Mirror and Queen is a Glulx interactive fiction story written with Inform 7 and is © 2016 by Chandler Groover. This was an entry in IF Comp 2016 where it took 22nd place. At the 2016 XYZZY Awards, it was a finalist in the Best Individual NPC category for the mirror.
In this puzzleless one-room story based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, you play as the queen consulting the magic mirror. The gameplay consists entirely of asking your oracular mirror about as many topics (relating to herself, the princess, and the court) as you can before its puissance is expended.
This solution is by David Welbourn.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction story. Please make an honest effort to play the story before reading this walkthrough.
(an unnamed location where the Mirror is)
If you can think of other topics, please feel free to try them. But these ones are all meaningful.
Speak about: me. beauty. princess. wish. magic.
Speak about: kingdom. hills. map. village. face. crown.
Speak about: king. pregnancy. mirror. fate. death. life.
Speak about: blood. silver. truth. misgivings. mind.
Speak about: legions. sacrifice. safety. heart. huntsman.
Speak about: forest. court. poison. murder. exile.
Speak about: xyzzy. snow. knowledge. brain. future.
Speak about: courtiers. white. old queen. love. hate.
Speak about: dwarves. gossip. family. command. throne.
Speak about: prince. apple. witch. sleep.
The last topic you ask about is ignored, so the mirror can say its final words to you.
*** Mirror and Queen ***
> author's note
> credits
All the topics you might ask about cannot be asked in a single game session. Other interesting topics include castle, day, game, guilt, hair, night, room, servants, sleep, and time.
Some topics that I tried but were deflected include: flattery, health, and success. Deflected topics count against your time with the mirror, so you should try to avoid them.
This game is just a conversation between the Mirror and the Queen, and the Mirror does most of the talking.
Several other characters are mentioned, however, including the king, the old queen, the princess, the courtiers, the huntsman, the prince, the dwarves, and various servants.
This is the response to CREDITS, after the game is over:
Mirror and Queen is copyright 2016 by Chandler Groover. It may be distributed for free, but not sold or included in any for-profit collection without written permission from the author. It was made for the 2016 Interactive Fiction Competition.
Many thanks to Adam Bredenberg, Desperado, Hugo Labrande, Ade McT, Skinny Mike, Hanon Ondricek, Andrew Schultz, and verityvirtue for beta-testing. This game's code also owes its functionality to advice from A.G., Vince Laviano, Katherine Morayati, Emily Short, and zarf, as well as extensions by Emily Short and zarf's Quixe interpreter.
Its "mirror frame" image is modified from Georges de La Tour's The Penitent Magdalene (1625-1650).
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