Maps in Interactive Fiction

The Adam and Eve Project (2017)

> x map (@ [Adam] Bedroom)

[Adam] According to the map, there are exits to the east and south.

> x map (@ [Eve] Bedroom)

[Eve] According to the map, there are exits to the west and north.

Ailihphilia (2018)

> x X/Y pyx (@ Yawn Way)

[An ASCII art map of the visited locations in the game is displayed.]

> x spa maps (@ Yack Cay)

You can't quite make sense out of them. There's Gobs-Bog and Go-By Bog, and one is a lot safer than the other, but you're not sure which.
The spa maps clearly demark Go-By Bog and Gobs Bog and even Goblin-Nil Bog, which probably contains a troll or two. And no hospitality.
The maps seem old hat now you've gotten the sage gas.

Alchemist's Gold (2022)

> x map (@ Pasture)

[when MAP ON:]

               |      
   o--o--o--o<-o->o--o
   |  |  |  |  ^  ^  |
   o--o--o--o<-o<-o--o
   ^  ^  |  |  v  ^  |
   o--o--o<-o<-o<-o->o
   v  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  |
C--o->o->o<-o--o<-o->o
   v  ^  |  ^  v  ^  |
   o->o--o<-o<-o->o->o
   v  v  ^  ^  v  v  |
   o<-o->o->o->o->o--o
   |  ^  v  |  v  |  |
   o--o--o--o--o--o<-o
    C = Cart, X = You

[when MAP OFF:] It's a map of the forest arranged in a 7 by 7 grid. Each cell of the grid has one or more arrows pointing in the directions as follows:
Row 1: Cell 1 east and south. Cell 2 south, east and west. Cell 3 south, east and west. Cell 4 south and west. Cell 5 north out of the forest, east and west. Cell 6 east. Cell 7 south and west.
Row 2: Cell 1 north and east. Cell 2 north, east and west. Cell 3 north, south, east and west. Cell 4 north, south and west. Cell 5 north, south and west. Cell 6 north, east and west. Cell 7 north, south and west.
Row 3: Cell 1 north, south and east. Cell 2 north, east and west. Cell 3 north and west. Cell 4 north and west. Cell 5 west. Cell 6 north, east and west. Cell 7 north and south.
Row 4: Cell 1 south, east and west to the cart. Cell 2 north and east. Cell 3 north and south. Cell 4 north, east and west. Cell 5 north, south and west. Cell 6 north, east and west. Cell 7 north and south.
Row 5: Cell 1 south and east. Cell 2 north, south and east. Cell 3 north and west. Cell 4 north and west. Cell 5 south, east and west. Cell 6 north, south and east. Cell 7 north and south.
Row 6: Cell 1 south. Cell 2 east and west. Cell 3 north, south and east. Cell 4 north, south and east. Cell 5 south and east. Cell 6 south and east. Cell 7 north, south and west.
Row 7: Cell 1 north and east. Cell 2 north, east and west. Cell 3 east and west. Cell 4 north, east and west. Cell 5 east and west. Cell 6 north and west. Cell 7 north and west.

The ASCII-art map is dynamic, marking your current location with an X when you're in the maze.

Amusement Park (2004)

> x map (@ Middle of the Park)

It is too faded to be of any use.

Ariadne in Aeaea (2016)

> x map (@ Circe's chambers)

It is surprisingly difficult to identify the landmasses. This one must be Aeaea; the bottom-heavy crescent is unmistakeable. Crete must be big and west of here, so it should be that vaguely rectangular block over there, with Knossos and Phaistos marked prominently and a dozen smaller palaces dotted around. South lies the Egyptian coast, so the symbol there must mark the position of Avaris. And far to the northwest, in the wastes beyond the sea, there's a cluster of black figurines. All of them are modelled in the likeness of a sitting lion.

Baggage (2021)

> x map (@ Road)

A map of the road, showing a tunnel that leads under the evergreen hedge to the world beyond. Now that you know where to look for it, you can see its entrance, lurking in among the roots.

Ballymun Adventure (2006)

> x map (@ The Staffroom)

[image of handdrawn map]

Its a map of the school with all the rooms numbered from 1 - 30.
By clicking on a particular area with the mouse you can instantly go there

A Beauty Cold and Austere (2017)

> x maps (@ Map Room)

The maps are mostly of parts of the eastern Mediterranean world: Egypt, Libya, Greece, Palestine, Anatolia. None of them look particularly useful.

Best Laid Plans (2013)

> x map (@ Storage Room)

A map of the very building you're currently trapped in. Ideally you shouldn't need a map of a building, especially one you work in every day, but the building is actually very large and it's easy to get lost. As most of the map details areas of the building that are inaccessible to you (unless you care to get shot), it's not of much use, but you see one oddity that draws your attention: namely, a jagged line drawn in the wall of the room which was originally your cell. And a symbol next to this indicating "darkness" in Bizan'Toll terms. You wonder what it means.

Bio (2003)

> x maps (@ Inside the terrorist tent)

Taking a closer look, you see that most of the maps are that of the complex.

The Blair Bee Project (2000)

> x map (@ Edge of the woods)

You can't understand it at all.

Brain Guzzlers from Beyond! (2015)

> x map (@ Yankee Foxtrot Headquarters)

A map of the town, the kind they sell at the five and dime. A disturbing amount of it is covered in red Xs and skulls, including the five and dime itself, along with pretty much everything else south of here.

Bullhockey! (2018)

> x map (@ Plain White Room)

The map is white, very neat and free of creases. A large black dot occupies the lower left quarter of the map. You wonder why you call it a map, when there are no roads or place names on it...??

The description of the map is different in other locations; the black dot moves accordingly.

Captain Cutter's Treasure (2021)

> x maps (@ Captain's Cabin)

They appear to be maps of the seas around the Bahamas.

Causality (2003)

> x map (@ planning room)

crude map of the local area, gridlines have, unusually, been labeled in tens of arcminutes from the northwest:

               1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8 
            ------------------------------------------------- 
         1  |rift |rift |     |     |     |     |     |     |    key: rift: area has sand rifts. 
            -------------------------------------------------               very dangerous.
         2  |  *  |  *  |rift |     |rift |  *        |  *  |         *   : area has been 
            ------------------- ---------------   -  --------               mapped and is safe 
         3  |  *  |base |  *  |ri t |rift |  *  |  *  |  *  |         +   : expected landing spot. 
            ------------------------------------------------- 
         4  |  *  |  *  |  *  |  *  |rift |  *  |  *  |  *  | 
            ------------------------------------------------- 
         5  |rift |rift |rift |  +  |  *  |  *  |     |     | 
            ------------------------------------------------- 
         6  |  *  |  *  |  *        |  *  |     | 
            ----------------     ---------------- 
         7  |  *  |  *  |  *  |  *  | 
            ------------------------

The game fails to present the map in monospaced characters, but it's obviously intended.

Citizen of Nowhere (2019)

> x map (@ Outside The East City Gates)

Map of Lost

Cragne Manor (2018)

> x map (@ Estate Agent's Office)

From what you've seen of Backwater, it's not that big, yet the trolley system on the map in your hands is extensive. A forest-green line runs into the woods, while a line as red as raw beef connects the downtown to the meatpacking plant. The church has its own line (gold), Cragne Manor has several (in various shades of purple -- also, why?), and Backwater itself is split into "Dangerous Backwater" (orange) and "Spooky Backwater" (blue). Apparently the real estate office is in Spooky Backwater, whatever that means.

The Cube in the Cavern (2017)

> x map (@ Upper Face, center)

You scribbled this map before getting on the cube, just so you would be able to regain your bearings on the place where you walked upside down. You can READ it.

The Enchanted Castle (2019)

> x map (@ Stairway)

The paper appears to be a hand-drawn layout of the castle with arrows leading to the dungeon with an area shaped like an H and an x in the [direction] corner.

Direction will be one of north-west, north-east, south-west, or south-east.

The Enigma of the Old Manor House (2022)

> x map (@ Entrance)

[At game's start:]
As part of your preparations, you've spent a while surveying the manor from the outside, noting down its dimensions and where the rooms should be. The result is as detailed as you could make it without going in.
...which is not very detailed, to be honest.
It's a square. You've drawn a square. But now that you're in, you can update it as you go.
```
+---+---+
|       |
+       +
|       |
+-x-&-x-+
```
KEY: + = unseen room, o = seen room, & = you, x = closed door
[Much later in the game:]
```
@---@---@
|       |
@       @
|       |
G---&---@
```
KEY: @ = detector, & = you, G = ghost, x = closed door

Everybody Loves a Parade (1997)

> x map (@ Move-It Van)

It's a well-worn map of the United States. No surprise, but it's been folded improperly. A message in big black marker is scrawled across the state of Arizona: AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Why didn't you notice that before?

Ferryman's Gate (2020)

> x cave map (@ Enchantment Room)

It says,

--WONDERLAND CAVERNS CAVE TOUR--
An "adventure" the whole family can "enjoy!"

Please begin in the Cavern.

(1) Go east

(2) "Stalagmites appear on the cave floor, but stalactites descend from the ceiling."
-----Is this sentence punctuated correctly?
{NO --> Go left} {YES --> Go right}

(3) "When you lean against the wall you can look through that gap, and see a formation we call Dracula's pipe organ."
-----Is this sentence punctuated correctly?
{NO --> Go left} {YES --> Go right}

(4) "Over here you can see a formation we like to call, Rocky the Stoneman, as a cute tribute to everyone's favorite Snowman, Frosty."
-----Is this sentence punctuated correctly?
{NO --> Go left} {YES --> Go right}

(5) "Look over to the side, and you can see the hole where tour-guide Arne fell and broke his legs."
-----Is this sentence punctuated correctly?
{NO --> Go right} {YES --> Go down} {Special Attraction: The Crypt --> Go left}

DO NOT USE "L" FOR "LEFT". IF YOU MEAN TO GO LEFT, MAKE SURE TO TYPE "LEFT" INSTEAD OF "L".

Four Days of Summer (2017)

> x lunar map (@ Tater Island)

The centerpiece of the musuem is a relief map of the Moon's surface, lovingly rendered in mashed potatoes. You fancy you can hear those musical notes from Close Encounters of the Third Kind in the background.

In the middle of the map, in the Sea of Tranquility, there is a faded [list of colors] flag.

Frankenstein Adventure (2004)

> x map (@ Master bedroom)

The map shows the secret safe path through the quicksand swamp.

Frankenstein's Legacy (1992)

> examine map (@ Master bedroom)

It shows a secret path through the bog.

Gaia, Živa, Jarilo (2020)

> x map (@ Visitor Services)

You open the map. The front gate is outside to the west, and north of there is a courtyard and a fountain.

The map has a different description for nearly every location in the game. I'm not going to try to list them all here.

Grandma Bethlinda's Remarkable Egg (2021)

> x map (@ Kitchen)

It's a cartoony map of your village, courtesy of the Munch-N-Sup restaurant chain. It shows a big Munch-N-Sup in the middle of town, as well as the old church on the east side. One of the kids has drawn a little X in the southeast corner to mark your house.

The Green Mountains (2011)

> x map (@ Burial Ground)

The Map shows you the way out and to a destiantion not to far away

Grooverland (2021)

> x map (@ Mechanical Marvels)

It's a pamphlet that shows how dangerous, scary, or fun the rides in the park are.

Halothane (1999)

> x map (@ Intersection, in the hospital)

It's a floor plan of the hospital, in faint lines, looking almost as if it were hand-drawn. Your position, near the desk, is indicated by a small cross. The rest of the map is as follows:

=========================================================
|    Ward 10             Ward 9                Ward 8   |
|               TOP                FLOOR                |
|    Ward 7              Ward 6                Ward 5   |
|==========================||============================
|                          || To ground floor           |
|         |----------------||---------------------|     |
|         | To Storeroom   || To Doctors' Lounge  |     |
|         |----------------||---------------------|     |
|==========================||===========================|
|   Ward 4     Ward 3          RECEPTION  (X)           |
|                                              Entrance #
|   Ward 2     Ward 1   RECORDS                         |
=========================================================

Hangar 22 (2011)

> x maps (@ In Processing)

Various interstellar maps cover the walls. You spend a moment trying to find The Big Dipper, but can't seem to locate it. Multiple stars and planets are marked and named, but you don't recognize any of them.

Hercules! (2021)

> x map (@ Labyrinth)

The map keeps changing, but right now it appears to be a very detailed map of the faraway land of [random place].

The random places include: Amber, Asgard, Azeroth, Discworld, Earthsea, Fillory, Hyrule, Middle Earth, Narnia, Orisha, Oz, Prydain, Tatooine, Vulcan, and Westeros.

In a Tomb with a Donkey (2023)

> x map (@ Tomb entrance)

It seems to be a map of the tomb, though most of the actual map part has been burnt away and so it's fairly useless. The remains of a legend at the bottom of the map say 'DOOR' in English.

Lobster Bucket (2014)

> x map (@ Dungeon Entrance)

From the way your map reads, the McGuffin is [list of directions to McGuffin], then you'll be there.

The Red Button is [list of directions to Button], then you'll be there.

The cloak is [list of directions to cloak], then you'll be there.

An example list of directions: "to the east, then to the east, then to the south". If you're at a target, the sentence for it will be omitted.

Lydia's Heart (2007)

> x map (@ Behind the Cabins)

The piece of paper is creased and dog-eared. One edge is badly charred. [if unstable] The lines and shapes drawn on the piece of paper are squirming and writhing. It’s impossible to get any clear idea what they represent. [else] The network of squiggles and scribbled legends seems to show the locations of a number of bayous, islands, and sandbars. Near one edge is an irregular little square marked “Eternal Springs.” In another corner is a circle with an arrow pointing upward out of it; the arrow is marked “N.”

Man Overboard!!! (2006)

> x map (@ Kitchen)

Hmmm...interesting. You have found a map that tells you how to get back to Piddlington on Sea!

Phlegm (1996)

> x map (@ Town Square)

This scrap of paper contains many lines and scribblings from your travels, the most prominent being large X next to the words "Treasure located here!"

The Seven Doctors (1998)

> x map (@ Cave)

 [A]---[B]--[C]
             |
             |
            [D]---[E]---[F]
             |     O
             |
            [G]

Several Other Tales from Castle Balderstone (2020)

> x map (@ School)

The map told where all the ingredients for the potion to cure the curse of the banshee were:

A Forever Fern, in the Garden of Doom
A coalflower, in the goblin coal mine
A pinch of mummy dust, from a mummy's sarcophagus
...and one more ingredient that was smudged. But they could see the path leading up to the smudge, and it had a special crow's stone on one side. A stone in the shape of a crow.

The Surprising Case of Brian Timmons (2013)

> x map (@ Walter Haley's Shack)

It shows how to get to Our Grace Cemetery in Woonsocket. Across the bottom of the map is written row 4 plot 18 J.Greeley.

Untold Riches (2015)

> x map (@ Tide Pool)

The sheet of yellowing parchment shows the outline of an island, hand-drawn in black ink. Most of the terrain is just sketched in, but the northwest region is mapped out in great detail and shows some unusual red symbols.

It looks a little like the map the professor had that time you drove a dog sled through the arctic in search of the lost city of Tuktuyaaqtuuq. That's probably just a coincidence, though.

Default response instances

Ferryman's Gate (2020): maps @ Map Room.