Key & Compass presents:
Search for the Lost Ark
by Garry Francis

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Amusing, Biblical verses, Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map

• "Up a Tree" is reached by going up or climbing a tree in any forest location.
• "Roof of Vicarage" is reached by going up from any of the four sides of the vicarage as long as the ladder is there.

Walkthrough

Outside Church

> x me. i. x cassock. x collar.

> x steeple. x shadow. x church.

> e.

Nave of Church

> x pews. look under pews.

> x noticeboard. read notice. read jokes. g. g. g.

> x stoup. x water. x door. open it. (locked)

> e.

Transept

> open door. (locked)

> e.

Sanctuary

> x altar. x candle. take it.

> x lectern. x Bible. (It's in English.)

> read Bible. look up contents in Bible.

> take Bible. read message.

NOTE: The exact chapter and verse will be randomized! Make notes.

> look up Numbers NN:NN in Bible.

> x pulpit.

> w. s.

South Transept

> x brochures. x books. x matches. take it.

Note: The candle blows out when you go outside.

> n. w. w. w.

Path

> x billboard. (back side)

> x gate. open it. s.

Road

> x billboard. x notice. read it.

> x trench. x shovel. take it.

> x dirt. x hammer. take it.

> w.

End of Road

> x cars.

> e. n.

Path

> close gate. e. s.

Graveyard

> x graves. read stones. ("Father André Matisse. 24 Sep 1850 - 18 Apr 1933")

> x earth. dig earth. (with shovel)

> x coffin. open it. x body. x key. take it.

BURY COFFIN doesn't work, but FILL GRAVE does.

> close coffin. fill grave. drop shovel.

> n. e.

Nave of Church

> unlock door. (with silver key)

> open door. n. u.

Steeple

> x steps. x forest. x graveyard.

> x roof. (too far to read what's on it)

> x steeple. read engraving. ("Exodus EE:EE")

> look up Exodus EE:EE in Bible.

> x suit. take it.

> d. s. e.

Transept

> unlock door. (with silver key)

> open door. n.

North Transept

> x relics. x crucifix. take it.

> s.

Transept

> close door. lock it.

> w. w. n. e.

Cave Entrance

> x wall. hit wall with hammer. drop hammer.

> light candle. (with matches)

> e.

Cave

> x rubble. read writing. ("Deuteronomy DD:DD")

> look up Deuteronomy DD:DD in Bible.

> x dynamite. take it.

> w. w.

South Forest

The candle blows out again when you leave the cave.

> x trees. u.

Up a Tree

Nothing here, but there's a view.

> d. n. n. w.

Clearing West of Forest

> x stump. x seal. read it. ("CRISTI DE TEMPLO")

We'll return here later.

> e. s. s. s. w. w.

East of Vicarage

> x vicarage.

> s. w.

West of Vicarage

> open door. e.

Living Room

I noted immediately that "Alucard" is Dracula backwards.

> x Alucard.

> x curtains. open curtains. (Alucard stops you.)

> ask him about himself. ask him about church.

> ask him about God. ask him about Matisse.

> ask him about vampire. ask him about Bible.

He has more topics, but nothing you need to hear.

> show crucifix to Alucard. (He burns to ashes in a flash.)

> x ashes. search ashes. take iron key.

> open curtains.

> unlock bedroom door with iron key. open it. n.

Bedroom

> x image. x bed.

> look under bed. x ladder. take it.

> s. w.

West of Vicarage

> drop ladder. u.

Roof of Vicarage

> x roof. read painting. ("Leviticus LL:LL")

> look up Leviticus LL:LL in Bible.

> d. n. n. w.

Shore of Pond

> x pond. x edge. swim. (no, too cold)

> remove cassock. wear suit. drop all.

> n. d.

Bottom of Pond

> x reeds. pull reeds. n.

Underwater Grotto

> x boulder. read carving. ("Genesis GG:GG")

> s. u. s.

Shore of Pond

> remove suit. take all but suit. wear cassock.

> look up Genesis GG:GG in Bible.

Head back to the clearing:

> e. s. e. e. e.

> n. n. n. w.

Clearing West of Forest

> x roots. x hole.

> put dynamite in hole. light it. (with matches)

> e.

North Forest

> z. z. w.

Clearing West of Forest

> x hole. d.

Hole

If you look carefully at the Biblical verses you looked up, each one has a number. Sort them in the order they're in the Bible — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy — and that's the five-digit code you need to enter.

> x chest. enter CODE.

> open chest. x Ark. x lid. x cherubim.

> x rings. x staves. take Ark.

> u. e. s. s. s. e. e. e.

Sanctuary

> put Ark on altar.

*** You have won ***

> amusing

Extras

Amusing

This is the response to AMUSING after you've won the game:

Have you tried:

• Examining yourself.
• Using FART, JUMP, PRAY, SING, THINK or the magic word XYZZY.
• Reading the notice on the billboard outside the gate.
• Examining the shovel and the sledge hammer.
• Examining the cars or carriages at the end of the road.
• Searching, smelling or taking the body of Father Matisse.
• Taking the coffin.
• Filling in the grave.
• Drinking the holy water in the stoup.
• Reading the notice and the jokes on the noticeboard in the nave.
• Sitting, standing or lying on the pews, the bed and the stump.
• Putting anything other than the Bible on the lectern.
• Going any direction other than down in the steeple or on the vicarage roof.
• Asking Father Alucard about himself, me, accent, Ark, Bible, Canaan, church, commandments, council, cross, crucifix, Jesus, love, God, Matisse, Moses, the five books of Moses, Romania, vicarage, Yahweh and (most importantly) vampires.
• Removing your cassock anywhere other than the pond.
• Removing your underwear at the pond.
• Examining the shore at the pond.
• Drinking the water in the pond before and after diving to the bottom.
• Climbing a tree in the forest, then using HINT.
• Moving the stump using (say) PULL or PUSH.
• Lighting the dynamite while you're holding it.
• Blowing up the stump and not moving away to safety.

Biblical verses

Which Biblical verses you find in the game are randomized, but you'll see one from each of the five Books of Moses. These are the verses I saw when I first played the game, I'm listing them in book order, and I'm highlighting any numbers mentioned:

• Genesis 6:19 (grotto)
• 'And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.'
• Exodus 25:34 (steeple)
• 'And in the candlesticks shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.'
• Leviticus 16:1 (roof)
• 'And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died;'
• Numbers 19:11 (sanctuary)
• 'He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.'
• Deuteronomy 24:5 (cave)
• 'When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.'

Together, these verses gave me the code 24271. But when I played again to test my walkthrough, I saw five completely new verses and the code that time was 66427.

Characters

• Father Alucard is in the vicarage's living room. He's Father Matisse's successor, but he's also a vampire.
• The Vicar of Dibley appears briefly when you say XYZZY, but he leaves when he sees you're not Alice.

Found dead:

• Father Matisse is buried in his coffin. He liked jokes and puns. He's the one who hid the Ark.

Mentioned:

• Louis Charpentier wrote about the Ark of the Covenant.
• The Knights Templar took the Ark to the Chartres Cathedral.
• The Church Council gave you your mission.
• Parishioners attend church on Sunday.
• St Peter is mentioned if you try to walk off the steeple or roof, and again if you die in the explosion.

Credits

This is the response to CREDITS:

Concept by Jeff Smith.
Game design and coding by Garry Francis.
Play testing by Jade J Aincioa, John Ziegler, Larry Horsfield, Max Fog, Reiko Yukawa, Trenton Thompson and VanishingSky.

Endings

• You have died
• if you're still in the clearing when the dynamite explodes.
• You have won
• if you put the Ark of the Covenant onto the altar.

Inventory

Note: You have a carrying limit of TEN items, not counting things you're wearing.

In the order acquired in this walkthrough:

• your cassock. You're wearing it.
• You are only willing to remove your cassock when at the shore of the pond, and only because you must remove it to wear the diving suit. After you're done with the pond, remove the suit and wear the cassock again.
• a candle. It's on the altar in the sanctuary.
• Although it's lit initially, the candle is always blown out whenever you take it outside.
• In the cave entrance, light the candle with the matches so you can see when exploring the darker east part of the cave.
• a holy Bible. It's on the lectern in the sanctuary.
• Take the Bible to reveal a message on the lectern.
• Look up the contents in the Bible to get a reminder what the five books of Moses are, and in what order.
• Look up every Bibilical reference you find in the Bible; see Biblical verses. Note that every verse mentions a number.
• a box of matches. It's in the south transept.
• In the cave entrance, light the candle with the matches.
• In the clearing, after putting the dynamite into the hole that's under the stump, light the dynamite with the matches.
• a shovel. It's in the trench by the road outside the gate.
• In the graveyard, dig the earth with the shovel to reveal a coffin.
• After acquiring the silver key, you should close the coffin and fill the grave, but this is optional.
• a sledge hammer. It's by the road outside the gate.
• In the cave entrance, hit the wall with the hammer. The wall is now rubble.
• a silver key. It's in Father Matisse's coffin; see shovel.
• The silver key unlocks both locked doors in the church.
• a diving suit. It's in the steeple.
• At the shore of the pond, remove your cossack, wear the diving suit, and drop everything else. Now you can explore the pond.
• After you're done with the pond, remove the suit, wear the cossack, and pick up all your other stuff.
• a crucifix. It's in the north transept.
• In the vicarage's living room, show the crucifix to Father Alucard. He promptly burns up into ashes.
• a stick of dynamite. It's in the cave.
• In the clearing, examine the stump's roots and note the hole. Put the dynamite in the hole and light the dynamite with the matches. Retreat to "North Forest" and wait for the explosion. Return to the clearing; there's now a large hole where the stump was.
• an iron key. Find it by searching the ashes in the living room. The ashes are there after showing the crucifix to Father Alucard.
• The iron key unlocks the bedroom door in the vicarage.
• a ladder. It's under the bed in the bedroom.
• Drop the ladder at "West of Vicarage" (or any of the other three sides of the vicarage) then go up to reach the roof.
• your underwear. You're already wearing it, but it's not visible until you remove your cassock at the shore.
• You are unwilling to ever remove your underwear.
• the Ark of the Covenant. It's in the chest in the large hole in the clearing; the large hole is made when you blow up the stump with dynamite.
• ENTER CODE to unlock the chest; this five-digit code is clued by the five Biblical verses referenced elsewhere in the game. The verses and code are randomized.
• In the sanctuary, put the Ark onto the altar to win the game.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

• the support of Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, Phil Tatro, Mitch, and Peter Berman;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen, Matthew Foxley, Thomas Insel, and Marius Müller;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer, Lance Campbell, and DrkStarr;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Jennifer Rexrode, and Durafen;
• and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.

Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!