The Adventures of Barsak the Dwarf
bY P Napolitano, V Napolitano
For Atari 400/800/XL/XE, C64, ZX Spectrum
Solution by Garry Francis
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This is a minimal solution to a very cruel and unfair game. You can't EXAMINE anything, so
don't bother trying.
You get hungry after 10 moves. If you don't eat anything, you die from hunger after a further 7
moves. So your first objective is to find something to eat.
You get thirsty after 40 moves. If you don't have anything to drink, you die from thirst after
a further 7 moves. So your second objective is to find something to drink. This is particularly
difficult to do within the time available, so don't waste any moves.
After you have solved the hunger and thirst issues, you have to find 9 treasures and carry them with
you to the end of the game. Your inventory is limited to 7 items and you will need to carry the
battle-axe and lantern for most of the game, so you can only carry 5 of the 9 items. To get around
this limitation, wear anything that's wearable, as worn items don't count towards your
inventory limit. You can wear 4 of the treasures.
As your inventory is limited to 7 items, inventory management is crucial. Drop items when
you're finished with them. Try stockpiling items at a convenient location and come back for
them later when you need them. There are many red herrings, so you're best leaving objects
alone until you think you might have a use for them. Unfortunately, these strategies mean that you
will have to do some unavoidable backtracking.
There is a lot of sudden death. You may get killed by entering a room without any warning whatsover,
so save the game frequently. When sudden death occurs, you will have to find a "magic"
item that prevents you from getting killed. There are no in-game hints as to what this should be and
the required object is not necessarily obvious, so use trial and error. Even if you have the
"magic" item, the protagonist will still kill you if you try to leave the room, so you
have to kill it first. A couple of the sudden death situations can be avoided, so just avoid
entering those rooms.
Incidentally, there are a lot of guess-the-verb scenarios. When it comes to killing a protagonist,
there is no consistency. Sometimes, you can use KILL <noun>, sometimes you use THROW
<noun> and sometimes you use USE <noun>. If one doesn't work, try the others.
Some optional (but significant) commands are shown in parentheses. These can be omitted once you
know what to do.
Scores are shown in parentheses as +A=B%, where A is percentage earned and B is cumulative
percentage earned.
(I) (you're carrying a battle-axe, this has many uses and you'll need it at end)
N
NE
NW
GET HOOK
SW
SE
N
N
NE (you're getting hungry around about now)
S
GET PICKLES
EAT PICKLES (that satisfies your hunger)
DROP JAR
N
SW
U
S
W
W
N
N
GET SPADE
GET LANTERN
S
S
E
E
N
D
N
D (it's too dark to see)
ON LANTERN
(L) (you're in a long corridor)
E
N
GET SKELETON
S
W
S (you're getting thirsty around about now)
SAY STYX (you feel a tingling sensation) (+11=11%)
(I) (the skeleton has turned into jade, you can now pray)
PRAY (there's a flash of light and you're transported to an immense cavern)
S
D
GET WATER
DRINK WATER (that satisfies your thirst, now it's time to find those treasures)
DROP POUCH
U
USE AXE (you crack the rock open)
(L) (you find a *giant diamond*)
DROP AXE (we'll come back for it later)
DROP SPADE (ditto)
N
FISH (you catch a tiddler)
(L) (a small fish is now here, we'll come back for it later)
DROP HOOK
PRAY (you're transported back to in the prayer room)
N
W
S
GET CHEESE
N
E
U
U
N
E
GET FOIL
S
U
W
U
E
GET TEDDY
U
W
N
GET FERTILISER
S
E
D
W
D
E
D
W
D
D
S
PRAY
GET FISH
SE
SW (you'll get killed if you go south unless you're wearing the fur coat)
SE (if you enter without teddy bear or try to leave, zombie kills you)
DROP TEDDY (zombie takes teddy and gives you something in return) (+11=22%)
(I) (it was a *Dwarvish belt*)
WEAR BELT
NE (if you enter without cheese or try to leave, rats kill you)
DROP CHEESE (rats eat the cheese to expose a small key)
GET KEY
SW
S
CROSS LAKE (if you don't have fish, you drown, o/w dolphin takes you across)
S
GET BOX
UNLOCK BOX (something drops to the ground)
(L) (it was a *glowing sword*)
DROP BOX
DROP KEY
GET SWORD (+11=33%)
SE
S
FERTILIZE PLANT (it grows into a living bridge across the chasm)
DROP FOIL (we'll come back for it later)
N
NW
N
CROSS LAKE (dolphin remembers you and takes you back)
N
NW
NE
NW
GET HOOK
FISH
DROP HOOK
GET FISH
S
GET SPADE
GET AXE
GET DIAMOND (+11=44%)
E
SW
SE
S
CROSS LAKE (dolphin takes fish and takes you across again)
S
SE
S
GET FOIL
CROSS BRIDGE
S
S
S (if you go west, SING to send barbarian to sleep or he'll kill when you leave)
S
SW (if you enter without foil or try to leave, chieftain kills you)
THROW FOIL (chest appears in chieftain's hut)
NE
SE (a wooden chest appears once chieftain is dead)
SMASH CHEST (your battle-axe splinters it into fragments)
(L) (you find an *Elvish crown*)
GET CROWN (+11=55%)
WEAR CROWN
NW
SW
S
S (note the burial ground, a good place for burying corpses)
DROP SPADE (we'll come back for it later)
SE
SE
U
S
E (if you enter without battle-axe or try to leave, mad monk kills you)
KILL MONK (you cut him in two with your battle-axe)
(L) (you find a robe)
GET ROBE
WEAR ROBE
W
PUSH ALTAR (a hole appears, but you must be wearing the robe)
D
S
SE
SW (if you enter without sword or try to leave, ogre kills you)
USE SWORD (ogre bursts into flames, now you know why the sword was glowing)
(L) (you find a *silvery quill*)
GET QUILL (+11=66%)
(READ QUILL) ("(C) Gilsoft 1983")
DROP AXE (we'll come back for it later)
SE
GET SCROLL
(READ SCROLL) ("Trails are better than snares", no idea what that means)
W
S
SW
GET CORPSE
S
N
E
NW
NW
USE QUILL (with the scroll, there's a flash of light)
(L) (you find a *magic ink pot*)
DROP SCROLL
GET POT (+11=77%)
NE
N
U
N
D
NW
NW
DROP CORPSE
GET SPADE
BURY CORPSE (as you bury the corpse, you dig up something)
(L) (it's a *mithrill cloak*)
DROP SPADE
GET CLOAK (+11=88%)
WEAR CLOAK
SE
SE
U
S
D
S
SE
SW
GET AXE
SE
W
S
SW
D
NW
SE
W
DROP AXE (we'll come back for it later)
GET NECKLACE (+11=99%)
WEAR NECKLACE
W
GET IDOL
SE (if you enter without the idol or try to leave, cobra kills you)
WAVE IDOL (the cobra is turned into stone)
DROP IDOL
N
GET AXE
S
S
SE
SW
NE
D
SW
W
S
L (if you have battle-axe and all 9 treasures, a gateway appears)
ENTER
OFF LANTERN (don't ask me why)
SIGN BOOK (+1=100%)
***THE END***