In this Biblical tale, you play as Jesus. A crowd of five thousand people have gathered in a field outside the town of Bethsaida to hear you preach, but they're all very hungry. It would take a miracle to feed this many people, but since you're the son of God, you might find a way to do that. But how, exactly?
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 8 of the game.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction game. Please make an honest effort to play the game before reading this walkthrough.
This map doesn't show every location in the village, just the ends of each street, each intersection, and the homes you need to visit.
7:31 is the home of the deaf-mute man, Yonah.
5:25 is the home of the bleeding woman, Merom.
When on a street, END takes you to the far end and INT returns you to the nearest intersection (except that INT can't be used when riding the chariot).
Walkthrough
Large Grassy Field
> about. credits. copyright.
> x me. x tablet.(+1)
> x crowd. feed crowd.
> x dock. x wild flowers. x hedgerows. x grass. x clover.
> x lake. look in lake.
> take dock leaf. take clover.
> nw.
The Shore of Galilee
> x leper. talk to leper.(+1)
> heal leper. x leper. x tablet.(+1)
> x coin. take coin. talk to leper.
> nw.
Further along the Shore of Galilee
> x Peter. wave to Peter. x boat. x equipment.
> talk to Peter. talk to Peter.
> x wind. ask God about wind. listen.
> se. se. e.
The Town
> x people. x synagogue. x market. x mound. x buildings.
> ne.
The Synagogue
> x man. give leaf to man.
> x tablet.(+1). x man. x pail.
> listen. x roof. pray for wind.(+1)
> x pews. x altar. x hangings. x people.
> sw. s.
The Marketplace
> x Jacob. x stall. talk to Jacob.(+1)
> x olives. x flour. x melon. buy flour.
> x fruit. x chicken. x books. x ferrets. x instruments. x bags.
> n. w. nw. nw.
Further along the Shore of Galilee
> enter boat. x wind.
> talk to Peter. talk to Peter.
On the Sea of Galilee
> z. z. z. z.(Peter stops the boat.)
> look in sea. fill pail.
> take net. put net in sea. take net.(+1)
> take all from net.
The North Bank
Peter suggests visiting a deaf and dumb man at 7:31.
> give net to Peter. thank Peter.
> out. x fish. n.
Village of Mark (intersection)
> n.
Village of Mark (5:1 and 6:1)
You'll probably meet a sheep in the village; examine or pet it if you like.
> ne. end.
Village of Mark (8:38)
> x geranium. s. s. s. s. s. s. s.
Village of Mark (7:31 and 8:31)
> knock on lefthand. x man. heal man.(This doesn't work.)
At this point, you'll need to read the applicable Bible verses to learn what to do; for example: Mark 7:31-37 at Bible Gateway, or Bible (King James)/Mark at Wikisource.
> touch ears. spit. touch tongue.
> say ephphatha.(+1. Mark and a stone tablet arrive.)
> x tablet.(+1; You need to visit Merom in house 5:25.)
> x Mark. x chariot. ride chariot. x chest.
Guiding the chariot is a bit tricky because the horses want to go at a speed of 11; so you'll be skipping quite a few houses. Going to the end of a street will set the modality of the chariot to a new value, which will affect how far you go from the beginning of any street.
Anyway, it's very confusing to explain why, but you'll need to first go to the end of either the 1-2 street or the 5-6 street (to set the modality to 1); let's pick the latter:
> s. s. s. n. end.
Village of Mark (6:56)
Now go to the end of the 15-16 street (to set the modality to 3):
> s. s. s. s. s. s.
> e. se. end.
Village of Mark (15:47)
Finally, travel up the 5-6 street until you reach 5:25.
> w. w. w. w. w. n. n. n.
Village of Mark (5:25 and 6:25)
> out. knock on lefthand.
> x woman. talk to woman.
> heal woman.(+1; she gives you the sheep.)
> ride chariot.(Putting the sheep into the chariot first.)
The heavy sheep has changed the speed of the chariot from 11 to 6. Ride directly back to 7:31:
> s. s. s. s. ne.
> n. n. n. n. n.
Village of Mark (7:31 and 8:31)
> out. knock on lefthand.(Mark and Yonah pull the chest out of the chariot.)
> z. in.
Yonah's Front Room
> x oven. x knife.(Mark pours you a drink.)
> drink wine. x cup. x jug. x tray. x lamp.
Time to make bread!
> mix flour with water. x dough.
> put dough on tray.
Did you overlook the lamp as a fire source? Also, use the bottom shelf of the oven; the dough won't bake at all on the top shelf.
> take lamp. light oven.
> take tray. put tray on bottom.
The loaf will take at least six turns to bake. It may take longer.
> z. z. z. z. z. x bread.(Repeat examining the bread until it's definitely a loaf.)
> take tray. put tray on counter.
> x loaf. take knife. cut loaf.(+1)
> take all loaves. take sheep. e.
Village of Mark ((7:31 and 8:31)
Leave the chariot alone this time.
> int. sw. s. s.
The North Bank
Note that although you can leave the sheep behind in the village, you're encouraged not to.
> s. s. s. s. s. s.
Further along the Shore of Galilee
> se. se.
Large Grassy Field
I note that the crowd still acts hungry even after they've been fed.
> give clover to sheep.
> say grace.(+1)
> feed crowd.(+5. Your disciples arrive.)
> x disciples. talk to disciples.
> look. x scraps. take scraps.(+2)
The crowd begins to turn. Run for Peter's boat!
> nw. nw.
Further along the Shore of Galilee.
> enter boat.
*** You fed the five thousand! ***
Extras
Amusing
The response to AMUSING after you win the game is:
Have you tried to...
abandon the sheep on the north bank?
eat the bread or fishes?
eat the olives or melon?
fly?
give something to the crowd, other than the bread and fishes?
heal someone who doesn't need healing, like Mark or Peter?
hit anyone?
kill anyone?
kiss anyone?
listen to all of Mark and Yonah's increasingly drunken chat?
open Mark's chest?
search the sheep?
shear the sheep?
sing?
sit in the synagogue?
swim in the Sea of Galilee?
say xyzzy?
I also noticed a few anachronisms, including:
Someone reading a newspaper in town.
Someone wearing a wrist-watch in the hungry crowd.
Someone asking about Colgate in the rampaging crowd.
Someone asking about an insurance policy in the rampaging crowd.
A woman carrying a strange black device, implied to be a recording device like a camera, in the rampaging crowd.
You doing a karate kick if you try hitting the crowd.
You can sing "Jerusalem" before it's been written.
Characters
Jesus is the player-character, sometimes called Lord Jesus, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, or the Son of God.
God is your father. God is fond of sending you text messages on heavy stone tablets. You can also talk to Him from anywhere, but prayer is best done in the quiet of the synagogue.
A leper is on the shore.
Peter is the fisherman formerly known as Simon. He can help you catch some fish.
A man with a nettle sting is in the synagogue. After he is healed, he is briefly an unconscious man before he gets up and rejoins the praying people.
A clumsy angel carries a tablet into the synagogue.
Jacob runs a food-stall in the marketplace.
A deaf and dumb man named Yonah lives at 7:31 in the village of Mark.
Mark is your friend and disciple in the village of Mark. He loans you his horse-drawn chariot.
A woman named Merom lives at 5:25 in the village of Mark. She has a bleeding wound that won't heal.
All twelve of your disciples show up as you feed the crowd.
And people are almost everywhere. A crowd of 5000 hungry people is in the field. There's more people in the town, the synagogue, the marketplace, and in the village of Mark. And you'll hear several sooth-sayers make several announcements during your visit in the village.
Animals include:
Chickens and ferrets are for sale in the market.
A wandering sheep is wandering the streets in the village of Mark.
Two excitable horses pull Mark's chariot.
A blackbird might be seen at the shore.
Mentioned:
Moses is mentioned by God after He accidentally hits the former deaf-mute with yet another stone tablet.
John the Baptist is mentioned in the drunken chat between Mark and Yonah, and elsewhere in the game.
Credits
From the response to CREDITS:
We owe a massive debt of gratitude to Nolan Bonvouloir for his extensive, exhaustive beta-testing, enthusiasm and fast turn-around of responses. If it weren't for him, the laws of physics as you know them would be rampantly and shamelessly broken all throughout the game.
Thanks also go to our other beta-testers: Sean Whitton, Sean Krauss and Redvers.
And thank the Lord for Graham Nelson's Inform 6!
Endings
You have broken one of the ten commandments.
if you kill anyone or the sheep.
The game's up.
if you hit anyone.
Well, you really messed that one up, didn't you?
if you eat the bread or fish.
Well done, smarty pants.
if you just "perform miracle" in the field.
You fed the five thousand!
when you enter the boat and escape from the rampaging crowd after feeding them.
Inventory
a dock leaf. It's in the field where you start the game.
Give it to the stung man in the synagogue; you'll get the pail.
a handful of clover. It's in the field where you start the game.
a silver coin. After healing the leper, find the coin at the shore after you read the tablet and the tablet disappears.
Use the coin to buy things from Jacob in the marketplace. Buy the bag of flour.
Note that if you buy the melon or olives instead, you'll get a silver coin again if you try to eat them or give them away.
a fishing net. It's in Peter's boat, further along the shore.
When you're out at sea where Peter says fish can be caught, put the net into the water then take it back to catch two fish. Take all the fish out of the net. Return the net to Peter.
a metal pail. The stung man in the synagogue gives it to you after you cure him; see dock leaf.
Fill the pail with water from the Sea of Galilee. Mix the flour with the water to make dough.
a small bag of flour. Buy it from Jacob at the marketplace for a silver coin.
Careful! If you give the flour to someone, like the woman, you'll get a silver coin in exchange and you won't be able to get flour again.
two fishes from the Sea of Galilee. Get them by putting the net into the sea where Peter indicates, then take the net.
These are two separate game objects. Take all the fish from the net. You'll need both the fish and bread to feed the crowd on the field.
the wandering sheep. You'll may see the sheep anywhere in the village of Mark, but you won't be able to take the sheep until you heal the bleeding woman in 5:25.
The weight of the sheep in the chariot will change how fast the horses can go, enabling you to return to the deaf-mute's home in 7:31.
a cup of wine. Mark gives it to you a few turns after you enter Yonah's front room.
You may drink it or ignore it.
a juicy melon. You can buy it from Jacob at the marketplace for a silver coin.
You don't need a melon. If you try to eat the melon, someone else will take it from you and give you a silver coin in exchange.
a handful of olives. You can buy it from Jacob at the marketplace for a silver coin.
You don't need olives. If you try to eat the olives, someone else will take them and give you a silver coin in exchange.
a small bag. It's left over from the bag of flour after you make the dough.
I don't know of any use for the bag.
some flat-bread dough. Make it by mixing the flour with water; the dough will now be in the pail.
You cannot handle the dough directly; just put the dough on the tray.
a baking tray. It's on the counter in Yonah's front room.
Put the dough directly from the pail onto the tray, then put the tray on the bottom shelf of oven. When the bread has baked (after 6 or more turns), take the tray from the oven and put it back on the counter.
a knife. It's in Yonah's front room.
Cut the large loaf of bread with it.
an oil lamp. You can take one from Yonah's front room.
Light the oven there with the lamp.
five loaves of bread. Created by cutting the large loaf of bread with the knife.
Take all the loaves. You'll need the loaves and both fish to be able to feed the crowd on the field.
Honorable mention:
a white robe. You're wearing it, although it's not listed in your inventory.
You may not remove it.
Score
This is the response to SCORE:
You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 20, in several turns, earning you the rank of ranking.
Points are awarded as follows:
1 point for examining the stone tablet in the field.
1 point for talking to the leper (before healing him).
1 point for examining the stone tablet at the shore.
1 point for praying for wind in the synagogue.
1 point for examining the stone tablet in the synagogue.
1 point for talking to Jacob (before buying anything).
1 point for catching some fish.
1 point for successfully healing the deaf and dumb man.
1 point for examining the stone tablet in the Village of Mark.
1 point for healing the woman.
1 point for cutting up the very large loaf of bread.
