In this one-room comedy, you play as Peter Petibon, who wert the cabin boy of the pyrate ship, Queen Mab, until it sank. Now you're in a leaky jolly boat with the feckless Captain Booby and his pile of heavy treasure. Booby expects you to bail water for days, but if you truly want to avoid being shark food, you must throw all that treasure overboard.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the work.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of a work of interactive fiction. Please make an honest effort to play the work before reading this walkthrough.
When the game begins, the Captain is wielding a pistol, the boat will sink in 10 turns, and the excess weight is 125 pounds. You must periodically BAIL water with your bucket every so often to prevent disaster; this takes priority over other actions.
Start by examining what's visible.
> bail.(Sink in 12 turns.)
> x me. x jerkin. x slops. i. x bucket.
> bail.
> x boat. x sun. x sea. x sharks.
> bail.
> x Booby. x pistol. x treasure.
> bail.
> x coat. x left pocket.(not while he's armed!)
> x boots. x hat. x plume. x bag. x strap.
> bail.
Get rid of that pistol.
> fill bucket. throw water at Booby.
The pile of treasure is now several distinct items that you should now examine.
> x pearl. x barrel. x knothole.
> bail.
> x cage. x beaver.(note the weak eyes)
> x hurdy-gurdy. x label.
> x silver bar. x pineapple.
> bail.
> x handkerchief. x mirror.
> take it. x it.(The reflection hurts your eyes.)
> drop it.
> bail.
> x chest. x plant. x maw. x rum.
> x left pocket. x snuffbox. x biscuit.
> bail.
> x right pocket. x knife. x glass.
> take knife and glass.(You can pickpocket!)
> open knife. cut strap.(You get the bag.)
> bail.
> open bag. take tin and fuse. throw bag overboard.
> take pearl. throw it overboard.
> take silver bar. throw it overboard.
> bail.
> take hurdy-gurdy. throw it overboard.
> take pineapple. throw it overboard.
> open tin. x gunpowder. put gunpowder in knothole.
> throw tin overboard.
> cut coil with knife. put short fuse in knothole.
> light short fuse with glass.
> take snuffbox and biscuit.
> z.
The barrel explodes, staining everything blue with indigo. Then Booby unlocks the cage, freeing the beaver, which now starts to gnaw on the boat!
> take mirror.
> blind beaver with mirror.(The plant eats the beaver!)
> throw mirror overboard.
> bail.
> look in barrel. take brocade. x it.
> ask Booby about plant.(It sleeps at night.)
> put brocade on plant.(It snores.)
> take sack.
> open snuffbox. x snuff.(reddish brown)
> empty snuffbox.
> put pepper in snuffbox.
> close box. put it in left pocket.
> drop all.
> take plant. throw it overboard.
> look in barrel.
> take tea caddy. x it. drop it.
> look in barrel. push it.(It's now overboard.)
> take cage. throw it.
> take bucket, knife, glass, biscuit, sack.
> open chest.(locked!)
> look through glass at caddy.
> take caddy. take iron key. throw caddy.
> unlock chest.(with key)
> open chest.(Booby grabs a cutlass!)
Wait for him to use the pepper "snuff" and drop the sword. If he's carrying anything else, he might drop that instead. When you get the chance, throw the sword overboard.
> x cutlass. x treasure.
> take rum. open rum. throw rum.
> throw sack.
> throw cutlass.
To deal with the chest, use the bucket.
> fill bucket with doubloons. empty bucket.
> fill bucket with doubloons. empty bucket.
> fill bucket with doubloons. empty bucket.
> drop all. throw chest.
The boat is no longer sinking. Booby tries to attack you with an oar, but it falls into the ocean instead.
> look.(Note how the floating barrel and oar are on opposite sides of the boat.)
> take oar. push barrel with oar.
> take oar with oar.
> xyzzy.
> yoho.(You get a random vision of the future, where one of your descendants contends with one of Booby's descendants.)
> row. SPACE
After you reach New Providence, you sleep exhausted on the beach. When you wake, Captain Booby curses you and your lineage before he leaves you forever. You make your own way back to London and get an honest job as a clerk.
*** THE END ***
Note: A third game in this series is planned and will be called To the Moon in a Microbus.
> amusing
Extras
Amusing
This is the response to AMUSING after you've won the game:
Have you tried...
...drinking all of the rum?
...setting fire to the Yateveo tree?
...feeding the ship's biscuit to the beaver?
...feeding the ship's biscuit to the Yateveo tree?
...kicking the bucket (a few times)?
...asking Captain Booby about things?
Characters
Peter Petibon is the protagonist. He was an orphan and pickpocket from Billinsgate, and escaped capture by stowing away on the Queen Mary. Eventually, he became Booby's cabin-boy.
Captain Rupert Booby was originally the second mate of the Queen Mary until he led a mutiny and named himself its pyrate captain. Although he amassed a lot of plunder, he's an idiot and has rather skewed priorities.
Sharks are swimming nearby in the sea.
A beaver from North America is inside the brass cage. It has weak eyes and loves to gnaw every bit of wood it can put in its mouth.
A potted "Yateveo" tree is on top of the sea-chest. It's aggressive, carnivorous, and blocks you from some of the larger items.
Seen in visions of the future:
Flight lieutenant Booby is in an over-encumbered propeller plane unable to take off. The runway is only so long, and armored vehicles are shooting at you!
Another Captain Booby is in a space vehicle, filled with floating items and heading for the Moon. I assume this is from the planned sequel To the Moon in a Microbus.
Another Booby is in a hot-air balloon, filled with souvenirs. This scene is from To Hell in a Hamper.
Buford T. Booby and Bucephalus Booby are the twin co-owners of Booby Bros. Great America Circus. Their overfilled train car is en route to cross a weak bridge.
Mentioned:
Captain Charles Johnson wrote A General History of Pyrates. Petibon told his story to him.
Captain Cox commanded the Queen Mary until Booby led a mutiny and renamed the ship to Queen Mab.
Lamentation Bangs was the ship's cook.
Milo was the ship's pilot and a chimpanzee.
The ship's flamingo provided the plume on Booby's hat.
Wiggs was the ship's bosun until the plant ate him.
Sally is a sea-cow that Booby fell in love with. He thinks she's a mermaid. Ask him about the pearl.
Carl Linnaeus and George Clifford III are mentioned on the tree's shipping label.
Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonensis Faciebat made the hurdy-gurdy.
Bilge rats are what Booby fed to the plant until now.
Credits
This is the response to CREDITS:
Credits To Sea in a Sieve was written by me, J. J. Guest, between 2020 and 2023, using Inform 7.
I would like to thank my beta-testers, Andrew Schultz, Mike Carletta, Lance Campbell, Mark Bailey, Laura R. King, Max Bennett and dott. Piergiorgio d'Errico. The idea for "weeviling" was suggested by Lydia O'Sullivan.
Dedication To Sea in a Sieve is dedicated with love to my nephew, Max Sidney Bennett, who has played To Hell in a Hamper to completion more times than any living being besides myself. This prequel, long overdue, is my gift to him.
It is also dedicated with respect and affection to Jeffery Farnol, an unjustly neglected author of romances and swashbucklers, and the undisputed master of piratical language. I hope he would have enjoyed this salty yarn.
Endings
We have been eaten by sharks!
if the jolly boat sinks. This can happen if you don't bail often enough, or if the beaver gnaws too much of the boat.
I have been eaten by sharks!
if you drink rum repeatedly until you drunkenly stumble out of the boat!
I HAVE BEEN EATEN ALIVE!
if the plant devours you.
THE END
if you row the boat to New Providence.
Inventory
In the approximate order obtained in this walkthrough:
an empty wooden bucket. You're carrying it.
Every so often, BAIL with the bucket to prevent the jolly boat from sinking.
Fill the bucket; it's now a wooden bucket of seawater. Throw the water at Booby to disarm him of his pistol, which goes overboard. After the pistol is gone, the pile of treasure becomes several distinct items, and you can now take items from Booby's left and right pockets.
After the cutlass is gone, fill the bucket with doubloons from the open sea-chest; the bucket is now styled as a wooden bucket of doubloons. Empty the bucket, throwing the doubloons overboard. Repeat filling the bucket with doubloons and emptying it two more times until the sea-chest is empty.
CAUTION: The beaver will chew up the bucket if it's left loose long enough!
a pocketknife. It's in Booby's right pocket.
Cut the leather strap with the knife to get the sailcloth bag.
If the plant grabs you, cut the plant with the knife to free yourself.
Optional: Cut the pineapple with the knife to eat some of it.
the Captain's quizzing-glass. It's in Booby's right pocket.
After putting the gunpowder and the short fuse into the barrel's knothole, light the short fuse with the glass. A couple turns later, the gunpowder explodes, opening the top of the barrel and dying everything blue with indigo.
Look through the glass at the tea caddy to find and obtain an iron key.
a sailcloth bag. Booby is wearing it, via a leather strap.
To obtain the bag, open the pocketknife and cut the strap.
Put the gunpowder into the barrel's knothole. Throw the empty tin overboard.
a coil of cannon fuse. It's in the sailcloth bag.
Cut the coil with the pocketknife. You now have a short length of cannon fuse, discarding the rest. Put the short fuse and gunpowder into the barrel's knothole. Light the short fuse with the quizzing-glass; the explosion will open the barrel a couple turns later.
a ten-pound pearl. It's part of the pile of treasure.
Throw it overboard.
a bar of silver. It's part of the pile of treasure.
Throw it overboard.
a Stradivarius hurdy-gurdy. It's part of the pile of treasure.
Throw it overboard.
a pineapple. It's part of the pile of treasure.
Optional: Cut the pineapple with the pocketknife to eat some of it.
Throw it overboard.
a silver snuffbox. It's in Booby's left pocket.
Open and empty the snuffbox of its snuff, which is a reddish brown colour.
Put some cayenne pepper into the snuffbox, then close the snuffbox and put it back into Booby's left pocket. Now, every so often, Booby will use the snuffbox and sneeze violently, dropping one of his held items. This is how you get Booby to drop the cutlass.
an evil-looking ship's biscuit. It's in Booby's left pocket.
I didn't use the biscuit, but I suspect it's for an alternate solution to a puzzle.
a silver-framed Venetian hand mirror. It's part of the pile of treasure.
After Booby frees the beaver from the cage, blind the beaver with the mirror. In the following commotion, the plant swallows the beaver!
After the beaver is gone, throw the mirror overboard.
a bolt of rich brocade. It's inside the barrel.
Cover the plant with the midnight-blue brocade to put the plant to sleep.
a sack of cayenne pepper. It's inside the barrel.
Note: The sack is always open.
Replace the snuff in the snuffbox with pepper, then put the snuffbox back in Booby's left pocket. After you've done that, you can throw the sack overboard.
a potted "Yateveo" tree. This carnivorous plant is part of the pile of treasure and on top of the sea-chest.
The tree blocks you from some of the treasure items.
If the tree grabs you, either STRUGGLE or cut the tree with the knife to free yourself.
When you blind the beaver with the mirror, the tree eats the beaver!
Cover the tree with the brocade. The tree sleeps. Because the tree is heavy, drop everything else first then throw the tree overboard.
a mahogany tea caddy. It's inside the barrel, visible after the brocade and sack of pepper have been removed.
Look through the glass at the caddy to find and obtain an iron key.
After you have the key, throw the caddy overboard.
a brass cage. It's part of the pile of treasure and contains a beaver.
When the top of the barrel explodes open (see gunpowder, fuse, glass), Booby unlocks the cage and frees the beaver. See mirror for dealing with the beaver.
After the plant is dealt with, you can throw the cage overboard.
an iron key. It's hidden inside the tea caddy; look through the quizzing-glass at the caddy to find and obtain the key.
a jewelled cutlass. It's inside the sea-chest. When you first open the chest, Booby takes the cutlass before you can stop him.
To get the cutlass away from Booby, replace the snuff in his snuffbox with cayenne pepper, put the box back in his pocket and wait. Whenever he uses the snuffbox now, Booby sneezes violently and drops something. When Booby drops the cutlass, throw it overboard!
When you open the chest, Booby grabs the cutlass that's inside. You can't do anything further with the chest until you've thrown the cutlass overboard.
The chest is filled with doubloons. Fill the bucket with doubloons and empty it three times to fully empty the chest.
The empty chest is still heavy, so drop everything first, then throw the chest overboard.
a single oar. When the boat is no longer sinking, Booby, enraged at the lost of all his treasure, attacks you with the oars. One oar goes overboard and the other falls at your feet.
First, push the floating barrel with the oar to move the boat closer to the other oar. Take the floating oar with your oar to get a pair of oars.
Finally, ROW with the oars to win the game.
Honorable mention:
a jerkin and ragged slops. You're wearing these clothes, but they're not mentioned in your inventory. You may not remove them, but you may ignore them.
Score
This is the response to SCORE, whether or not the jolly boat is sinking:
In a total of several turns, ye have thrown out Xlb o' treasure. There be still Ylb to go afore the Puck is safe from sinkin'!
Every pound you throw overboard gains you a minute. The approprimate weights of everything you throw or push overboard (in this walkthrough), from heaviest to lightest, are:
24 lbs: empty barrel.
16 lbs: tree covered with brocade.
15 lbs: doubloons (all).
12 lbs each: sack of cayenne pepper, empty sea-chest.
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