For A Change is a Z-machine 5 interactive fiction game written with Inform 6 and is © 1999 by Dan Schmidt. It was an entry at IF Comp 1999 where it won 2nd place overall, and 1st place for Miss Congeniality. At the 1999 XYZZY Awards, it won the Best Writing award and was also a finalist in three other categories (Best Game, Best Individual Puzzle, and Best Setting).
In this game of lyrical and dreamlike prose, you find yourself on a "resting" in the shade of a High Wall, a guidebook by your side and a rock in your hand. You may not know who you are or how you got here, but you do know that you must return the sun to this land. In short:
The sun has gone. It must be brought. You have a rock.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
Under the High Wall
You will note right away that although the game is in English, it's a very curious version of English.
> x me. i. x stone. x resting. x guidebook. take it.
> x fod. x wall. x tower. x sun. x sweetness. x ground. x mobile.
You can look up several entries in the guidebook.
> read guidebook. read about high wall.
> read about tower. read about plain.
> read about stone. read about sun.
> read about resting. read about fod.
> read about mobile. read about shade.
> stand. s.
Hillside
> x dun. x hill. x spinster. read about dun. read about spinster. w.
Outside Cave
> x dirt. s.
Inside the Cave
> x glow. e.
Lantern Room
> x shadows. listen. x songlantern. x bars. x cordstone.
> read about songlantern. read about cordstone.
> read about curry. curry cordstone.
> take songlantern. take bars. x bar. take songlantern. x gap. s. w.
Without Light / Dead End
The songlantern sings, and its song has light. You can sing, too.
> sing. x me.
> x anchisel. take it. look up anchisel.
> e. n. w. n. n.
In the Shade
> x grass. x toolman. read about toolman. ask toolman about tools.
> give anchisel to toolman. x lie opener. x button. look up lie opener.
> n.
By the Hole
> x hole. x pool. x handle. take handle.
> s. s. s. e. e.
End Of Passage
> x water. x words. touch water.
When you push the button of the lie opener, the glowing words fade and the water falls, creating a torrent that starts pushing you out the cave.
> push button. z. z. z. z. n. n.
By the Hole
> x hole. x pool. x handle. take handle. take handle with bar.
> x fish. look up handlefish. s. w.
Before the Tower
> x plaque. w.
Base of Tower
> x staircase. x wood. u. u.
Observation Room
If you want to crawl out onto the flagpole, you must drop everything first.
> x model. x glass. x tower. x flagpole.
> x east window. x north window. x west window. x south window.
> d. d. e. e. e. n.
Before the Cube
Shards of crystal will fall here soon after your arrival. The glass of the model in the tower will now appear cracked.
> x cube. x cup. look up. x crystal.
> look up cube. in. s. w. w. w. u. u.
Observation Room
> x glass. x crack. x cube.
> put stone in crack. x cube.
> d. d. e. e. e. n.
Before the Cube
> x boulder. n.
In the Cube
> x cup. x establisher. take cup. take establisher.
> read about lie establisher. s. w. s. s. s. e. e.
End Of Passage
WARNING. This is the beginning of the endgame. If you pass this point without handlefish in your possession, you can't win the game.
> squeeze lemon.
In The Cylinder
> x water.
Top Of Cylinder
You must drop all your possessions if you want to go east; however, you'll lose those possessions as they fall through the water.
> x ladder. u.
On The High Wall
You must drop all your possessions if you want to go east. When the handlefish hits the water, there's an explosion. Events start happening fast, so be careful with timing.
> x sun. x ocean. put handlefish in ocean. x trickle. d.
In The Water
> grab rock. x tower. grab flagpole.
On the Flagpole
> n.
Observation Room
> take model. empty model.
> look. x model. d. d. e.
*** You have succeeded ***
> notes
This walkthrough is provided free of charge since I wrote this walkthrough prior to January 2015 when I began my Patreon account. I've since reformatted this walkthrough to use my currently preferred style. I hope you enjoy it!
I'm still creating new walkthroughs! 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.