Dictionary

The original game did not provide a dictionary. I had to type in word after word at the keyboard. Most were immediately rejected. And, no matter how many words I tried, I would miss the one word that solved a puzzle. I needed to be a mind reader.

So, I give you the words right in front of your face. No typing needed. (In fact, no typing is allowed. The keyboard is ignored by the program.) Just click on a word.

When I first thought about providing a dictionary, I expected I'd have to provide several drop down lists of words. I was surprised when I found I could show all the words in five lines.

A command consists of up to three words

*** Verb The verb tells the program what action you want taken. Click on the verb last. It sends the command to the program (with the current values of Object and With).

*** Object The verb acts on the object. “Take Apple” is your first command. Click on Apple in the Room list so it appears after Object. Click Take. You get the apple in your bag (your Carry list).

*** With “Open Gate” with “Keys” is an early command. When you are standing at the entrance to Wizard's Den, click on Gate in the Room list so it appears after Object. The cursor (the underline) moves to the position after With. Click Keys in your Carry list so it appears after With. Click Open. The gate opens and you enter Wizard's Den.

The motion verbs mostly don't need Object or With.

Some verbs only need an Object.

If a verb needs both an Object and a With and you get a confusing message, reverse the word order.

Often the computer figures out which word belongs where on its own. It uses properties it expects for the Object and different properties it expects for the With to sort the words. If they are in the wrong order, it reverses them itself.

For example, should it be Feed the Apple to the Snake or Feed the Snake with the Apple?

*** It puts the other item in Object. It verifies the other item is a person or animal and that it is free in the room.

The cursor (the underline) shows where the next item you click on will be placed. (Either after Object or With). If it is in the wrong position, click on Object to move it to the position after Object. Click on With to move it to the position after With.

Most of the time, the cursor starts after Object. When you click on an item, it will be placed after Object. The cursor, then, automatically moves to the position after With. If you need to specify an additional item, just click on the item and it will be placed after With. Click on the verb to carry out the command. After the command is carried out, any item after Object or With will be erased and the cursor will be positioned after Object. The program is ready for the next command.

Erase: If you change your mind about a command after entering an item, you can erase an item by clicking the X after Object or With.

The X after With only erases the item after With.

The X after Object erases both the item after Object and the item after With on the assumption that you want to start completely over.

The cursor will end up in the area of the X you clicked on.

You can enter a number from 0 to 9999 by clicking digits on the number pad.

The direction verbs (N, E, W, S, ...) and motion verbs (Back, Exit, Run, Jump, Wait) mostly do not need an Object or With. Just click on the verb and you will move to the new location.

Compass Direction The original game required me to enter every possible direction, then, most of the time, I would be told I couldn't go that direction. I provide only the directions that do something.

Back Back looks for an opening to the room you just came from.

Exit Exit takes the first opening it finds.

Run Run tries to find an exit from the current room to a neighbor room. Then, it tries to find an exit from the neighbor room to a third room (which is not the start room nor a neighbor of it).

It is assumed that you move so fast that anything that would normally happen along the way can be ignored. In essence, you teleport to the third room.

Jump Jump is for short distances either a hop up or a leap across a gap. For a longer distance, use compass directions such as Up for leaving the room upward.

Wait Wait uses up one move doing nothing. (Well, not completely nothing. Some things that go on in the background will continue to happen.) Primarily needed to get the next hint which is only available after a delay of 5 moves. (For more information, go to Hint page.)

Items in your room can be in one of four locations:

Note: To specify the item in a box when only the Carry and Room list of items are showing, click on All at the left of the list of items. This brings up the list of all items and you can pick out the one in the box.

Note: all the boxes are the same size. Therefore, none fits inside any other. You will not encounter a Matrushka doll—an item inside a doll inside a doll inside ....

Take item moves an item to your hands (or your backpack)

*** As a convenience, if there is exactly one item on the floor that is movable, Take does not need the item specified (for object). Just click Take. It will figure out that you want the one item on the floor.

Fill box with item puts an item inside a box.

Drop item moves an item you are carrying to the floor.

Empty box moves an item in a box to the floor.

If a door is locked, you need to find a tool such as keys to unlock it. Open Door with Keys. (As a convenience, unlocking a door may also open it.)

You can lock an unlocked door by using Close with the tool. Close Door with Keys. (In one case, just closing a door also locks it.)

Yes/No The game can talk to you. It asks a question such as “Are you sure?” You reply with Yes if you want the action carried out or No if not. You can also just continue with the game which counts as a “No” answer.

Fight Foe with Weapon.

Break If the item you want to break is in a room description, but not in the word list, try Break alone. Otherwise, use Break Object. You may be asked to also specify a tool to do the breaking (Put in With).

Wave Object at Target.

Feed Person/Animal with Food.

Drink Container will drink from a container which you must be carrying.

*** If no source is specified, just—Drink—the game can usually figure out what you want to drink and if a source is present.

Look item may give extra, useful information on an item.

Look by itself repeats the initial description of a room.

Status gives various statistics. Good idea to check regularly.

Carry (word Carry at start of Carry list) gives a more detailed description of what you are carrying than the single words in the Carry list. In particular, it reports what is in each container.

Most of the time you only need to know the items you are carrying and the items in the room you're in. What if you drop the Apple along the way and forget where it is? You need the command Find Apple.

Uh, oh, the only lists with words you can click on are the Carry List and the Room List and Apple isn't in either one since you're not carrying the apple and it isn't in the room. Click on the word “All” at the far left of the Room list. This will change the Room list to the list of all words. If necessary, use the arrows bracketing the list to move through the list. Find Apple will find out what room you left it in.

You might think you would want to always use the All list so you would have all words available. Actually the list can be pretty lengthy. Normally, all you need to know are the items you are carrying and the items in the room you're in. So, as soon as you're done with the All list, click Room to return to the Room list. (You might think, “Aha, I'll switch to the All list at the beginning of the game and see all the words in the game and know what to expect.” No. A word does not appear in the All list until you've encountered it in your travels.)