Pianos in Interactive Fiction

"Piano" icon by Jino from Noun Project (CCBY3.0)

Alias 'The Magpie' (2018)

> x grand piano (@ Music Room)

A nine-foot concert grand, covered in dust. Like the tomb of Tutankhamun, it would appear to have lain undisturbed for centuries. Its lid [is closed or stands open].

Amusement Park (2004)

> x tiny piano (@ Bedroom)

It must be designed for a pixie, as it is too small and fragile even for a child.

Augmented Fourth (2000)

> x piano (@ Music Salon)

The piano is a very expensive model, coated in a sleek black material that doesn't inhibit its resonance. Eighty-eight polished keys sit elegantly in the keyboard, hinting at infinite musical possibilities. The piano's lid is [closed or open].

Aunts and Butlers (2006)

> x grand piano (@ Drawing room)

A huge, three-legged beast that belonged to your father, built from wood dredged from the smoking remains of endangered rainforests and ivory hacked from the bleeding carcasses of majestic African animals. You keep it for the air of culture it lends to the room.

> x pianola (@ Tavern)

A free-standing pianola, plonking out a jolly tune all by itself.

The Bony King of Nowhere (2017)

> x piano (@ Merry Jack's Inn)

A beautiful old upright Feurich piano in burnish walnut

Bullhockey 2: The Return of The Leather Whip (2019)

> x piano (@ Loft Bedroom)

It's your new 88-key Yamaha electronic piano, with a black chassis. Your pride and joy. Second only to Natalie, of course...

> x baby grand piano (@ Conservatory)

Though it looks about a century old, the frame is finely polished wood, it has three pedals down under, and all 88 keys. [if closed]The lid is closed.[else]The lid is propped open, and you can see the inner workings.[end if]

Bullhockey! (2018)

> x electronic piano (@ Loft Bedroom)

It's your new 88-key Yamaha electronic piano, with a black chassis. Your pride and joy. Second only to Natalie, of course...

Clusterflux (2019)

> x upright piano (@ Parlor)

It's a standard build for an upright piano. Perfect for classrooms or parlors like this one. It's well-loved but well-built and painted white to blend with the soft, feminine decor of the parlor.

Cragne Manor (2018)

> x piano keyboard (@ Francine's bedroom)

Sitting on the table by the chair is some sort of electronic musical instrument with a piano keyboard attached to it. The case says 'Ensoniq MIRAGE DSK'. Its electronic guts are visible. Francine must be tinkering with it.

Crocodracula: The Beginning (2020)

> x keyboard (@ Azalea Street)

Eddie Lee's instrument of choice is a cheap electronic keyboard that he can carry under his arm. Its "piano" setting is tinny and grating, but its various synth voices are even worse.

> x piano (@ Studio)

The piano seems like it should be impossible to play: So many different keys! They can't all be completely necessary.

A Day at the Iachini House (2001)

> x console piano (@ In the living room)

This console piano is made of a handsome dark colored wood. It has the standard 88 keys and looks like it's been well cared for. It has a lid which can be opened and closed. The console piano is [closed or open].

Dead Pavane for a Princess (2013)

> x grand piano (@ Study)

Your old friend, dearest friend, now perhaps your only friend! You love every part of this piano - its sleek sides, the ivory keys, even the little wheels which enable you to move it around the room in spite of its weight.

Delightful Wallpaper (2006)

> x grand piano (@ Conservatory)

Under the dustcloth, it is in perfect condition. Pristine. Ne'er before touched by human hand. [Interjection].

Dial C for Cupcakes (2014)

> x piano (@ Parlor)

It's a well-kept baby grand with a skeletal arm reaching out of it.

Empty rooms (2011)

> x piano (@ #8)

It's a big black, shiny piano. You decide to press one button and presses [random letter from A to G]!

The Enigma of the Old Manor House (2022)

> x piano (@ Huge Room)

It's the one piece of furniture here that's not covered with a sheet, maybe because it's already got a cover built into it. [either] It's shut tight, with both the strings and the keys hidden away. [or] It's now been opened up to the dusty air. [as appropriate]

Ferryman's Gate (2020)

> x piano (@ Music Room)

The sleek, black curve of the piano is more than enough decoration for a room like this.

The Game Formerly Known as Hidden Nazi Mode (2010)

> x piano (@ Piano Room)

You could play the piano if you wanted to.

Gaucho (2012)

> x piano (@ Old Saloon)

The piano is an old upright model, made of solid wood with a lid which can open or close. It seems largely intact, although some of the decoration has been rubbed off over the years - you can barely make out five rings carved across the back side, and five animals below them. Perhaps a scorpion? The piano's keys - of which only two are missing - seemingly move of their own accord - but this is no player piano! How can this be? Thou art lost and gone forever, oh my darling, Clementine...

The Golden Fleece (1989)

> x piano (@ Music Room)

It looks like any other Steinway.

History Repeating (2005)

> x baby grand piano (@ Music Room)

The piano and the bench in front of it are gorgeous, black and shiny. The baby grand has well-polished keys and a cover that opens for richer sound while playing.

Hollywood Hijinx (1986)

> x piano (@ Parlor)

It's the baby grand that Aunt Hildegarde bought for you and Herman. Though neither of you practiced as you should, you've managed to maintain a shaky repertoire of standards. The casters on the piano's legs have seen better days. The piano lid is [closed or open].

The House of Mystery (2018)

> x grand piano (@ Inverted Dining Room)

You know how to play piano. Maybe you should give it a play when you get the chance.

Igor's Quest (2020)

> x piano (@ Parlour)

Ivory keys.

The Legend of Horse Girl (2022)

> x pianola (@ Cantina)

A self-playing piano that keeps knocking out annoying tunes.

Madam Spider's Web (2006)

> x piano (@ The Music Room)

The upright rosewood piano, with its elaborately carved molding and cabriole legs, appears to be an antique, [if first time]but upon closer inspection, you notice[else]aside from[end if] an odd digital display centered above the keys.

[if first time]Ah, and the keys! They[else]The keys themselves[end if] are currently in a sad state of disrepair. The piano is missing all but five: what appears to be the middle C key; the adjacent D, E, and F keys; and a lonely B two more keys up.

[if first time](And from what deep, dark corner of your memory did this information originate? Perhaps you once had piano lessons... You set your mind to remembering, but all you can summon up is the generic image of a full keyboard.)[end if]

Music Education (1999)

> x grand piano (@ Bart Lygon's Office)

This baby grand piano is almost brand new. There is something written just above the keys.

> x grand piano (@ Rehearsal Room)

This is a full size grand piano. Although it has seen many years of use, it is one of the few pianos in the building. There seems to be some writing just above the keys.

Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina (1999)

> x player piano (@ Music Shop)

The player piano must once have been quite an attractive ornament in somebody's front parlor. Its cabinetwork is given to rococo scrolls and curlicues. Time has not been kind to it, however. The finish is cracked and stained, and the keys are very uneven, with missing keytops and cigaret burns. There's a sliding door in the front, and a pair of pump-action pedals down below.

So, You've Never Played a Text Adventure Before, Huh? (2014)

> x piano (@ South End of Hallway)

To someone else, it might not obviously be a piano, since you can only see the back of it. But you happen to know what the back of an upright piano looks like.

> x piano (@ Parlor)

Though the victim of years of neglect, it is not a bad-looking piano. You can't imagine why someone would abandon such an instrument, much less why someone would push such an instrument across a room to block off a hallway.

The Unicorn Pool (2010)

> x grand piano (@ Stage)

I believe it's a Broadwood. Anyway, the castors have seized up and it's immovable. The keyboard lid is down and locked.