The Wayward Story is a Glulx interactive fiction story written with Inform 7 and is © 2020 by Ralfe Rich (as "Cristmo Ibarra"). It was an entry in IF Comp 2020 where it took 73rd place.
In this fractured story very reminiscent of Photopia, told from multiple viewpoints out of a chronological order and incorporating color-coded fantasy sequences, your choices will determine the fate of a young man named Ben, years after the death of his parents in a tragic car crash.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the story.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction story. Please make an honest effort to play the story before reading this walkthrough.
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Bedroom
Based on later scenes, you can deduce that the initial player-character is Ben, now a young adult.
> x me. x bed. x desk. open drawer.
> x phone. turn on phone. read messages. turn off phone.
> x cabinet. open it.
> x hourglass. turn it. x novel. read it.
This is all you need to do in this scene:
> watch laptop.
At the front of George's house
> x me. (Jack Nooh.)
> i. x toolbox. n.
By the front door
> x decorations. knock on door.
Feel free to greet George whichever way you like:
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3
> 1 —or— 2
> 1 —or— 2
> 1 —or— 2
Living room
Do anything for three turns:
> x recliner. x TV. look.
George asks if you want to stay for lunch. Then the scene changes.
Personally, I find the purple-text on a black background difficult to read, but I got used to it. Perhaps you can change the font or increase the font size if you've having difficulty with it. Or restart with color mode off if you really can't stand it.
It's not obvious, but the current protagonist is the adult Ben again, probably asleep now after watching his show and dreaming all this, but it's also possible he's hallucinating.
Throne room (on the throne)
> x me. x throne. x moon.
> stand. n.
By the great gate
> x gate. x first hole. (green light)
> x second hole. (yellow light)
> x third hole. (red light)
> open gate. (It doesn't budge.)
> w.
The West Hall
> x red door. x green door.
> w. (opening the green door)
A huge gust of wind engulfs you.
The text is now green. Leaves rustle and you sling your leather bag over your shoulder. Ben is still dreaming, but now he's dreaming he's someone else, inspired by the stories he enjoys. My best guess is that he's now some sort of adolescent tribesman, like Atreyu in "The Neverending Story".
By the river
> x me. x bag. open bag.
> x wineskin. (It holds one antidote for poison.)
> x parchment. read it.
> enter river.
In the river
> take glint. x glsss. s.
By the river
> u.
On an old branch
> x pod. take pod.
> d. s.
In the woods
> w.
By the ruins
> x fragments.
> n —or— w. (You trip on a poisonous arrow trap.)
You have a serious choice to make. You can drink the medicine and save yourself, or give the medicine to a nearby woman who was also poisoned.
By the ruins
> open wineskin. drink medicine.
> n.
Deeper in the ruins
> x fragment. s. w.
Outside your cottage
> x cottage. n.
In your cottage
> x table. x blade.
> cut me with blade.
> draw symbol. x symbol.
> open pod. x pearl.
Put things ON the circle, not IN.
> put glass on circle. put pearl on circle.
> chant.
This is the end of the "drink the medicine" branch. Jump to The Castle: After the forest.
By the ruins
> n.
Deeper in the ruins
A woman is leaning on the stone fragment.
> x woman. (Also poisoned with another arrow.)
> give wineskin to woman. (The woman drinks, then is gone.)
> s. w. n. (You collapse and die before you can enter.)
The protagonist is now Joel Mackley, a salesman driving home late at night.
Driving home from Morir Junior College (in the driver's seat)
It does not much matter what you do as Joel.
> x me. i. z. z. (You see green stars?)
This is the end of the "give the medicine" branch. Continue to The Castle: After the forest.
Ben "wakes up" from the forest dream, back in the castle.
Throne room (on the throne)
You only have the green orb if you drank the medicine.
> n.
By the great gate
If you have the green orb, put it in the first hole. However, if you gave the medicine to the poisoned woman, the first hole has disappeared.
> e.
The East Hall
> x door.
> n. (Blasted with heat!)
Ben is now dreaming that he's an adventurer looking for a temple in a desert.
In the desert (several locations)
> x me.
> n. n.
You find a man buried in the sand and pull him out.
> take shining. (It's a dagger.)
> x man. (He weakly asks for water.)
You have a serious choice to make. You can leave the man to die and continue to the temple, or you can cut yourself with the dagger in an attempt to save him.
In the desert (several locations)
> n. n.
Outside the Temple
> n.
You hear rocks grind; the entrance has disapppered.
In the temple
> x statue. x parchment. take it.
You feel full of resolve. The entrance is open, and you leave.
This is the end of the "leave the man to die" branch. Jump to The Castle: After the desert.
In the desert (several locations)
> cut me with dagger.
> give water to man. (The man drinks and is gone.)
> drink water. (You can't do it.)
> n. n.
Outside the Temple
> n. (Everything goes cold.)
You're now playing as Ben at almost age 13. Mom and Dad aren't home and it's past 9:30.
Living room (on recliner)
> x me. i. (carrying nothing)
> x TV. x recliner. x phone.
> s.
Kitchen
> x fridge. x pictures. x Dad. x Mom. x pool.
> open fridge. x card. x sandwich.
> take all from fridge. close fridge.
> n.
Living room
The phone is ringing.
> answer phone. (You don't want to.)
> sit on recliner.
This is the end of the "cut yourself with the dagger" branch. Continue with The Castle: After the desert.
Ben "wakes up" from the desert dream, back in the castle.
Throne room (on the throne)
You only have the yellow orb if you left the man to die.
> n.
By the great gate
If you have the yellow orb, put it in the second hole. However, if you gave water to the man, the second hole has disappeared.
> w.
The West Hall
> s. (A blank wind of indifference pushes you.)
Ben is now dreaming that he's a citizen of a city that's gone to hell. You hear screaming and gunfire.
At a crossroad
You need to get to a safe zone.
> x me. i. x permit.
> w.
East end of Bellevivae Street
> x cars. x graffiti.
> w.
Before you go, you see a little girl. Your head pounds, but before you can say anything, she darts away.
West end of Bellevivae Street
> x trash. x buildings. x blood.
> n.
Outside the Safe Zone
> x door. x guard. x stun stick. x girl.
You have a serious choice to make. You can give the permit to the guard and save yourself, or you can give the permit to the girl and save her instead.
Outside the Safe Zone
> give permit to guard.
You can't move, but the guard tosses you inside.
In the safe zone
> z. z. z.
There are screams as armed forces arrive outside the zone, taking people. The girl is gone.
This is the end of the "give the permit to the guard" branch. Jump to The Castle: After the dystopia.
Outside the Safe Zone
> give permit to girl. e. e. s.
At a crossroads
Three turns after giving away your permit, no matter what you do, you and others are captured and shot to death.
It's not made very clear, but you're now playing as a young girl named Diane, 5 or 6 years of age, maybe?
> x me. (Thump. Thump. Thump.)
In upside-down text (!), a voice asks everyone to find a partner for the next game. You don't have a partner.
> look
Miss Simon suggests to someone (Ben) that they pair up with Diane (you).
> i. (carrying nothing)
Ben asks again.
> yes.
Classroom
Ben asks you your name.
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3.
Ben introduces himself then says to just copy what he did, and he smiles.
You're still Diane, but she's now in her teens.
Outside the School
> x me. x gate.
Dave and Sasha arrive. They apologize for taking too long.
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3.
Walking Home
For three turns, just look, examine, wait, and listen to them talk.
> x Sansa. x Dave. z.
Then they stop and ask you what's wrong.
> 3. (You can't remember when you last spoke to Ben.)
This is the end of the "give the permit to the girl" branch. Continue with The Castle: After the dystopia.
Throne room (on the throne)
You only have the red orb if you gave the permit to the guard.
> smell.
> n.
By the great gate
If you have the red orb, put it in the third hole. However, if you gave the permit to the girl, the third hole has disappeared.
At this point, all the holes in the gate should be filled or gone.
> open gate.
If you used all three orbs, continue with Ending path 1: Nolon.
If you used one or two orbs, continue with Ending path 2: Margaret and Diane.
If you used no orbs at all, continue with Ending path 3: Jack and Ben.
Outside an Apartment Complex
> x me. (Nolon Brick, a delivery man.)
> i. x package. x name. (for Mr. Moore)
> n.
In the Foyer
> x woman. talk to woman. show package.
> s.
Outside an Apartment Complex
> x car. enter car.
Darkness
> x door. open door.
In a field of grass (two locations)
> x me. x grass. n.
> x people. wave. n.
***You're happy, right? Of course you are! For all you've done, this is for you, because***
The game restarts from the beginning.
You're now playing as Margaret Moore, Ben's mother.
Driving Home from a Reunion (in the passenger seat)
> x me. i. x necklace. x George. x glasses.
The car suddenly stops.
> 1 —or— 2. (The stoplight's rapidly switching colors.)
Darkness
> x door. open door.
You're now playing as Diane, now a young adult.
Inside my cubicle
> x me. x papers. x folders. x chair. x purse.
> take purse. open purse. (She refuses to share her secrets.)
> w.
The office
> x cubicles.
Philip and Jessica approach, suggesting going to a buffet.
> 1 —or— 2. (You manage to escape them.)
Riding the Train
> x monitor. x dirt.
You remember Sansa asked you to come to her house for a party. And Dave's probably coming as well. You take your phone from your purse to call Sansa, but find Ben's number. You call Ben. It rings three times.
The game closes, giving an unpleasant finality to the proceeding.
Living room (on the chair)
> x Ben. talk to Ben.
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3.
Ben stands and leaves the room.
Darkness
> x me. open door. (You see where you are.)
Bedroom
> x bed. enter bed.
You are trying to sleep, but there are calls to WAKE UP!
Bedroom
You, as Ben, wake up in a bedroom filled with rotting trash. This is obviously the source of the smell in the throne room.
> n.
The Hallway
> s. (You collapse outside.)
You hear a phone ring. You answer.
*** it's a beautiful day. ***
Characters in the real world:
Characters in the purple castle section:
Characters in the red dystopia section:
Characters in the yellow desert section:
Characters in the green forest section:
Mentioned:
The response to CREDITS is:
I would like to thank the team behind Inform 7 and the authors whose extensions power the game:
- Basic Screen Effects by Emily Short.
- Hybrid Choices (with some modifications by me) by AW Freyr.
- Extended Grammar by Aaron Reed.
- Glulx Boxed Quotation by Eliuk Blau.
- Glulx Text Effects by Emily Short.
- Flexible windows by Jon ingold.
Thanks to all my beta-testers/proofreaders. Any other bugs or typos are entirely my fault. They must have flown under the radar:
- Christopher Merriner
- Mike Russo
- Wesley Werner
There are three endings to this story:
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