h
so y yyyyyys oh
ssshhoo d oys sh d o
ss syssys sssom ossyo yy ods m oyysyy ss yyyd
oh mo odds hmyh dm hyh m ssmsss do ymo m ys s
oso ossso oo o m ohmso sss o syso
sh sh
ho od
shyy
o o s
so oso yyys o
ososssso o yyyyyo
s ssssyy os osyyyyso
ssyysoyysssyyyyyyyyyyyo
syyssyyyyyyyyyyyyyyo
osyssyys s
s
s
s
ossss
ssysso TODAY I DIE
oo FAQ/WALKTHROUGH
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| First Written: August 25th, 2011 |
| Last Updated: August 26th, 2011 (Version 1.00) |
| Written and Compiled by Andrew Barker |
| Contact the Author: barkera0[at]gmail[dot]com |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
If you have any suggestions, think I missed something, or see any errors in
this file, please contact me using the email above.
This guide is not to be used without the author's permission under any
circumstances. See the bottom of the document for more details.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---- TABLE OF CONTENTS [0.00] -----------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Hit Ctrl + F then enter the corresponding number in the table of contents |
| to jump to the section you want. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[1.00] -- Introduction
[2.00] -- Game Mechanics
[3.00] -- Walkthrough
[3.01] -- Dead World
[3.02] -- Dark World
[3.03] -- Painful World
[3.04] -- Free World of Beauty
[4.00] -- Poetic Walkthrough
[5.00] -- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
[6.00] -- Afterword & Legal Information
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---- INTRODUCTION [1.00] ----------------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
A word from the writer...
Today I Die is not only one of the most beautiful, clever, original browser
games, it is one of the most beautiful, clever, original games in existence.
Presumably, you already know that. It's pretty unlikely you've stumbled upon
this walkthrough by accident. Just in case you have, you can find the game
here:
http://www.ludomancy.com/games/today.php?lang=en
If English isn't your native language you can also play it in Spanish,
Portuguese, German, Italian, Czech, or French by clicking the links on the
right side of the page.
You may have noticed that the creator of the game has a guide of his own
attatched to his site. The idea of this guide is to expand on that by providing
both an in-depth walkthrough and a spoiler-free poetic guide.
The game will take you mere minutes to beat, but it will be an experience you
won't forget anytime soon.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---- GAME MECHANICS [2.00] --------------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Today I Die will be unlike anything you have played before. In terms of
mechanics it's extremely simple and even someone with zero game experience will
be able to play and enjoy it. However, the employed mechanics are unusual and
unique and may take some getting used to.
The main concept is to drag the coloured words and use them to replace words
in the poem at the top of the screen. You can only replace words with words of
the same colour. For example, green words can only be replaced by other green
words.
When you replace a word, something in the game will change. Most of the time,
changing a word will change your location. You can easily move between areas by
swapping words back and forth. Each area has its own puzzle you need to solve
to obtain a new world and progress further with the game.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---- WALKTHROUGH [3.00] -----------------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I highly recommend you do not use this walkthrough as the first place you go to
for help playing the game. Start in section 2 for game mechanics and then head
to the poetic walkthrough in section 4. The aim of that section is to advise
you on the order to tackle the game in without giving away specific strategies
or details. Plus, it's poetic!
Due to the nature of the game, I have written the main walkthrough in a style
that will make it easy to understand for first-time gamers as well as those
with years of experience.
+---- DEAD WORLD [3.01] ------------------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Collected Words: |
| dead | dark | painful | |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Words to Collect:
-----------------
shine
After clicking the title screen to start playing, this is the first screen you
are brought to. Enjoy the music for a moment and then take a look at what you
can see. Up the top you will see the words, "dead world/full of shades/today I
die". You will need to use words you collect to modify this poem and ultimately
progress through the game. You should notice that the word "dead" is coloured
green. This means it can be interchanged with any other green word you collect.
At this stage you have two others: "dark" and "painful". By swapping these
words around you can move to different areas, each of which has a unique puzzle
to solve.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, lets start with the world we're currently in.
Floating around the the main character are two piranhas and many jellyfish.
Grab one of the jellyfish by clicking on them and hang onto it by keeping the
left mouse button pressed down. Within moments, the piranhas will chase after
you. If they reach the jellyfish you hold, it will die. To complete this puzzle
you must keep the jellyish away from the piranhas for five seconds until the
word "shine" appears in yellow writing.
Once you're successful, you will notice the word "die" in the poem turns yellow
too. Before we do anything with that, swap the word "dead" for "dark". Simply
drag "dark" on top of "dead" and release the mouse button.
+---- DARK WORLD [3.02] ------------------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Collected Words: |
| dead | dark | painful | shine | |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Word to Collect:
----------------
swim
Now you find yourself in the dark world. See the clouds at the bottom of the
screen? We need to move them. Swap the word "die" for "shine" in the poem and
the character will emit a beautiful, glowing yellow light. Move her by clicking
on her and then dragging her to the bottom of the screen. You will quickly see
that the clouds are repulsed by the light and you can push them out of the way.
Once you've moved enough of them, you will spot something poking out of the
ground beneath them. It looks like a statue of the main character. Click on it
and drag it out of the sand until it's completely free. Let it go and you'll
see a new word appear: "swim", in yellow. We're not doing anything with it yet,
but it's very important that you click and drag it somewhere on the screen at
least once. Otherwise it won't appear in any other areas of the game. You can
always fix this by putting "dark" back into the poem and coming back here.
You actually can't move the statue unless there's light on it. So if you're
having problems, drag the girl closer to it and make sure it's fully covered
in the emitted light.
Now, swap the word "dark" for "painful" in the poem.
+---- PAINFUL WORLD [3.03] ---------------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Collected Words: |
| dead | dark | painful | shine | swim | |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Word to Collect:
----------------
free
Don't worry about the black shades, they won't do anything except just sit
there for now. Take a look at the bottom of the screen and you should notice
yellow bubbles that begin to float up towards the top of the screen. Click and
drag the character to catch the bubbles. You can bump into the shades, they
won't hurt you.
If any of the bubbles touch the shades, they'll pop. No problem though as you
can just catch another one. Keep catching them and dropping them anywhere on
the screen until there are five. At that stage, no more bubbles will appear.
Now you need to protect the girl before we can begin our next task. Click and
drag the bubbles to create a barrier of light around her. I found it best to
place one bubble above her head, two at her shoulders (one of either side) and
two near her feet (one on either side).
Once that's done, swap the word "shine" for "swim" and get ready for a dramatic
event! Don't touch the bubbles, because the shades will start to attack! If
you didn't build your barrier effectively then the shades will grab you and
pull you down. If this happens, don't panic! Swap "swim" out for "shine" and
you can get rid of them. Then start this section again and make sure the
barrier of light goes all the way around the girl.
You can actually complete this section by dragging the girl around and simply
avoiding the shades. It's highly difficult (and not the way it is intended to
be done) so I wouldn't advise doing it on your first playthrough. Try it
another time for fun.
As she starts swimming up, you'll see the word "free" appear. Once it turns
green, click and drag it and swap "painful" out of the poem for it.
+---- FREE WORLD OF BEAUTY [3.04] --------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Collected Words: |
| dead | dark | painful | shine | swim | free | |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Word to Collect:
----------------
beauty
What beautiful music.
Anyway, click and drag the character and move her over the shades. Doing so
will turn them into harmless bubbles. Once they've all been pacified, the word
"beauty" will appear somewhere on the screen. Replace "shades" with it in the
poem.
Next, take control of the character again and drag her into all the shade
bubbles. Doing so will let her pick them up. I initially believed all of them
had to be picked up to progress the game, but further experimentation has led
me to discover that the game will actually continue to progress regardless of
whether or not you pick them up.
Whatever you choose to do, a few seconds will pass before a second character
appears on the screen. Now you have a choice to make as there are two different
endings. You first option is to drag the girl across to the boy. They'll hold
hands and swim to the surface, providing you with a different ending line to
the poem.
Alternatively, you can do nothing and eventually the boy will frown and leave.
This will produce a different final line to the poem and a slight difference
to the ending scene.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---- POETIC WALKTHROUGH [4.00] ----------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
The purpose of this section is two-fold. Firstly, it is to give a strategically
spoiler free walkthrough to anyone who wants to beat the game without being
given all the answers, but needs a hint or two so they can continue to make
progress. The second is to show the poem of the game in full.
To read it, use it like a flowchart. The highest row should be completed first,
reading from left to right. Then work on the second row, then the third, and
so on. Keep a careful eye on what words of the poem change and this should
help you determine what order each section needs to be dealt with.
The final row indicates the two different endings. You will need to play twice
to get them both. Good luck!
dead world dark world painful world
full of shades ---> full of shades ---> full of shades
today I die today I die today I die
dead world dark world painful world
full of shades ---> full of shades ---> full of shades
today I shine today I shine today I shine
painful world
full of shades
today I swim
free world
full of shades
today I swim
free world
full of beauty
today I swim
free world free world
full of beauty full of beauty
today I swim today I swim
until you come /OR/ better by myself
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) [5.00] --------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
If you have a specific question about the game then you may well be able to
find the answer here! If not, look through this guide or take a look on the
game's website.
Q. Is this a poem or a game?
A. It's a game, but it has poetic aspects.
Q. Why write a walkthrough when you recommend early on not to use it?
A. I'd simply advise against using it until you're completely stuck. The game
is very short, so if you just look up all the answers then you're not going
to have much fun with it! Having said that, some puzzles are genuienly
tricky so don't feel bad if you need to use the guide for help.
Q. In the dark world, I can't pull the statue out! Why?
A. You have to make sure there is light on it. If the character is too far away
from the statue, that'll be your problem. Otherwise, try a new mouse!
Q. I found the word "swim", but it won't appear in any other area! How come?
A. Once you discover "swim" you have to click and move it at least once for it
to appear anywhere else in the game. You don't have to put it in the poem,
just drag it somewhere other than it's starting position.
Q. I can't avoid the shades when I swim in painful world. Why's it so hard?
A. Remove "swim" and replace it with "shine". Now catch the bubbles that appear
and build a barrier aroind the character. Then put "swim" back in and she
will be shielded from the shades. You won't have to do anything!
Q. Why does the music stop early in the last section of the game?
A. My guess is that the music is not on a loop so if you don't finish the game
before the piece plays once, it won't play again. It won't break anything.
Q. How many endings are there?
A. There are two. Check the last section of my walkthrough if you want to find
out how to achieve them.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---- AFTERWORD & LEGAL INFORMATION [6.00] -----------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Thanks for reading this guide, I hope you found plenty of useful information!
If you feel you have anything to contribute, or noticed any errors, please
send me an email. My address can be found at the top of this document.
This file is Copyright(c) 2011 Andrew Barker. This file was entirely written by
me, unless otherwise noted in a specific section. It may be not be reproduced
under any circumstances except for personal, private use. Only the following
sites have permission to use and display this guide:
-- GameFAQs [
http://www.gamefaqs.com]
-- Neoseeker [
http://www.neoseeker.com]
If you wish to use this guide on your site, you MUST ask me before copying or
using any part of it. You must have advanced written permission from me, the
author, to use it. To contact me, use the email address at the top.
