Key & Compass presents:
So, You've Never Played a Text Adventure Before, Huh?
by Ryan Veeder

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

Map

• Note: "Locked in a Chest!" is not on this map. You get there by entering the chest, which is originally at North End of Hallway. The only way out is by using UNDO.

Walkthrough

Bedroom

> x me. i. x flashlight.

> x bed. look under bed. take key. x it.

> x dust. x dresser.

> open dresser. x doily. take it.

> x vanity. x mirror.

> look in vanity. x comb. take it.

> comb hair. x mirror.

> x window. x power plant. x curtains.

> x ceiling. u. (can't go back that way)

> x door. open door. (locked)

> unlock door with key. open door. e.

Hallway

> x wallpaper. s.

South End of Hallway

> climb piano. (It's too tall.)

> n. n.

North End of Hallway

> x window. x chest. enter chest.

Locked in a Chest!

> undo

North End of Hallway

> push chest south.

Hallway

> push chest south.

South End of Hallway

> close chest. stand on chest. climb piano.

Parlor

> x piano. play it.

> x table. x couch. x longue.

> x panel. open it. x chute. x rope.

> d.

Top of Stairs

> x portrait. u.

Parlor

Heather is here, in the dumbwaiter car. She tells you it's safe to use, then descends.

> pull rope. x dumbwaiter. enter it.

Inside the Dumbwaiter

> pull rope. out.

Kitchen

> open cupboards. x saucer. take it.

> x Heather. talk to her.

Heather's flashlight dies. She asks you to find Casey, who has spare batteries.

> n. (Heather stops you.)

> w.

Dining Room

> x rectangle. (find nail hole)

> s.

Foyer

> x plaque. ("MORDRED")

> w. (no, you can't leave the others)

> e.

Bottom of Stairs

> x portrait.

> w. n. n.

Garden

> x Casey. x lion. x legs.

> x weeds. x bushes. x dirt.

> ask Casey about batteries. x batteries.

> ask Casey about house. ask Casey about pond.

> ask Casey about Heather.

> ask Casey about Orchid.

> ask Casey about Warbler.

> tell Casey about piano.

> tell Casey about portrait.

> s. e.

Kitchen

> give batteries to Heather. ("Good luck finding that shiny thing.")

> talk to Heather. (She's staying here.)

> x cavities.

> n.

Back Stairs

> u.

Attic

> x hole. x thing. (You pick up a lacquered box.)

> x cobwebs. x boards.

> d. d.

Basement

> x Orchid. x trunk. x newspapers.

> talk to Orchid.

> 1 (re falling)

> 3 (re box: She points out a hidden panel on it.)

> 1 (re dumbwaiter)

> 1 (re cool things)

> 1 (re teacup: She gives it to you.)

> 1 (re anything new: No.)

> x teacup.

> x panel. push panel. (tab slides out)

> pull tab. (A key falls out.)

> take key. x it.

> unlock box with steel key.

> open box. SPACE

*** Congratulations! ***

Extras

Characters

These characters all first appeared in Robin & Orchid (2013).

• Heather may first appear at the bottom of the stairs when you're at the top, and she may show you how to use the dumbwaiter, but she prefers to stay in the kitchen.
• Casey is in the garden, checking out the dry goldfish pond. He's your co-editor-in-chief on the West High Warbler and he has all the extra batteries.
• Orchid is rummaging through a massive trunk in the basement.

Mentioned:

• The plaque in the foyer says "MORDRED", and the portrait shows a man, so you can deduce that a Mr Mordred once lived here.

Credits

This is the response to CREDITS:

There are plenty of interactive fiction tutorials out there, but this is the only one written by me, Ryan Veeder. Hi.

The characters in this game previously appeared (to varying degrees) in Robin & Orchid, a game I wrote with Emily Boegheim for the 2013 Interactive Fiction Competition. You should look it up, if you're interested in finding out what these high school seniors were doing back when they were just juniors.

In implementing this game, I've intentionally left in a lot of rough edges that a punctilious author would usually sand down. My intent is to give new players a realistic idea of the difficulties that text parsers and their users experience, so that they'll be prepared when they run into under-implemented games in the future.

Here, now, are the names of my awesome beta testers: Emily Boegheim, Ashley Cardamone, Simon Carless, Hannah Carr-Murphy, Caroline Hlohowskyj, Toby Ott, Heidi Poe, Jenni Polodna, and Zach. Total experts, one and all.

Inventory

Items are listed in the order you acquire them in this walkthrough.

• your flashlight. You're carrying it.
• Just hold onto it. It's dark in this house.
• a brass key. Find it by looking under the bed in the bedroom.
• It unlocks the bedroom door.
• a doily. It's inside the dresser in the bedroom.
• SECRET

  : In the parlor, put the doily on the coffee table, then put the saucer on the doily.
• a comb. It's in the vanity drawer in the bedroom.
• You can comb your hair with it.
• a saucer. It's in the kitchen cupboards.
• SECRET

  : In the parlor, put the saucer on the doily, then put the teacup on the saucer.
• a pair of spare batteries. Casey has them; he's in the garden.
• Ask Casey about the batteries and he gives them to you.
• In the kitchen, give the batteries to Heather. Now she won't stop you from going to the back stairs.
• a lacquered box. It's the "shiny thing" in the attic.
• Tell Orchid about the box; she points out a hidden panel on one side.
• Push the panel to reveal a tab. Pull the tab; a steel key falls out. Unlock the box with the steel key. Opening the box ends the game with "Congratulations". The game never tells you what's inside the box; decide for yourself whether it's rare coins or an alien artifact or something else.
• a teacup. Orchid has it; she's in the basement.
• To get the teacup, navigate Orchid's conversation tree via "Have you found anything cool?" then "Can I have a look at that teacup?"
• SECRET

  : In the parlor, put the teacup on the saucer then sit (on either the couch or the longue) as the game suggests. An egg appears in the cup.
• a steel key. It's hiding in the puzzle mechanism of the lacquered box (which see).
• Unlock the box with the steel key.
• SECRET item 1

  : an egg. It appears in the teacup when you perform a specific ritual in the parlor: see doily, saucer, and teacup.

  • Break the egg to obtain a forget-me-not and an eggshell.
• SECRET item 2

  : a forget-me-not. Obtain this flower by breaking the egg.

  • You can wear the flower. Note that while it's in your hair, it's not listed in your inventory any more, but it's still there. Don't forget it!
  • By the way, combing your hair (with the comb) does not disturb or damage the forget-me-not in any way.
• SECRET item 3

  : an eggshell. This is what's left of the egg after you break it.

  • It's useless.

Honorable mention:

• your hair. Body parts are part of you and not normally listed in your inventory.
• You can comb your hair with the comb.
• SECRET

  : If you wear the forget-me-not, you put it in your hair.

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, Vivienne Dunstan, and Peter Berman;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen, Matthew Foxley, and Thomas Insel;
• 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, Marius Müller, 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!