In this first-time effort, a severely-underimplemented slice-of-life mystery, you play as someone visiting Loimijoki City Hall, at night, in Finland. Although never stated in the game itself, you're here to attend a council meeting about zoning. But apart from two taciturn British guards in the basement, the building seems empty. Where is everyone?
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
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.
In the lift, push the appropriate button to go to whichever floor you wish.
Walkthrough
Because of the extremely sparse implmentation and lack of feedback and direction in this game, it's almost impossible to win honestly. I admit that I had to read the source code to get any sort of clue on what I was expected to do. Classic case of read-author's-mind puzzles.
Loimijoki City Hall, Finland (Parking Lot)
CAUTION: UNDO is not supported.
You can ignore the clock time in the status bar.
> x hall. in.
1st floor
> d.
Basement
The guards are identical and won't answer any questions.
> x left. x right. x toilet. x garage. x shelter.
> enter toilet.
Toilet
The booths are identical and empty. While you can enter them, there's no need to.
NOTE: To leave an enclosure (such as a booth) in this game, use the LEAVE command. The OUT command only works with rooms.
> x first. x second.
> out.
Basement
> enter shelter.(no: door is closed.)
> open shelter.(no: guards block you.)
> enter garage.
Garage
> x camel. x book.("7th of July 1917: Embark on a journey to conquer the Kingdom of Finland.")
> x box.(empty; note the lemon reference)
> x puddle. x canister.("castor oil")
> take all.(got canister, book, box)
> out. u. u.
2nd floor
KNOCK isn't a valid command in this game.
"Kirjaamo" means "registry office" in Finnish.
> x office.("Kirjaamo")
> open office door.(no: locked)
> push it.(It unlocks. WTF.)
> open it. enter it.
Register Office
> x computer. turn it on.
> x scanner. turn it on.(can't)
The scanner won't turn on unless something's on top of it. Is that how scanners work? WTF.
> put book on scanner. turn on scanner.
> x computer.(When both the computer and scanner are on, the computer is hot.)
> out. u.
3rd floor
"Kaupunginjohtaja" means "city mayor" in Finnish.
> x office. enter it.
Office of the Mayor
> x mat. move mat. take key.
> out. u.
4th floor
> x council. enter it.
Council Chamber
You can't actually drink any of this tea. Note that the tea is Earl Grey, but without the lemon mentioned on the box of tea.
> x cup. take cup. out.
4th floor
> x sauna. unlock sauna with key.
> open sauna. enter it.
Sauna dressing room
> x untitled.(sweets melted together)
> x glass box. x Lisa. x Milo. x sauna.
> hit untitled. g. g. g. g.
> look.
If there aren't any lemon drops, hit the Untitled some more until there is one.
> take one lemon drop. put it in cup.
> out.
4th floor
> enter lift.
Lift
> push basement. out.
Basement
> enter garage.
Garage
You cannot "put oil in cup" or "fill canister with oil" or "hold cup under leak". This is the only way to obtain oil, and only with the cup.
> put cup on puddle.(There's now an oildrop in the cup.)
> take cup. x oildrop.(castor oil)
> out. u. u. enter office.
Register Office
> put cup on computer. take it. i.
The cup is now hot for several turns. Move quickly before it cools!
> out. d. d.
Basement
The guards only sip the tea if it's both hot and has a lemon drop in the cup. The guards only leave their posts if they take two sips of tea tainted with oil.
How are you supposed to figure any of this out? Darned if I know.
> give cup to left. give cup to right.
> give cup to left. give cup to right.
> z. z.(The left guard leaves, then the right one.)
> open shelter.(King George V emerges, angry.)
Actively listen to the king if you want to know the backstory.
> listen to king. g. g. g. g.
*** You have won ***
Extras
Characters
A left guard and a right guard are posted outside the door to the bomb shelter in the basement. They're British Grenadier Guardsmen, even though this is Finland. They won't answer any questions, but they are willing to sip tea, when offered, assuming the tea is prepared properly, of course.
King George V of England is in the bomb shelter, and is somewhat put out when you open the shelter door. Listen to his angry babbling (or not) until he sulks off. Even though it's 2025, he arrived directly from World War I via a magnetic storm (on loan from Star Trek, I assume). After crash-landing here, he planned to take over the city, but everything's so strange here and he's leaving. Well, okay then. Bye?
Mentioned:
43 city councillors were held against their will in the bomb shelter. Once freed, they immediately head for the council chamber to start their meeting. And not a single "thank you".
Inventory
an oil canister. It's in the garage.
You don't need the oil canister.
a logbook. It's in the aeroplane in the garage.
Read it to learn that time travel shenanigans are afoot.
Put it onto the scanner in the Register Office (2nd floor) to you can... turn the scanner on. Seriously?
a box of tea. It's in the aeroplane in the garage.
You don't need the box itself, but you do need to look at it to learn that whoever drinks tea around here likes lemon-scented Earl Grey.
a rusty key. Find it by moving the rug in the Office of the Mayor (3rd floor).
The key unlocks the door to the sauna on the fourth floor.
a cup (which contains Earl Grey tea). It's in the Council Chamber (4th floor).
CAUTION: You cannot drink the tea. In fact, you cannot refer to the tea or interact with it directly in any way. If you are foolish enough to TAKE ALL FROM CUP, you will extract the liquid into your vocabulary with no way to put it back. Only refer to the cup.
In the garage, put the cup ON the puddle of oil; the cup acquires an oildrop.
As clued by the box of tea, put a lemon drop into the cup to give its tea a lemon scent.
In the register office (2nd floor), after turning on both the computer and scanner (see logbook), put the cup onto the now hot computer. The cup is now hot for several turns.
Quickly return to the basement with the cup of tainted and lemon-scented tea and give it to both guards. Both take a sip. Give the cup to each of them again; they both take second sips. Now wait for the castor oildrop to perform a delicate alchemy in the guards' digestive systems. They will soon dash off to the toilet and leave the door to the shelter unguarded. Open that shelter door, please and thank you.
Note that both guards need two sips of tainted tea each before they dash off to the toilet with all due dignity. Since the guards will return as quickly as they can to resume their posts, it's best to alternate sips between them. You don't want the first one returning just as the second one is leaving.
Note also that the cup won't stay hot forever. If it cools down before all the necessary sips are taken, you must reheat the cup and try all over again.
Finally, the cup never runs dry. There's always more tea in the cup, no matter how many sips are taken.
For your own amusement: You may put all of your inventory into the cup; there are no size constraints.
a mint drop, a salmaik drop, and a lemon drop. In the sauna dressing room (4th floor), a randomly-flavoured sweet falls off whenever you hit the Untitled mass of sweets. You can acquire many sweets this way.
Feel free to eat any excess sweets you acquire. If you have more than one of the same kind, explicitly refer to "one" drop to interact with them one by one; for example: EAT ONE MINT DROP.
Put one lemon drop into the cup of tea to make it lemon-scented. The guards won't sip any of the tea unless it has lemon; this is clued by the empty box of tea.
By the way, salmaik is a type of salty liquorice popular in Scandinavian countries. Some versions can be extremely salty and sour and is an acquired taste.
an oildrop. The cup acquires an oildrop when you put the cupON (not in) the puddle of oil in the garage. You can acquire multiple oildrops this way, but you only need one.
By the way, you cannot collect oildrops with the canister or the box. Only the cup has the magical ability to harvest oildrops from the dripping aerophone.
Note: oildrops are not transferable.
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