OBLIGATORY BORING DISCLAIMERS -
I wrote this walkthrough as a service to fellow gamers who need help with this
game. I gave this FAQ to GameFAQs and nowhere else, and everything on their
site is free for the viewing. So if anyone tries to sell you this walkthrough,
don't pay a cent. And DEFINITELY never never ever try to claim it as your own
and sell it. That's plagiarism, you can get into serious trouble for it, and
the risk of that is definitely not worth whatever laughably small pittance you
could get for my works.
Wishbringer everything related is copyrighted by Infocom. All rights reserved.
You know the drill.
WHERE TO GET THIS GAME -
This game is "abandonware", meaning that it is no longer commercially produced.
You can download it freely from www.theunderdogs.org. (There's at least one
other site, but this one is by far the most reliable; I recommend it.) You'll
also want the instructions, which are available at
Infodoc.plover.net/manuals/index.html.
OBJECTIVE -
Your immediate objective (which your boss, Corky Crisp, will reveal in no
uncertain terms) is to deliver a very important letter to a very special old
woman. The entire city is mapped out, so you should have no problem finding
her. Easy, right? Well, best not go straight there; you'll probably want to
pick up a few things you need first. Why? Let's just say that they might not
be available to you when you return. The old woman, by the way, will tell you
your *real* objective...one which most definitely involves the Wishbringer
(hence the title!).
As you complete tasks, you earn points. The highest possible score is 100.
You must complete the game without using *any* wishes to get this score.
I'll just go right to the walkthrough since there really aren't any general
tips I can give that the game and instructions don't. Those of you familiar
with the Zork games may notice some familiar elements in this game (albeit
toned down to fit the game's difficulty).
COMPLETE WALKTHROUGH -
[Notes: As with my Zork walkthroughs, I use abbreviations for all directions,
including up (U) and down (D). Since Festeron is a much simpler place to get
around than the Great Underground Empire, I won't bother with location notes.
Even if you do get lost, everything's connected; it shouldn't be too hard to
find these places. This walkthrough covers only the essentials since there's a
lot of other things in this game that are unnecessary and/or irrelevant, which
I'll point out later.]
As the game begins, you're in front of the Post Office, and your boss is rather
urgently requesting your presence. S. Z (or look at something; it amounts to
the same thing). He'll put what's apparently an extremely crucial envelope in
front of you. GET ENVELOPE. N. Note that anytime someone tries to give you
something (this will happen three more times), you *must* take it. W. W.
Hmm, laying the "helpful counsel" on a little thick, if you ask me, but never
mind. YES. N. Z. GIVE ENVELOPE. Amazing the ideas he gets. Z. D. You
can't enter the grave with the gravedigger around because he'll pull you out.
GET BONE. U. S. E. E. E. DROP BONE. For some reason, you can't get past
the poodle until you give it the bone; the game will inform you that the poodle
"won't let you go in that direction". Maybe it's a "magick" poodle, I
dunno...N. Violet Voss, the town librarian, is here, and she has something for
you. Z. GET NOTE. N. L IN FOUNTAIN. GET COIN. All right, you got
everything you need! Well, except the horseshoe, but it'll be there when you
get back. N. N. N. N. E. BREAK BRANCH. Leave it where it is for now. U.
W. N. U. E. S. U. You arrive at the Magick Shoppe...whereupon Mr. Crisp
helpfully reminds you that you have to open the door and go in before 5:00.
Sheesh, someone find that man a hobby...OPEN DOOR. ENTER. Z. Z. GIVE
ENVELOPE. OPEN ENVELOPE. READ LETTER. For those of you who lost the original
letter, here it is: "Deliver the Magick Stone to me before the moon sets or you
will never see your cat again! - The Evil One". The old woman then regales you
with her sad tale. Z. GET CAN. Z. Z. You learn of your mission before
being sent off. All of a sudden it's 6:01...and things have changed quite a
bit (that tower should be your first hint). Save your game, then follow these
directions exactly: D, N, W, D, S, E, D. Whew, you can see again!
Incidentally, it *is* possible to plummet to your death by going the wrong way
on the mountain path, which is why you should save. GET BRANCH. W. Whoa,
*he* certainly wasn't here before! Unfortunately, he won't accept the coin
(try it), so use your "alternate payment". GIVE CAN TO TROLL (OPEN CAN also
works). Now *don't* just leave the can...there's something else in it! GET
CAN. SQUEEZE CAN. Voila, a false bottom drops out, revealing...THE
WISHBRINGER!! The game only refers to it as "a mysterious stone", but it's
plainly obvious what it really is. And you thought you had to complete your
big rescue mission before you could even glimpse it! And you thought you had
to search for legends or whatever, when the stone was literally right in your
hands all along! Yep, the old woman lied to you, all right. Don't fret,
though; she actually had a good reason for this, which you'll discover later.
But for crying out loud, this is supposed to be an *Introductory Level*
game...well, more on this later. All right, back to the action. DROP CAN.
GET STONE. OPEN GATE. S. READ SIGN. You should now have more than enough
proof that something's seriously amiss here. S. Okay, you have to be a little
careful now, because the Boot Patrol is continuously on the move, and they'll
throw you in jail in a heartbeat if they catch you. (Getting arrested isn't
totally bad...you can escape at least once, twice with the help of a wish...but
it's still not something you want, so avoid it.) If you hear marching boots in
a direction, don't go there, and if the game says that they're "heading this
way", leave the area pronto! Don't worry about leaving someplace you have to
be; you can always return after the coast is clear. W. S. L IN PIT. Poor
platypus...you have to save her! PUT BRANCH IN PIT. PULL BRANCH. DIG X WITH
BRANCH. And the *reason* you had to save her, of course, is that she's
important to your quest. Oh yeah, the gate to the cemetery will have opened by
now. *Don't go in*; right now that place is deadly. DROP BRANCH. GET
WHISTLE. BLOW WHISTLE. Who needs a broom, anyway? W. Z. GET HAT. Z. BLOW
WHISTLE. Short trip, yeah, but you got what you needed. N. U. L AT STUMP.
Will the weirdness never end...OPEN STUMP. IN. Leave the horseshoe; you'll
pick it up on your way out. The Wishbringer lights your way, so darkness isn't
a concern. E. S. L THROUGH HOLE. MOVE BED. U. This is the cell you'd have
ended up in if you were arrested. Since you're able to get here by other
means, there's no point in getting into trouble (especially since the Boots
fill in the hole after you escape). GET BLANKET. D. You can't go down the
hole if you're carrying too much, which is why you couldn't take the horseshoe.
N. E. Yes, there are grues in this game, and they will eat you if you linger
in total darkness too long. COVER GRUE WITH BLANKET. OPEN REFRIGERATOR. GET
EARTHWORM. W. W. U. GET HORSESHOE. Now it's time to find your ally King
Anatinus spoke of. N. E. E. E. GIVE HAT. First platypi, now a pelican?
And to think that Mr. Crisp is skeptical about a *woman* being versed in
magick. At any rate, better write that special word down. W. W. S. S. L
IN FOUNTAIN. Looks like someone "restocked" the fountain. Save your game, PUT
EARTHWORM IN WATER, and GET TOKEN. If you're here at the wrong time, the Boot
Patrol will nab you; in this case, restore, leave the area, and wait until they
disperse. You must grab the token *immediately* after distracting the piranha,
which is why you should take this precaution. Okay, you only need one more
item before your heroic assault on the tower. E. L AT MARQUEE. The Evil One
is an actress? Intriguing...not to mention a little fishy. BUY TICKET.
ENTER. GIVE TICKET. N. Figures that *this* place would be clean and
comfortable, huh? LOOK UNDER SEAT. GET GLASSES. WEAR GLASSES. Relax and
enjoy the movie (do anything except leave the theater). Hmm, pretty strange
movie, even by Witchville standards. You don't suppose it's "based on a true
story", do you? After the movie's over, REMOVE GLASSES, S, EXIT, and YES
(sheesh, is this game paranoid or what). E. S. L AT MACHINE. That title
should be a hint. Save your game before you're even promted to and INSERT
TOKEN IN SLOT. MOVE JOYSTICK W. G. MOVE JOYSTICK S. G. PUSH BUTTON. YES.
YES. You should now find yourself at the Hilltop. If not, restore and try
again. If you have any trouble, note that the game's grid is the same as the
postal grid on the map. The star starts off at the rightmost square (the
arcade) and you have to get it to the bottommost square (the Hilltop). Ah,
there's the tower you're about to bust into. Enter the magic word you received
at the lighthouse. S. Do anything; you'll get captured no matter what...by
Mr. Crisp! You find yourself in a torture chamber along with the exceedingly
unlucky Princess Tasmania. You can't do anything just yet, so have courage and
wait. Eventually Mr. Crisp will come along and ask if you're carrying anything
of interest. As a matter of fact, you are. GIVE NOTE TO CRISP. With all the
craziness going on, you nearly forgot about it, didn't you? Crispy, not
realizing that the note came from the "regular" Voss (as opposed to
Witchville's Voss), dashes off. GET COAT. GET KEY. UNLOCK CHAIN WITH KEY.
PULL LEVER. That's twice you've saved her life; should do you plenty of good
in the future. At present, though, you might be interested in that note. DROP
COAT AND KEY. GET NOTE. Read it if you're curious, although you don't have to
yet. OPEN HATCH. U. U. What the...WEAR GLASSES. Deja vu! The "movie", as
you've probably guessed, was actually what was happening in this room at the
time. (The pieces should be falling into place by now.) L AT PANEL. L AT
FIRST SWITCH. As expected. L AT SECOND SWITCH. So that's what it is...and
seeing that it's the Evil One's security, it might be a good idea to shut it
down. TURN OFF SECOND SWITCH. Extremely important note: *The cat is not
Chaos*! It's the Evil One's cat! *Do not* use the broom to fly back to the
Magic Shoppe with the cat! In fact, don't fly back to the Magic Shoppe,
period; you won't like what happens. All right, time to blow this joint (by
nonmagickal means). D. DROP GLASSES. MOVE PAINTING. TURN CRANK. N. N.
READ NOTE. E. Eep! Never fear; though she may be big and fierce and fixing
to tear your throat out, she's still Alexis. ALEXIS, HEEL. Whaddya know, it
really works. (Note: You must read the note before giving this comamnd to
Alexis, or else it won't work. If you're saving and loading frequently...like
you should be...there's a good chance you accidentally leave it unread after
exiting the tower. I don't know how many times it's happened to me. At any
rate, don't ever drop that note, and always read it once you're outside the
tower.) Not only will Alexis let you pass freely, you can also see what's in
Miss Voss' cottage. Do that; OPEN DOOR and E. GET KEY. And while you're
here, L AT MESSAGE. Wow, there really is something going on between them, what
are the odds. Save your game now because you're about to enter the
homestretch. W. N. UNLOCK DOOR WITH KEY. OPEN DOOR. ENTER. Do anything;
the door will close and lock, seemingly on its own. S. L AT SCULPTURE. Say,
you don't think...BREAK CASE WITH HORSESHOE. The horseshoe is the only thing
heavy enough to do this, and incidentally, good thing you had the foresight to
shut down the security system. PUT STONE IN SCULPTURE. Just as you're about
to do this, the Magick Shoppe owner shows up! She confirms that the stone is,
as you've suspected all along, the Wishbringer, and the sculpture is actually
Chaos. Then she says that "your quest is complete" or something before
demanding that you keep the stone well away from that scuplture's forehead.
The game informs you of the momentous decision you must now make. Do you defy
the woman and insert the stone, or do you do as she says? Answer: duh. YES.
YES. You know, Evil One, if you want to fool someone, it helps to be a little
less transparent about your true intentions. (If you grant her request, she
then demands that you hand over the stone, giving a really lame excuse for
wanting it. By then, it should be patently obvious that the proper path is
*not* to do as she says.) Anyway, the power of the Wishbringer restores Chaos
to her natural state, removes the Evil One's disguise, and destroys her evil
influence on the city...and her...for good. Before you know it, you and Chaos
are instantly transported to the Magick Shoppe, and quite a bit of time has
passed. KNOCK ON DOOR or D. The real Shoppe owner finally reveals all. She
couldn't tell you the truth about the Wishbringer because you might never want
to give it up, and Chaos would remain a lifeless sculpture forever. Makes
sense in a weird, "magickal" kind of way. Then she tells you that the "true
power" of the Wishbringer lies in companionship, and failing to realize this
was the Evil One's greatest mistake. Okay, whatever. And then she gives you
Miss Voss' note to deliver to Mr. Crisp. Wait a minute...didn't you already do
that in the tower? Granted, he was under the Evil One's thrall at the time,
but...hey, wait a minute, how did *she* get it??
Ah, who the hell cares. You're a hero. Be proud. :-)
WHAT THE WISHES DO -
Since it's possible to win the game without making any wishes, you might be
wondering exactly what purpose they serve. Well, I figured them out
myself...prepare to be seriously underwhelmed.
Rain: The umbrella is at the end of the cemetery, south of Lake Edge. This
fills the hole Tasmania's trapped in, allowing her to swim out. Wow, you're
saved the colossal, back-breaking task of *taking a branch, putting it in the
hole, and pulling it back out!*
Advice: The shell is in the northeast, between the Pleasure Wharf and
Lighthouse; you must get it before going to the Magick Shoppe or the tide will
wash it away. The shell will periodically buzz, and if you listen to it, you
get a piece of advice. Unfortunately, it's all really mundane stuff that's
easy to figure out on your own (it doesn't tell you, for example, how to get to
the tower). It *does* give you a hint on what you're supposed to do with the
Wishbringer at the end, but again, it isn't really all that hard to figure out.
Flight: Again, *do not* use this wish. Ever. If you return to the Magick
Shoppe without Chaos, your game ends right then and there. It's totally
unfair, I know, but that's the way it is. And no, you cannot use this wish
after you find Chaos in the library because you're indoors.
Darkness: The grue milk is in the bottle in the grues' refrigerator. This
allows you to get past Alexis. She's afraid of the dark, and while she's
cowering you can go west to the Hilltop. The darkness lasts for only one turn,
so you have to move right away. You still have to read the note and say
"Alexis, Heel" on the way back. This is actually a little simpler than using
the Transmatter game (although the game is still easy enough).
Foresight: More like hindsight; you get a little scene showing where the
Wishbringer came from. This gives you a hint as to what you're supposed to do
with it at the end. Interesting but by no means necessary. Note that it's the
same every time, so you can save your game, make this wish, and restore; you
get the benefit of this wish while leaving it unspent.
Luck: After Festeron becomes Witchville, if you spend too much time in the
cemetery, normally the eldritch vapors will scatter your possessions (and you)
all over the city. If you have this wish active, they will instead take your
possessions one by one, then throw you out once you're empty-handed. Because
there's absolutely no need to enter the Witchville cemetery, this wish is
worthless.
Freedom: The candy's in the police station on Rotary West. You have to go
there before visiting the Magic Shoppe and wait for Sgt. MacGuffin to fall
asleep. If you escape from jail and the Boot Patrol catches you again, you'll
find that your escape route is paved over. Then, and only then, can you wish
for freedom. If you try this the first time you're caught, the Wishbringer
will "sense that you're not truly confined" or something and the wish won't
work. Frankly, the value of this wish is dubious at best; you'd have to be a
major dolt to get nabbed twice (especially once you know the easier way to the
cell).
Well, there you have it. The Shoppe owner claimed that the Wishbringer's value
as a companion far outweighed the value of its wishes, and in light of what
those wishes are actually good for, I have to agree. :-)
OTHER THINGS -
Like I mentioned before, you must take each of the four items that are offered
to you. The reason I emphasized this is because it's incredibly easy to get
overloaded in this game. Not only will the person keep badgering you until you
take the item, you have to drop something to make room. This is especially
dangerous at the Magick Shoppe and Misty Island, since you can't return to
them.
If you go to Lake Edge in Festeron, you'll see a pile of leaves on the ground.
Heed the warning in the sand and *do not move them*! They cover the pit
Tasmania gets trapped in, and she won't get trapped if you expose the pit,
which means you'll never get the silver whistle, which means your quest is
doomed. Other things that can skunk your quest are dropping something you'll
need later in a place where you can't get back to, opening Miss Voss' note, not
taking the gold coin, opening the can before reaching the troll, going to the
tower without the 3D glasses or password, not reading Voss' note before exiting
the tower, returning to the Magick Shoppe, and entering the library without the
Wishbringer and horseshoe.
There's another light source in the game, the candle in the church. You can't
get it in Festeron because of a booming voice from above..."Thou shalt not
steal!"...but you can get it in Witchville (the, ahem, *ceiling-mounted
loudspeaker* which projected the voice is too badly damaged to deter you). I
don't recommend it because, one, you have the Wishbringer, and two, the candle
fizzles out once you enter the library, and if you *don't* have the
Wishbringer, you have about two turns to live! If you wish for luck, the
horseshoe also becomes a light source, although, like the Wishbringer, the
light fades if you drop it.
If you go to the End of Wharf in Festeron, the easternmost point in the city,
you'll run into a dying seahorse. The only way to save its life is to quickly
throw it back into the bay (it won't survive to the fountain). So what's the
benefit? Well, the third time the Boot Patrol captures you (after using the
hole to escape the first time and wishing for freedom the second), they get
tired of dealing with you and throw you to the sharks. If you saved the
seahorse's life, it'll return the favor...and since the Boot Patrol thinks
you're dead, they end the patrol and you don't have to deal with them anymore!
Wow, that's...pointless. My advice, save yourself the trouble and don't get
caught even once, let alone THREE times.
You *absolutely must* get the password before going to the tower and
*absolutely must* read the note before confronting Alexis. If you don't, the
game informs you that you're "just guessing", and for some bizarre reason it
doesn't count. I had no idea hellhounds and towers were freaking *psychic*.
Needless to say, "Alexis, heel" never works on the poodle.
In Witchville it's possible to go south from the Rocky Path into the forest
(but only once). In it is something you'd never expect to find in this
city...the white house from Zork I! Even more amazing, if you open the mailbox
and wait long enough, the mailbox will animate and jump around, eventually
becoming your loyal companion, following wherever you go. Oh yeah, you can't
enter the house, so forget it. What to do with the metallic tyke? Take it to
the Wharf, where another, more sinister mailbox resides. It too will animate,
upon which both boxes stare each other down and...well, see for yourself.
Doing this, incidentally, will make another display visible in the library
museum, and you'll receive another little surprise at the end as well...
The grave in Witchville has an entrance to the same underground passage which
leads to Lookout Hill and the jail cell. I didn't mention it earlier because
there's absolutely no reason to go there. You can't reach the tower via the
cemetery, by the way; the gate closes and locks before you reach it.
If you enter the jail cell from Lookout Hill (or the grave), you can stay there
as long as you want and no one will ever find you. (You get the feeling that
Sarge isn't particularly vigilant?)
A little trivia: In the earliest versions of the game, it was possible to take
the gold coin back after buying the theater ticket from Miss Voss and buy
another ticket. You could do this as much as you wanted, getting three points
per transaction. Also, you couldn't die from making a wrong move in the
fog...thus removing any danger, thus defeating the supposed purpose of the fog.
Both errors have since been corrected.
COMMENTARY -
I'm normally against the idea of editorializing in FAQs, but I have a strong
beef about this game which I think is very important, and I hope you're patient
enough to hear me out.
I got this game for my birthday auld lang syne, a time when text adventures
were hot property. Since this was an "Introductory level" game, I was able to
get into it right away. I'd never been very good with text adventures, and it
was very gratifying to really get into the game and get things accomplished.
As opposed to the Zork trilogy, where I was doomed before I even started. It
was fun 'n easy and I had a great time.
Until the endgame.
See, the problem was that I hadn't found the Wishbringer and was still
operating under the assumption that I had to rescue Chaos before I could get
it. Hey, don't blame me, I didn't have the slightest indication that the old
woman was lying, nor did I have a clue that the stone was in the damn can all
along. Anyway, I was using the candle for light and completing tasks without
the Wishbringer's help. (Getting to the tower was the hardest, but I cracked
that within a week.) And then I stood outside the library, ready to see what
was inside. And that dang candle went out every time I went in.
And I didn't have the faintest idea what to do. And I got frustrated. And I
got more frustrated. And I finally gave up this game in disgust, maddened by
the fact that I got so close yet couldn't seal the deal.
First off, not properly emphasizing the importance of the Wishbringer was a
mistake. Sure, I was able to solve nearly all the problems without "easy
wishing" (as the instruction manual puts it), but I did it out of sheer
necessity, and as a result I never even considered looking for the stone at the
end. The idea that trumping up the wondrous powers of the stone at every
opportunity would spur an all-out search for the stone despite the fact that it
was unnecessary for almost the whole game was ridiculous. Don't forget, too,
that the old woman says that you don't get the stone until after you rescue her
cat, and, lacking any evidence to the contrary, it's pretty hard to see through
her lie. The lack of focus on what's supposedly the whole point of the game,
not to mention something that's absolutely essential to winning the game, was
one of Infocom's major blunders.
And then there's their *other* huge blunder, MAKING THE WISHBRINGER SO FREAKING
HARD TO FIND. Your only, and I mean *only*, hint is that if you pick up the
can after scaring away the troll, it'll rattle once in a while. There is
absolutely no other indication...not on the can, not in the theater or tower,
nothing. Which is just plain ridiculous. What kind of idiot picks up an empty
can? And even worse, there's a RATTLESNAKE in the can! Which means that
you're led to believe that the rattling comes from the snake!
This is just unbelievable. This is an Introductory Level game, for crying out
loud. On the *box* it says "age 9 up". Do *you* know any 9-year-olds who
could figure out that the old woman was lying, *and* the Wishbringer is
absolutely vital even though none of the wishes are necessary, *and* the
rattlesnake was a ploy to disguise the Wishbringer's presence, *and* the secret
to finding the stone lies in an empty can with no distinctive markings
whatsoever? Cripes! Hey, I've been going to college for ages and playing text
adventures on and off for years, and if I'd just discovered this game, five
will get you ten *million* that I wouldn't ever find the Wishbringer.
"But Darrell," you're no doubt saying by now, "it's just one task, and you
didn't have any trouble solving the rest." Well, just as a chain is only as
strong as its weakest link, a game is only as easy as its most difficult task,
and finding the Wishbringer is a monster. In fact, it's probably *worse* to
have an utterly unsolvable problem in an otherwise easy game than in a game
full of similar problems (like Zork III), because you go a lot further only to
get hopelessly stuck at the end.
What makes this even more baffling is that, in a game full of hints and advice,
a game that often bends over backwards to prevent us from making a mistake, I
haven't found so much as a single clue as to the location of the stone. I
mean, c'mon, give me something. An inscription on the can. A candy jar
containing a rock. A crushed plastic bottle. A comment by Sgt. MacGuffin
about cells with false bottoms. A report in Miss Voss' cottage on "bottled
light". *Something*!
One more thing. Not being able to make those wishes took a lot of fun out of
the game. One of the most enjoyable parts of any adventure is being able to
try things. Knowing of the wishes and even how to make them, but not being
able to do so, was an incredible letdown.
Anyway...now you know why even the easy games need FAQs! Hope you enjoyed it.
(See, I *do* know how to leave on a positive note!)
END NOTES -
I would like to thank GameFAQs for being so kind as to put up my walkthroughs.
I know text adventures aren't exactly en vogue right now, but I *also* know
that there are plenty of gamers out there who grew up on them and were sad to
see them leave the mainstream. At GameFAQs, there is no such thing as dead,
obsolete, or out of date; without them, I would not have even considered
writing walkthroughs in the first place.
I have The Underdogs to thank for having the chance to play this classic again
(having long since lost the original disk and instructions, and computers don't
have 5 1/2" floppy drives anymore anyway). Having the chance to finish a game
I couldn't the first time was simply fantastic. And kudos also to the Infocom
Documentation Project. I know from painful experience how difficult is to play
nearly any game without the instructions, and this site is a godsend.
Abandonware is the best of all worlds: old but still entertaining titles free
for the downloading, *no* compatibility problems or ultra-gargantuan memory
requirements to speak of, and they're usually the latest versions, too. I'm
behind it all the way.
