In this small whimsy of a game, you play as a man who, after a very rough day at work, is now dreaming he's in a bathhouse for mechanical people. Explore this facility of clockwork, keys, and oil. If you're very good at examining absolutely everything, you may not only be able to find a way out of here, but also find a way to relax.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on 1.0 of the game.
Feel free to chat with the attendant, but she really doesn't like you at all.
> ask attendant about attire. ask attendant about bathhouse.
> ask attendant about man. ask attendant about lockers.
Unlocking the locker is a bit more awkward than normally.
> insert brass key. unlock locker. open locker.
> take towel. x towel.
> x doors. take coin. x coin.
> take keyring.(You can't)
The locker's door must have either the brass key or the coin stuck in it. Hold onto the coin for now.
> n.
The Cubicle
Although you can carry the pyjamas around with you, you don't need them elsewhere.
> x bench. x hooks.
> remove pyjamas. put pyjamas on hooks.
> wear towel.
> s. e.
The Bathroom
> x bath. x taps. x plughole. x gauge. read gauge.
> x floor. x design. x cube. x well.
> take cube.(too far down to reach)
> put coin in plughole.
You want the gauge to read "6". You learn this is the correct level by trial and error, by telling the mechanical man about the bath while he's here. If the gauge value is less than six, the man will say it's not full enough, and if the gauge value is more than six, the man will say it's too full.
If you overfill the bath, take the coin and put it back in the plughole to reduce the oil in the bath.
> turn taps on.
> read gauge. g. g. g. g.("5")
> turn taps off.
> read gauge.(Verify that the gauge is at "6".)
> z.(Repeat waiting until the man is here.)
> tell man about bath.
He gets in the bath and the drainage channels fill. Take the cube immediately while it floats; the well will drain quickly.
> take cube.(success!)
> x cube. x symbol.(There's six symbols; the square didn't display properly for me.)
> take coin.(Not while the man is in the bath.)
> take bathrobe.(Oh, that works.)
> w. n.
The Cubicle
> remove towel. wear bathrobe.
> s. e.
The Bathroom
> give towel to man.(He accepts it and leaves the bath and goes south.)
> take coin.
> w.
The Changing Room
> put coin in door. take keyring.
> e. s.
A Corridor
The man in a towel seems to be waiting for you.
> x sign. read sign. x door. x mechanism.
> swipe card. s. SPACE
The Sauna
The man enters with you and sits down on the bench.
> x bench. x people.
> x walls. x control panel.(too high up)
Feel free to chat with the mechanical man, if you like. The other people aren't chatty at all.
> ask man about sauna. ask man about attendant.
Back to business:
> stand on bench.(too many people in the way)
> remove bathrobe.(A few people leave.)
> wear bathrobe.
> stand on bench.
On the bench
> x panel. x gauge. read gauge.("mid")
> x slider.("2")
> set slider to 1.
> d.
The Sauna
One person leaves angrily. Soon, they will return with the attendant, and if you're still here then, you'll scamper back to the cubicle.
> x walls.(You see a door to the southwest.)
> sw.
The Service Entrance
> x window.(You see a magnificient garden.)
> x door. x panel. x recess. x button.
> open door.(It won't open.)
Notes about this puzzle:
You must PRESS, not push the button.
You will have 50 seconds in REAL TIME to make five matches, so type quickly!
There will be a pop-up display in the upper-right corner of the screen. Make sure your game is fully visible so you can see it.
To match the displayed symbol, you need to insert the opposite face of the cube into the recess. The syntax is: insert symbol face.
If the timer runs out and the door didn't open, you'll have to press the button and try again.
> press button.
For each displayed symbol, until the door is open:
⬜︎ > insert arrow face. take cube.
✚ > insert circle face. take cube.
◯ > insert cross face. take cube.
△ > insert diamond face. take cube.
↑ > insert square face. take cube.
◇ > insert triangle face. take cube.
Now that the door is open:
> w. SPACESPACE
You wake up, very refreshed and happy to persue a new life.
*** The End ***
Extras
Characters
A mechanical man is unmoving in the lobby. He's wearing a bathrobe. If you can find his silver key, you can wind him up and he'll start looking for an oil bath.
Note: If the man got into the sauna but didn't take his bath yet, you can tell man about bath to convince him to go look for it again.
A mechanical cuckoo is inside the lobby's clock. Did you know that cuckoos like to invade other birds' nests?
Some birds can be vaguely seen in a nest high up on a wall in the lobby. You can't tell what types of birds they are, but the man calls them thieving magpies.
The Attendant is in the changing room. She enforces the rules of the bathhouse and she doesn't like you at all.
Several mechanical people are sitting motionless on a bench in the sauna. They won't talk to you, but some of them may move in response to some of your actions.
Mentioned:
Your bosses Clarke, Clark, Clerk and Leclercq and your co-workers at whatever job it is you do. They're not that happy with you and frankly, the feeling is mutual.
Credits
The response to ABOUT:
TITLE: Escape from the Mechanical Bathhouse
AUTHOR: Nathaniel Spence
VERSION: 1.0
IFID: 049494ad-2958-48e1-8253-d1b24e1b9684
And the response to CREDITS:
Created with Quest 5.8.0
With thanks to the many incredibly helpful forum members, especially mrangel for his continual expert help and advice. Any faults remaining are entirely due to my own ineptitude.
Inventory
pyjamas. You're wearing them.
You cannot go east from the changing room while wearing the pyjamas.
If you have the towel, go to the cubicle and remove the pyjamas and wear the towel. Feel free to hang the pyjamas on the hooks and abandon them.
a keyring. Acquire it by examining the pocket of the bathrobe worn by the mechanical man. The keyring has a brass key and a card attached to it.
You cannot break the keyring or remove either the brass key or the card from it.
a brass key. The brass key unlocks the locked locker in the changing room. Insert the key then unlock the locker. Note that when you take the coin from the locker door, the brass key isn't removable until you put the coin back in.
a card. The card unlocks the sliding door in the corridor. Swipe the card then go south on the next turn to enter the sauna.
a mechanical cuckoo. It's inside the lobby's clock.
Turn the hands of the clock to make the cuckoo appear. Quickly take the cuckoo before clock door closes again.
Drop the cuckoo in the lobby. It will fly up to the nest and you will hear a commotion. A few turns later, a broken chick will fall from the nest.
a silver key. Find it by first dropping the cuckoo in the lobby, then searching the broken chick a few turns later.
Insert the silver key in the mechanical man's keyhole, then turn it to animate him.
Note you will not be able to take the silver key while the man is animated.
BUG: Turning the silver key a second time results in several errors.
a towel. It's inside the locked changing room locker; the brass key unlocks the locker.
In the cubicle, remove your pyjamas and wear the towel. Now you can enter the bathroom.
In the bathroom, give the towel to the mechanical man to convince him to leave the oil bath.
In the sauna, remove your towel (or bathrobe) to get some of the people to leave.
a coin. It's inside the door of the locker in the changing room.
The brass key must be inserted in the locker door to release the coin. Likewise, the coin must be inserted in the locker door to release the brass key. You can never have both items at the same time.
In the bathroom, put the coin in the plughole to act as a plug. Now you can turn the taps on and fill the bath with oil.
Note that you cannot take the coin back while the mechanical man is in the bath. Give him the towel to convince him to leave the bath.
Put the coin back in the locker door and take the keyring back.
an access cube. It's in a narrow drainage well in the bathroom floor; examine the floor's design to find it.
To get the cube, convince the man to take a bath. When he enters the bath, oil will overflow and the cube will briefly float and be within reach. Take it then.
Examine the cube and its symbols. Note which pairs of symbols are opposite each other. (One of the symbols, a square, may not be displayed properly if your Quest interpreter doesn't know how to display a square emoji.)
In the service entrance, solve the matching puzzle by first pressing the start button, then inserting the opposite-symbol face to the symbol displayed. The match indicator will be green and the counter indicator will increment by one if you've done it right. Take the cube and continue matching symbols until you've made five matches. Type quickly since you only have 50 seconds of real time to type in all the necessary commands.
When you've made five matches, the door to the garden will open. Go through the door to win the game.
a bathrobe. The mechanical man in the lobby is wearing it, but you can't take it until he disrobes in the bathroom.
Take the bathrobe to the cubicle, remove the towel, and wear the bathrobe. Now you can return to the bathroom and give the towel to the man to wear.
In the sauna, remove your bathrobe (or towel) to get some of the people to leave.
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