Red Door Yellow Door is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2023 by Charm Cochran. It was an entry in the Main Festival of Spring Thing 2023, placement/ribbons (if any) to be determined.
In this horror game, four girls have gathered together in a circle. Claire will try to picture a door while her older sister Emily chants "red door, yellow door". Claire, dreaming, sees a glen with two doors, and tells the others about it. Explore the dreamworld as you will, but beware of the man in a suit.
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.
This is the shortest of the three walkthroughs. Learn about the game itself, look at the living room and what's in it, dip a toe in the dreamworld, then immediately leave, blissfully ignorant about everything.
By the way, "Red Door, Yellow Door" is an actual activity in the real world. For example, see How to Play Red Door Yellow Door at wikiHow.
Living Room (as Emily)
First, learn about the game:
> about. credits. about interactive fiction.
> about commands. about content. about conversation.
Second, look around:
> x me. i. x PJs.
> look. x Claire. x Jen. x Tiff.
> x TV. look under TV. x console.
> x couch. x green pillow. x brown pillow. x blanket.
Start the game:
> tell rules. rub. chant.
Glen (as Claire)
Claire can try to wake up at any time. This early in the game, she has no problem doing that.
> wake. (Are you sure?)
>> yes
Living Room (as Emily)
> open console. take remote. turn off TV.
> e.
*** Time for pizza rolls! ***
In this walkthrough, you lead Claire to her doom as quickly as possible. She is tortured mentally first, enduring relentless attacks on her psyche, before spasming and dying a horrific agonizing death in Emily's arms. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Living Room (as Emily)
> tell rules. rub. chant.
Glen (as Claire)
> x Claire. i. x PJs.
> x red door. x yellow door.
> x snow. x trees. x path.
> e.
Among the Trees
Both Jen and Tiff object to leaving the doors. You propose you'll only listen to Emily's instructions.
As Emily:
> 1. (Emily agrees with Claire.)
> 2. (Emily reminds Jen that Claire is her sister, not Jen's.)
Back to Claire. By the way, if you (Emily) see Kiki enter the living room, feel free to pet her.
> x camera. take it. w.
Glen
> open red door. n.
Uncanny Living Room
> x couch. x pillow. x blanket. x TV. x console.
> search couch. x lint. open console. (can't)
> e.
Uncanny Foyer
> x rack. x mat. look under mat.
> e.
Kitchen
> x sink. x stove. x fridge. x padlock.
> x cabinets. open them. x gloves. take them.
> x counters.
> d.
Too dark to see / Basement
> turn on camera.
> 1. (Tiff asks about voices.)
> 1. (Tiff asks how the man knows Claire.)
> 1. (Suggest waking up. The man learns Claire isn't alone.)
> 1. (Emily says hi.)
> 2. (Ten years.)
> 1. (Ask how he got here.)
> 1. (Ask who tied him up.)
> 1. (Ask when)
> 1. (Ask why)
> 1. (Say you need time to think first.)
> u. w. w.
Uncanny Living Room
> 2. (Agree with Claire.)
> 3. (Defend Claire.)
> 1. (Placate Jen.)
> e. e. d.
Basement
> x Dad. x suit. x rickety chair. x rope.
> x racks. x knick knacks.
> untie Dad.
> 1.
> e.
tunnel
> x corpses. x ancient door.
> s.
The Tower of Babel
By entering this location, Claire has passed the point of no return. Do whatever you can think of to try to escape, but nothing will work.
> x cloth. listen. take cloth. (can't)
> n. (no door)
> wake. (can't)
> hit cloth. x people. hit people.
Claire yells, "Help me, Emily!"
Real Living Room (as Emily)
Claire needs your help, but how can you help?
> x Claire. wake Claire. talk to Claire.
> talk to Jen. talk to Tiff.
You can't leave her, hit her, shake her, undress her, put anything on her, put anything under her. Unhappily, you can't help Claire. Wait for the end.
> z. z. z. z.
*** Your sister is dead. ***
The third walkthrough will try to do as much as possible (although we won't re-examine things we already examined in the previous two walkthroughs) and get the ending that's the most difficult to reach. No one dies in this ending, but one could argue that it's worse than death.
Living Room (as Emily)
> tell rules. rub. chant.
Glen (as Claire)
Start by getting the camera then going through the yellow door this time.
> e.
Among the Trees
> 1. 2. take camera. w.
Glen
> open yellow door. s.
Subway Platform
> x bench. take card. x it.
> x ad. x schedule. x map. x turnstiles.
I know the rules said not to go down, but nothing is enforcing those rules.
> d.
Tracks
> x rails. x cutters. take them.
> w.
Too dark to see / tunnel
This is the same tunnel that was in walkthrough 2, but the connections to the basement or tower of babel aren't here until the suited man is untied.
> turn on camera.
> x corpses. search corpses. (no)
> e. u.
Subway Platform
> turn off camera.
> swipe card. u.
Street, by the subway entrance
> take bag. x it.
> x heavy doors. x chain.
> x unassuming door. x ornate door.
> cut chain. (with the bolt cutters)
> n.
Dining Room
> x tables. x spoiled meat.
> take meat. (no: not with bare hands)
> x swinging doors. open them. (can't)
> s. e.
Empty Space
According to the rules, clocks are traps, but I don't see any problem here.
> x clock. open clock. (can't)
> x face. x pendulum. take it. (can't)
> search clock. (not unless you're worthy)
> x carpet. x paneling. touch it. (vinyl?)
> w. w.
Street, at the far end from the subway platform
> x buildings. x accident. x minivan. x sedan.
> open minivan. x corpse. open sedan.
> x sturdy door. x water. x revolving door.
> open sturdy door. (no: too dangerous)
> w.
hollow skeleton
> x struts. x wind. listen. listen to wind.
> x dirt. dig dirt. x sky.
> e. n.
Lobby
> x elevator. open elevator. (can't)
> u.
Waiting Room
> 1. (Ask who he is.)
> 1. (Say Dad is dead. Charlie denies it.)
> 1. (Ask where Dad is.)
> 2. (How does he know? )
> 1. (Ask about work.)
> 1. (Ask why Charlie can't get Dad.)
> 1. (Say board isn't agitated.)
> 1. (bye)
> x intern. (He's not in a suit.)
> x desk. x board.
> n. (Charlie stops you.)
> u.
Atop a Skyscraper
> take paper. read it. (Need to go to highest point.)
> d. d. s. e. s.
Field, north side
> x tower. s.
Base of the Tower
> x ladder. u.
Climbing the Tower
> u. u. u. u. (not making progress)
> d. e.
Field, east side
> x fly. (a horsefly)
> ride fly. (it's skittish)
> sw.
Field, south side
The horsefly follows you while you're in the field.
> nw. nw.
Beach
> x boats. x water. look in water.
> x radios. turn on radios.
> listen to radios. g. g. g. turn radios off.
> x bike. x sand. dig.
> s.
Edge of the Trees
> x towers. x trees.
> w. s. w. n. e.
Uncanny Foyer
> open door. (locked)
> e.
Uncanny Kitchen
> open cabinets. take gloves.
> w. u.
Uncanny Hallway
> x blue door. x green door.
> w.
Bedroom
> x bed. look under bed. x something.
> x table. take key. x it.
> e. s.
Bathroom
> x small cube. (toilet)
> x medium cube. (sink)
> x large cube. (shower)
> touch it.
> n. d.
Foyer
> unlock door with key. n.
Error Avenue
> x sign. x our house. x houses. x road. x bus.
> enter bus.
Inside the Schoolbus
Claire starts talking with Emily's voice, asking Claire if she found him. The conversation is much like the one you had with the intern, with an insistence on untying your dad in the basement.
> 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. (you leave the bus)
Error Avenue
> 1 (Was Tiff there? Yes, but asleep.)
> 1 (Was Claire there? Only as herself.)
> 1 (Claire confirms it was them in the bus.)
> 1 (Do we trust what they say? Claire does.)
> 1 (What she does is up to you.)
> s. e. d.
Too dark to see / Basement
> turn on camera.
CAUTION: There's a BUG with the conversation tree here. I think it happens if you pick the tell-her-to-stop option right away.
The conversation with Dad can be the same as in walkthrough 2:
> 1. 1. 1. 1. 2.
> 1. 1. 1. 1. 1.
> u. w. w.
Uncanny Living Room
> 2. 3. 1.
> e. e. d.
Basement
You should know that untying your Dad is very dangerous, and once he's untied, the only place you can wake up from is the top of that tower that you couldn't climb all the way up to.
> save
> untie Dad. 1.
This time, don't follow Dad.
> u.
Kitchen
> cut padlock. (with cutters)
> open fridge. (empty?)
> enter fridge.
Dining Room
> wear gloves. take meat. put meat in bag.
> n. w. n. in.
Inside the Schoolbus
The girls are now mannequins.
> x Jen. x Tiffany. x Emily.
> out. s. e. in. s. w. n. u.
Waiting Room
These guys are mannequins too.
> x intern. x board.
> d. s. e. s.
Field, north side
If the fly isn't here, walk around the tower until you find it again.
> give meat to fly. ride fly.
Atop the Tower
> x railing. x hole. x ladder.
> wake. yes.
Living Room
Everyone wants pizza rolls.
> e.
Glen
All four of you are now in the snowy glen. A suited stranger is there.
*** He opens his arms to welcome you. ***
Real world characters:
Dreamworld characters:
Mentioned:
This is the response to CREDITS:
Red Door Yellow Door was written by Charm Cochran using Inform 7. It was originally for SeedComp! 2023. It uses the seeds Red Door Yellow Door by Mathbrush, List of Dreams by KADW, after the accident by sophia de augustine, and Liminal Room by KnightAnNi.
Red Door Yellow Door includes the following extensions:
- Numbered Disambiguation Choices by Aaron Reed;
- Hybrid Choices by AW Freyr;
- Assorted Text Generation, Basic Screen Effects, Glulx Text Effects, Locksmith, Plurality, and Simple Followers by Emily Short;
- Alternatives, Bulk Limiter, Epistemology, and (lightly edited versions of) Underside and Hiding Under by Eric Eve;
- Prepositional Correctness and (a lightly edited version of) Enterable Underside by Gavin Lambert;
- Rideable Vehicles by Graham Nelson;
- (a lightly edited version of) Easy Doors by Hanon Ondricek;
- Far Away by Jon Ingold; and
- Large Game Speedup by Nathanael Nerode.
Special thanks to the people responsible for SeedComp!: Manonamora, Lucian Smith, punkunz, MiloMesdag, and Dercomai. Special thanks, too, to Brian Rushton, for organizing Spring Thing 2023. Additional special thanks to Graham Nelson, for creating Inform.
Thanks to those who tested this game with remarkable quickness, and who deserve much credit and no blame: Max Fog, Peter M.J. Gross, Caitlyn Joy, Nathan Ray, Mike Russo, Tommy Sullivan-Lovett, and Amanda Walker.
This game raises a lot of questions with no answers. I wanted to know who wrote the charred paper and captured your father. I wanted to know who or what your father truly was. I wanted to know what's the deal with the clock and so many other strange things. If there's a fourth ending that explains more about what's going on, I never found it. If there's a fourth ending where Claire defeats her inner demons, I never found it. I couldn't find any evidence that a fourth ending even exists.
Honorable mention:
This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with
Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!