Room serial is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2012 by merricart.
In this short surreal game, you are but a shadow of your former self. You don't know who you are or what happened, but you do know you're in the 7th room. Your only powers are to look or to examine. An open green door beckons you, but you must first regain the power to enter before you can use it.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 2 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.
Your life was stolen. You are now a shadow, locked in a room.
CAUTION: The RESTORE command won't work in this game!
7th room
> powers. (You are limited to "look" and "examine".)
> x photograph. (It's of a woman.)
> x door. (It's open.)
> x walls. x words. ("The eye is the window to the soul")
> x eye. powers. (You've gained "go to" and "enter".)
> enter door.
6th room
> x blue door. (closed)
> x desk. (a note, "19th")
> x note. ("Trace your steps")
> x shelf. x vase. ("12:50")
> x foot print. ("June")
> go to foot print. (rumbling)
> go to desk. (rumbling)
> go to vase. (rumbling. Vase falls. You gain "touch".)
> touch blue door. (It opens.)
> enter blue door.
5th room
> x red door. x journal. ("The pain will jolt you to action.")
> x blue lamp. x green lamp. x yellow lamp. x red lamp.
To get all the lamps on, you need to touch them in the order suggested by the doors you've seen: green, blue, red, yellow.
> touch green lamp.
> x lights. x shadows. (find an alcove)
> x alcove. go to alcove.
> touch alcove. (A candle rises.)
> x candle. (It's unlit.)
> touch blue lamp.
> touch red lamp.
> touch yellow lamp. (The candle flares.)
The candle will light itself if you've found the candle and if all four lamps are on.
> x candle. touch flame.
> powers. (New: open and close.)
> open red door. enter red door.
4th room
> x yellow door. (closed)
> x calendar. (June 2nd and June 18th marked)
> x safe. open safe. (Needs a four letter passcode.)
> use passcode june. (wrong)
> use passcode 19th. (wrong)
> enter red door
5th room
> open journal.
> x diary.
> x diary.
These are the only two entries, so far.
> enter red door.
4th room
> use passcode bert.
> open safe. x gun.
> touch gun. (You can now listen and listen to.)
> listen. (humming)
> listen to yellow door. (click click click)
> g. (You unlock the door.)
> open yellow door. enter yellow door.
3rd room
> x orange door. (closed)
> x clock. x pendulum.
> x holes. x note. (Check journal again after setting the time.)
> touch pendulum. (Now you can set it.)
> set clock 12h50m
> enter yellow door. enter red door.
5th room
> x diary. g. g.
The June 19th entry tells you of Sally stuggling with Bert and a gun. Your new power can move objects.
> enter red door. enter yellow door.
3rd room
> move orange door. enter orange door.
2nd room
> x purple door. x mirror. x cabinet.
> open cabinet. (Needs five letter passcode.)
> use passcode sally.
> open cabinet. x ski hat.
> listen. listen to cabinet.
> move cabinet. x television.
You see a news story: Sally McKinney was shot by her ex-husband, Bert. You can now remember.
> remember hat. (Took a photo of us.)
> remember Sally. remember Bert.
Return to the 7th room with the photo:
> enter orange. enter yellow. enter red.
> enter blue door. enter green.
7th room
> x photo. remember photo.
> enter green door. enter blue door.
> enter red door. enter yellow door.
> enter orange door.
2nd room
> x mirror. remember me. (The door is unlocked.)
> open purple door. enter it.
1st room
> x white door. (open)
> x black door. (closed)
> x chair. touch chair. (check the calendar)
> enter purple. enter orange. enter yellow.
4th room
> x calendar. (June 19th is marked)
> remember calendar. (There was another date; check journal.)
> enter red.
5th room
> x diary. g. g. g.
You remember your name, Paula. New powers: to speak and to take.
Return to 1st room:
> enter red door. enter yellow door.
> enter orange door. enter purple door.
1st room
> enter white door.
You leave the closet long after Bert kills Sally. But at least you're alive.
*** You have won ***
> undo
> open black door. (You need your voice.)
> speak paula. (The black door opens.)
> take chair. (Now this works!)
> enter black door.
You emerge from the closet and smash Bert with the chair. You wake in the hospital, Sally by your side.
*** You have won ***
There's two endings, both with the *** You have won *** epitaph.
The easy ending is reached by entering the white door in 1st room. In this ending, you hide in the closet until the police arrive. You are safe, but Bert kills Sally.
The difficult ending is reached by entering the black door with the chair, and to open the black door, you must prove to the door that you know who you are by speaking your own name. In this ending, you emerge from the closet with the chair and smash Bert with it, knocking him out until the police arrive. Bert is arrested, and both you and Sally are safe.
You can't take INVENTORY in this game, but nevertheless, you are able to take one item.
Your true inventory is your POWERS, which are the commands you can use in the game.
CAUTION: It is somehow possible to learn some powers twice; this is a BUG. In particular, avoid reading the diary if your most recent power is "remember"; you'll regain "move" and suddenly "remember" doesn't work properly.
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