In this game, you play as Nakaibito "Knock" Morales. You just drove your pickup truck deep into the desert and crashed into a saguaro. What were you thinking? Were you thinking at all? Grandma said you have three animal guardians who watch over you. Tonight, you could really use their help.
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.
Note that you can, of course, reach the Open Desert from any outdoor ground-level location by going in almost any direction away from the map's other locations.
Walkthrough
Middle of Nowhere
Note: It's pitch dark here. You can only see because your truck's headlights are on.
> x me. i.
> think about stories.(Grandma says you have three animal guardians who watch over you.)
> x lighter. x jacket. x wallet.
> x photo.(no, not yet)
> open wallet. x license. x receipt.
> think about shit job.
> x jade. take it.
> x saguaro. x lizard.
> open glove box. x pack. take it.
> x truck. out.
> x truck.(The fuel line's ripped and you're out of gas.)
> n.
Crumbling Concrete
The jade isn't the only thing you can break the window with, but it's the handiest.
> throw jade at window.
> enter window —or— in.
Staging Area
> light lighter.(You spot a desk.)
> touch desk. open drawer.
> take flashlight. turn it on.
> take jade.
> x hole. take tape.(no: not with cobwebs there)
> n.
Foreman's Office
> take key. think about Ocean.
> x poster.(emergency freq is 102.3kHz)
> s. e.
Break Room
> x radio.(on/off switch, dial set to 77.2kHz)
> turn it on.(no power)
> x cage. x blanket.
> open cage.(locked)
> unlock cage with key.(The key snaps.)
> break cage.(can't)
> n.
Storage Room
> x panel. turn on lights.
> x cans. x cabinet. open it. look in it.(empty)
> u.
Roof
> x barrel. push barrel.(too heavy)
> d. d. s. w. out. n.
Base of the Tower
You don't need the tin can.
> x can. x tower.
> se.
Weed-strewn Rust
You need the flashlight to see here.
> take guidebook. read it.
> look up lizard in it.
> think about high school.
> open photo. x ultrasound.
> think about news.(You need to make a decision.)
> w. in. e.
Break Room
The radio won't work unless you turned on the building's power.
> turn on radio.
> set radio to 102.3
> ask him about what that means.
> tell him about being lost.
> say yes.
There's a huge cold front coming, and no rescue until morning. You need to find a way home yourself or get food and shelter for the night, or you'll freeze to death.
> turn off radio.
> w. out.
Crumbling Concrete
You see movement to the west; this won't happen until after the radio conversation. It might not happen immediately, wait if necessary.
> w.
Open Desert (several locations)
You've lost sight of the tower and your truck. You may see random things in the desert like a boulder, lizard skin, or a dead cow; ignore them. But do follow any movement you see that's a specific direction.
Yes, you can stubbornly wander in whatever direction you like, but you won't get anywhere unless you follow the distant movement.
> z.(repeat until you see movement again)
> FIRST-DIRECTION.
> SECOND-DIRECTION.
> THIRD-DIRECTION.
> FOURTH-DIRECTION.
Burrow
> x rabbit.(It asks you what's up.)
> look up rabbit in guidebook.
> ask him about himself.
> ask him about grandma.
> ask him about knows.
You acquire the graduation night memory.
> think about graduation.
> tell him that you don't know.
To help you decide what to do, he offers a trade for either strength or courage.
> ask him about trading.(What you trade will be changed.)
> ask him about strength.(Needed to survive the night.)
> ask him about courage.(Needed to return to Ocean.)
> trade cigarettes for strength.(no: he only wants memories)
Take inventory if you don't remember what memories you have. You must trade one of them, such as the last day of high school, for either strength or courage:
> trade MEMORY for strength.
> trade MEMORY for courage.
He tells you the others are coming, and to "Look up."
> look up.
Backtracking
> n. n. in.
Staging Area
If you have courage:
> take tape.
Continue:
> e.
Break Room
If you have strength:
> break cage. take blanket. wear it.
Continue:
> n. u.
Roof
If you have strength:
> push barrel.
Continue, either climbing the pushed barrel or jumping with courage:
> u.
Control Center
> take opener.
> smell.(Its source isn't obvious.)
> search junk.(You find nothing.)
> d.
Roof
If necessary, wait around until the rain stops and you smell sage and acquire the Family Guy memory.
> think about Family Guy.
> d.
Storage Room
> take can. g.(Unluckily, you keep finding unedible spoiled food.)
> s. w. out.
Crumbling Concrete
A figure in the distance waves to you.
> w.
Open Desert (again)
The direction you go doesn't matter.
> s. s. s. s.
Eventually, coyotes surround you.
> hit coyote.(Most of the coyotes slink away, but one stays, and suddenly it's just a guy.)
> x guy.(He offers you a cigarette.)
> say no.
> look up coyote in guidebook.(missing page)
> ask him about himself.
> ask him about rabbit.
> ask him about advice.(he declines)
> ask him about business.
He offers luck or scent, and the cost is two memories.
> ask him about luck.
> ask him about scent.
If you have strength, you want luck.
If you have courage, you want scent.
Take inventory if you don't remember what memories you have. You must trade two of them for either luck or scent:
> trade MEMORY for luck.(do twice)
> trade MEMORY for scent.(do twice)
Coyote tells you that Sand-dancer is next. You're back at...
Base of the Tower
> s. in. e. n.
Storage Room
If you have luck:
> take food.(You find and eat mandarin oranges, take another can for later, and get a memory about perfume.)
If you have the perfume memory now:
> think about perfume.
Continue:
> u. u.
Control Center
If you have scent, you smell gasoline under a metal sheet:
> move sheet. take gas can. x it.
If you have the road trips memory now:
> think about road trips.
Continue:
> d. d. s. w.
Staging Area
> out.
Instead, the ground shakes and sand starts pouring in! Find another exit!
> e. n. u.
Roof
The shaking stops, lizards dance around you, then a huge lizard is here. That's Sand-dancer.
> x lizard.
> say hello.
> ask him about himself.
If you have the tape and oranges, he offers either the emergency blanket or the gas can. Pick one.
> take blanket —or— take gas can.
Likewise, if you have the blanket and gas can, he offers either the tape or oranges. Pick one.
> take tape —or— take oranges.
He asks if you're happy with your story.
> say yes —or— say no —or— tell him you're not sure.
If you have both the blanket and oranges, he offers spirit for three memories.
If you have both the tape and gas can, he offers honor for three memories.
Regardless, he also offers freedom for all your memories.
> ask him about spirit.(for staying the night)
> ask him about honor.(for returning to Ocean.)
> ask him about freedom.(for unmaking the past)
Take inventory if you don't remember what memories you have. You must now trade for spirit or honor or freedom:
> trade MEMORY for spirit.(three times)
> trade MEMORY for honor.(three times)
> trade MEMORY for freedom.(for every memory you have)
You now have your final gift and are returned to...
Crumbling Concrete
> in.(or any other direction)
If you have spirit, you spend the night safely and are rescued in the morning. You head west, wade into the Pacific, and you crash.
If you have honor, you fix the truck, drive back to Ocean, and crash in her bed.
If you have freedom, your life starts playing backwards, but you can't stop it when you want to. Your life continues to unspool until you were never born.
Regardless:
*** The End ***
Extras
Characters
Nakaibito "Knock" Morales is the player-character, Native American and barely 18 years old. You live in Oro Oeste, New Mexico.
A little brown lizard is on the cactus you hit with your truck.
A voice on the radio advises you to either fix your truck and drive home, or to wait to get rescued in the morning.
Rabbit offers you a trade in its burrow.
Coyote offers you a trade in the open desert. It first appears as a pack of coyotes, then as just a guy.
Sand-dancer offers you a trade on the roof. It's accompanied by hundreds of smaller lizards.
Ocean Running Deer is your girl and she's having your baby. You reunite with her in one of the endings.
Mentioned:
Grandma told you some interesting stories.
Mom named you after the town Nakaibito because it sounded like a good Indian name.
Karl, aka Mr. Morales, is not your real dad.
Jimmy Kay of the highway patrol sometimes pulls you over to buy you a beer and talk about your dad.
Big Jimmy gave you your shit job in Juza. Little Jimmy is presumably his adult son.
Mr. Cox is the fat bald principal at your former high school. Mrs. Burke was your pissy old teacher. They both falsely accused you of cheating and wanted to make an example of you.
Endings
All three endings end with the The End epitaph, but they're quite different.
Freedom ending. If you acquire freedom from Sand-dancer, your life rewinds backwards until your entire life is erased.
Spirit ending. If you acquire spirit from Sand-dancer, you survive the night and are rescued in the morning. Instead of going home, however, you head west until you wade into the Pacific and crash.
Honor ending. If you acquire honor from Sand-dancer, you fix your truck, drive back to Ocean, and crash in her bed.
Inventory
Initial items
This is the stuff you brought with you: everything you're initially carrying, wearing, or have somewhere in your truck.
a lighter. You're carrying it.
In the staging area, light the lighter to spot the desk; see flashlight.
With the lighter, you can smoke a cigarette and get a nudge-like hint on what to do next.
When you first see the jade, you acquire the grandma's stories memory.
At the crumbling concrete, throw the jade at the window. You can now enter the broken window. (Other things can be thrown at the window instead, such as the tin can, lighter, and wallet.)
a pack of cigarettes you should have given up months ago. It's in your truck's glove box; you have six left.
Obviously, you shouldn't smoke, but you do have the option to light a cigarette (with the lighter) and get a nudge-like hint on what to do next.
Found items
a roll of duct tape. It's in a hole in the staging area, blocked by scary cobwebs.
If you have courage, you can take the tape easily.
You can also opt to take the tape from Sand-dancer if you have the blanket and gas can.
The tape and gas can are prerequisites for obtaining honor.
a rusty tin can. It's at the base of the tower.
At crumbling concrete, you can throw the can at the window to break it, but you can use the jade (or other things) to do that task. You don't really need this can.
a flashlight. It's in the desk drawer in the staging area. To find the desk, either try to go somewhere in the dark, or turn on the lighter. Touch the desk to find its drawer.
Turn it on so you can finally see properly in dark places. Don't worry about it running out of power.
After you turn on the building's lights in the storage room, you still need the flashlight for several of the outdoor locations.
a rusted key. It's on the desk in the foreman's office.
When you first see the key, you acquire the meeting Ocean memory.
The key should unlock the mesh cage in the break room, but instead, the key snaps and crumples into useless fragments when you try to use it.
a weather-worn guidebook. It's on a barrel in the weed-strewn rust.
In the storage room, if you have both luck and the can opener, you acquire canned oranges when you take food from the shelves. (Without luck, you won't find anything edible.)
canned oranges. They're on the shelves in the storage room, but you only find them by taking food when you have both a can opener and luck.
You can also opt to take oranges from Sand-dancer if you have the blanket and gas can.
When you acquire the oranges, you also acquire the Ocean's perfume memory.
The blanket and oranges are prerequisites for obtaining spirit.
a gas can. It's under a sheet of corrugated metal in the control center, but you can only find that if you have scent.
You can also opt to take the gas can from Sand-dancer if you have the tape and oranges.
The tape and gas can are prerequisites for obtaining honor.
Memories
Brood about (or think about) your memories after you acquire them. With the animal guides, trade one or more memories as required for talents. Feel free to trade away whichever memories you don't want. There's no obvious penalty to losing any particular memory.
emotional baggage. You're carrying it.
All memories are stored in the baggage until you trade them away. The baggage is initially empty.
grandma's stories. It appears in your emotional baggage when you first see the piece of jade.
your shit job. It appears in your emotional baggage when you first see the receipt.
meeting Ocean. It appears in your emotional baggage when you first see the rusted key.
last day of high school. It appears in your emotional baggage when you first see the guidebook.
when you heard the news. It appears in your emotional baggage when you first see the ultrasound.
her graduation night. It appears in your emotional baggage when you first see the rabbit's bow tie, when the rabbit appears as the Playboy Bunny logo.
watching Family Guy with Karl. It appears in your emotional baggage when you first notice the sage on the roof after the rainstorm.
Ocean's perfume. It appears in your emotional baggage when you eat some canned oranges.
road trips through the desert. It appears in your emotional baggage when you find the gas can.
Talents
You will get one talent from Rabbit, one talent from Coyote, and one talent from Sand-dancer.
strength. Acquire it from Rabbit in the burrow by trading a memory for it.
With strength, you can break the locked wire mesh cage in the break room, enabling you to obtain the blanket.
On the roof, with strength, push the barrel. Now you can reach the usable rungs and go up into the control center.
courage. Acquire it from Rabbit in the burrow by trading a memory for it.
With courage, you can take the tape from the cobwebbed hole in the staging area.
On the roof, with courage, you can jump up to the usable rungs and go up into the control center.
luck. Acquire it from Coyote in the open desert by trading two memories for it.
In the storage room, if you have both luck and the can opener, you acquire canned oranges when you take food from the shelves.
scent. Acquire it from Coyote in the open desert by trading two memories for it.
In the control center, scent lets you find the gas can under a sheet of corrugated metal.
spirit. Acquire it from Sand-dancer on the roof by trading three memories for it.
Spirit is only offered if you have both the blanket and oranges.
Go anywhere with spirit to reach the spirit ending.
honor. Acquire if from Sand-dancer on the roof by trading three memories for it.
Honor is only offered if you have both the tape and the gas can.
Go anywhere with honor to reach the honor ending.
freedom. Acquire it from Sand-dancer on the roof by trading all your remaining memories.
Go anywhere with freedom to reach the freedom ending.
Thank You to my Patreon supporters
This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!
I create larger walkthroughs too! Please visit my Patreon account if you're interested in helping me create more interactive fiction walkthroughs. I appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks again.
Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!
