In this small text adventure, you play as someone who enters an abandoned house on a whim, only to be trapped inside by a restless spirit. Can you figure out what the spirit wants and banish him?
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
You must read Mysterious Mysteries and Strange Happenings article snipplet.docx to understand what exactly you're trying to do in this game: put the spirit's remains, the murder weapon, and a picture of the spirit when alive in a location that it has a strong emotional attachment to.
Entry
> verbose.
> x flashlight. take it.(+5)
There's a bug in the program that lets you leave the house at any time, ending the game in victory, even if you haven't done anything. Pretend the front door is locked, okay?
> x door.
> w.
Entry Closet
The author can't decide if the coat's gray or grey.
> x coats. x red coat. x grey coat.
> x black coat. x white coat.
> open pocket. take key.(+5)
> x shoes.
We're going to search the entire upstairs next and save the rest of the ground floor for later.
> e. u. n.
Guest Bedroom
> x bed. x dresser. open drawer.
> open top. x gold key. take it.(+5)
> open middle. open bottom.
> take four.(+5)read it.
> s. e. n.
Hallway Closet
Hmph. Empty room.
> s. e.
Bathroom
> x bathtub. look in it. take two.(+5)read it.
> x sink. x fuzz. x toilet.
> w.
East Hallway
> x door. unlock door with brass key.
> open door. s.
Master Bedroom
> x picture. take it.(+5)
> x bed. x desk. x dresser.
> x bookcase. x book. take it.(+5)
> open book.(+5; find an iron key and discard the book.)
> n. w. s.
Boys Bedroom
> take three.(+5)read it.
> x left bed. x right bed.
> x left dresser. open it.(stuck)
> x right dresser. open it.(stuck)
> x left chest. open it. look in it.(empty)
> x right chest. open it. look in it.(empty)
> n. w.
Play Room
Nothing in this room, but you feel a presence.
> e. d. e.
Living Room
> x couch. x table. x clock.("5:55")
> open clock.(Locked.)
> unlock clock with gold key. open clock.
> x knife. take it.(+5)
> w. n.
Dining Room
> x table. x bowl. x plate. x silverware.
> x paintings. x portrait.("Trilby, 2003-2007")
> n.
Kitchen
> x oven. look in oven.
> x ashes. take it.(+5)
> take journal.(+5)x it.
> x refrigerator. open it.(Stuck.)
> open back door. open trap door.(Both locked.)
> x counter. x knives.(One knife is missing.)
> x crates.(Not boxes.)
> unlock trap door with iron key. open it.
> d. e.
Basement Storage Room
Oddly, even though you needed a hidden key to get here, there's nothing of interest.
> x shelves. x boxes. x bins.
Head back up to the play room and finish this:
> w. u. s. s. u. w.
Play Room
Based on the info in the .doc file:
> drop ashes. drop knife. drop picture.(+20; all three items vanish.)
> look. e. d.
Entry
> x door.(It's open.)
> s.(+20)
*** You have won ***
Extras
Characters
This is very much a solo adventure, but everything is about the family who used to live in this house in 1899.
The father murdered his younger son with a knife, then burned the body in the kitchen oven. He blamed his younger son for the mother's death, and was incensed when the younger son accidentally broke a rocking horse that the mother had directed to be built for him.
The mother apparently died giving birth to the younger son. The father blamed the younger son for this.
The older son wrote the journal entries and hopefully escaped his father by train.
The younger son was the murder victim. He loved the playroom.
A grandmother lived in another house. To explain his younger son's absence, the father claimed he sent him to her house, but she told the older son that he wasn't there.
Trilby, 2003-2007 is on a plaque under a portrait of a young man, but it's very unclear whether Trilby is the artist or the person painted. It's also very unclear what it's even doing there when everything else in the house is from a century earlier.
Inventory
four journal entries. Take them and read them.
journal entry one. Found in the kitchen's oven.
journal entry two. Found in the bathroom's bathtub.
journal entry three. Found on the left bed in the boys' bedroom.
journal entry four. Found in the bottom dresser drawer in the guest bedroom.
three keys:
a brass key. Found in the pocket of the white coat in the entry closet. It unlocks the door to the master bedroom.
a gold key. Found in the top dresser drawer in the guest bedroom. It unlocks the grandfather clock in the living room.
an iron key. Found by opening the small black book. It unlocks the trap door in the kitchen.
other items:
a flashlight. Found on the table in the entry. Just take it to earn five points. You can turn the flashlight on, but there's no dark rooms in this game to light up..
a pile of ashes. Found in the kitchen's oven. Drop the ashes in the play room.
a picture of a young boy. Found on the desk in the master bedroom. Drop the picture in the play room.
a small black book. Found in the bookcase in the master bedroom. Open it to find an iron key.
a bloody knife. It's inside the grandfather clock in the living room; unlock the clock with the gold key. Drop the knife in the play room.
Score
You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 100, in several turns.