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Key & Compass presents:
Guttersnipe: The Baleful Backwash
by Bitter Karella

Guttersnipe: The Baleful Backwash is a Quest interactive fiction game and is © 2018 by Bitter Karella. It was an entry in the Main Festival division of Spring Thing 2018.

In this game, you once again play as Lil' Ragamuffin, the toughest street urchin in depression-era Garbagetown DC. You were eating old shoes from the Macaroni Family's garbage cans, as any urchin is wont to do, but then you were caught by Tony and his goons who think you're playin' kid detective for the fuzz! Cripes! So now you need to escape their speakeasy and rescue your rat pal, Percy, before they throw him in the rattin' pit to fight Jocko, the champion ferret!

This solution is by David Welbourn.


Map

Atrium Kitchen Restaurant Restroom Bar Dancefloor Alley Stage Apothecary Mainten-ance room Cell Backstage Pokerroom Printroom Kennel Hallway Hallway Backroom Office Winecellar Rattingpit Armory d u (win!)

Walkthrough

A wine cellar

> x me. i. (nothing)

> x still. x barrels. (Rope spotted.)

> x rope. take it.

> x keg. push keg. (Mousehole revealed.)

> x mousehole. look in it. (Matchbook spotted.)

> x matchbook. take it.

> use rope on still. (The rope is now a fuse.)

> light fuse. (The door has been blown open.)

> n.

A hallway (west end)

Uh, the welded door is to the northwest.

> x door. w.

A kennel

> x Percy. x cage.

If you haven't played previous Guttersnipe games or read the webcomic, you might not realize right away that Percy talks and can even read things for you.

> ask Percy about Percy. ask Percy about ferret.

> ask Percy about Tony.

Once you've explored more, you'll know a lot more topics to ask him about.

> e. n.

A cell

> x Murray. x bottle. x barrels.

> ask Murray about Murray. ask Murray about bottle.

> ask Murray about barrels. ask Murray about Percy.

> ask Murray about Tony. ask Murray about army.

> ask Murray about music. ask Murray about Luigi.

> ask Murray about me. ask Murray about Jocko.

> s. e.

A hallway (east end)

> x trapdoor. u. (Locked with padlock.)

> e.

A backroom

> x Tony. ask Tony about Percy.

> e. ask Tony about pops. (Pops wants spaghetti.)

> s.

A ratting pit

> x Hungarian. x ferret. x chalkboard. x poster. x file. x barker.

> ask Hungarian about ferret. (Queen Molly once beat him.)

> ask Hungarian about Queen Molly. (Jocko can be distracted by jingling sounds.)

> n. se.

An armory

> x Vinnie. x counter. x guns.

> ask Vinnie about guns.

> ask Vinnie about Papa. ask Vinnie about moll.

If you want a gun, you need a requisition form from Papa Macaroni or his moll.

> ask Vinnie about Tony.

> nw. ne.

A print room

> x press. (Can be turned on and off.)

> x closeline. x bills. (Not convincing.)

> turn on press. (Printed bibles, then broke.)

> x bibles. take bibles.

> sw. n.

A poker room

They want a fourth player. But let's chat first with Sally. The other two aren't the chatty type.

> x Sally. x Mulligan. x Jimmy. x key. x stool.

> ask Sally about Sally. ask Sally about Jimmy.

> ask Sally about Mulligan. ask Sally about Tony.

> ask Sally about Papa. ask Sally about moll.

> ask Sally about Jocko. ask Sally about Vinnie.

Done chatting? Let's play poker!

> sit on stool.

This is too confusing, and since you want a sure win, you get off the stool. Let's go talk to Percy again.

> s. w. w. w.

A kennel

> ask Percy about poker. (Five of anything?)

> x bibles. (You have five identical bibles.)

> ask Percy about moll. (If moll's frat mascot were defaced...)

> ask Percy about Luigi. (Not really Chinese.)

> ask Percy about Murray. ask Percy about Vinnie.

> e. e. e. n.

A poker room

For what it's worth, you didn't need to talk to Percy about poker, or explicitly examine the bibles. You just need to sit on the stool twice, and you will only be willing to sit on the stool the second time if you also have the bibles with you.

> sit on stool. (using the bibles as a five-of-a-kind)

You win the key, but are evicted from the room as well.

A backroom

> w.

A hallway (east end)

> unlock trapdoor with key. u.

An apothecary

> x shopkeeper. x barrels.

> ask Luigi about Luigi. (No point talking to him.)

> ne.

An alley

> x pigeon. x nest. x trashcan.

> open trashcan. x boots. take boots.

> eat boots. x shoelaces.

> sw. d. n.

Backstage

> x trunk. x Fats. open trunk.

> x record. take it.

> x sandbags. x props.

> ask Fats about Fats. ask Fats about guitar.

> ask Fats about catgut. ask Fats about Papa.

> ask Fats about Tony.

> n.

A stage

> x victrola. x goon.

> n.

A dance floor

> x dancers. w.

A bar

> x bartender. x terrier. x jingleball. x liquor. x bar.

> ask bartender about dog. pet dog.

> e. n.

A restaurant

> x bottle. x patron. x menu. x waiters.

> take bottle.

> ask patron about menu. ask patron about spaghetti.

> e. (Bathroom is locked.)

> w.

A kitchen

> x plate. take it. x chefs. x waiters.

> e. ne.

An atrium

> x carpet. x podium. x maitre. x menu.

> take menu.

> ne. (Not without Percy.)

Yes, let's talk to Percy some more.

> sw. s. s. s. s. w. w.

A kennel

> ask Percy about Fats. (Might be somewhere here that serves intestines.)

> give menu to Percy. (He reads it. Intestines are on the menu.)

> give record to Percy. (He reads it. Military marching music.)

> ask Percy about pigeon. ask Percy about terrier.

> e. e. n. n. n. n.

A restaurant

> ask patron about intestines. (He orders it.)

> x intestines. take intestines.

> s. s. s.

Backstage

> give intestines to Fats. (He fixes his guitar and goes north.)

> n.

A stage

Fats tells the crowd to put any requests in the mason jar.

> x Fats. x jar.

> take victrola. (No one notices this while Fats is playing.)

> s. s. w. n.

A cell

> put record on victrola. (Murray leaves.)

> take rotgut. s.

A hallway (west end)

> use rotgut on door. (It's now open.)

> nw.

A maintenance room

> x pipes. x valve.

> turn valve. (You shut off the water to the restroom.)

> se. e. n. n. n. n. e.

A restroom

> x bidet. x toilet. x basin. x shave.

> take shave.

> w. s. s. s. s. e.

A backroom

> ask Tony about moll.

> put shoelaces on plate. (Now you have a plate of shoelaces.)

> put sauce on shoelaces. (Now you have "spaghetti".)

> give spaghetti to Tony. (He steps aside from his door.)

> e.

An office

> x Papa. x goons. x moll. x statue. x coin.

> give spaghetti to Papa. (He owes you a favor, but he can't free Percy for you.)

> take coin.

> ask Papa about moll. (Moll's name is Chester.)

> w. w. w. w.

A kennel

> give coin to Percy.

> e. e. n. n.

A stage

> put coin in jar. (Moll is now here, dancing to his frat's song.)

> s. s. e. e.

An office

> use shave on statue. (Moll gives you a requisition note.)

> x note. w. se.

An armory

> give note to Vinnie. (You get a gun with one bullet.)

> x gun.

> nw. w. u. ne.

An alley

> shoot pigeon. x pigeon. take it.

> sw. d. n. n. n. w.

A bar

> give dead pigeon to dog. take jingleball.

> e. s. s. s. e. s.

A ratting pit

Using the jingleball, you'll be able to win the golden file.

> talk to Hungarian. challenge Jocko. x file.

> n. w. w. w.

A kennel

> use file on cage. (You now have Percy.)

> e. e. n. n. n. n. ne.

An atrium

Tony and some goons block you.

> shoot Tony. (You bluff your way out, actually.)

You and Percy escape!

Game Over


Extras

Characters

The main characters are:

Background characters include:

Mentioned:


Inventory


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