Let's Play: Finding Martin by G.k. Wennstrom

[Draconis (Daniel Stelzer)]

@username5243

At least this one was explicit about what needed to be done. If you’ve ever played or read about the old mainframe games from Cambridge University, some of those just delighted in putting you in unwinnable states without any hint that they’ve done it.

I love the Phoenix games as a lesson in design. Not so much for actual play!

They wanted instant death to be common, which means you need the ability to save the game anywhere; otherwise it just gets frustrating.

But if you can save the game anywhere, then certain puzzles (where the correct answer is randomized and you’re given a clue about which answer that is) become trivial. See the clue, save, try each option.

The Phoenix solution was, if you save the game after seeing the clue but before solving the puzzle, silently set a flag that makes the game unwinnable.

Much better, I think, to just get rid of instant death, so you can restrict saving and restoring, and then you can do your “randomized answer with a clue” puzzles all you want!

[jwalrus (Adam Biltcliffe)]

@username5243

I’m taking this as a hint that trying to resolve this shouldn’t be my top priority right now.

This game is pretty non-linear. I said that you might come across a hint if you manage to solve a bunch of other puzzles beforehand, but I didn’t find said hint until I’d already figured out how to get the sock.

[username5243]

Part VIII: Pure Imagination

Back home, we cleared up various odds and ends. Our main quest - to get a matching sock to open the dryer - got nowhere, because it’s probably stuck behind the bookcase. But we did open up a dance studio and find a way to make controlling the watch easier.

Speaking of which, let’s mess with the watch some more before solving more direct puzzles.

KITCHEN

On the east wall is an archway containing a stone door. Next to the stone door is an electrical outlet, and next to the outlet is a large Black Box. You also see a long shelf running along the east wall.

Along the north wall you see two bowls on the floor. A small video screen is in the center of the north wall.

On the west wall is the kitchen sink. When facing the sink, you see a door labeled “PANTRY” to the left of the sink and a door-sized opening to the right of the sink.

On the south wall is a doorway leading to the dining room.

You see a short blue sock and a short white sock here.

>SWING WATCH
(first closing the watch)
The watch swings back and forth hypnotically. It’s difficult to see the watch while it’s swinging, but for a moment you think that you see the misty image of a train conductor on the cover of the watch. The conductor seems confused and looks as if he needs you to tell him what time it is.

>SAY “1:00”
(to the train conductor)
You say “1:00” to the train conductor. The conductor smiles and nods his head briefly before his image fades and disappears.

Then the watch stops swinging and pops open.

Maxwell’s arms now show the time as 1:00.

>PUT WATCH IN POCKET
(first closing the watch)
The pocket watch is now in one of the trouser pockets.

Music begins to play. You hear the song “Food Glorious Food”. The starving orphans at Oliver’s workhouse sing “Food, glorious food, we’re anxious to try it. Three banquets a day, our favorite diet!”

Since we looked at 12:00 before, I decided to try the 1:00 hour. But a funny thing happens…

>SWING WATCH
(first taking the watch out of the pocket)
The watch swings back and forth hypnotically. It’s difficult to see the watch while it’s swinging, but for a moment you think that you see the misty image of a train conductor on the cover of the watch. The conductor seems confused and looks as if he needs you to tell him what time it is.

>SAY “1:04”
(to the train conductor)
You say “1:04” to the train conductor. The conductor smiles and nods his head briefly before his image fades and disappears.

Then the watch stops swinging and pops open.

Maxwell’s arms now show the time as 1:04.

On the video screen you see a large square with a thick black border.

There is nothing in the square.

Below the square you see a plate of toast.

>PUT WATCH IN POCKET
(first closing the watch)
The pocket watch is now in one of the trouser pockets.

You hear some rumbling and clattering noises coming from inside the Black Box.

On the video screen you see a large square with a thick black border.

In the square you see a tray containing a plate of toast and a napkin.

There is nothing below the square.

Oh, so this hour clearly has something to do with the box in here, which seems to be some kind of all-purpose food prep system.

>X BOX
The Black Box is a perfectly smooth black cube that stands about as high as your shoulders.

The Black Box is topped with a large lid, currently closed. On the lid you see some writing etched in silvery letters.

There is nothing being held on the front of the Black Box by the magnets.

>READ BOX
The silvery letters say “Everything But the Kitchen Sink”.

>OPEN IT
You don’t see any way to open the Black Box lid.

Let’s try another time here, just to see:

>SWING WATCH
(first taking the watch out of the pocket)
The watch swings back and forth hypnotically. It’s difficult to see the watch while it’s swinging, but for a moment you think that you see the misty image of a train conductor on the cover of the watch. The conductor seems confused and looks as if he needs you to tell him what time it is.

>SAY “1:03”
(to the train conductor)
You say “1:03” to the train conductor. The conductor smiles and nods his head briefly before his image fades and disappears.

Then the watch stops swinging and pops open.

Maxwell’s arms now show the time as 1:03.

On the video screen you see a large square with a thick black border.

In the square you see a tray containing a plate of toast and a napkin.

Below the square you see a plate of hash browns.

Oof, yeah, the 1:00 hour seems like it may be one I have to devote a larger portion of an update to. Since I have other things I was planning to get to, let’s move to the 2:00 hour.

>SWING WATCH
(first closing the watch)
The watch swings back and forth hypnotically. It’s difficult to see the watch while it’s swinging, but for a moment you think that you see the misty image of a train conductor on the cover of the watch. The conductor seems confused and looks as if he needs you to tell him what time it is.

>SAY “2:00”
(to the train conductor)
You say “2:00” to the train conductor. The conductor smiles and nods his head briefly before his image fades and disappears.

Then the watch stops swinging and pops open.

Maxwell’s arms now show the time as 2:00.

>PUT WATCH IN POCKET
(first closing the watch)
The pocket watch is now in one of the trouser pockets.

The video screen begins to show the movie “The Producers”. Gene Wilder is shouting hysterically. “I’m hysterical! I’m hysterical!” he shouts. Zero Mostel throws a glass of water on him. “I’m hysterical!” Wilder continues to shout. "I’m hysterical and I’m wet!”

To save space, I’ll just show what happens at each 4-minute increment during this hour now.

2:04:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Airplane!”. The stewardess inflates an emergency autopilot balloon by blowing his lap tube.

2:08:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Caddyshack”. Rodney Dangerfield draws a beer from his high-tech golf bag on a gopher-infested golf course.

2:12:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”. Bill and Ted travel through time in a phone booth and tell everyone to “Party On”.

2:16:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Noises Off”. You watch some theatre people performing in a comedy farce. They seem to be living in one too. And why can’t that plate of sardines ever be where it’s supposed to be?

2:20:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Groundhog Day”. Bill Murray wakes up at 6am in the morning on Groundhog Day. Again. And again.

2:24:

The video screen begins to show the movie “The President’s Analyst”. James Coburn, while standing in a phone booth, finds that he (and the phone booth) are being kidnapped by The Phone Company.

2:28:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Tootsie”. Dustin Hoffman, dressed as tomato for a commercial, refuses to sit down. He tells the director that a tomato wouldn’t sit down because tomatoes don’t have knees.

2:32:

The video screen begins to show the movie “The Odd Couple”. Oscar throws the linguini after Felix laughs at him for calling it spaghetti. “Now it’s garbage,” Oscar says as it sticks to the wall.

2:36:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Turner and Hooch”. Tom Hanks is falling in love with a pretty lady veterinarian while wiping off drool from a big sloppy dog.

2:40:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Bird Cage”. A female impersonator is learning how to pass as a macho man. He practices walking like John Wayne.

2:44:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Animal House”. The misfit college fraternity is having a wild Toga Party. “To-ga! To-ga!”

2:48:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Pink Panther”. Inept detective Peter Sellers, in his squishy shoes, is being attacked by his Asian houseboy again.

2:52:

The video screen begins to show the movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy”. A rhino stamps out a forest fire, while a little Bushman tries to find the edge of the earth so that he can get rid of a Coke bottle.

2:56:

The video screen begins to show the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. King Arthur, having lost his horse while searching for the Holy Grail, uses coconut halves to make the sound of hoofbeats. But now he’s having a hard time explaining to suspicious guards where he got the coconuts.

I’m not seeing any obvious hints in that, but still. 2 hours down, 10 to go.

>GET WATCH
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the pocket watch out of one of the trouser pockets.

I also spend some time going back to the hallway, in case the cuckoo clock would like to tell us another time to try. It doesn’t.

Anyway. We decided the next thing we needed to do was get the pliers back from work. We need to open up the other door here via sink to do that.

>GET STOPPER
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the sink stopper out of the left drain.

You notice some activity in the kitchen sink.

Water from the faucet is pouring into the left basin. The left drain is keeping pace with the new water pouring in from the faucet, so the water level in the left basin is holding steady even as some of the water swirls clockwise down the left drain. The left basin remains completely full.

>PUSH FAUCET RIGHT
The faucet is now pushed right.

Agador-Spartacus is standing next to you.

You notice some activity in the kitchen sink.

Water from the faucet is pouring into the right basin. The water is going straight down the right drain without leaving any standing water in the right basin.

The water level in the left basin is two-thirds full and dropping. You find the clockwise swirling of water down the drain to be almost hypnotic.

>PUT STOPPER IN RIGHT DRAIN
The sink stopper is now in the right drain.

You notice some activity in the kitchen sink.

Water from the faucet is pouring into the right basin. A sink stopper is in the right drain. The level of the standing water in the right basin is almost one-third full and rising.

The water level in the left basin is one-third full and dropping. You find the clockwise swirling of water down the drain to be almost hypnotic.

>Z
Time passes…

You notice some activity in the kitchen sink.

Water from the faucet is pouring into the right basin. A sink stopper is in the right drain. The level of the standing water in the right basin is almost two-thirds full and rising.

The water in the left basin is draining away. The left basin is almost empty. You find the clockwise swirling of water down the drain to be almost hypnotic.

The left drain gurgles as the last of the standing water there swirls down the drain. At the instant that you hear the gurgling of the drain the pantry door slides open, disappearing into the wall. At the same moment the laundry room door slides shut.

>W
Agador-Spartacus stops walking at your side. He looks at the phone booth warily, unwilling to enter.

Well, that idea is out the window for now. I thought maybe we could go to the vet if we got the dog in the booth. If that’s the right idea, there’s another step to doing it.

PHONE BOOTH, in the pantry

You’re in the phone booth.

The phone booth door is open to the east, leading to the kitchen. A telephone is attached to the opposite wall. Light is coming from the ceiling of the phone booth.

The rectangular drawer is open.

You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) …
Press “1” to be enlightened.
Press “3” to be cleansed.
Press “4” to be uplifted.
Press “7” to be moved.
Press “9” to be transmogrified.
If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you.

>PRESS “7”
You pick up the receiver.

You press “7”.

You see Agador-Spartacus in the kitchen. He’s wagging his tail.

The computerized voice goes on to tell you
Please specify the destination to which you would like to be moved…
Press “1” to go to the zoo.
Press “2” to go to the beach.
Press “3” to go to work.
Press “4” to go to the store.
Press “5” to go to the veterinarian’s office.
Press “6” to visit Mom.
All other options will return you to the main menu. Please be advised that the previously mentioned destinations can be reached only through the Phantom Phone Booth object-oriented navigational system.

Keep that list in mind for the rest of this chapter.

>PRESS “3”
You press “3”.

You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly rises upwards very quickly. It passes the second floor landing and goes through the roof, flying high into the air.

The telephone voice tells you, “Estimated travel time for this ten mile trip is five minutes, using standard travel speed.”

The phone booth flies south. After about five minutes of flying you see some sort of parking structure below. The phone booth enters the parking structure and travels to an underground level before landing.

The phone booth door pops open.

PHONE BOOTH, in the Employee Parking Area

You see the Employee Parking Area to the east.

>E

You drop the receiver.

EMPLOYEE PARKING AREA

>N
You start to walk northwards, but a small vehicle suddenly drives up to you and blocks your way.

Then the cart scans you from head to toe with a bar of white light, pausing for a moment as it reaches the security badge that you’re wearing. An atonal mechanical voice coming from the cart greets you, saying “Welcome, Martin Kessler”.

------------- Press space bar to continue -----------------

[more]
The voice of the robot cart continues, “Please board the security vehicle so that you may be escorted onto the building premises and delivered to your authorized work area.”

You get on the cart and a seatbelt fastens itself automatically across you. The cart begins to move. It takes you through gates, doorways, tunnels, and passages. Then the cart drives down a particularly long hallway heading north. The robot cart stops at the end of the hallway. The seatbelt releases, and you get off the cart. Then the cart turns around and heads back down the hallway, disappearing from sight.

NORTH END OF THE LONG HALLWAY

To the north is a closed door marked 15-G. A long hallway leads south.

>OPEN DOOR
The door marked 15-G squeaks as you open it.

>N

DEPARTMENT RECEPTION AREA

We might have alerted the boss again, so let’s try evading him like before:

>N

COFFEE ROOM

The door to the reception area is open. You look through it nervously, hoping that Mr. Pendergast won’t see that you’re in here.

>CLOSE DOOR
The door is now closed.

You hear a door opening and the sounds of someone moving around in the reception area.

>Z
Time passes…

You hear a squeaky door closing. Someone is still moving around in the reception area.

>Z
Time passes…

You hear another door closing. Then all is quiet.

Seems we’ll have to do that every time we want to visit here. (Which we likely have to do at least once more if we want the screwdriver back.)

>OPEN DOOR
The door is now open.

>S

DEPARTMENT RECEPTION AREA

>OPEN WEST DOOR
You open the west door and see the research lab.

>W

RESEARCH LAB

Five research technicians are working here. In their white lab coats they all look similarly uninspired. Their names are visible to you on their employee badges, identifying them as Ben, Ken, Glen, Sven, and Jen.

Ben is working with a small flathead screwdriver.
Ken is working with a soldering iron.
Glen is working with some long-nosed pliers.
Sven is working with a wire stripper.
Jen is working with an allen wrench.

No one appears to be using the Bunsen burner, which is currently turned off.

You can’t discern any purpose for the activities being performed by the research technicians. It occurs to you that they may simply be trying to appear busy so that they can continue to keep their jobs.

The door to the reception area is open.

Near the door there is a coat rack.

Okay, let’s remember how this works. We want the pliers, which Glen has right now. Therefore we want Glen to give us his tool last. So we must:

>GIVE SCREWDRIVER TO SVEN
You give the small Phillips screwdriver to Sven.

Sven gives the wire stripper to Jen.
Jen gives the allen wrench to Ben.
Ben gives the small flathead screwdriver to Ken.
Ken gives the soldering iron to Glen.
Glen gives the long-nosed pliers to you.

(I feel rather proud of myself for doing that right on the first try.)

>E

DEPARTMENT RECEPTION AREA

>OPEN SOUTH DOOR
The south door squeaks as you open it.

>S

NORTH END OF THE LONG HALLWAY

To the north, through an open door, is the reception area for department 15-G. A long hallway leads south.

>S
The security cart appears and prevents you from walking past it. The voice of the cart says, “Please board the security cart if you wish to be escorted to the Employee Parking Area.”

>BOARD CART
You get on the security cart.

A seatbelt fastens itself automatically across you, and the cart takes you back down the long hallway. The security cart takes you through the same passages, tunnels, doorways, and gates that you saw on the way in. It stops in the Employee Parking Area near the phone booth. The seat belt releases and you get off the cart. The cart then drives away and disappears from sight.

EMPLOYEE PARKING AREA

>W

PHONE BOOTH, in the Employee Parking Area

You’re in the phone booth.

The phone booth door is open to the east, leading to the Employee Parking Area. A telephone is attached to the opposite wall. Light is coming from the ceiling of the phone booth.

The rectangular drawer is open.

You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) …
Press “1” to be enlightened.
Press “3” to be cleansed.
Press “9” to be returned.
If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you.

>PRESS “9”
You pick up the receiver.

You press “9”.

You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly rises upwards very quickly, flying high into the air.

The telephone voice tells you, “Estimated travel time for this ten mile trip is five minutes, using standard travel speed.”

The phone booth flies north. After about five minutes of flying it drops down through an opening Martin’s roof and comes to an abrupt halt in the pantry. The phone booth door opens.

PHONE BOOTH, in the pantry

You see the kitchen to the east.

To the bedroom we go!

>E

You drop the receiver.

KITCHEN

>S

DINING ROOM (by the china cabinet)

>S

DINING ROOM (by the north end of the table)

>W

DINING ROOM (by the west end of the table)

>W
You go through the strands of beads.

LIVING ROOM (front half)

>W

HALLWAY

>S

BEDROOM

>LIE DOWN
You’re now lying on the bed.

Stuck into the ceiling above the bed you see a yellow dart, a red dart, and a green dart.

>GET YELLOW DART
You can’t reach the yellow dart from here.

>GET YELLOW DART WITH PLIERS
You can’t reach the yellow dart from here.

Wait, what? I was sure that’d work. Maybe we should:

You stand up. You’re no longer on the bed.

>GET YELLOW DART
You can’t reach the yellow dart from here.

>LIE DOWN
You’re now lying on the bed.

Stuck into the ceiling above the bed you see a yellow dart, a red dart, and a green dart.

>X PLIERS
The long-nosed pliers look like they could extend your reach a little bit.

>PULL YELLOW DART
You can’t reach the yellow dart from here.

It takes me a few more turns to realize that what we were supposed to do the whole time was:

>STAND ON BED
You’re now standing on the bed.

Agador-Spartacus is sitting here.

>GET YELLOW DART
You can’t reach the dart directly, but you probably would be able to take it with the long-nosed pliers.

>GET YELLOW DART WITH PLIERS
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the yellow dart with the long-nosed pliers.

We already had a clear idea what we wanted to do when we got the darts; there’s a dart board on the closet door, and that’s probably how it opens.

>THROW YELLOW DART AT CLOSET
You throw the yellow dart at the dart board and it lands with a THUNK! You hear some clicking noises coming from the closet door.

>GET RED DART WITH PLIERS
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the red dart with the long-nosed pliers.

>THROW RED DART AT CLOSET
You throw the red dart at the dart board and it lands with a THUNK! You hear some rattling sounds coming from the closet door.

>GET GREEN DART WITH PLIERS
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the green dart with the long-nosed pliers.

>THROW GREEN DART AT CLOSET
You throw the green dart at the dart board and it lands with a THUNK! The closet door swings open!

I love puzzles where it’s immediately obvious what we need to do. And we didn’t even have an extra step of figuring out the right order to throw the darts. (Or I just got lucky on a 1/6 guess.)

>D
You’re no longer on the bed.

>W
There isn’t enough room to go inside the closet.

>LOOK IN CLOSET
The messiness of the closet reminds you of the days when you and Martin were roommates together. Since the rest of the house is not particularly cluttered, it’s apparent that Martin has improved his housekeeping skills somewhat over the years. Nevertheless, the state of the closet and the area under the bed seem like a testament to the natural disorder that always seemed to accompany Martin.

For some reason you find this reassuring, almost as if the random forces of chaos could provide Martin with extra wiggle room if he were to find himself in an otherwise hopeless situation.

You look through the closet but nothing catches your eye except for a blue jacket and a bath robe.

>X BLUE JACKET
It’s a blue nylon windbreaker jacket with a hood and pockets.

>LOOK IN IT
In the jacket pockets you see a store receipt.

>GET RECEIPT
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the store receipt out of one of the jacket pockets.

>X IT
It’s a receipt from WalMart for the purchase of a small tape recorder and a set of three blank audio cassettes.

Well, we’ve so far seen two audio cassettes, but no tape recorder or other means of playing them.

Also, a store receipt you say? That’s probably not helpful right now, unless…wasn’t going to the store one of the phone booth destinations? may be worth testing out.

>GET JACKET
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the blue jacket out of the closet.

>WEAR IT
You’d need to take off the lab coat first.

We will not be wearing an absurd amount of clothing in this game. Disappointing.

>GET ROBE
You’re carrying too much. Perhaps you could put something in your pocket.

>DROP CARD
The report card is now on the floor.

That gave as the dog commands, we know where it is if we want to review it.

>GET ROBE
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the bath robe out of the closet.

>X IT
It’s a white terry cloth bath robe without pockets. There are letters embroidered on the robe.

The letters look like they should read “KM” except that the “K” is written backwards.

Written backwards, or just reflected? Pretty sure that’d look normal in a mirror, and there are at least two mirrors in this house that we don’t know what to do with.

>N

HALLWAY

>W

BATHROOM

>X MIRROR
Looking in the mirror you see yourself, a man in his mid-thirties with red hair, green eyes, and a dimple in his chin. You’re wearing a lab coat.

You hear a slight creaking sound coming from the medicine cabinet. Is it possible that the mirror could sense that you were looking at it?

At any rate, the sound is gone now.

>X ROBE
It’s a white terry cloth bath robe without pockets. There are letters embroidered on the robe.

Looking directly at the bath robe, the letters look like they should read “KM” except that the “K” is written backwards.

>WEAR ROBE
You’d need to take off the lab coat first.

>REMOVE COAT
You take off the lab coat.

>WEAR ROBE
You put on the bath robe.

>X MIRROR
Looking in the mirror you see yourself, a man in his mid-thirties with red hair, green eyes, and a dimple in his chin. You’re wearing a white terry cloth bath robe. The letters on the robe don’t look backwards in the mirror. They read “MK”. Of course, you think. Martin Kessler!

Suddenly the medicine cabinet opens.

Well, one more mystery solved! What did we find?

>X CABINET
The medicine cabinet is open.

You see a yellow rubber duckie in the medicine cabinet!

Except for the rubber duckie, the contents of this medicine cabinet are even more boring than your medicine cabinet back home.

>X DUCKIE
It’s a yellow rubber duckie. It looks like it would squeak if you squeeze it.

>GET DUCKIE
You’re carrying too much. Perhaps you could put something in your pocket.

I decide to leave the stack of catalogs we found in the mail with my collection of junk in the living room. I still don’t know when or how those will be useful.

>GET DUCKIE
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the rubber duckie out of the medicine cabinet.

>SQUEEZE DUCKIE
The rubber duckie squeaks.

>G
The rubber duckie squeaks.

no clue what if anything doing that accomplishes. Just as one mystery is solved, another one opens. such is life.

[username5243]

(Part VIII, continued)

>E

HALLWAY

>E

LIVING ROOM (front half)

Incidentally, the dog seems to have wandered off sometime in the last few puzzle solves (and i’ve still been cutting out his turn-by-turn antics). I do a quick search and find he’s moved back to the kitchen. At least the geography isn’t so large that he’s hard to find.

Okay, with that started, it’s time to explore the house again - this time with the goggles. I’ll mainly be quoting things I noticed changed.

>WEAR GOGGLES
You put on the goggles.

First we’ll check outside, since it’s been a while since we’ve been there anyway. In fact we get something n the first area.

>S

DOORSTEP

The open door is north of you and a streetlamp shines golden light on the pavement below. Further to the right you see a large picture window. There is a doorbell on the wall, just under the streetlamp.

To the east you see a thin strip of garden running along the front of the house.

To the west, there is a wall where the shape of the house sticks out towards the street.

A sidewalk lies to the south.

>X LAMP
The streetlamp, currently on, is made of amber glass in a copper-colored metal frame. Through the broken glass you can see a spider web.

>X WEB
In the pattern of the web you can read the words “Some Squirrel”.

We haven’t seen a squirrel yet, but we definitely haven’t gotten that message before. No clue on this one.

I make my way around the outside just like I did in the first part. No luck on the lawn or with the bushes to the east, but there’s an interesting change in the garden.

FRONT GARDEN

The garden runs along the wall of the house here. It’s a haphazard collection of rocks, green plants, and weeds.

The front lawn is to the south and the doorstep is to the west.

To the east is a flagstone path headed toward the side of the house.

You might remember that the first puzzle of the game involved looking under martin’s lawn ornaments to find his house key. But the penguin ornaments are gone. I do a quick test and sure enough:

>E

FLAGSTONE PATH (by the garden)

>REMOVE GOGGLES
You take off the goggles.

>W

FRONT GARDEN

The garden runs along the wall of the house here. It’s a haphazard collection of rocks, green plants, and weeds.

The front lawn is to the south and the doorstep is to the west.

To the east is a flagstone path headed toward the side of the house.

You see Huey, Louie, Stewie, Dewey, and Chuck here.

Yep, that’s definitely a goggles change. We put them back on and move into the house to continue our search.

LIVING ROOM (front half)

>X TRAIN
The train is stopped at the platform. It has a steam engine with the number ‘9’ painted on the side. There are six cars including a bright red caboose. Inside the train you see someone in the kitchen with Dinah, strumming on an old banjo.

Think that’s new, but still don’t see how it’ll be of use. The train is mostly controlled by the watch, anyway…

I’ve mainly been looking at things we haven’t found a use for yet so far.

>N

LIVING ROOM (back half)

>X ARMCHAIR
The armchair is a matching piece to the sofa, with smooth satin-like fabric in a peach color and several pillows and cushions.

The dog has meanwhile wandered back here while we were doing all of this.

>SEARCH CUSHIONS
Looking under the armchair cushions reveals nothing.

Agador-Spartacus is lying down here.

Well, still nothing from there.

>W

DANCE STUDIO

>X MIRROR
It’s a dance studio mirror. It seems to prefer things backwards.

Looking in the mirror you see yourself, a man in his mid-thirties with red hair, green eyes, and a dimple in his chin.

No, this mirror doesn’t change. I still think we might have to do more before we can make progress here.

Anyway, we move back out to the living room. I check the courtyard again but find no changes. That big metal door with a chain still won’t open.

With that done, next is the hallway, and the bathroom we definitely saw change.

HALLWAY

Agador-Spartacus enters the hallway from the front half of the living room.

Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably.

>X CLOCK
The cuckoo clock hands show the time as 12:00.

The cuckoo clock pendulum is swinging back and forth.

Still nothing new from the clock, and no obvious changes in the bedroom either.

>W

BATHROOM

You feel as if you are in a lush rain forest, surrounded by green leaves and warm steamy mist.

For some reason the usual bathroom facilities don’t seem out of place here. You notice, however, that the towel rack is empty and the bathtub and the sink do not have any visible means of turning the water on or off.

The medicine cabinet is open. You see the face of a giraffe in the medicine cabinet. A long shelf runs along the west wall.

The door on the east wall leads to the hallway.

The bathroom smells soapy. This makes your nose itch.

You see Agador-Spartacus in the hallway. He’s sitting down.

>X GIRAFFE
The giraffe is on the other side of the medicine cabinet, standing in an African savannah grassland. Apparently the ground level there is lower than it is in Martin’s bathroom, so you and the giraffe are at eye level with each other. The air on the other side of the cabinet seems drier than it is here in the rain forest.

The giraffe snorts at you and makes some groaning giraffe noises.

>X TUB
The bathtub is empty.

Maybe we should fill up the tub to see how that changes? We make our way east and north to:

LIVING ROOM (back half)

>SIT ON BENCH
You’re now sitting on the piano bench.

>PLAY PIANO
You play “Water Music” on the piano.

You think you hear drops of water falling.

When we get back we find:

BATHROOM

You feel as if you are in a lush rain forest, surrounded by green leaves and warm steamy mist.

The bathtub is filled with brightly colored machine tools.

For some reason the usual bathroom facilities don’t seem out of place here. You notice, however, that the towel rack is empty and the bathtub and the sink do not have any visible means of turning the water on or off.

The medicine cabinet is open. You see the face of a giraffe in the medicine cabinet. A long shelf runs along the west wall.

The door on the east wall leads to the hallway.

The bathroom smells soapy. This makes your nose itch.

>X TOOLS
Which tools do you mean, the long-nosed pliers, or the brightly colored machine tools?

>MACHINE
Looking at the brightly colored machine tools, you realize that there’s no place in all of the natural universe where they could possibly be of any use.

>GET MACHINE TOOLS
You take some of the brightly colored machine tools.

Wait,a giraffe and some machine tools, that sounds familiar. We had this response from the phone booth:

The telephone voice speaks again: "Today’s inspiring message is brought to you by the Holistic Studies Institute, which asks you to ponder the following profound question. How many metaphysicists does it take to change an inspirational quote into a light bulb joke? The answer of course is fifteen: Two with the wisdom to stop topologists from dunking coffee cups into their doughnuts, three with the serenity to recharge all of the world’s lightbulbs through transcendental meditation, four with the patience to put all of the brightly colored machine tools back into the Klein bottle, five with sufficient martial arts skills to keep the surrealists away from the bathtub, and one with the courage to explain it all to the giraffe.”

Don’t think that helps explain what the deal with the giraffe is. And if we need to literally ‘put the machine tools into the Klein bottle”, that might be hard because a Klein bottle is a kind of surface that (1) has no distinct inside or outside, and (2) has no real embedding in normal 3d space.

After this I try something just to see what happens, moving into the hallway and then:

>REMOVE GOGGLES
You take off the goggles.

The brightly colored machine flicker for a moment as if they are about to disappear. But then they regain their substance and stay with you. Apparently these particular brightly colored machine tools have a talent for being real in any dimension, even when other objects might disappear.

While I’m here I try one more thing:

>PUT MACHINE TOOLS IN CABINET
The brightly colored machine tools won’t fit in the medicine cabinet.

Next to check: the dining room. Nothing has changed here other than what we discovered last time: the faster way to open or close the kitchen entrance. But I do see this lovely description of our table-setting:

>X TABLE
The table is covered by a bright blue table cloth.

On the west end of the table you see a plate. A glass is above and to the right of the plate. A fork is to the left of the plate. A knife is to the right of the plate. A spoon is to the right of the knife.

On the north end of the table you see a plate. A glass is above and to the right of the plate. A fork is to the left of the plate. A knife is to the right of the plate. A spoon is to the right of the knife.

On the east end of the table you see a plate. A glass is above and to the right of the plate. A fork is to the left of the plate. A knife is to the right of the plate. A spoon is to the right of the knife.

On the south end of the table you see a plate. A glass is above and to the right of the plate. A fork is to the left of the plate. A knife is to the right of the plate. A spoon is to the right of the knife.

Next up: the kitchen.

KITCHEN

On the east wall is an archway containing a stone door. Next to the stone door is an electrical outlet, and next to the outlet is a large Black Box. You also see a long shelf running along the east wall.

Along the north wall you see two bowls on the floor. A small video screen is in the center of the north wall.

On the west wall is the kitchen sink. When facing the sink, you see a door-sized opening to the left of the sink and a door labeled “LAUNDRY ROOM” to the right of the sink.

On the south wall is a doorway leading to the dining room.

You see a short blue sock and a short white sock here.

You notice some activity in the kitchen sink.

Water from the faucet is pouring into the right basin. A sink stopper is in the right drain. The right basin is full, and water is overflowing into the left basin. The water overflowing from the right basin is going straight down the left drain without leaving any standing water in the left basin.

>X DOOR
Which door do you mean, the stone door, the pantry doorway, the laundry room door, or the phone booth door?

>STONE
The stone door under the archway looks large and heavy. It’s currently closed and you don’t see any way to open it.

There are some elvish runes carved into the top of the door.

You don’t know how to read elvish runes, but for some reason you feel certain that they translate as “Speak, friend, and enter”.

You also see a glowing sketch of a hobbit sitting cross-legged on the ground under an archway of stars. He appears to be eating a cantaloupe.

Before, instead we got this:

You suspect that the mysterious scratches might be some sort of writing, but you are unable to read them. If you were feeling more imaginative you might think that the scratches could mean something interesting (like “Maori Do It Counterclockwise”). But right now your best guess is that the scratches translate as “Back Door”.

So, this confirms what the goggles do: they make us more imaginative, apparently. We saw before (from the email) that they didn’t work on the boss specifically because he never had any imagination. (One wonders how he got the role at SED Limited with no imagination….)

>SAY “FRIEND”
Who do you want to say it to?

>STONE DOOR
You say “FRIEND” to the stone door. The stone door doesn’t understand English.

I’m hardly a Tolkien fan, but even I know how this is supposed to go, and the drawing is clearly a subtle hint to confirm that this should work:

>SAY “MELLON” TO STONE DOOR
You say “MELLON” to the stone door. You hear a click as the stone door unlocks itself. The stone door swings open.

i want to finish checking the house first. We’re almost done - just the upstairs, and maybe work, though I think I was wearing the goggles when i first got them at work and didn’t notice any changes there. We can go upstairs though - that whole area is unresolved.

>W

PHONE BOOTH, in the pantry

You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) …
Press “1” to be enlightened.
Press “3” to be cleansed.
Press “4” to be uplifted.
Press “7” to be moved.
Press “9” to be transmogrified.
If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you.

>PRESS "4
You pick up the receiver.

You press “4”.

You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly rises upwards very quickly. Then, just as suddenly, the phone booth comes to a screeching halt. The phone booth door opens.

PHONE BOOTH, by the second floor landing

You see the second floor landing to the east.

>E

You drop the receiver.

SECOND FLOOR LANDING

>N

SHORT HALL

On the east wall you see a door, which is currently closed.

On the north wall is a glass shelf that appears to have something etched into the glass.

To the south is the second floor landing.

The west wall has a very strange appearance. The outer edges of the wall look like the other walls here (painted orange), but in the middle of the west wall is a large fuzzy white square that stands a little taller than you are. Your view of the square is somewhat obscured by a large square pillar that stands in front of the wall.

You think you hear someone moving around behind the east door.

>OPEN EAST DOOR
The door is locked. But you think you hear someone moving around behind the door.

>KNOCK ON EAST DOOR
You knock on the door. Suddenly the door opens, and five penguins run out of the door. You see something shiny as the last penguin closes the door and locks it behind him.

The penguins move amazingly quickly despite their waddling, and they are soon gone from your sight. Looks like they were heading for the phone booth.

>OPEN EAST DOOR
The door is locked.

Interesting - there used to be five penguin ornaments out in the garden, but now we can see five actual penguins with the goggles on, and they apparently want to go into the phone booth. Still no clue what’s behind the east door, though.

>S

SECOND FLOOR LANDING

>W
You manage to squeeze inside the phone booth even though the phone booth is already occupied by five penguins.

PHONE BOOTH, by the second floor landing

You’re in the phone booth.

The phone booth door is open to the east, leading to the second floor landing. A telephone is attached to the opposite wall. Light is coming from the ceiling of the phone booth.

The rectangular drawer is open.

Five penguins are also squeezed into the phone booth with you. They look like they’re hoping that you’ll take them somewhere interesting.

You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) …
Press “1” to be enlightened.
Press “3” to be cleansed.
Press “4” to be uplifted.
Press “7” to be moved.
Press “9” to be returned.
If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you.

I think that line about them “hoping to go somewhere interesting” is a hint that maybe this will let us go somewhere with the penguins? Of the options, the zoo seems likeliest to be unlocked via penguins, though maybe the vet could be one too. We’re not going to test that now, though.

>PRESS “9”
You pick up the receiver.

You press “9”.

The penguins get out of the phone booth.

You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly drops very quickly. Then, just as suddenly, the phone booth comes to a screeching halt. The door opens and you see the kitchen.

PHONE BOOTH, in the pantry

I do a quick run back upstairs, and yep, we can hear the penguins behind the door again. Fortunately, we didn’t just lock ourselves out of an opportunity.

Anyway let’s go back to:

>E

You drop the receiver.

KITCHEN

And I think we’ll stop right there. We have a new door out to (probably) the back of the house that we need to explore, and possibly some more Phantom Phone Booth exploration to do.

Check!

>I
You are carrying:
some khaki trousers (being worn)
trouser pockets
a gold key
an envelope
a yellow feather
a short brown sock (being worn)
a short black sock (being worn)
a pair of brown shoes (being worn)
a flannel shirt (being worn)
a phone bill
an audio cassette with a red label
an audio cassette with a green label
“Go Dog Go”
“The Bedtime Story Book”
“The Boy Who Had No Words”
a red rubber ball
a security badge (being worn)
a large phone book
a pair of black tap shoes
a fifty dollar bill
a mug
some black coffee
a lab coat
some goggles (being worn)
a optical filter
a hippo magnet
some ballet slippers
a long black sock
a pocket watch
some long-nosed pliers
a store receipt
a blue jacket
a bath robe (being worn)
a rubber duckie
some brightly colored machine tools

Actually, while thinking about key objects for the booth, I wonder if maybe the ballet slippers are one for visiting Mom? Her being a dancer was about the only bit of characterization I remember, and they were found in her old dance studio. I still don’t know what the objects for the beach or the vet could be, but that’s 2, maybe 3, phone booth options to try next time.

>SCORE
Score: 70 out of 360 Turns: 1529 Menu: Whatever

10 more points this run. I wasn’t watching the score line, but my guesses are getting the medicine cabinet and back door open.

[username5243]

I’ve done some quick testing, and yep, we have three phone booth destinations to go to. We can visit Mom, go to the store, or go to the zoo (with the penguins).

I’m going to try something new, since each of these may well require most of an update if going to work was any indication.

Where shall we go first in the phone booth next time? (Do not vote if you’ve played this before)

• Zoo
• Store
• Visit Mom

[EJoyce (Emery Joyce)]

Voted for the zoo just because I enjoy going to the zoo.

The number of different movies described apparently just as flavor is kind of crazy. I guess G.K. Wennstrom is a major cinephile.

[username5243]

Well, if you enjoy that sort of thing, I am planning to run through another hour on the watch to start off next time (And I also have a back door to explore through first, anyway.)

[EJoyce (Emery Joyce)]

It’s less that I love the movie descriptions in and of themselves and more that I’m wowed by the sheer amount of effort that went into it. I mean, the whole game is an impressive effort, but making a bunch of complex systems that seem to be pretty much bug-free and taking the time to write all those different flavor descriptions when a lot of people would just have cycled through three or four outside of the ones that are hints are impressive in different ways, you know?

[jwalrus (Adam Biltcliffe)]

@username5243

Glen gives the long-nosed pliers to you.

(I feel rather proud of myself for doing that right on the first try.)

Oh my word yes, I don’t think I ever got the tool I wanted on the first go.

@username5243

It takes me a few more turns to realize that what we were supposed to do the whole time was:

>STAND ON BED
You’re now standing on the bed.

Fun fact: you can also get one of the darts by standing on the bed and jumping. But if you try to get a second the same way, the bed collapses and the game is unwinnable.

[username5243]

@jwalrus

@username5243

Glen gives the long-nosed pliers to you.

(I feel rather proud of myself for doing that right on the first try.)

Oh my word yes, I don’t think I ever got the tool I wanted on the first go.

Well, I’ll probably need to go back there again, given that I (presumably) still need the screwdriver for when we check in with the ex-receptionist at the vet’s office.

I find it very funny that I now have 3 phone booth destinations open, but none of them is the one we were earlier given an explicit reason to go to.

[Draconis (Daniel Stelzer)]

@username5243

We haven’t seen a squirrel yet, but we definitely haven’t gotten that message before. No clue on this one.

A reference to Charlotte’s Web, suggesting that we…shouldn’t eat the squirrel?

@username5243

I’m hardly a Tolkien fan, but even I know how this is supposed to go, and the drawing is clearly a subtle hint to confirm that this should work:

I use the Moria door inscription as an in-class exercise on deciphering unknown scripts, and I always swap the password to meldir (Noldorin instead of Sindarin), since too many people know the original now!

[username5243]

Okay, the people have spoken. We’re going to the zoo! (Well, right after we see what’s out the back door.)

[EJoyce (Emery Joyce)]

Going to the Zoo

[username5243]

Apologies, I was rather busy last weekend, so didn’t have time to play. I have played the next part and hope to have it compiled for posting here within a day or so.

Turns out the section past the back door is, in fact, quite substantial, with something like a dozen new locations open. (That means no zoo in Part IX, unfortunately)

And while I’m not sure I’m able to solve any puzzles out that way, there are quite a few tantalizing mysteries that I’m sure will become relevant in due time.

[username5243]

Part IX: I’m late, I’m late!

We ended last time finding a new layer to the game, by wearing the goggles that Martin was apparently working on. This seems to make us more imaginative and changes how we perceive certain objects around the house. The two most important things this did were turning the penguin ornaments on the lawn into actual penguins that want to visit the zoo, and allowing us to see writing that allowed us to open the back door in the kitchen. Let’s tackle the latter this time. But first: that’s right. Time to clear off another hour of watch results!

KITCHEN

On the east wall is an archway containing a stone door. Next to the stone door is an electrical outlet, and next to the outlet is a large Black Box. You also see a long shelf running along the east wall.

Along the north wall you see two bowls on the floor. A small video screen is in the center of the north wall.

On the west wall is the kitchen sink. When facing the sink, you see a door-sized opening to the left of the sink and a door labeled “LAUNDRY ROOM” to the right of the sink.

On the south wall is a doorway leading to the dining room.

You see a short blue sock and a short white sock here.

>SWING WATCH
The watch swings back and forth hypnotically. It’s difficult to see the watch while it’s swinging, but for a moment you think that you see the misty image of a train conductor on the cover of the watch. The conductor seems confused and looks as if he needs you to tell him what time it is.

>SAY “3:00”
(to the train conductor)
You say “3:00” to the train conductor. The conductor smiles and nods his head briefly before his image fades and disappears.

Then the watch stops swinging and pops open.

Maxwell’s arms now show the time as 3:00.

Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably.

>PUT WATCH IN POCKET
Which pocket do you mean, the trouser pockets, or the jacket pockets?

Oh right, we got a jacket from Martin’s closet last time. We may or may not need the jacket any more since we got a store receipt out of it, but I’m keeping it on me for now.

>TROUSER
(first closing the watch)
The pocket watch is now in one of the trouser pockets.

The video screen shows a Bugs Bunny cartoon. The Tazmanian devil kicks up a dust storm.

We saw this one already. In fact, the 3:00 hour effects seem to all be TV reruns rather than movies. Here’s a full collection in increments of 4 minutes:

3:04:

The video screen shows an “I Love Lucy” rerun. Lucy gets tipsy as she drinks Vita Veta Vegamin while doing a commercial.

3:08:

The video screen shows a “Star Trek” rerun. Spock returns to his home planet Vulcan in order to mate.

3:12:

The video screen shows a “Bewitched” rerun. Apparently Samantha has a wicked cousin who looks just like her but has black hair.

3:16:

The video screen shows an episode of the TV show “Quantum Leap”. After leaping back in time, Sam teaches a young Michael Jackson how to moonwalk.

3:20:

The video screen shows the “Carol Burnett Show”. In a sketch spoofing “Gone With the Wind”, Carol makes a dress made out of curtains. But she neglects to take the curtains off the rod first, so she wears the rod across her shoulders…

3:24:

The video screen shows a TV rerun of “Lassie”. Timmy falls down a well.
3:28:

The video screen shows a “WKRP in Cincinnati” TV rerun. Dropping turkeys out of an airplane as a Thanksgiving promotion becomes a disaster reminiscent of the Hindenburg. “As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly!”

3:32:

The video screen shows “Sesame Street”. Ernie sings “Rubber duckie I’m awfully fond of you”.

Well, we did just get a rubber duckie out of the bathroom cabinet. But all we could do was:

>SQUEEZE DUCKIE
The rubber duckie squeaks.

Still, maybe we just need to find the right place or other scenario to do it?

3:36:

The video screen shows a “Twilight Zone” episode. The aliens from outer space bring a book with them, and the earthlings are quite trusting after translating the book title as “How to Serve Man”. Unfortunately it’s a cookbook!

I’ve been cutting out the dog messages (and the sink messages) but on that turn something interesting happens:

Agador-Spartacus walks over to the large lever and pushes it down with his paw. Dry pet food pours out of the square spout into the red pet bowl below it and the large lever pops back up. Agador-Spartacus eats the food with enthusiasm. He stands before you, wagging his tail affably.

Don’t think we were able to do that ourselves before. That doesn’t really suggest any good that might do us, though.

3:40:

The video screen shows a TV rerun of “Mr. Ed”. Playing baseball, the talking horse slides into second base.

3:44:

The video screen shows a “Simpsons” episode. Sideshow Bob sings Gilbert and Sullivan’s “H.M.S. Pinafore” on a yacht as a last request for Bart Simpson before he gets around to murdering Bart…

As of this writing, The Simpsons is (somehow) still running! No, I don’t know how either.

3:48:

The video screen shows a “Star Trek” rerun. Furry little tribbles reproduce and keep purring until there’s no more room on the spaceship for anything else.

3:52:

The video screen shows an episode of “Dream On”. The main character of this TV show, who is still enamored of his ex-wife, finds it difficult to compete with the perfection of her second husband. After Mr. Perfect dies, Paul McCartney shows up at the funeral and the widow explains why: “Turns out he was the walrus”.

3:56:

The video screen shows a “Roadrunner” cartoon. The coyote tries to blow up the roadrunner with explosives from Acme dynamite.

So, one that is possibly a vague hint for something to try. Still, only nine hours left to go!

>GET WATCH
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the pocket watch out of one of the trouser pockets.

Okay, enough stalling. Let’s go out the back door!

>E

OUTSIDE THE BACK DOOR

To the west is an archway containing a stone door, which is currently open. To the east you see a thick patch of thorny bushes.

A flagstone path leads north towards the back of the house and south towards the front of the house. However, the thorny bushes have become so overgrown here that travel along the flagstone path is blocked to the south.

You see Agador-Spartacus in the kitchen. He’s wagging his tail.

>X BUSHES
The bushes are thick and thorny. You wouldn’t be able to force your way through them.

Do you know where we are, folks?

You’ve probably forgotten, but there was a path east of the front of the house, where we couldn’t go further north because of thorny bushes. Now we can’t go south for the same reason. This is probably the same path, and we didn’t need to cut down the bushes or anything like that. Maybe we’ll eventually as a shortcut later on to connect these areas directly (Mulldoon Legacy was quite fond of doing this, as I recall).

>N

BY THE RASPBERRY BUSH

There is a raspberry bush here. To the west you see a trellis leaning against the wall of the house. To the east and north you see a thick patch of thorny bushes.

There is a flagstone path leading south towards the front of the house.

You could also go northwest, slipping around the back corner of the house.

You think you hear some chittering sounds coming from the general direction of the raspberry bush.

>X BUSH
The raspberry bush is the type of bush that bears fruit during summer and fall. On this spring day you find no raspberries.

As you look at the raspberry bush, you see two squirrels inside the thorny bushes to the east, quite close to the raspberry bush. They are so busy chittering away to each other that they don’t see you looking at them. You don’t know what the squirrels are saying to each other, but you imagine that they’re telling each other knock-knock jokes.

Then the squirrels notice you. They run deep into the bushes where you can’t see or hear them anymore, and you’re left thinking about knocking.

>KNOCK
What do you want to knock on?

>BUSH
You knock on the raspberry bush. Knocking on the raspberry bush has no effect.

Oh, so there ARE squirrels in this game. We saw a message “Some Squirrel” in the spider web out front, but at the time I noted we saw no squirrel. I don’t know what is going to happen here, though.

I decide to try something:

>REMOVE GOGGLES

You take off the goggles.

The brightly colored machine flicker for a moment as if they are about to disappear. But then they regain their substance and stay with you. Apparently these particular brightly colored machine tools have a talent for being real in any dimension, even when other objects might disappear.

>X BUSH
The raspberry bush is the type of bush that bears fruit during summer and fall. On this spring day you find no raspberries.

>L

BY THE RASPBERRY BUSH

There is a raspberry bush here. To the west you see a trellis leaning against the wall of the house. To the east and north you see a thick patch of thorny bushes.

There is a flagstone path leading south towards the front of the house.

You could also go northwest, slipping around the back corner of the house.

The squirrels are another thing that only appear with the goggles on. I’m going to have to remember to be systematic about checking things out in both forms.

>X TRELLIS
The trellis looks quite sturdy. It goes all the way up to the top of the wall, where you see a black dome. Nothing is currently growing on the trellis.

>CLIMB IT
You climb up the trellis.

DOME LEDGE (east)

A narrow ledge surrounds the black dome on all sides. The dome is currently closed.

You could climb down the trellis to get east of the house.

You also could go northwest to get to the north part of the dome ledge, or southwest to get to the south part of the dome ledge.

>WEAR GOGGLES
You put on the goggles.

>L

DOME LEDGE (east)

A narrow ledge surrounds the black dome on all sides. The dome is currently closed.

You could climb down the trellis to get east of the house.

You also could go northwest to get to the north part of the dome ledge, or southwest to get to the south part of the dome ledge.

This is the same black dome we saw from the courtyard. With the big locked door with a chain and padlock that (to this player at least) screams “ENDGAME HERE!”

>OPEN DOME
You can’t open the black dome directly.

Of course, that wasn’t going to work. We aren’t getting in through here, either. But we can walk around the top.

>NW

DOME LEDGE (north)

A narrow ledge surrounds the black dome on all sides. The dome is currently closed.

To get down in back of the house you could jump down.

You also could go southwest to get to the west part of the dome ledge, or southeast to get to the east part of the dome ledge.

>X DOME
The black dome looks similar to what you would see at the top of a small astronomical observatory. It’s currently closed.

>SW

DOME LEDGE (west)

A narrow ledge surrounds the black dome on all sides. The dome is currently closed.

To get to the courtyard you could jump down, but you wouldn’t be able to climb back up.

You also could go northeast to get to the north part of the dome ledge, or southeast to get to the south part of the dome ledge.

Yes, we saw the west side of the dome from the east courtyard (and can indeed jump from here).

>SE

DOME LEDGE (south)

A narrow ledge surrounds the black dome on all sides. The dome is currently closed.

To the south is a windowless wall on the second story of the house.

To the west you see a balcony protruding slightly from the side of the house. If you don’t mind risking a small leap you could probably get over to the balcony by going west.

You also could go northwest to get to the west part of the dome ledge, or northeast to get to the east part of the dome ledge.

>W
You leap across to the balcony.

BALCONY

A low railing surrounds the balcony.

To the east you see a black dome surrounded by a ledge on all sides. If you don’t mind risking a small leap you could probably get over to the dome ledge by going east. To get to the courtyard you could jump down, but you wouldn’t be able to climb back up.

The south wall is made of the same white adobe surface as the rest of the house. However, there is something unusual about this wall. In the middle of the wall you see a large fuzzy white square that stands a little taller than you are. In the exact center of the fuzzy square is a round metal depression that appears to be a sort of socket.

On the south wall is a glass shelf that appears to have something etched into the glass.

Does that last bit of description seem familiar?

>X SHELF
Etched into the glass shelf is a picture of a palm tree. Nothing else is currently on the shelf.

>REMOVE GOGGLES
You take off the goggles.

The brightly colored machine flicker for a moment as if they are about to disappear. But then they regain their substance and stay with you. Apparently these particular brightly colored machine tools have a talent for being real in any dimension, even when other objects might disappear.

>L

BALCONY

A low railing surrounds the balcony.

To the east you see a black dome surrounded by a ledge on all sides. If you don’t mind risking a small leap you could probably get over to the dome ledge by going east. To get to the courtyard you could jump down, but you wouldn’t be able to climb back up.

The south wall is made of the same white adobe surface as the rest of the house. However, there is something unusual about this wall. In the middle of the wall you see a large fuzzy white square that stands a little taller than you are. In the exact center of the fuzzy square is a round metal depression that appears to be a sort of socket.

On the south wall is a glass shelf that appears to have something etched into the glass.

>WEAR GOGGLES
You put on the goggles.

No change with the goggles here (or on the dome ledge).

Anyway, that odd wall with the fuzzy square. There was a wall in the upstairs hallway with the exact same description, and with a similar shelf. There is a third shelf in the laundry room downstairs, but no fuzzy wall there. So, I suspect the fuzzy walls are enclosing somewhere we need to get to, and either the sockets or the shelves are some kind of mechanism that has something to do with it. If that’s true, maybe the laundry room is right under where the fuzzy walls are, so it’s technically considered adjacent? I don’t know how to activate it, though. A real mystery, this one.

>E
You climb over the balcony railing and leap across to the dome ledge.

DOME LEDGE (south)

>NE

DOME LEDGE (east)

>D
You climb down the trellis.

BY THE RASPBERRY BUSH

There is a raspberry bush here. To the west you see a trellis leaning against the wall of the house. To the east and north you see a thick patch of thorny bushes.

There is a flagstone path leading south towards the front of the house.

You could also go northwest, slipping around the back corner of the house.

You think you hear some chittering sounds coming from the general direction of the raspberry bush.

>NW

BY THE FLAT ROCK

There is a large flat rock here.

To the south you see the back wall of the house, containing a window that is currently closed.

Narrow pathways lead northeast and northwest through thorny bushes. You could also go southeast, slipping around to the side of the house. The bushes block travel in all other directions.

>X WINDOW
The window is closed.

The other side of the glass seems to be clouded with a covering of dust and soot. But even so, you’d probably be able to get a pretty good look through the window if there were a source of light on the inside. But right now it’s too dark in there for you to see anything.

>OPEN IT
You’d have to unlock the window first.

>UNLOCK WINDOW
The lock is on the other side.

Another thing we probably can’t do much with now, but we can still think here. This area is directly under the north side of the dome ledge, so the room past the window is probably the one inside the dome - that is, the room past the locked door in the east courtyard. We still can’t get in there, and I’m not sure how we can get something in there without getting there. (And I’m not sure we’ve found a single light source object in the whole game yet!)

>X ROCK
The ground appears to have been dug up under the rock.

>DIG
The ground here is not suitable for digging.

>GET ROCK
The large flat rock is too heavy.

>PUSH ROCK
Pushing the large flat rock doesn’t have any effect.

>X GROUND
The ground is hard and rocky here, with a thin layer of moss.

Nothing more I can think of here, moving on.

>NW

CURVED PATHWAY

This curved pathway leads north towards a clearing, and southeast towards a large flat rock.

>N

CLEARING

The clearing is a flat, rocky area. To the north is a steep slope leading upwards to a mesa plateau.

To the west you see a grove of aspen trees. A narrow pathway leads south through thorny bushes. The bushes and difficult terrain block travel in all other directions.

>X MESA
The mesa is at the top of the slope.

>X TREES
You can’t get a good look at the grove of aspen trees from here. To get a better look you’d have to go west.

You see Agador-Spartacus on the curved pathway. He’s wagging his tail.

Seems the dog moved out the back door while we weren’t watching.

We’ve got only one more direction here (the path up to the mesa is too steep).

>W
As you walk westwards into the grove of aspen trees, you find yourself becoming distracted. You’re not sure how far you have gone since you entered the grove, but apparently you’ve gone far enough so that you can no longer see the clearing.

ASPEN GROVE

You see aspen trees all around you. Tall yellow grass covers the ground. You seem to have lost all sense of direction.

Oh no, oh no oh no.

>N
You start walking. You don’t really have any idea about the direction in which you’re moving, but you figure that if you keep going you’ll eventually get somewhere.

This is me with every IF maze ever, game. Or at least a few turns before I start mapping for real.

A large white rabbit runs through the aspen grove, pausing to look at his pocket watch.

“I’m late, I’m late!” he cries.

Just beforex he puts his watch back into his pocket, you notice that the time on his watch reads 3:32.

Then the rabbit runs off, disappearing from your sight.

You’re not sure which direction he went, so you can’t follow him.

------------- Press space bar to continue -----------------

[more]

ASPEN GROVE

You see aspen trees all around you. Tall yellow grass covers the ground. You seem to have lost all sense of direction.

3:32 was the time that told us about the rubber duckie. So maybe we can make progress with that? We’ve got lots of other things to try, but I’ll add “squeeze the duckie everywhere” to my list of things to do.

>E
You start walking. You don’t really have any idea about the direction in which you’re moving, but you figure that if you keep going you’ll eventually get somewhere.

ASPEN GROVE

You see aspen trees all around you. Tall yellow grass covers the ground. You seem to have lost all sense of direction.

I think we’re lost.

>W
You start walking. You don’t really have any idea about the direction in which you’re moving, but you figure that if you keep going you’ll eventually get somewhere.

CLEARING

The clearing is a flat, rocky area. To the north is a steep slope leading upwards to a mesa plateau.

To the west you see a grove of aspen trees. A narrow pathway leads south through thorny bushes. The bushes and difficult terrain block travel in all other directions.

Agador-Spartacus stands before you, wagging his tail affably.

Yay! Maybe that’s not a maze, you just get stuck for a few turns (and maybe get a watch hint from the rabbit)? Incidentally, the rabbit is another thing which only seems to happen with the goggles on. Maybe we can come back here for more times to try on the watch.

>N
The slope is too steep.

>S

CURVED PATHWAY

>SE

BY THE FLAT ROCK

Now we take the other path here:

>NE

STRAIGHT PATHWAY

This straight pathway leads northeast towards the sound of rushing water, and southwest towards a large flat rock.

>NE

RAVINE (across from the sycamore grove)

You are on the edge of a deep ravine with a swiftly flowing creek at the bottom. The ravine and the creek run from the northwest to the southeast. The drop down into the ravine is breathtakingly steep and you find the view magnificent.

Looking across the ravine you see a grove of sycamore trees. The other side of the ravine is closer here than it is elsewhere, but the gap is still much too wide to leap across.

A rocky path leads northwest and upwards along the edge of the ravine. Thorny bushes block travel in all other directions except for a narrow pathway leading southwest.

>X TREES
Because it’s early spring, the leaves on the sycamore trees haven’t yet grown to their usual large size. The large trees hold good memories for you because as a boy you loved to climb them. You fondly remember the winged seed pods that grew in the autumn, and the times that you spent trying to catch them as they floated in the air and were tossed about by sudden gusts of wind.

The only past mention of sycamore trees (that I remember) his in the courtyard, where we found a patch of dirt which ou character seemed to think might have had one growing there, and it hurt our brain to think about it. Definitely seems relevant, but probably more for later.

>NW

RAVINE PATH

This rocky path runs along the edge of a deep ravine with a swiftly flowing creek at the bottom. The ravine is quite wide here and you can’t see much on the other side. The path climbs upwards to the northwest and downwards to the southeast. Difficult terrain blocks travel in all other directions.

You see a loose stone here.

>X RAVINE
It’s a deep ravine with a swiftly flowing creek at the bottom. The ravine and the creek run from the northwest to the southeast. The drop down into the ravine is breathtakingly steep.

Trying to examine the creek gives the same message.

>GET STONE
You’re carrying too much. Perhaps you could put something in your pocket.

>X STONE
The loose stone is about the size of a golf ball. Unlike many of the other stones that are tightly packed into the rocky ground here, it would be possible to pick this one up.

>PUT WATCH IN POCKET
Which pocket do you mean, the trouser pockets, or the jacket pockets?

>TROUSER
(first closing the watch)
The pocket watch is now in one of the trouser pockets.

>GET STONE
Your arms are getting full, but a little rearranging lets you take it anyway. You take the loose stone.

>NW

MESA (by the waterfall)

You are on a flat mesa plateau, partway up the side of a mountain. Here you see a magnificent waterfall that pours down from the mountain into a deep ravine.

Looking down into the ravine, you see a branch growing from side of the ravine. You think you see something caught in the branch.

A rocky path leads southeast and downwards along the edge of the ravine. The mesa continues to the southwest. Difficult terrain blocks travel in all other directions.

Examining the waterfall just repeats the room description.

We’re clearly being called to focus on something here.

>X BRANCH
Looking down into the ravine, you see a branch growing from side of the ravine. The branch is about two arm’s lengths beyond your reach.

Something is caught in the branch. It looks like a small tape recorder, hanging unsteadily. You can’t imagine why anyone would throw a tape recorder into the ravine or be so careless as to let it fall in, but this must be what has happened here.

For a moment you ponder the odd stroke of chance that caused the tape recorder to be caught by the branch. The tape recorder is only a stone’s throw away from losing its unsteady perch and falling. But in the absence of anything to catch it, the tape recorder would almost certainly fall to the bottom of the ravine and be carried away by the swiftly flowing creek.

This next turn is probably a bad idea, but I had to try it anyway:

>THROW STONE
The loose stone knocks the small tape recorder off the branch.

The tape recorder and the loose stone fall to the bottom of the ravine and are carried away by the swiftly flowing creek.

Yep, that feels like a Game Over. We definitely need that tape recorder. Why? Because no precariously balanced object is ever worthless in an adventure game.

>GET RECORDER WITH PLIERS
You can’t reach the small tape recorder.

So, the puzzle here is obvious: How do we find - or make - something to catch the falling tape recorder, and allow us to take it? Nothing immediately comes to mind, so I’ll be moving on for now.

>SW

MESA (by the downward slope)

You are on a flat mesa plateau, partway up the side of a mountain. To the south is a downward slope leading to a clearing. It looks like you could scramble down to the clearing but you wouldn’t be able to to get back up.

In the distance to the west (and below) you can see a grove of aspen trees. However, you can’t get down to the grove from here because the mesa ends in a sheer cliff in that direction.

The mesa continues to the northeast. You hear rushing water coming from that direction.

Sure enough, we can slide down to the south from here, for a one-way shortcut to the clearing. However, we’ll be going back the other way - this is finally) the last part of the new outdoors section.

>NE

MESA (by the waterfall)

>SE

RAVINE PATH

>SE

RAVINE (across from the sycamore grove)

>SW

STRAIGHT PATHWAY

>SW

BY THE FLAT ROCK

>SE

BY THE RASPBERRY BUSH

>S

OUTSIDE THE BACK DOOR

>W

KITCHEN

Okay, as promised: It is now time to return to the phone booth. As I’ve tested, we now have the means to go to the zoo, the store, or to visit Martin’s mom. By popular demand, we’ll be heading to the zoo first, which requires summoning the penguins upstairs into the phone booth.

(Yes, that is a real sentence I just wrote. We’re past the stage where I could easily explain what’s going on to someone not playing along. And we’re only something like 20% of the way done.)

>W

PHONE BOOTH, in the pantry

You’re in the phone booth.

The phone booth door is open to the east, leading to the kitchen. A telephone is attached to the opposite wall. Light is coming from the ceiling of the phone booth.

The rectangular drawer is open.

You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) …
Press “1” to be enlightened.
Press “3” to be cleansed.
Press “4” to be uplifted.
Press “7” to be moved.
Press “9” to be transmogrified.
If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you.

>PRESS “4”
You pick up the receiver.

You press “4”.

You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly rises upwards very quickly. Then, just as suddenly, the phone booth comes to a screeching halt. The phone booth door opens.

PHONE BOOTH, by the second floor landing

You see the second floor landing to the east.

>E

You drop the receiver.

SECOND FLOOR LANDING

To the north is a short hall. Here on the landing you are surrounded by walls in all of the other directions.

On the west wall you see a door-sized opening leading to the phone booth.

>N

SHORT HALL

On the east wall you see a door, which is currently closed.

On the north wall is a glass shelf that appears to have something etched into the glass.

To the south is the second floor landing.

The west wall has a very strange appearance. The outer edges of the wall look like the other walls here (painted orange), but in the middle of the west wall is a large fuzzy white square that stands a little taller than you are. Your view of the square is somewhat obscured by a large square pillar that stands in front of the wall.

You think you hear someone moving around behind the east door.

Just quoting the other “fuzzy” wall, for comparison with earlier.

>KNOCK ON EAST DOOR
You knock on the door. Suddenly the door opens, and five penguins run out of the door. You see something shiny as the last penguin closes the door and locks it behind him.

The penguins move amazingly quickly despite their waddling, and they are soon gone from your sight. Looks like they were heading for the phone booth.

>S

SECOND FLOOR LANDING

>W
You manage to squeeze inside the phone booth even though the phone booth is already occupied by five penguins.

PHONE BOOTH, by the second floor landing

You’re in the phone booth.

The phone booth door is open to the east, leading to the second floor landing. A telephone is attached to the opposite wall. Light is coming from the ceiling of the phone booth.

The rectangular drawer is open.

Five penguins are also squeezed into the phone booth with you. They look like they’re hoping that you’ll take them somewhere interesting.

You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) …
Press “1” to be enlightened.
Press “3” to be cleansed.
Press “4” to be uplifted.
Press “7” to be moved.
Press “9” to be returned.
If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you.

>PRESS “7”
You pick up the receiver.

You press “7”.

The computerized voice goes on to tell you
Please specify the destination to which you would like to be moved…
Press “1” to go to the zoo.
Press “2” to go to the beach.
Press “3” to go to work.
Press “4” to go to the store.
Press “5” to go to the veterinarian’s office.
Press “6” to visit Mom.
All other options will return you to the main menu. Please be advised that the previously mentioned destinations can be reached only through the Phantom Phone Booth object-oriented navigational system.

>PRESS “1”
You press “1”.

You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly rises upwards very quickly. It goes through the roof, flying high into the air.

The telephone voice tells you, “Estimated travel time for this twenty mile trip is ten minutes, using standard travel speed.”

The phone booth flies northeast. After about two minutes of flying it sets itself down. The phone booth door pops open.

PHONE BOOTH, at the zoo entrance

You see the zoo entrance to the east.

>L

PHONE BOOTH, at the zoo entrance

You’re in the phone booth.

The phone booth door is open to the east, leading to the zoo entrance. A telephone is attached to the opposite wall. Light is coming from the ceiling of the phone booth.

The rectangular drawer is open.

Five penguins are also squeezed into the phone booth with you. They look like they’re hoping that you’ll take them somewhere interesting.

You hear the computerized voice tell you…
Press “1” to be enlightened.
Press “3” to be cleansed.
Press “9” to be returned.
If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you.

And we’ll be stopping right there for now. Next up: the zoo! Hope you’re excited to see what exactly the penguins are so interested in. (I have no clue what that is as of writing this post, haven’t played the zoo yet.)

Status check!

>I
You are carrying:
some khaki trousers (being worn)
trouser pockets
a gold key
an envelope
a yellow feather
a pocket watch
a short brown sock (being worn)
a short black sock (being worn)
a pair of brown shoes (being worn)
a flannel shirt (being worn)
a phone bill
an audio cassette with a red label
an audio cassette with a green label
“Go Dog Go”
“The Bedtime Story Book”
“The Boy Who Had No Words”
a red rubber ball
a security badge (being worn)
a large phone book
a pair of black tap shoes
a fifty dollar bill
a mug
some black coffee
a lab coat
some goggles (being worn)
a optical filter
a hippo magnet
some ballet slippers
a long black sock
some long-nosed pliers
a store receipt
a blue jacket
a bath robe (being worn)
a rubber duckie
some brightly colored machine tools
a loose stone

>SCOR
Score: 70 out of 360 Turns: 1656 Menu: Whatever

No new points this time, since we didn’t do much in the way of puzzle solving, though we did discover a number of new puzzles to think about.

[jwalrus (Adam Biltcliffe)]

@username5243

If that’s true, maybe the laundry room is right under where the fuzzy walls are, so it’s technically considered adjacent?

If that’s true, there should be a fuzzy square on the ceiling of the laundry room, right?

@username5243

(Yes, that is a real sentence I just wrote. We’re past the stage where I could easily explain what’s going on to someone not playing along. And we’re only something like 20% of the way done.)

Believe me, it only gets weirder. Some of the sentences I came out with while writing the hints for this game sounded pretty much like Markov chain gibberish.

[username5243]

@jwalrus

@username5243

If that’s true, maybe the laundry room is right under where the fuzzy walls are, so it’s technically considered adjacent?

If that’s true, there should be a fuzzy square on the ceiling of the laundry room, right?

Well, I’ve been keeping saves at the end of each session, so I can just restore back to one where I had the laundry room open:

>X CEILING
Looking up you notice something odd about the ceiling. Inlaid into the west end of the ceiling is a very large fuzzy white square. In the exact center of the fuzzy square is a round metal depression that appears to be a sort of socket.

Yep, there it is.

That’s three of them. If the space inside the fuzzy walls is a cube, that means there are two more fuzzy walls (and a fuzzy part of the floor?) around the house that we haven’t found yet.

[Kara_Louise (Kara Goldfinch)]

I’ve been enjoying this let’s Play. I played through most of FM a few years ago (partly figuring things out and partly using a walkthrough) but gave up when things started getting even more weirder than they are now. I want to say it was towards the end, but I bet I was probably only about halfway through. You’re doing great.

[Draconis (Daniel Stelzer)]

@username5243

Oh, so there ARE squirrels in this game. We saw a message “Some Squirrel” in the spider web out front, but at the time I noted we saw no squirrel. I don’t know what is going to happen here, though.

Whatever you do, don’t eat them!

@username5243

On the south wall is a glass shelf that appears to have something etched into the glass.

Can you read this one?

[username5243]

@Draconis

@username5243

On the south wall is a glass shelf that appears to have something etched into the glass.

Can you read this one?

It’s an image of a palm tre. They other two we’ve seen have images of an empty bathtub (in the laundry room) and a checkerboard (the upstairs hallway).

Make of that what you will. But I’m near certain they have something to do with the fuzzy squares.