Puzzle Time: Trapped! Dec 5th - 15th

Started by Ashen, Sun 05/12/2004 16:52:58

Previous topic - Next topic

Ashen

Rules:
Every couple of weeks, a post will be made with a list of items and a scenario. Using your wit and skill find a way to complete the scenario with the items provided. You can only use a set number of items of your own choice. When I say use your skill, use it.

Voting:
Yeah, I guess. After the deadline, you'll have about a day to vote. Most votes == Winner.

The Grand Prize:
That inner feeling of smugness and self-satisfaction that comes from being told you're better than your peers. And, I don't know, a picture of some kittens or something.

Scenario:
As I said a while ago, I think one of the reasons Puzzle Time has been dropping off lately is that they've been overly restrictive. Mind you, I didn't think Radiant's last one was, and that still didn't get many entries.

Regardless, have this (nearly) restriction-free Puzzle Time:
TRAPPED IN A HOUSE.

You're trapped. In a house. Why, how you got there, and whose house it is, is up to you, just get out of there. You can have a number of small items in your pockets (e.g. money, keys, credit cards, a penknife), and as many other inventory items or background items and rooms as you want.

One thing: Everything you use must be realistic for the room you're in, even if the way you use them isn't.
For example, you couldn't have a Nuclear Reactor in someone's spare bedroom, even if they are a Mad Scientist, or a hand grenade in your back pocket (even if you are). But, you could MacGuyver up some plastic explosive in the bathroom using shampoo, shaving foam and bleach. Although, you'd best not, 'cause it was my idea.

Another thing: I know it's mentioned up there in the Rules, but Be creative. I want to see something slightly more complex than 'KICK DOWN door' or 'THROW LAMP through WINDOW'.

I was going to make this last 2 weeks, but then I realised I'm going away for Christmas on the 18th, and wouldn't be able to finish it up. So, it'll last about a week and a half, ending just in time for me to bugger off until the New Year.

Deadline: 15th December.

Good luck to all!
I know what you're thinking ... Don't think that.

Einoo

Alrighty. Here it is.

You start in the LIVING ROOM. There is a BLUE CUP on the COFFEE TABLE.
TAKE the BLUE CUP.
OPEN the CLOSET DOOR.
TAKE the DUCT TAPE.
TAKE the HAMMER.
WALK to the KITCHEN.
There is a CUPBOARD, but it is STUCK.
USE the backside of the HAMMER on the CUPBOARD.
TAKE the VINEGAR.
TAKE the BAKING SODA.
TAKE the COFFEE MIX.
WALK to the HALL.
WALK to the KID'S ROOM.
There is a MEDICINE BALL in the KID'S ROOM. The STUFFING has FALLEN OUT.
TAKE the MEDICINE BALL.
WALK to the HALL.
WALK to the KITCHEN.
TAKE the CLEAVER.
USE the CLEAVER on the MEDICINE BALL.
You are TOO TIRED to CUT the MEDICINE BALL.
USE the COFFEE MIX on the BLUE CUP.
USE the WATER on the COFFEE MIX IN A CUP.
USE the COFFEE on YOURSELF.
USE the CLEAVER on the MEDICINE BALL.
WALK to the LIVING ROOM.
USE the VINEGAR on one of the MEDICINE BALL HALVES.
USE the BAKING SODA on the OTHER MEDICINE BALL HALF.
USE the VINEGAR-FILLED MEDICINE BALL HALF with the BAKING SODA-FILLED MEDICINE BALL HALF.
USE the DUCT TAPE on the TWO MEDICINE BALL HALVES.
USE the IMPROVISED BOMB on the LIVING ROOM DOOR.
WALK to the KITCHEN.
WAIT until the IMPROVISED BOMB EXPLODES.
WALK to the LIVING ROOM. The LIVING ROOM DOOR will be GONE.
WALK through the LIVING ROOM DOOR.
THE END.

Einoo

PS. If you put the bomb together in the kitchen, it will explode before it can reach the door, you die, and you lose. If you don't leave the room immediately after using the bomb, the bomb will kill you and you lose.

Einoo

PPS. Yes, it was inspired by the plastic explosive thing you said, but I think it's cooler and a lot more complex.
PPPS. Also, I'm thinking about making a game out of the puzzle.

Einoo

PPPPS. I accidentally said you should use the water on the cup with coffee in it. I meant, use the sink on the blue cup with coffee in it.

DragonRose

Einoo- if you're going to enter a competition like this, I'd advise joining the forum. That way you don't have to do a triple repost! Yikes!

Okay, escaping a room.

Start with: Swiss army knife

Rooms: Bedroom, kitchen, living room, front hall, attic

Attempts to open front door gets message "It's locked. That's the problem."

Attempts to open window gets message "I can't open it. I never should have gotten those indistructable, unopenable windows!"

Start in front hall.

EGO: "Oh no! I've locked myself in my own house! This is a new and startling experience! If only someone knew where I was, they could come and save me! I can't even phone someone because my service has been cut off! Woe is me!"

Go to living room.
Get HISTORY OF RADIO book from coffee table.
Ego: "Ah, a hundred years of history condensed into an oversized full colour book."
In inventory, USE book
Ego: "Apparently, to create a working radio transmitter, all you really need is an antenna, a voice reciever, some variety of chanel chooser, wires to connect it together and a sufficiently high enough place to transmit from. Who knew?"
Get REDICULOUSLY OVERSIZED REMOTE CONTROL from couch.
Ego: "The clicker box, the magic wand, the control centre, that deally with the buttons... my very own UNIVERSAL REMOTE!"

Go to bedroom.
Use SWISS ARMY KNIFE on clock radio.
Ego: "At long last, an excuse to destroy my clock radio! DIE ALARM CLOCK DIE!"
Get antennae and wires from broken radio.
Ego: "Well, these aren't doing any good here!"

Go to kitchen
Use SWISS ARMY KNIFE on phone
Ego: "If you say so." Phone is dismantled.
Get TELEPHONE HANDSET from broken phone.

In inventory, combine all items together except for the book and the swiss army knife. You now have a MAKESHIFT RADIO TRANSMITTER.
Ego: "Well, I'll never be a DJ but it's good enough for my purposes."

Go to attic.
Use MAKESHIFT RADIO TRANSMITTER.
Ego: Help help! I'm locked in this house and I'm in the attic and I can't get out! HEEEEEEELP!!!!

Cut to front hall, where a KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR LISTENING TO A WALKMAN breaks down the door. He kneels in front of you.

KISALTAW: "Oh fair one, I heard your distress ca- oh, I'm dreadfully sorry."
Ego: "You've come to rescue me!" (to player) "Ever feel like you're in a Monty Python movie?"
KISALTAW: "I thought you were a damsel in distress!"
Ego: "Nope. Just locked myself in. Just one of those days. Thanks anyway!" Automatically leave through front door.
KISALTAW: "That's the last time I listen to CDID: Damsel in Distress radio!" Throws walkman to the ground, leaves through front door.

THE END!

Ashen, I have to disagree with you on the "Too restrictive= no interest" idea. The most popular ones have given an detailed location and scenario, such as http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=13864.0 and  http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=14367.0

Those were some of the most fun ones, in my opinion, becauase they have very detailed discriptions of where you are. You could do just about anything to get out of them, but you still had to think within certain specifications.


Sssshhhh!!! No sex please, we're British!!- Pumaman

Ashen

#6
Yay! Two entrants within a day, that aren't me, Radiant, Edwin Xie or JudgeDeadd. I'd say that was a minor triumph.

DragonRose:
Well, yes but, looking at the ones you linked: Scuthbert's original (doesn't that sound like the name of a sweet?) was virtually a mirror of this one. Rather, this is virtually a mirror of that - deliberately so, since it was, as you said one of the most popular and interesting, which I was trying to recapture. However, if you look at it, it basicly says "You're trapped outside a house. Get in," and gives a few inventory items. Redwall give a nice little set up as to why you're trapped, but basicly says "You're trapped in a temple. Get out," and gives some items to use.

Since I couldn't think of any items that didn't have a fairly obvious use, I left them out - so as not to restrict how the 'player' thought. That's what I meant when I said "Too resrictive = no interest" - refering specificly to the last 5 or 6 (my last one included, I admit), where you were given an idea of where you were, and idea of what you had to do, but also some odd limits on how you had to do it.
In summary: "A detailed set-up is fine, but after that the restrictions should come from the surroundings, and the 'player' themselves, and not be imposed by whoever set the problem", is more what I meant, than "It should be as vague as possible", which is what I actually did here, I admit.
Anyway, as I said above, I got two 'new' people to enter, compared to the last few, to there must be something to it.
BTW: I just read a post on b3ta.com about losing a tasty lunch to some security guard, written by 'dragonrose', who likes old school Sierra games. Is it you, or a large (and quite scary) coincidence?

Oh, and thank you both for entering!
I know what you're thinking ... Don't think that.

DragonRose

Quote from: Ashen on Mon 06/12/2004 11:40:49
BTW: I just read a post on b3ta.com about losing a tasty lunch to some security guard, written by 'dragonrose', who likes old school Sierra games. Is it you, or a large (and quite scary) coincidence?
Nope, no coincidence. That's me. It's a small world after aaaaaall...
Sssshhhh!!! No sex please, we're British!!- Pumaman

Einoo

Quote from: DragonRose on Mon 06/12/2004 02:54:55
Einoo- if you're going to enter a competition like this, I'd advise joining the forum. That way you don't have to do a triple repost! Yikes!

Well, see, I WOULD...
And I WILL...
But not for a couple years.
I've said too much, I'll have to shoot you.  ;)

straston

#9
OK, just another entry.

Rooms: office, entrance hall, closet, kitchen
No items at start

ENTER OFFICE
GET heap of SAFETY PINS
GET Mozart CD
ENTER CLOSET
GET BROOMSTICK
GET STAND from broken sun shade

ENTER Entrance Hall
Put CD in the CD Player
GET (REMOTE) LOUDSPEAKERS
ENTER KITCHEN
Open Cabinet (You see lots of preserving bottles)
if you try to remove the rubber from the bottles, there is a message: "too tight"
PUT LOUDSPEAKERS IN CABINET
Close Cabinet
ENTER Entrance Hall
TURN Volume of CD player to maximum
Press "Start" on CD player (shattering of glass can be heard EGO: "Oops, I better switch it off..." *switches off CD player*)

ENTER kitchen
Open Cabinet
GET heap of RUBBER RINGS from (now broken) preserving bottles
USE RUBBER RINGS with SAFETY PINS (you get a CHAIN)
ENTER Office
USE BROOMSTICK with SHARPENER
ENTER Entrance Hall
Put STAND in Entrance Hall
USE BROOMSTICK with STAND (if you did not use the broomstick with the sharpener, it doesn't fit)
USE CHAIN with BROOMSTICK (fixed)
USE other end of CHAIN with COATRACK (fixed)
(Now you created a makeshift SLING)
ENTER OFFICE
GET COMPUTER MONITOR
ENTER Entrance Hall
USE MONITOR WITH SLING
(Monitor will destroy the window)
LEAVE THE HOUSE through the broken window.  ;D

I hope that everything is clear.

Bye

Straston

(Edited)

straston

#10
Quote from: straston on Mon 13/12/2004 13:25:41

GET heap of PAPERCLIPS


Actually, this should be "SAFETY PINS" not PAPERCLIPS.

Sorry...

OK, I changed it myself, so ignore this mail.  ;)

Ashen

#11
OK, I'm going to give it a little while longer (about an hour from the timestamp on this post), then I'm going to declare voting open.
EDIT:
OK, Voting is now offically open, I'll give it until about this time tomorrow, unless no-one's voted by then. I'm not voting, unless there's a tie. Oh, and if anyone missed it - Einoo is a member now, so it's alright to vote for him (It would've been OK if he'd still been a guest, of course, but I don't know if he could've started the next one then).
I know what you're thinking ... Don't think that.

Einoo

I vote for Straston. DragonRose's was funny and better than mine, but overall Straston wins for taking a simple idea (smasing through the window) and making the procedure so complicated.

PS: On a side note, I was hoping for more participants. I guess they started somehow "not liking" Puzzle Time, and when or if it got "better", they had stopped looking all together?  ??? ??? I certainly hope not, but you never know...
Now let's find out if gasoline is flammable!

straston

Actually, I vote for Dragon Rose, because her entry is the funniest this time. :)

Bye,

Straston

DragonRose

Statson is teh win! (translation- I vote for Stratson)
Sssshhhh!!! No sex please, we're British!!- Pumaman

Radiant

If it's still in time, my vote goes to Dragon Rose.

Ashen

I gave it a little longer  to see if there'd be any more votes , and there were. Unfortunately, it's still a tie, so I'll cast the deciding vote.
I enjoyed the adventure game logic behind Staston's needessly-complicated-way-to-do-a-simple-thing approach, and Monty Python references always score bonus points with me. In a free vote, I'd probably have plummed for Einoo since I like it when things get blowed up, but this is a deciding vote, so sadly I can't.

So, it's a tough call, but the winner is:
DragonRose.

One word of advice (for what it's worth): Leave it until after Christmas, maybe even the new year, when people mightn't be as busy with their real lives, and you might get a few more entrants. Also, it gives you longer to come up with a nice setup.
Also also, I'll be back from my holidays and able to enter, but that's neither here nor there..

So, congratulation to DragonRose, and a Merry Christmas to all.
Have some toffee (I made it myself).
I know what you're thinking ... Don't think that.

DragonRose

Hooray! I am the winner!

I will probably leave this until after the new year- with exams, Christmas and various very real life things, I just don't have TIME right now.

Mmm... toffee.
Sssshhhh!!! No sex please, we're British!!- Pumaman

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk