only an amazing writer but also a decent historian. Originally this game was going to be a short one about the five elements of Chinese mythology, but gradually all that got replaced, leaving only the rock garden behind to commemorate the original idea. I'd also like to thank the band They Might Be Giants, and the British sci-fi/comedy tv show, Red Dwarf, although I'm not exactly sure why. Let's just say those two were very responsible for shaping my impressionable young mind, and leave it at that.

Now, with ref to people in the interactive fiction community. I'd like to thank Gerry K Wilson (email redacted), for Avalon and general i-f articles, as well as Erica Sadun (email redacted), author of The Sound of One Hand Clapping, my personal favorite piece of i-f. David Bagget (email redacted), also, deserves a mention. These three people are but a few of the dozens I could have named. I've played excellent games by a great number of people, but these three really stand out in my mind (and I'm sure there are many others who should stand out in my mind, but I've forgotten them at the moment).

Finally, we get to the game-related thanks. First, the playtesters. The first was Michael Kinyon (email redacted), who was playtesting games before this game was even a glimmer in my mind, and found more bugs the first time he sat down with it than I had in the weeks of debugging beforehand. Funny how that works, eh?

The other playtester was Eric Moon (email redacted), a good friend of mine. Eric gets special mention for various reasons, one of which is that he nursed this game from its creation date until now, and without whose ceaseless help and encouragement this would not have been written. I've always wanted to write that. But in this case it's actually true. Not only did he do some of the preliminary debugging, he helped enormously with plot and puzzle details (in many strange late-night email sessions). More specifically, he's responsible for what happens to the gazebo, the forest stream and the fish, the glider and the way you return home, and for eliminating any number of obvious bugs I was too thick to notice :P. Thanks, Eric.

More thanks: To Gerry K Wilson, whose water.t module inspired mine, even though they aren't really related or anything, and to Trevor Powell, whose directed dialog system inspired this help system, although these two also aren't really related. Lars Joedal (email redacted) posted an article to rec.arts.int-fiction a few years back, and discussed something that evolved into the (Taking the XXX first) system I have here, so he deserves high praise for that one. David Bagget is also responsible for WorldClass, which I used as a reference for a number of changes.

Ok, last thanks: To Gerry K Wilson again (geez, this guy gets all the mentions), but only as a figurehead this time. I'm singling him out for running the First Annual Short I-F contest, but that's just symbolic of all the people (including me, I guess) who argued and otherwise helped bring the contest (and thus this game) into being. Although, it should be noted (with a slightly embarassed grin) that this game isn't entered in the contest, having grown too big for the one requirement.

Version two-related thanks: Well, nobody's perfect. Since this game has been out, I've been forced to admit that that even applies to me :P A special thanks to everyone who pointed out bugs in the first version of the game to me. If there's any bugs still left, please tell me, I'd like to fix 'em. Primary debuggers were David Gilbert (email redacted), and Andrew Plotkin (email redacted). Thanks, guys.

To everyone who helped, many of whom I don't have space to mention, most of whom were (and still are) unknowing of this fact: THANKS!

Dan Shiovitz
(email redacted)

Endings

• You have died
• if you die of hunger by failing to eat an apple in time,
• if you fall off a cliff by walking off it without wearing the kite,
• if you crash at the end of your kite flight by not going east in midair,
• if you get a venomous spider bite by trying to take the gray mushroom without first distracting the spider,
• if you don't eat the gray mushroom soon after the spider grazes your finger, or
• if you get blown up by the grenade when it explodes in the same location as you.
• THE END
• if you fly while wearing the hang-glider through the purple portal.

Note: It's also possible to put yourself into unwinnable situations. Some ways to do that include (not a complete list):

• If you fly off the cliff the first time without the bottle and fly, you'll never be able to get back up the cliff because you have no way to obtain the grenade and turn off the waterfall.
• If you explode the grenade in a useless way, you're stuck, and again, you can't get back up the cliff.
• If you turn the remote's black dial to 12 and touch the viewscreen, you'll be stuck in the desert forever.

Inventory

Note: There's some weight and bulk limits with inventory in this game, so don't burden yourself with things you don't need.

In alphabetical order (by noun):

• an apple. The apple tree has it. After you've removed the robin (see cage), ask the tree about the apples to get one. Eat the apple to prevent yourself from dying of hunger.
• a glass bottle. Found in a crack at "Cliff top, by a waterfall". It's openable and closable and contains a small black magnet, a piece of paper, and a heavy stone. The bottle itself will be useful to make a waterproof hand grenade.
• a music box. Found at "Cliff top, by a waterfall". Turn its crank to play music and other sounds for a few turns. The birdcalls are the only useful sound since the robin will react to them. Put the crane into the bird cage and drop the cage near the robin. Play the music box; when the birdcalls are heard, the robin will enter the cage and attack the crane. Close the cage and take it away. This makes the apple tree happy enough that he'll give you an apple and the hang-glider when you ask for them.
• a large wooden bucket. Found under a bush in the garden while the hedge beasts are sleeping. But you don't need this tool.
• a bird cage. Found inside the gazebo. You'll use it to capture the robin by putting the paper crane in it and playing the music box.
• a golden chain with sphere. Found hanging from the weather vane on the top of the gazebo, this is a ordinary wearable necklace with a fine gold chain and a round gemstone no more than an inch wide as its pendant. (And I wish the game had said so explicitly. Its in-game description is vague enough that I mistakenly pictured a open-ended length of heavy chain with a sphere as large as my fist.) Take the chain with the rake. There's rainbow light trapped inside the sphere. Inside the gazebo, remove the metal studs (using the magnet) from the sundial, and then put the sphere into each of the six holes. This empowers the overhead large crystal with light, which in turn opens the gazebo roof and lifts the entire gazebo several feet up into the air. Unfortunately, this also means the necklace's sphere is now dull and gray; its rainbow light is gone.
• a red origami crane. Fold the red paper into a bird. Then put the crane into the bird cage as part of your plan to capture the robin; see cage and music box. If successful, the robin will destroy the crane, leaving only scraps of paper.
• number flowers. You can pick flowers, one at a time, from the grassy field, but you don't need any flowers.
• a small fly. Found at "Cliff top, by a waterfall". Take it. Throw it at the web amidst the mushrooms, then immediately grab the gray mushroom.
• a hand grenade. Gifted to you by your Dad after you meet him; this is usually by a wide stream. Empty the bottle and go to End of path. Pull the pin to activate the grenade; you now have a handful of turns to get rid of the bomb. Put the live grenade into the bottle, then close the bottle, then put the bottle into the hole. (The bottle is necessary because a wet grenade doesn't work.) Go north and wait for the kaboom. The grenade will destroy the plumbing for the river, exposing the cliff where the waterfall was so you can now climb it.
• a hang-glider. The apple tree has it. After you've removed the robin from his location (see cage), ask the tree about the kite, and it'll drop it to you. Take it to the cliff top and wear it. Go east twice to jump off the cliff and fly. While flying, head east to land amidst the mushrooms; all other directions are unsafe. Remove the hang-glider when you're not using it; you can't walk around wearing it. (Unfortunately, the author didn't think to let you fly from the top of the gazebo with it on, even when the gazebo is hovering in mid-air.) You will need to wear the hang-glider again to fly to the final portal; again, you'll be flying from the cliff top. The final portal is opened with the remote.
• a small black magnet. Found in the glass bottle. Put it on the metal studs, one-by-one, in the gazebo, taking the magnet to remove a stud and leave a hole in the sundial. See chain for what to do with the six holes in the sundial.
• a gray mushroom. It's guarded by a poisonous spider amidst the mushrooms. Throw the fly at its web, then grab the gray mushroom. You'll still be bitten, but eating the mushroom will cure you and give you hallucinations. While hallucinating, you can meet hallucinations of yourself, your dog Zippy, your great-aunt Polly, and some lightfish. Take a lightfish to create an arch that leads to Daniel.
• a handwritten note. It's on the chair in the Control Centre. Read it, then ignore it.
• a piece of paper. Found in the glass bottle. Read it, then ignore it.
• some scraps of paper. The robin destroys the paper crane, leaving these scraps in the bird cage. You can ignore the scraps.
• a sheet of red paper. Found on a rock in the garden. Fold it into a crane, the only origami shape you know.
• a grenade pin. You pull the pin from the grenade to activate it, but you don't need the pin itself for anything.
• a thorny rake. Found under a bush in the garden while the hedge beasts are sleeping. Use it on the top of the gazebo to take the chain. You can return the rake to the hedge beasts simply by dropping it in the garden.
• a small remote. Found on the chair in the Control Centre; take it and examine it. It has several features:
• Turn the green dial from 0 to 20 to control the hedge beasts' sleep cycle. The setting is how many turns the beasts sleep and also how many turns they're actively using their tools each cycle. It does not effect the turns they take to fully wake up and equip themselves or the turn they need to put away their tools and prepare for dormancy.
• Turn the black dial from 0 to 12 to control the viewscreen's destination. For example, "turn black dial to 1" selects the apple tree's location on the viewscreen. You can then touch the screen to instantly go there. There's no quick way back to the control centre, though. And I suggest you never touch the screen when location 12, the desert, is open becuase you'll get stuck there, unable to ever return.
• Push the silver button to repair the plumbing for the river. It needs fixing after you destroyed it with the grenade. After the pipes are fixed, this button does nothing but "click".
• Push the yellow button to reveal (and hide) a control panel in the open field; this control panel lets you move the sun.
• Push the blue button to turn the water on and off.
• Touch the touchpad to open (and close) the final portal, but this won't work until you've reviewed your life in the mirror at Inside the hole.
• a sun-bleached skull. This can be found in the desert and looks demonic. But you don't need it.
• a strange leaf-spade. Found under a bush in the garden while the hedge beasts are sleeping. But you don't need this tool.
• a heavy stone. Found in the glass bottle. Take it out of the bottle and discard it.
• six ordinary metal studs. They're in the sundial in the gazebo, but you can't take them from their holes just with your fingers. You'll need to put the magnet on each one and take the magnet to pull them out. The studs themselves aren't important; the holes are (see chain). But the six studs do represent the six boulders outside in the field, since the field itself will prove to be a larger sundial.

River

The river is an artificial closed system and can be turned on and off by pushing the blue button on the remote.

The circular nature of the river can be shown by the bird cage, since it floats on the river and can travel that way. It can get caught on the rocks before the waterfall and free itself several times before falling over the edge. Amidst the mushrooms, there's a chance the cage could go either east or south.

If the cage goes south, it will fall into the hole and eventually be regurgitated by the dragon head fountain in the garden.

Unfortunately, if the cage ought to go east, there's a bug and the cage stops traveling until you pick it up and try again. And it does no good to carry the cage to "By a wide stream" and drop it into the stream there; the river-travel code is also buggy at that location. My guess is that if the cage floats east off the map, then the cage ought to next reappear on the river by the apple tree.

Note that objects can also be put into the river by the hedge beasts; if you drop anything other than their tools in the garden, they'll put the garbage into the river. They will reclaim their own tools; objects left on the garden rocks will be ignored.

Score

Instead of a numerical score, the game lists the major and minor goals that the player accomplished. "Goals" is a bit misleading; "accomplishments" would be a more accurate term, since the player can hardly be expected to anticipate most of these items ahead of time. Also, I find the distinction between major and minor goals to be somewhat arbitrary. In general, most of the major goals are things the player must do to win, and several of the minor goals are optional bits of business, but not always. Goals are listed in the order that the player accomplishes them, not necessarily in the order shown below.

You played for several turns. In that time, you accomplished [either] number of the major goals (percentage of the total number), namely: [or] all the major goals! Good job! This meant: [as appropriate]

1. Luring the robin from the tree.
   Play the music box near the robin while the crane is in the open cage.
2. Having a snack.
   Eat the apple.
3. Obtaining a hang-glider.
   Ask the apple tree about the kite after you've caged the robin.
4. Using the hang-glider.
   At cliff top, wear the the hang-glider and go east twice.
5. Landing a glider, more or less.
   Go east from "Flying near cliff" to land at "Amidst the mushrooms".
6. Distracting the spider.
   Throw the fly at the web.
7. Entering a state of altered conciousness.
   Eat the gray mushroom.
8. Finding Daniel.
   Enter the arch (made by taking a lightfish at "By a wide stream") and wait a few turns.
9. Talking to Daniel.
   Ask Daniel about various topics, eg: Phoenix.
10. Seeing your father, one last time.
    This happens automatically after your interview with Daniel.
11. Stopping the water.
    See grenade.
12. Moving the sun.
    Pull or push the joystick on the control panel in the open field; the panel is revealed by pushing the yellow button on the remote.
13. Making the sundial work.
14. Raising a gazebo.
15. Convincing a turtle to sun-bathe elsewhere.
    Push the joystick on the control panel until the raised gazebo's shadow covers the fifth boulder, which is actually an enormous turtle.
16. Reflecting on your life.
    Clean the mirror at "Inside the hole", then look at it.
17. Summoning a portal.
    After examining the clean mirror, touch the touchpad of the remote.
18. Flying into a portal.
    At cliff top, wear the hang-glider, go east twice, then enter the portal.

You also accomplished number of the minor goals (percentage of the total number), namely:

1. Doing a bit of origami.
   Fold the red paper into a bird.
2. Keeping the robin out of the tree.
   Close the cage with the robin inside it.
3. Seeing visions in the desert.
   You just need to visit the desert, at least once.
4. Seeing the hedge beasts.
   You just need to visit the garden and wait a bit.
5. Setting the robin free.
   Open the bird cage after you caught the robin. It's okay to do this near the apple tree; the robin flies out of the game.
6. Reading a note.
   Read the piece of paper that's inside the glass bottle.
7. Reading words in an unexpected place.
   Examine the web at "Amidst the mushrooms".
8. Getting the mushroom.
9. Seeing a hallucination of yourself.
10. Hallucinating Zippy.
11. Hallucinating Polly.
12. Assembling an arch.
    Take a lightfish at "By a wide stream" while hallucinating (see mushroom).
13. Finding Control Central.
    After using the grenade to destroy the river's plumbing, climb the cliff, enter the small cave that's halfway up, then pull the knob in the cave.
14. Reading another note.
    Read the handwritten note in Control Central; it's on the chair.
15. Repairing the piping system.
    Push the silver button on the remote.
16. Discovering some gardening tools.
    Look under a bush in the garden while the hedge beasts are sleeping.
17. Getting your hooks onto a necklace.
    At the top of the gazebo, take the chain with the rake.
18. Removing some studs.
    In the gazebo, put the magnet on a stud, then take the magnet to pull the stud out of its hole. Do this for all six studs.
19. Seeing the light.
    Put the chain's sphere into any sundial hole, after you've removed a stud.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

• the support of Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Jason McIntosh, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, and Phil Tatro;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen and Matthew Foxley;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Marius Müller, and Jennifer Rexrode;
• and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.