ZODIAC
A&F Software, 1982
------------------
Our goal is to reach the House of Immortality at the end of a mostly linear gauntlet of set pieces
through a largely arctic landscape, including twelve Zodiac rooms (some, but not all, with thematic
challenges). A tight inventory limit of four items (plus one worn item) necessitates some
backtracking. For the most part, exits are not listed in room descriptions, which requires trying
all four cardinal directions in most rooms to find the way forward (and/or ignominious death).
A full walkthrough follows below. Commands are in ALL CAPS. Explanatory comments are included in
[brackets]. The game's parser reads the first four letters of words.
TAKE PICK
N
E
N
TAKE STICK
S
E
TAKE URN
LIGHT STICK
[We now have a light source, which we will need for most of the rest of the game. And yes, it can
burn out after too many turns.]
N
N
E
N
E
N
WRESTLE BULL
E
LEAVE URN
MELT ICE
TAKE RING
WEAR RING
[We can't "DROP" the urn or it will shatter; LEAVE is required here to place it down
gently. Failing to fill the urn with water from this melting ice would soft lock us at the very end
of the game. We also aren't picking it back up right away because of inventory limits;
we'll be back.]
S
W
S
W
W
TAKE KNIFE
TAKE FISH
S
E
N
E
N
E
DROP PICK
TAKE URN
[The ice pick was needed to climb the glacier that we've now crossed twice. We won't be
going back to the starting area any more and so can now drop it to make room.]
N
GIVE FISH
[We'll be back for this key. Again, inventory limits.]
E
KILL DRAGON
KNIFE
[The game prompts you on a KILL command for the weapon you wish to use. The weapon needs to be
typed with no prefatory verb. Trying "WITH KNIFE," for example, won't work.]
CUT DRAGON
DROP KNIFE
TAKE STEAKS
S
S
[This is a classic maze of twisty passages. There's one item in here we want. Various exits
can return us to areas outside the maze. It's possible to wander from here through a one-way
path back to the starting frozen area - which can end your game if you don't still have the ice
pick, as then you can't climb the glacier anymore. But we won't be going that way.]
E
N
W
S
TAKE AXE
E
N
N
E
KILL GIANT
AXE
S
GIVE STEAKS
[Now that we've used a couple of items, let's go back and retrieve that key the Twins
dropped before continuing.]
N
W
W
TAKE KEY
E
E
S
W
DIG
DOWN
N
DROP AXE
TAKE BOX
S
TAKE EARTH
N
[A vicious enemy waits for us to the east from here, and will kill us immediately upon entry. The
only solution is to know ahead of time that danger lurks there, and to use a magic item we've
had for a while that - for whatever reason - only works here.]
RUB RING
E
S
BALANCE SCALES
E
UNLOCK DOOR
DROP KEY
N
TAKE BOOK
S
W
DROP BOX
TAKE WAND
WAVE WAND
[We needed both the book and the wand to make this work. Now, some inventory management.]
DROP BOOK
DROP WAND
E
TAKE KEY
W
TAKE BOX
N
[Some item juggling here because drinking this potion is a one-way trip to the final areas. We need
the following five items with us: the flaming torch, the urn full of water, the box full of earth,
the key, and the worn ring.]
DRINK POTION
S
S
DROP BOX
REMOVE RING
GIVE RING
[Trying to give the ring to the guard before removing it simply results in an unhelpful "I
CAN'T." We also need to make room in our inventory before trying to remove it.]
UNLOCK DOOR
DROP KEY
TAKE BOX
W
TAKE GOLD
E
N
N
E
GIVE GOLD
TAKE BOW
W
[We are at our inventory limit and about to go on another one-way trip, but we also need this
crystal ball. Turns out, however, that one of our items can actually be worn.]
WEAR BOW
TAKE CRYSTAL
E
N
HELP
[This is the only room in the game where HELP does anything useful. Failure to try it will cause
death after a few turns of falling. For the pit is not, in fact, bottomless.]
DROP BOX
REMOVE BOW
KILL BEAR
BOW
[Trying to kill the bear while the bow is still worn will just result in "I CAN'T,"
and then the bear will kill you in a couple of turns while you're fumbling with inventory.]
WEAR BOW
TAKE BOX
[Going south from here will fling you back into the pit for an ignominious eleventh-hour death.
Let's go another way.]
W
[The troll here will automatically let you through only if you have the four "elemental"
treasures - the burning torch, the box full of earth, the urn full of water, and the crystall ball.
This is where a player who has done everything else correctly but didn't fill the urn way back
when they melted the ice at the beginning would find themselves locked out of victory.]
W
[Success!]
