In this game, you play as a distinguished gentleman mouse named Gerald. You've woken up early on Christmas Eve morning to accompish the following tasks: light a fire, find a stocking and hang it up, find a present to give to your daughter Jessica, and buy some beer for yourself.
While the weasel is conscious, you can only enter the nightclub in your smart suit.
The vegetable patch can only be entered while wearing the gardening clothes.
You'll need the light bottle to see inside the barbecue.
You need to cut the nettles with the machete before you can go behind the greenhouse.
You can't leave the yard and visit the rest of the town until you've completed three tasks.
You can never enter the human's house and play with his boxes from Amazon.
Walkthrough
A Garden Shed
> switch off clock.
> x me. i.
> x list. x johns. x pyjamas. x slippers.
> x Jessica. x note. x bed. x crib.
> x fireplace. x mantelpiece. x pipe. x hole.
> x mirror. x stocking.
> x fridge. x frame.
You won't be willing to leave the shed while wearing pyjamas.
> x wardrobe. open it. x suit. x clothes.
> remove pyjamas. put pyjamas in wardrobe.
> take clothes. wear clothes. x mirror.
> x jeans. x t-shirt. x jumper. x boots.
> x toolbox. open toolbox. x tape. x fluid. x rag.
Don't pick up oodles of stuff just yet. There's one task involving a heavy object that I want to get out of the way first.
> out.
Bottom of the Garden
> x barbecue. x skull. x shed.
Note: You'll need to be wearing your rubber boots (as part of your gardening clothes) to enter the vegetable patch.
> ne.
Vegetable Patch
You automatically hide while a human digs a potato before returning to the house. Then you hear a loud bang in the distance.
> x spade. x hole. x coin.
> x Stewart. talk to Stewart.
> x stone. x wheelbarrow.
> nw.
Behind The Shed
> x pallet. x nail. take nail.(stuck in pallet)
> x match. x heap. x ball.(very heavy)
You'll need to drop most of your inventory to be able to take the heavy ball.
> take ball. se. sw. s.
Under the Tree
> x weasel. x machete. x tree. x midden.
> talk to weasel. in.(Not wearing that!)
> u.
A Top of the Tree
> x Peter. x shiny. x rings. x bar. x strap.
> talk to Peter. ask Peter about shiny.
> ask Peter about rings. ask Peter about strap.
Note that it doesn't work if you just try giving the ball to Peter.
> put ball in collection.(Peter pushes it out; it falls: BONK goes the weasel!)
> take bar.(Wants a shiny thing in trade.)
> d.
Under the Tree
> x weasel. x flyer.(for Petcetera; "Nick - 07505 457 1262")
> take machete.
Normally, we'd need to be wearing our suit to enter the club, but with the weasel knocked out, that restriction is gone.
> in.
The Nutcracker Night Club (Inside the Squirrel Midden)
You can enter here if you're wearing your suit.
> x decorations. x Cyril. x floor. x ball. x bottles.
> take lights.(Perhaps ask Cyril for one.)
> x bar.(Payment in nuts only!)
> x bar mirror. x Trevor. x Ken. x Sam. x ipad.
> talk to Cyril. ask Cyril about Harry. ask Cyril about Jack.
> ask Cyril about lights.(Sam hands over his IPad.)
Need to get some tunes to get people dancing.
> x ipad.(What choice will get people to dance?)
> 4.(Cheesy Party Anthems. You get a light bottle and return the IPad.)
> x light bottle. x floor. dance.
> talk to Ken. ask Ken about Jack.
> talk to Trevor. ask Trevor about Jack.
> ask Cyril about stoat.(Said his name was Nick.)
> ask Trevor about stoat. ask Ken about stoat. ask Sam about stoat.
All agree that the stoat was here on Tuesday night, pushing in at the bar.
> out. n.
Bottom of the Garden
> take skull.
> in.
A Garden Shed
Collect up stuff we'd normally have gathered at the start of the game.
> take stocking. take rag. take tape.
> out. ne.
Vegetable Patch
> take coin. polish coin.(With the oily rag. It's now a Shiny Coin.)
> x coin.
> e.
North End of the Patio
> x scissors. x gate. x fur.
> take scissors. take fur.
> out.(Not yet. Complete some tasks first.)
> s.
Middle of the Patio
By the way, you can never get inside the human's house.
> x tap. x boxes.("Amazon Prime")
> s.
A South End of Patio
> x sponge. take sponge.
> x nettles. cut nettles.(with machete)
> sw.
Behind The Greenhouse
Note: "Holly and Mistletoe" is a plural item that uses they/them pronouns.
> x holly. take holly.
> ne. n.
Middle of the Patio
There's some awkwardness with the word 'tap' if you're carrying tape.
> turn on faucet. x drain. drink water. x grating.
> use sponge on faucet.(The sponge is now wet.)
> turn off faucet.
> nw.
Vegetable Patch
> use sponge on stone.(It's now a whetstone.)
> sharpen scissors.(using the whetstone.)
> s.
Middle of the Garden
> x bath. x Jon. x greenhouse.
> x page. read it. take it.
Jon is rather foul-mouthed.
> talk to Jon. ask Jon about Jon. ask Jon about cat.
> ask Jon about weasel. ask Jon about Gemma.
> ask Jon about Peter. ask Jon about Petcetera.
> ask Jon about Christmas. ask Jon about Santa.
> ask Jon about Cyril. ask Jon about Harry. ask Jon about Stoat.
> ask Jon about Trevor. ask Jon about Ken. ask Jon about Sam.
> give skull to Jon.(Jon says it was Clive the Crow.)
> give fur to Jon.("That's Jack Rabbit's")
> in.
Greenhouse
> x cat. x paper. take paper.(Code for Stewart?)
> x twine. take twine.
> x table. x plant pot. take it.
You'll need either the machete or the sharpened scissors to cut the tape.
> cut tape.(Now have a Strip of Duct Tape.)
> use strip on plant pot.(The pot is now an Empty Bucket.)
> x bucket.
> out. e.
Middle of the Patio
> turn on faucet. put bucket on drain. turn off faucet.
> x bucket.
> w.
Middle of the Garden
> use bucket on bath.(Jon gives you some monkey nuts.)
> x nuts.(They're peanuts.)
> sw. in.
The Nutcracker Night Club (Inside the Squirrel Midden)
> buy beer.(You trade the monkey nuts for a bottle of ale.)
> out. u.
A Top of the Tree
> give shiny coin to Peter.(He gives you the metal bar.)
> d. n. ne.
Vegetable Patch
It's still hard to find many topics to discuss with Stewart.
> give scrap of paper to snail.(Stewart becomes less vague.)
> x Stewart. talk to Stewart. ask Stewart about Jack.
> nw.
Behind The Shed
> take match.
> use bar on nail.(Almost works, but it keeps slipping off.)
> tie bar to skull.(While holding twine, you make a crowbar.)
> use crowbar on nail.(You get a nail.)
> se. sw. u. in.
An Inside The Barbecue
With the light bottle, you can see in here.
> x Penelope. x sewing machine. x weaving machine.
> x lump. take lump.
> talk to Penelope.(Busy with Nancy's wedding dress.)
> ask Penelope about Gemma. ask Penelope about Nancy.
> give stocking to Penelope.(Get holly and mistletoe first.)
> give holly to Penelope.
> give stocking to Penelope.(She mends it.)
> x stocking.
> out. d. in.
A Garden Shed
Complete the beer task:
> open fridge. put ale in fridge. close fridge.
Complete the stocking task:
> hang stocking.(using the nail; another task completed.)
Complete the fire task:
> put lump in fireplace.
> take fluid. use fluid on lump.
> use match on lump.(Fire started.)
Now that you've done three of the tasks on your list, you're now brave enough to enter the town. I strongly suggest travelling light for this bit, carrying only Jessica's note for Santa.
> drop all.
> out. ne. e. out.
Chester Street
> x van. x snow.
> e. n.
Santa's Workshop
> x Santa. x elf. x elves. talk to Santa.
> give note to Santa.(He gives you two presents.)
> x Jessica's present.
> open your present.(You get a Ninja Outfit!)
> x ninja. remove clothes. wear ninja.
> out. ne. e.
An Outside Petcetera Pet Store
> x store. in.(Door is locked)
> throw hook.(You are now at...)
Outside Upper Storey Window
> listen.(Harry argues with Nick, then leaves.)
> x window.(See Nick fall asleep.)
> open window.
> in.
Nick catches you (a floorboard creaks) and he takes everything from you (except the Long Johns), and locks you in a cage.
> Continue...
Inside A Cage (In the Pet Store Office)
> x banners. x balloons. x boxes. x chair. x desk.
> x straw. x map.
> x small cage. x Gemma. x rags. x large cage. x Jack.
> x bowl. x bottle. x moonbeam. x window. x bin.
> talk to Gemma. talk to Jack.
> take bowl. polish bowl.(Get a strip of rag from Gemma.)
> polish bowl.
> put bowl in moonbeam.(The moonbeam's in Jack's cage.)
> give bowl to Jack.(Peter Magpie arrives.)
> talk to peter.(He opens your cage.)
> out.
A Pet Store Office
> open Gemma's cage. open Jack's cage.
Jack gives the bowl to Peter and Peter flies off.)
> x bin.
You'll have to take your stuff one at a time. Sorry. This is why I suggested traveling light earlier. But the only thing you really truly need at this late hour is Jessica's present.
> take clothes. take present. take ninja.
> wear ninja. out.
Chief Elf arrives, summons elves with baseball bats and they all head for Nick behind the office door.
> Continue...
Santa gives you three a lift home.
> Continue...
A Garden Shed
> put present in stocking. x list.
> wake Jessica.
The End
> Continue...
The credits are displayed.
Extras
Artwork
These are thumbnails of artwork used in the game. Please play the game to view the pictures in their full sizes.
Jessica's note
Newspaper page
Characters
Jessica is your daughter. She's sleeping right now and you'll wake her for Christmas Day.
Harry Weasel works as a bouncer for the Nutcracker Club.
Peter Magpie is a bird who collects shiny things, the shinier, the better. He's interested in little else.
Pigeon Jon is a foul-mouthed bird who'd like to swim in the birdbath. He's easily the most talkative character in the game.
Precious, a vicious Bengal Cat, is sleeping in the greenhouse. Leave her alone.
Stewart the Snail is in the vegetable patch, but he wasn't coded properly. Consider the fourth wall broken.
Cyril Squirrel hides stuff like the monkey nuts. According to Jon, Cyril used to be a gangster until his brother was killed in a shoot out. He's now the owner and operator of the Nutcracker Night Club.
Trevor Skunk is, well, drunk as a skunk. He's in the nightclub.
Ken Badger is another character in the nightclub. Not much to say about him.
Sam Hedgehog is the nightclub's DJ, but fried his brains in Ibiza clubs.
Penelope Spider runs "Elite Cotour" inside the barbecue. She made your pyjamas and suit and is a talented seamstress.
Santa is in his workshop in town. He's getting ready for Christmas and has some presents for you and your daughter.
The Chief Elf and other Elves assist Santa.
Nick Stoat has been hanging around near Harry. You'll find him in the pet store.
Gemma is your wife and Jessica's mother. Gemma went missing last summer looking for water.
Jack Rabbit left the Nutcracker Club last night but never arrived home. You find some of his fur at the North End of the Patio.
A human is briefly seen digging up a potato in the vegetable patch before entering their house.
Mentioned:
Chris is one of your cousins. He photographed your family last spring.
Gustav is your Swedish cousin. He gave you your jumper.
Fieval is your American cousin. He's mentioned in the tap's description.
Clive the Crow's skull is at the bottom of the garden.
Nancy is Penelope's daughter who's getting married to someone named Itsy tomorrow.
Jane is Jon's sister.
Ebeneezer is an evil human who helped Nick open the pet store.
Credits
Displayed at game's end:
Written and coded by Luke A. Jones (luke.jones@gmail.com), using the Quest text adventure engine (www.textadeventures.co.uk).
Firstly, thank you for playing! It's the best way in which you can support interactive fiction, particularly if you want people like me to continue making old school parser games like this.
Thank you to K.V. for coding help, and answering endless daft questions with patience and politeness.
Thank you to Nathan Walker for creating the charming artwork.
Thanks you to Jennifer Thompson, for repeated alpa and beta testing, suggestions for improvements, and 100 other things (the idea of knocking out the Weasel was Jennifer's)
Thanks also to the excellent support from the Quest forum members.
The garden described in the game is pretty much mine, but sadly I find no trace of Gerald and all the others, so I brought them to life here.
I have authored five other games (including two other Christmas games) which you can find here:
a pair of Long Johns. You're wearing them. You may not take them off.
a pair of pyjamas and slippers. You're wearing them. Take them off and put them in the wardrobe; you won't be using them.
a Stocking. It's in the garden shed. Unfortunately it has a large hole, so give it to Penelope Spider so she'll mend it. Oh, but she wants a favour done first. Give the holly and mistletoe to Penelope, then give the stocking to her again; it's now ...
a Jessica's Stocking (fixed). Once you have the nail, go back into the garden shed and hang the stocking. This completes one of your tasks. Then put Jessica's present in the stocking to complete your last task.
a Smart Suit. It's in the wardrobe in the garden shed. Wear them to go outside, but you especially need this outfit to enter the nightclub. However, once the weasel bouncer is knocked out (see cricket ball), this restriction goes away and you can enter the nightclub in your gardening clothes instead.
Gardening Clothes. They're in the wardrobe in the garden shed. Wear them to go outside, but you'll especially need these to enter the vegetable patch; only the boots in this outfit let you walk through the mud there.
a Ninja Outfit (including grappling hook). Acquire it by opening your present from Santa. Remove your clothes — don't be shy, I'm sure Santa and his elves have seen everything — and wear the ninja outfit. When outside the pet store, throw the hook to reach the upper storey window.
Food and drink
some Monkey Nuts. They're peanuts. Pigeon Jon gives them to you after you fill the bird bath; see bucket. In the nightclub, buy beer, using the nuts as payment.
a Bottle of Ale. Acquire it by buying beer in the nightclub, using the monkey nuts as payment. Put the ale in the garden shed's fridge. This completes one of your tasks.
Readables
a ToDo List. You're carrying it. Read it: it lists your four tasks. When you complete a task, it'll be crossed out.
a Note for Santa written by Jessica. Acquire it by examining Jessica. Give it to Santa in his workshop; he'll give you twopresents.
a Newspaper page. It's in the middle of the garden. Read it to learn about the pet store.
a Scrap of Paper. It's in the greenhouse. It has Stewart Snail's missing code. Give the scrap to Stewart. Unfortunately, restoring Stewart to full NPC status gives you no real benefits.
a Flyer. Acquire it by examining the unconscious weasel; see cricket ball. Read it to learn that Nick works for the pet store.
Tools (metal or partly metal)
an Alarm Clock. It's in the garden shed. Switch it off to stop its noise. You can ignore it afterwards. You can't, for example, use it to wake the sleeping cat in the greenhouse and why would you want to do that, you sicko?
a Coin. It's in the hole in the vegetable patch. Polish the coin with the oily rag; it's now...
a Shiny Coin. Give the shiny coin to Peter Magpie and he'll give you the metal bar.
a Metal Bar. It's at the top of the tree and part of Peter's collection of shiny things. Give the shiny coin to Peter and he'll give you the bar. Later, if you also have the twine and bird skull, you can tie the bar to the skull to make...
a Crowbar. Use the crowbar on the nail behind the shed to acquire the nail.
a Pair of Blunt Nail Scissors. They're at the north end of the patio. Use them on the whetstone (see sponge) and they become...
an IPad. In the nightclub, ask Cyril about the lights. He'll ask you to help him with the club's music. Sam will hand over his IPad. Examine the IPad, then select 4 (for Cheesy Party Anthems) to get the dance floor hoppin'. Cyril will give you a light bottle and you'll hand the IPad back to Sam.
a Machete. Harry Weasel, the bouncer for the nightclub, has it. You'll have to knock him out; see cricket ball. He'll drop the machete and you can now take it.
At the south end of the patio, cut the nettles with the machete. You can now get behind the greenhouse.
a Nail. It's in the pallet behind the shed. Use the crowbar on the nail to acquire it. If you have both the nail and the mended stocking, you can hang the stocking on the garden shed's mantelpiece.
a Food Bowl. It's inside your cage. Try to polish it; Gemma gives you a strip of rag. Polish it again, it's now...
a Shiny Food Bowl. Give the bowl to Jack Rabbit. The shinyness of the bowl in the moonbeam will summon Peter Magpie.
Note: If you drop or otherwise lose the strip of tape, you can't pick it up again. You'll have to cut a new strip; the old strip will, of course, vanish.
A Bottle of Firelighter Fluid. It's in the toolbox in the garden shed. After putting the lump of charcoal in the fireplace, use the fluid on the lump to make it more flammable.
an Oily Rag. It's in the toolbox in the garden shed. Polish the coin with it.
a Match. It's behind the shed. After the lump of charcoal is in the fireplace and covered with firelighter fluid, use the match on the lump to light a fire. This completes one of your tasks.
some Twine. It's in the greenhouse. If you have it, the metal bar, and the bird skull, then you can tie the bar to the skull to make a crowbar.
a Plant Pot. It's in the greenhouse. Use a strip on duct tape on the pot to make ...
an Empty Bucket. Put the bucket on the drain at the middle of the patio, then turn on the tap. The bucket becomes...
a Bucket (full of water). Use the full bucket on the bird bath in the middle of the garden. Jon will thank you and give you some monkey nuts.
a Washing up sponge. It's at the south end of the patio. Turn on the tap at the middle of the garden and use the sponge on the running tap to get...
a Wet Washing Up Sponge. Use the wet sponge on the large stone in the vegetable patch to make a whetstone. Use the scissors on the whetstone to sharpen them.
a Light Bottle. See IPad on how to get a light bottle. Take the light bottle inside the barbecue to see there. Since the inside of the barbecue is the game's only dark location, you might as well leave the light bottle there.
a Lump of Charcoal. It's inside the barbecue, but you'll need to have the light bottle there to see it. Just take the lump; Penelope doesn't care. Put the lump in your fireplace, then use the firelighter fluid on it, then use the match on it. Congratulations, you've lit a fire, completing one of your tasks.
a Cricket Ball. It's on the compost heap behind the shed. It's also heavy, so you'll need to drop almost everything else first before taking it. Take it to the top of the tree and put it in the collection. (Just giving the ball to Peter won't work.) Peter will push it out of his nest, since it's not shiny, and the ball will fall and hit the weasel, knocking him out.
a Strip of Rag. Gemma gives it to you when you first try to polish the food bowl. Polish the bowl again (using the rag).
Other stuff
a Bird Skull. It's at the bottom of the garden. Give it to Pigeon Jon to learn it's a crow's skull. While holding twine, tie the bar to the skull to make a crowbar; yes, it's a pun.
a Scrap of Fur. It's at the north end of the patio. Show it to Pigeon Jon to learn it belongs to Jack Rabbit. However, you can't use the fur anywhere else. When you finally find Jack, you can't give the fur to him.
Holly and Mistletoe. It's behind the greenhouse; it's one item. You'll need to first cut the nettles at the south end of the patio with the machete to be able to get there. Give the holly and mistletoe to Penelope Spider. She'll now be willing to mend the stocking for you.
Jessica's present from Santa. Acquire this by giving Jessica's note to Santa. Put her present in the hung stocking. During the epilogue, you'll learn it contains a deck of playing cards.
