DRAGON'S LAIR
Micro Power, 1981 (uncertain)
=============================
Solution by Exemptus - June 2023
Overview and general hints:
---------------------------
This game is a straightforward treasure hunt where we must collect as many
valuables as possible. The game does not have an ending in the sense that it
does not have and end condition: once we have all treasures, we must QUIT and
be informed of our score. Therefore the goal is to get as high a score as
possible.
The game is almost deterministic except for a couple of random bits. The
difficulty is very low, as there are some puzzles but they're not hard to
manage. There is a proper maze, relatively large (more than a quarter of the map
is maze, but the map is not really big, 47 rooms in total), and a couple of
secret passages, probably the most difficult things to find.
There are essentially three puzzles to solve:
(1) A trapped door where the floor opens and sends us down to a shark-infested
pool (where we die). The pool can be accessed from below as well. The pool
can be poisoned, which allows us to retrieve the treasure in it.
(2) A vampire that shows up from time to time and follows. If we don't lose him
he will bite us in a few turns and we'll die. There are several ways to
shake the vampire: one only works once, another requires getting to a safe
location, and the third actually wards him off against biting, which is the
best, since even if we make the vampire go away, he will reappear later on.
(3) The eponymous dragon, which is chilling out in his lair, of course guarding
a couple of treasures. It can't be killed but can be subdued (permanently).
The rest of the game only requires collecting the treasures and getting them to
the starting location, then QUITting. The maximum score seems to be 1240 points
and we can normally carry up to 8 objects, though some of them seem to reduce
our inventory capacity. And, luckily, the lamp lasts forever.
Walkthrough:
------------
[We begin in a shallow cave with a door in the back. We can go N only; the door
is there just for decoration, to mark the exit, so don't concern yourself with
it.]
N [There's an iron bound door here, plus a lamp, key and vial with liquid]
GET LAMP
GET KEY
GET VIAL
OPEN DOOR
DROP KEY
N [It's dark here, and in the whole cave system, except the first two locations]
LIGHT LAMP [We can see now]
E
E [Altar room]
GET MEDALLION [We can ignore the altar and coffin]
E [A dead body is here, which you can also ignore]
NE
E
GET MARBLE
W
[N of here is a corridor ending in a locked door. If we try to open it, we'll be
tossed into the pool, which is not an agreeable experience.]
SW
W
N
E [Dead end]
EXAMINE WALL [EXAMINE ROOM works as well: we find a secret door]
E [A jewelled sword is here]
GET SWORD
W
W
W [Onyx statue]
GET STATUE
SW
W
S
S
S [Back at the start]
DROP MEDALLION
DROP MARBLE
DROP SWORD
DROP STATUE
[All treasures have to be stored here. Let's go for another round.]
N
N
N
[Around now you should see a tall cloaked figure show up in the same room. This
is the vampire: he will follow, and unless we get rid of it, he'll bite and kill
us. We'll use the vial first, which if we EXAMINE, turns out to contain holy
water.]
THROW VIAL [The vampire cries out and turns to dust]
[Don't think for a moment you have killed it: the vampire can't be killed and
will come back in a while. This is only a temporary respite. There are other
ways to deal with it. Is we are relatively close to the start location, it is
best to backtrack and go there, since it is lighted: the vampire will only
follow through dark rooms. Should we go back to the first two locations, it will
stop following and disappear for another while. More about the vampire in a
moment.]
E
N
N
E
E [Small chapel, there is a crucifix here]
[The crucifix is the subtlest, but best way to deal with the vampire. It will
not dismiss it, but it will not bite as long as we have the crucifix with us. So
if you don't mind being followed by a creepo and wasting an inventory slot, you
can just get the crucifix and forget all about the pesky undead.]
GET CRUCIFIX
E
NE
DOWN [Circular room with pool]
LOOK POOL [You see a shark - by the way, EXAMINE POOL doesn't work]
[This is the pool we fall in from the room above if we try to open a certain
locked door. The door is a trap, and it can't be opened. As we see, the pool
contains a shark, but also a treasure (this is not described).
E [Dead end, with an emerald earring]
GET EARRING
EXAMINE WALL [Another secret passage]
S
GET PEARL
S [We can ignore the toy]
W
GET EXTINGUISHER
E
N
N
W
W
UP
SW
W
W
[You can imagine that the extinguisher is not a treasure and it plays some other
role. This is right: it is the only weapon that will subdue a fire-breathing
dragon. Let's deal with him right away.]
N
N
NE
N [Here is the dragon, who promptly tells us to go away]
[The dragon is not lethal unless we spend more than one turn in his company, in
which case he will roast us. So we can just pass him by and continue N, and the
same back again, without danger. But the moment we choose to fight, we have only
one opportunity to do so, so try not to mistype.]
FIGHT DRAGON [With what?]
USE EXTINGUISHER [Beware: just saying EXTINGUISHER won't work, you need a verb]
[Done: the dragon is sulking in a corner and won't bother us anymore.
DROP EXTINGUISHER
GET FLASK
GET COINS
[Let's store what we have. Beyond the dragon is the maze, but that will take a
bit to negotiate.]
S
S
SW
S
S
S
W
S
S
S
DROP PEARL
DROP EARRING
DROP FLASK
DROP COINS
[Now let's do the maze.]
N
N
N
E
N
N
N
[If the vampire has reappeared, don't worry, we won't attack unless we drop the
crucifix.]
N
NE
N
N
[This is the maze. It's orthodox, with identical descriptions and stable
geography. Just keep track of the moves.]
S
S [A lump of green wax is here]
GET WAX
S
GET CROWN
W
N
W
GET CANDLESTICK
E
E
N [Out of the maze]
[The crown and candlestick are clearly treasures, but a lump of green wax? It
turns out this is what allows us to enter the pool and collect the last
treasure.]
S
S
SW
S
E
E
NE
DOWN [Circular room again]
DROP LAMP
[Don't worry, this is OK. We drop the lamp because it won't work in the pool.]
GO POOL [The wax poisons the water and kills the shark]
GET LOCKET
N
GET LAMP
[We are done, so we can go home and finish the game.]
W
UP
SW
W
W
S
S
W
S
S
S
DROP CROWN
DROP CANDLESTICK
DROP LOCKET
QUIT [You have 1240 points.]
[End of game.]
