Key & Compass presents:
Buried in Shoes
by Dominic Delabruere

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Credits, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• External links:
  • This game at IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map

• Locations rendered in italics are transitionary.
• ⬜︎ marks transitions that happen after being prompted to press a key to continue.
• ⬛︎ marks a transition that happens automatically.

Walkthrough

There's a Biblical quote from Isaiah 2:4.

[Press a key to continue.]

Existence

If you really need instructions, type ABOUT and read them, but if you already know how to play interactive fiction, I suggest saving ABOUT until the game is over. There's some explanations in there.

> x me. i. out.

Closet

The person might be an angel? Hard to tell.

> x person. x shoes. search shoes.

[Press a key to continue.]

Shoe Room

The game says you're in Washington now. The presence of the tour bus outside suggests you're a tourist.

The game's ABOUT text will reveal that this is a real exhibit in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; see the victims' shoes on their website.

> x shoes. x slab. x hole. x sun.

> smell shoes.

> search shoes. x alarm. (A museum guide tells you to leave.)

> x guide.

> w.

Tour Bus

You only get one turn on the bus to do anything before you fall asleep.

> sleep —or— x windows —or— x bus —or— x seats.

[Press a key to continue.]

The person from the closet tells you "We're moving to another perspective."

[Press a key to continue.]

Your Bedroom

> x bed. look under bed. take shoe. x shoe.

> x window.

> x wardrobe. open it. enter it. close it.

Almost Total Darkness

> sleep. open wardrobe.

Your Bedroom

> out. s.

Hallway

You get a room description, but then you're briefly elsewhere.

[Press a key to continue.]

Between the Cots

You inhale disease. (!?)

[Press a key to continue.]

Hallway

> e.

Pink Bathroom

The cabinet is strange.

[Press a key to continue.]

*DISINFECTION*

These showers do not release water.

[Press a key to continue.]

Pink Bathroom

> x cabinet. open it. x bag. take bag.

> x toilet —or— x sink.

> w. s.

Your Parents' Bedroom

> x bed. look under bed.

> take photograph. x it. (Parents on two-person bicycle.)

> n. d.

Shop

> x father. x debris.

> take glass. (Your name is Hebel.)

> show photo to dad. (Keep it safe.)

> show shoe to dad. (He takes it to keep it safe.)

> show bag to dad. (Dangerous; he takes it away.)

> ask dad about grandmother. ask dad about mom.

> ask dad about Bluma. ask dad about dad.

> ask dad about shop.

> kiss dad. n.

The Street

From the glass breaking and the German, we can guess that this is Kristallnacht in 1938.

The men attack you. If you have the photograph, they tear it and throw it away.

> x men. x moon. pray.

> s. (or any other direction)

[Press a key to continue.]

Train

Big uniformed men usher you out.

Train Station

The bag of pills and single shoe, if you had them before, will be gone from your inventory.

> x train. x sun. w.

*DISINFECTION*

No water from showers.

[Press a key to continue.]

Existence

Someone, and it could be anyone, asks "Do you forgive me?"

Yes or no? yes —or— no.

*** Yes. *** (if you answered yes)

*** No. *** (if you answered no)

> undo. about.

Please read "On the significance of the shoes", the "Credits and acknowledgments", and the "Dedication".

Extras

Characters

• Hebel is the player-character, a child. Her name is only mentioned if you try to take the broken glass in the Shop.
• The person in the Closet may or may not be an angel. At story's end, they seem to be everyone.
• The guide is in the Shoe Room if you try to touch or search the shoes there.
• Father is in the Shop.
• Some men break the windows of the shop and later destroy the photograph if you have it.
• Some uniformed men usher you out of the train.
• Some dark-skinned people are outside the bus.
• Also absent but mentioned are your other relatives: your grandmother, your mother, your Aunt Bluma, Hadar, and Hed. These last two are probably your siblings.

Credits

From the response to CREDITS:

"Buried In Shoes" was written by Kazuki Mishima. The Inform interactive fiction system, version 6 and the "menus.h" menu system for Inform were created by Graham Nelson. I must thank my helpful beta-testers, who tried to make me see reason: Tomasz Pudlo, Alexander Deubelbeiss, Carl Muckenhoupt, Wesley Osam, Reiko Yukawa, Tim Partridge, Hakim Cassimally, and Gemma Bristow. I also thank Lucian P. Smith for coordinating the beta-testing effort.

Inventory

Inventory items in this story are just extra bits of business for players who like to explore and pick up stuff. You don't actually need anything.

• some shoes. Found in the Shoe Room. If you take them, shame on you, and the guide will take them from you a turn later. However, if you immediately go west into the bus with them, you can keep the shoes for the rest of the game, which is almost certainly a bug.
• a single shoe. Found under your bed in Your Bedroom.
• Father's bag of pills. Found in the cabinet of the Pink Bathroom.
• a photograph. Found under the bed in Your Parents' Bedroom.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!

I create larger walkthroughs too! Please visit my Patreon account if you're interested in helping me create more interactive fiction walkthroughs. I appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks again.