Walkthrough for Off Season at the Dream Factory, by B. J. Best Walkthrough written by Andrew Schultz Disclosure: I was a tester for this game. This walkthrough may spoil your enjoyment, since it relies on getting through efficiently and also on how I learned to get through quickly. It's highly unlikely that in the course of regular play you would learn all five spells at once. But that is the quickest way to get through. This walkthrough also neglects the narrative, which helped OSatDF place high in IFComp. https://github.com/bjbest60/Off-Season has the source code. The raw link is here: https://github.com/bjbest60/Off-Season/blob/main/Off-Season_at_the_Dream_Factory_FINAL.txt I labeled actions that score points with (points gained/total points). There's a bonus point here that's tough to find, which gives you an even 100. You can even find what to say in the source, but you might not (fully) know why it's reasonably and cleverly clued in a couple places in the game. If not, it may seem random. I like the puzzle, so I won't spoil it. The mechanics of the game mean there is no way to get killed. In fact, you *have* to die at least once. But there is a bad ending. It gives you a maximum of only 83 of 100 points. Also, a lot of the dialogue doesn't really lead to alternate endings until, well, the end. >X MIRROR (1/1) (This is optional, actually, but it's the sort of thing one tries at the start of a game.) >GET CLUB >X BED (1/2) >W >TALK MOM "We should eat eclairs, son. We shouldn't eat eggplants nor nectarines." You don't have to talk to her to find the way through. Knowing what to do outside of the game isn't enough. >OUT >W This is the start of the forest maze. The game's rather nice to you after about halfway through, as there's only one direction you can go. And why not? At that point, it knows you know. No sense being That Guy, uh, That Game, and tripping you up for a typo. That'd be wack. >W >S >E >E >S >W >S >E >E >N >N (2/4) (In case you didn't figure what's going on from the solution and quote, you take the first letter of each word.) >Z A warrior with her sword attacks. Do anything here. You can only lose. You can even just type P when asked for a number. You can't do a think on offense. >Z Back at the clearing. >N >X BROCHURE (1/5) This is one of the "easy" bonus points. That map will make more sense later. I mean, it's easy enough to muddle through the area, but it's still there if you need it. >IN >TALK JON (say anything) >N >TALK (say anything) >OUT >E >IN >E >SLEEP (2/7) Can't do anything much here and now. Well, you can get the cabbage seeds. This doesn't really save time, since you must do two things in the location where you plant them, anyway. >T >F Okay, the outside world opens up more now. >W >X NOTE (unnecessary) The note tells you to visit Uncle Carroll, but the walkthrough and map will show the way. >GET MITTS >X SINK (necessary) >GET SPONGE >OUT >X BARROW (not necessary for next command but hints it) >GET WHEEL (if you want -- it acts like a shield) >W >S >X BRIDGE (necessary) >GET BOTTLE (Fill it with water later.) >N >N >N >IN >OPEN BOX (automatically gets jar) >X JAR (if you want) >OUT >S >E To ENTER PIPE but save a few keystrokes... >IN (1/8) >F >F >F >GET WATER (2/10) >GET BOAT >T >L >BOTTLE LIGHTNING (2/12) >F >GET UMBRELLA >T Note this puts you back at the T, not where the bottle was. >L >R >WEAR MITTS >GET CARDS (2/14) >REMOVE MITTS (You can save a keystroke with MITT since Adventuron detects singular/plural.) >T >F >GET SEEDS >T >L >F Back in the overworld. >W >S >S >EMPTY BOTTLE >FILL BOTTLE >N >W >N >PLANT SEEDS >WATER SEEDS (2/16) >GET CABBAGE Now use your umbrella ... >U (2/18) >GET SLIPPERS >D (Note: as a tester I missed a bug here I think. X WINDMILL before and after indicates something up there--the slippers! But they should be gone now.) You now have everything you need to talk to Uncle Carroll. >S >E >N >IN >read book (1/19) You can do this several times for background. It's a bonus point. >1 (x12 or 13. Anyway, just spam 1 if you want to get through things.) >talk uncle >5 >1 (4/23) The umbrella for WAX LIPS. >talk uncle >5 >1 (4/27) The playing card for ROYAL ROBE. >talk uncle >5 >1 (4/31) The ship for WATER WHIP. >talk uncle >5 >1 (4/35) Cabbage for CABBAGE CLOUD. >talk uncle >5 >1 (4/39) Slippers for SLOW WALK. You have five spells to battle with now. With which to battle. >OUT >W >W >S >Z Okay, you can actually beat the warrior (?) you lost to before. >S >2 (ROYAL ROBE) Repeat below until you win. You may have to refresh s-2. >P >2 Doesn't matter how you finish things off. One funny thing you may notice about the fight? No opponent dies. Each just goes down to one hit point, since this isn't actual mortal combat but a trip to a dream factory. >2 (10/49) >n >ENTER >TALK JON >1 >1 >1 >OUT >S >Z Now you fight the demons. >S >3 (WATER WHIP) Same as before. Just attack unless the spell wears off, in which case, re-apply it. >P >2 >2 (10/59) >N >IN >TALK JON >1 >1 >OUT >S >Z Elven mage. Use WAX LIPS so she can't cast a spell. >S >1 (repeat) There may be some RNG here--some of her spells will hit. I guess you can attack if you want to do minimal damage that may tip things a bit more in your favor. >2 (10/69) >N >IN >TALK JON >1 >OUT >S >Z Now dark angels. Cabbage Cloud works on them. >S >4 etc. >2 (10/79) >N >IN >TALK JON You go out immediately after this. >S >Z Steampunk gnome. >S >5 >2 (4/83) Yeah, that was a weak opponent. Only four points. >N >IN "That's weird." You can only go home. >E >E >S >E >IN >E >SLEEP Back in the dungeon! Mom has something to say. If you get it wrong, you have to SLEEP and try again. >N >N >W >S >S >W You may wish to save here to see different endings. >GET CLUB Your boss! >1 >1 >1 >1 >1 >1 >1 Now the fight here you can just spam spells. There's another after that. If you die, the fight just reloads. The spells don't take effect right away. Winning gets you 15/98. You can PARRY continually to skip the ending, but you can also ATTACK and kill her for a villain ending (2, 1). If you ATTACK or use a SPELL, you're given a chance to show mercy. If you don't kill her, you're sent to an on-rails ending ... >W >N >W >N (1/99) That 100th point requires some lateral thought.