Tookie's Song is a Z-machine 5 interactive fiction game written with Inform 6 and is © 2002 by Jessica Knoch. It was entered in IF Comp 2002 where it took 7th place. At the 2002 XYZZY Awards, it was a finalist in two categories (Best NPCs and Best Puzzles).
Cat aliens from the planet Purrsimmon have stolen your pet dog, Tookie! Rescue him by solving all the various light-hearted puzzles they've set up for you!
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
Central Well
> about. (The EXITS command is supported.)
> x me. i. x leash. u.
> x well. look in well. x keys.
> take keys. (A water weird stops you!)
> x weird.
> n.
Circular Tunnel, North Side
One might describe the rubber-like door as "springy".
> x door. open door. touch door.
> se.
Circular Tunnel, East Side
The plus-signs are meant to suggest, in a punning way, that this is a "sum-mer" door.
> x door. open door. touch door.
> sw.
Circular Tunnel, South Side
A "dropping" door is one that can fall. It's a "fall" door.
> x door. open door. touch door. (A leafy-looking dropping door, locked.)
> x ladder. take it.
> nw.
Circular Tunnel, West Side
> x door. open door. touch door.
So, the doors have a seasonal theme: spring (north), summer (east), fall (south), and winter (west). Regardless of the theme, we need the keys from the well.
> e.
Central Well
> look up. (+1; The keys are really on the ceiling.)
> drop ladder. open ladder. climb ladder.
Central Well, on top of the ladder
> take keys. (+3)
> x keys. (They match up with the four doors we've seen.)
> i. x icicle key. x resilient key. x plus key. x dropping key.
> d. n.
Circular Tunnel, North Side
> unlock door with resilient key. n.
Earthy Garden
> x plants. x dirt. x earthworm. take it.
> x path. nw.
Large Cavern, South
CAUTION: If you go down into the chasm, you die.
> x chasm. se. ne.
Underground Forest Glen
Leon, an alien cat, asks you a riddle. It's a rather well-known riddle.
If you just SAY EGG, he accepts the answer, but says he would've been more impressed if you showed your answer to him.
> x Leon. x pine tree. x nest. look in nest.
> x egg. x robin. take egg. (The robin prevents you.)
> give worm to robin. take egg. (+2)
> show egg to Leon. (+3. He steps aside from the northwest exit.)
We can ask Leon about some topics. Leon's the leader, but he won't give Tookie back until you finish the game. Also, this underground area is all for you and the game.
> ask Leon about Tookie. ask Leon about Leon.
> ask Leon about cats. ask Leon about Gus. ask Leon about game.
> nw.
Spring Display Room
> x statue. x pedestal. x green.
> take emerald. (+5)
> exits. sw.
Large Cavern, North
> x stones. ne. se. sw. s. e.
Circular Tunnel, East Side
> unlock door with plus key. e.
Home Office
> x desk. x pencil. x paper. (Syntax: write "message".)
> take pencil and paper. x tables. x machines.
> x computer. x fax. x phone. x scanner. x copier. (They're all fake.)
> e.
Kitchen
> x cabinet. open it. x mix. x mug. take mix and mug.
> x microwave. x counter. x sink. (dry)
> e.
Bathroom
> x sink. (also decorative)
> x cabinet. open it. x tablet. x drug. take tablet and drug.
> x toilet. x tub. x shower.
> w. u.
Stair Landing
> x Hank. x door. x wallpaper.
> ask Hank about Hank. (He's hungry and cold. Bet he'd like hot soup.)
> ask Hank about soup. (Yeah, that's what he wants.)
> ask Hank about door. ask Hank about Tookie. ask Hank about cats.
> ask Hank about Earth. ask Hank about home. (Purrsimmon.)
> ask Hank about Leon. ask Hank about Gus.
> ask Hank about coffee. (Hank's allergic to it.)
> d. w. w. w.
Central Well
> put tablet in well. (+3; weird gone)
> look in well. x water.
> open packet. look in packet. x powder.
Note that "put powder in mug" doesn't work unless you take the powder first.
> x packet. empty packet into mug.
> fill mug. look in mug. e. e. e.
Kitchen
> open oven. put mug in oven.
> close oven. turn it on. (+2; You have the mug of soup.)
> x mug. smell mug. u.
Stair Landing
> give mug to Hank. (+3; He steps away from the door.)
> e.
Summer Display Room
> x statue. x red. take ruby. (+5)
> w. d. w. w. s.
Circular Tunnel, South Side
> unlock door with dropping key. s. s.
Aquarium
Eddie, another alien cat, asks you to solve a math problem. If you need to hear it again, ASK EDDIE ABOUT QUESTION.
> x Eddie. x tank. x squid. x water. x hole.
> x shoes. take shoes. wear shoes. (They're bouncy.)
> ask Eddie about Tookie. ask Eddie about squid. ask Eddie about tank.
> ask Eddie about Eddie. ask Eddie about cats. ask Eddie about Purrsimmon.
> ask Eddie about Leon. ask Eddie about Hank. ask Eddie about Gus.
> ask Eddie about question.
"Alice leaves city A at 9:20 a.m., traveling east toward city B at a speed of 60 miles per hour. Ten minutes later, at 9:30, Bob leaves city B (78 miles away from city A) headed west on the same road that Alice is on. Bob's running late, so he is driving at 76 miles per hour. What time will it be when Bob and Alice are at the same position on the road?"
First, figure out where Alice is at 9:30, when Bob starts his trip. At 60 mph, Alice travels at 1 mile per minute, so in the ten minutes between 9:20 and 9:30, she's gone 10 miles, so when Bob starts, they're 78 − 10 = 68 miles apart.
Now you can add their speeds together and try to figure out what percentage of the distance each of them takes. 60 + 76 = 136, oh, but that's also 68 times 2. Forget about percentages and just divide the numbers by two:
Alice goes 30 miles in a half-hour. Bob goes 38 miles in a half-hour. That makes up the entire remaining 68 miles. So they meet exactly a half-hour after Bob starts, at 10:00 am.
Unfortunately, there's some awkwardness in telling Eddie the answer. He doesn't recognize "say 10" or "say 10:00" or "say 10 am".
> say ten. (+3; He stands aside.)
> s.
Autumn Display Room
> x statue. x glint. take garnet. (+5)
> n. n. u.
Space Bar
The bar furnishings aren't implemented, so don't bother with them.
> x Gus. x hole. look in hole.
> ask Gus about bar. ask Gus about Gus. ask Gus about hole.
> ask Gus about drinks. ask Gus about Tookie.
> ask Gus about cats. (Long answer! Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game reference!)
> ask Gus about Eddie. ask Gus about Leon. ask Gus about Hank.
> ask Gus about Purrsimmon. ask Gus about earth. (Another HHGG ref!)
> n. d.
Basement
> x case. x textbook. open case. (How?)
> break case. (Using just your hands doesn't work.)
> look up. (The hole is there, but you can't examine it from this side.)
Before heading over the west side's icicle door, let's take a brief detour and use our new moonshoes to jump over the chasm. There's some points for doing that.
> u. n. n. n. n. nw.
Large Cavern, South
You must be wearing the moonshoes for this to work.
> jump. (+3)
Large Cavern, North
> jump. se. s. w.
Circular Tunnel, West Side
> unlock door with icicle key. w.
Bowling Alley
Fred, yet another alien, invites you to "bowl a few". He's the least friendly of the cats.
> x Fred. ask Fred about Fred. ask Fred about beer.
> x ball. x pins. w. (You must beat him in his own game.)
> ask Fred about bowling. ask Fred about ball. ask Fred about Purrsimmon.
> ask Fred about Tookie. ask Fred about cats.
> ask Fred about Leon. ask Fred about Hank.
> ask Fred about Gus. ask Fred about Eddie.
> take ball.
> bowl. bowl. bowl. bowl. (etc.)
Repeat bowl-ing about ten times or so until you get to a final score. Unfortunately, Fred plays a perfect game and you don't.
> push start button. (The board clears.)
> put drug in beer. (It's not as easy as that.)
> e. s. s. u.
Space Bar
> ask Gus about beer. ask Gus for beer. (He gives you one.)
> put drug in beer.
> put ball in hole. (+2)
> n. d.
Basement
Another way of solving Eddie's question is with the textbook. If you have the textbook, the paper, and the pencil, you can SOLVE QUESTION then GIVE PAPER TO EDDIE.
> take textbook and ball.
> u. n. w. w.
Bowling Alley
> give beer to Fred. (+2; Fred is now drugged.)
> bowl. g. g. (Continue to bowl until the game is over. Fred only gets gutter balls; +3.)
> w.
Winter Display Room
> x statue. x white. take diamond.
When you have all four jewels, you are teleported to a spaceship where you learn that Tookie is also an alien from Purrsimmon. In fact, he's the captain of the ship!
A new alien cat, Sam, tells you how you did in the game, listing what you did and didn't accomplish.
Tookie then tells you what the future will be like, but for now, rest during your journey to Purrsimmon!
*** You have won ***
> full
> amusing
This is the AMUSING text at game's end:
The following amusing actions have been placed in order from the most entertaining to least, since I know many of you have other things to do. Have you tried:
- the magic words xyzzy, plugh, and plover?
- eating the earthworm?
- entering the chasm?
- EXAMINE FOREST while in the Forest Glen?
- dropping the bowling ball on your toe?
- dropping other things on your toe?
- reading the alliterative FULLSCORE descriptions?
- rolling things other than the bowling ball? Just typing ROLL?
- touching each of the four keys individually?
- asking Gus about 'the aliens'?
- telling Gus to make you a particular drink?
- solving the math problem on your own, without game props?
- bridging the chasm with the ladder?
- dropping the dropping key?
- asking Leon about yourself?
- smelling the soup?
- typing the command SPRAY?
- BITE something? BITE the pencil?
- EXAMINE the pencil?
- following different things in the game?
- asking all of the NPCs about the others?
- X ME?
- touching the four doors?
- climbing out the passageway in the Central Well?
- showing Eddie the paper when it doesn't have the answer on it?
- taking the ladder while you're on it?
- putting the bleach tablet in a drink you got from Gus?
Okay, so by the end of the list they're really not so amusing. I warned you.
Finally, have you seen all three winning endings?
There's also a few non-sapient animals:
I note that, with the exception of the chasm, the game seems to go out of its way to prevent you from injuring or killing yourself or even making the game unwinnable. You can't directly attack any of the cats, the squid, or the water weird. You can't eat anything harmful or even unpleasant (except the earthworm). You can't get drunk drinking beer.
You have scored some-number out of a possible 50, in several turns, earning you the rank of ranking.
The score is made up as follows:
And the rankings are:
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