GRIMALKIN THE CAT (128)
Simon Wood
Spectrum 128
This is the second of Simon Wood's games I have played (the first I have
not yet conquered). Very good, complex, interesting game: challenging, good
atmosphere, nice premise, cohesive and internally consistent (as a cat you
can only carry three objects at a time) and it keeps you guessing. Chance
elements are few, but actions apparently need to be done in a particular
order, as that "triggers" a further sequence of events.
The challenge is this: you need to find objects to teleport back as a
witch. But the objects are different depending on what month it is which
you do not know when you start. As you do not find this out until you are
much further in the game, you obviously need to take the objects needed for
both time periods. I made the logical (?) assumption that the later the
better, so I avoided the objects needed for the first time period. But,
until you know, and even after you know, you still need to get them in
order for those actions to "trigger" other actions which get you the
objects you need, therefore returning to previous locations is necessary.
Sounds complex? It is. You also need to explore first to know where to
leave the objects. There are lots of red herrings that use up time. Other
than the spelling and grammatical errors, this is a very good game and
provides hours of frustration while knowing what it is that is causing that
frustration (if that is the measure of satisfaction). It's not that you
don't know what you need to do, it's how and when to do it.
You will need to eat. And there is a time limit to the game. While I often
find such requirements frustrating and annoying in other games, for some
reason, it did not bother me so much here, maybe because they were
infrequent or maybe because I marvel at how this man's mind could handle
all these complexities at one time. My congratulations to the author. Now,
if I could just solve the other game...
It is 489 AD. You are Grimalkin the witch who has died. She decided she
needed to be a cat in order to return. You turn yourself into a cat and the
adventure begins.
Hints:
You don't need the Lore book after you've read it.
KILL the pony.
Since time passes even if you do not make a move, keep track.
Ignore the butterfly.
Don't waste your time on the Lada.
If you type HINT, you should lose points: however, I finished with more
than 100, not using any hints. They are not very helpful anyway.
Keep an eye on the time. When you get hungry, you have half an hour
(exactly) in which to find and eat food. There are three.
I found that if you ignored the chips (a food item) and went later to
retrieve them, they were not there, so TAKE and DROP, preferably in a
different location.
The only thing helpful in the library van is the Record newspaper. In the
house, ignore the objects in the living room.
Taking and dropping objects (primarily those you do not need) do not lose
you points.
The red herring, is a red herring. But pick it up anyway. Since it's
plastic, would it be good as a food source? There are other red herrings as
well. So is the log. The ladder is not one of them, but the horseshoe is.
This is a nice touch, considering that you run into a pony.
You need to SEARCH RUBBISH more than once.
As you will have noticed, the river is not the place to go.
You need to remove the hat to leave the house.
Solution:
There may be a more expedient way to solve this, but this worked. Do not
make any false moves, or errors in typing. Each move, even a wrong one,
counts as a minute.
You begin as a cat, having been teleported into a field of wheat. It is
September. INVENTORY (nothing), TAKE MANURE (too wet; you need to teleport
back home), TAKE VIAL, TAKE BOOK, READ LORE BOOK (to find out about
something, type READ ABOUT <SOMETHING>), READ ABOUT TELEPORTING (for
September, the ingredients are – a tooth, mushrooms, corn, potato, brambles
berries, cow manure, lump of coal, batwing, horseshoe; for October, the
ingredients are – a tooth, frogs leg, mushrooms, gold, rain water, pony's
tail hair, bramble berries, moss, rabbit's foot. A return teleport must
occur during an eclipse and in a magic place), E (wait until a cyclist goes
by who loses a tooth and a coin), DROP LORE BOOK, TAKE COIN, NE, N, SEARCH
OAK TREE (you see moss).
TAKE MOSS, S, NE, NE (you see a library van and a Lada), DROP COIN, ENTER
VAN (you see lots of reading material), READ RECORD NEWSPAPER (there is a
smudged date; a total eclipse occurs that day at 4:30), LEAVE VAN, SW, N,
N, UP, DOWN, N, N, NW, W, W (you see a pony and a trough), EXAMINE TROUGH
(rain water), KILL PONY, TAKE TAIL HAIR, FILL VIAL, E, E, N, NE, N, N, N
(at a stone circle), DROP ALL, S, S, S, S, S, S, S, S, UP, S, S, S, SW, SW,
TAKE TOOTH, SE, SE (you see some objects but the fisherman throws you out),
NW, SW, SE, SEARCH DENSE UNDERGROWTH (you see a ladder), TAKE OLD LADDER,
NE, NW, NE, NE, E, E (you see chips), S, S, SE (you see a hayloft up), DROP
OLD LADDER, CLIMB OLD LADDER (you see hay), SEARCH HAY (you find corn).
TAKE CORN, DOWN, NW, N, N (at the chips), DROP TOOTH, TAKE CHIPS, E (you
see a small oak and mud), SEARCH SMALL OAK (there is an apple on it), DROP
CHIPS, WAIT (until you are hungry), EAT APPLE, DROP CORN, S, W, NW (the
fisherman is asleep; you see a fish, rabbit foot, and a hat), TAKE ALL,
WEAR HAT, NW, NW, NE, N, N, UP, DOWN, N, N, N, N, E, (you see a ploughed
field), DIG MUD (you see a potato), TAKE POTATO, NW, N, N, N, DROP ALL,
TAKE FISH, S, S, S, S, S, S, S, S, UP, S, S, S, NE, E, E, TAKE TOOTH, E,
TAKE CHIPS, W, S, S, W, W, DROP FISH, DROP TOOTH, REMOVE HAT, DROP HAT, SE,
EXAMINE BIN (a cat can fit in), ENTER BIN, SEARCH RUBBISH (you see a red
herring), TAKE HERRING.
SEARCH RUBBISH (you see a small key), TAKE SMALL KEY, LEAVE BIN, DROP
HERRING, SEARCH PLANTS (you see mushrooms), TAKE MUSHROOMS, NW, DROP ALL,
TAKE SMALL KEY, TAKE HAT, WEAR HAT, TAKE CHIPS, SE, (Jane sees you are
wearing a hat and takes you inside into a hall where you see a doormat),
SEARCH HEAVY DOORMAT (you see a gold ring), TAKE GOLD RING, S, UP, N (you
see a cabinet), UNLOCK CABINET, DROP SMALL KEY, OPEN CABINET, SEARCH
CABINET (you see a horseshoe and a diary), READ SMALL DIARY (the entries
end in October, so now you know what month it is), S, REMOVE HAT, DROP HAT,
DOWN, N, N, NW, EAT CHIPS, TAKE MUSHROOMS, TAKE TOOTH, NW, N, N, UP, DOWN,
N, N, N, N, N, N, N, N.
DROP ALL, S, S, S, S, S, S, S, S, UP, S, S, S, SE, TAKE FISH, NW, N, N, UP,
WAIT (until close to your time allotment – about 25), EAT FISH, WAIT (about
50 times until the stonemason passes by), S, S, S, NE (the stonemason picks
up the coin and drops a large key), TAKE KEY, S, S, NW, N, N, UP, DOWN, N,
N, E, UNLOCK LARGE BOX, OPEN LARGE BOX (you see coal and an aerosol),
SEARCH LARGE BOX (you see an aerosol and a lump of coal), TAKE ALL, W, S,
S, UP, S, S, S, SW, SW, N (you see a frog's leg), DROP BROKEN KEY, TAKE
LEGS, S, NE, N, ENTER (you see a bat), SPRAY BAT, DROP AEROSOL, TAKE WINGS,
DROP WINGS, LEAVE, S, NE, NE, S, E, N (you see bramble berries), TAKE
BERRIES, W, SW, N, N, UP, DOWN, N, N, N, N, N, N, N, N, DROP ALL, WAIT
(until it gets dark). The eclipse occurs and you are finished. Score
102/100.
Terri Sheehan
2007-03-30
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