Okay, so I’ve been playing this game for a while now. It’s a great recreation of a terrible type of game. But as such, it’s a terrible game. I’m dreading having to play more of it. And yet I skimmed some of the reviews… and they’re very positive! Plus, it’s written by a great author! So I wonder whether I might be missing something or doing something wrong.
I’ve spent most of my time in NewBeTown. Here, you basically have to grind grind grind grind grind grind in order to be able to get into the bee hive. Pick flowers, defeat small enemies, go back in town, make some meagre coin, sharpen your weapon… and then repeat. But of course your weapon will also become blunt again. Suffice it to say that I manage to get it to +7 once, but then it was +5 by the time I was at the hive, and this wasn’t enough to actually defeat those bees. So uh… back to town? I decided to call it a night… and the next day, my save didn’t restore any more. So I’m now back to an earlier version of the character, but the prospect of more grinding fills me with despair.
I decided to instead head out west. Now I’m in Sameytown, and here you get an apparently infinite grind of job for the Post Office. Click click click hand in the job get a new one click click click hand in the job get a new one… It’s terrible! Complete boredom!
So at one point I found out that you could open an Inform 7 game. I thought, this must be the real game! But I don’t think it is? At least, I wasn’t able to proceed beyond a few turns.
At some other point I was suddenly transformed into the Baker of Shireton – no idea how that happened. But after ten seconds the world caught fire. Which was funny… but it also kicked me back to the main game.
What am I supposed to do? How do I proceed? Am I really supposed to spend hours grinding for copper pieces? What’s going on? Is there any good stuff?
If you can get back to being the baker that seemed to be the next node of the story when I played. Success at the baking game is how the cursed pickle gets introduced. I think things catch fire if you don’t take the baked goods out of the oven in time?
I had a similar difficulty. To add a little to what dugg_funny said, forget the grinding, and focus on getting back to being the baker. It’s been a while, but I think what worked for me was restarting the AoA 2.0 client (it’s one of the options on the side bar). When I did that, I believe I was the baker once more. Then you have to succeed at the baker’s quest to advance to the next part of the game.
Hello,
I could also need some help with the game. I’m past the bakery part, and I also went to the Institute and could flee from there. But now the baker and I are looking for the SANDBOX, and I have no idea how to find it. According to the name and what the baker says, is it somewhere in the desert?
Thanks for your help!
I think I might have been stucked in the first part and dismissed this as an awful and buggy game if I had not known Hanon’s other games … But as it is, I like the game.
You’re on the right track but sounds like you might have missed a couple of clues. I’m away from my computer and save file right now, so apologies if some of this isn’t completely correct, but hopefully I can help you get unstuck! In increasing order of spoileriness:
1: Someone in the institute should have told you about a specific action you can take to find the sandbox.
2: I believe it was the doctor.
3: You need to stare at the sun in the right place and time.
4: You’re right that it’s in the desert, but you need to get to the middle of it first (I don’t remember this exactly, but believe it’s called High Noon).
5: Have you met anyone who might be able to help you navigate the desert?
6: Specifically, the crazy old prospector guy by the airfield.
7: He’ll tell you that you need to go towards increasing heat to reach High Noon.
Putting it all together:
8: Make sure you have enough water supplies - I think ten or so should do it - then enter the desert and choose the hottest-sounding option at each navigation point. Eventually you’ll reach High Noon - it’ll be called out, with a stone disk in the ground - and then you should have an option to stare at the sun. It’ll take longer than you think it might, but just be patient!
Of course there is an alternate approach:
In my first play through, I beat the Hive dungeon and accepted the Queen’s offer, which lets you skip all this rigmarole of the institute and desert and just fly right to the sandbox!
Thanks a lot for your answer, Mike, that was very helpful! I remember that I was given this information in the Institute, but I didn’t have it on my mind any more.
I had already been to the middle of the desert, but of course, the part with having to look into the sun for a minute or so is quite hidden. I only read your first three hints and then went back there, but still didn’t find anything. Only then did I notice that in the inventory, when you talk to the Baker of Shireton, you can also talk to the Pickle, and the Pickle said that I had to stare into the sun for quite some time.
Concerning your alternate approach, I did not see that. I also went to the Hive and accepted the Queen’s offer for mutation, but if there came up an option to fly to the sandbox, then I must have missed it. Later on, I went back to the Queen and asked her about the sandbox, but she was not too helpful.
So finally I could now finish this funny and admirable piece of a game!
But as it is, I like the game.