Renga in Blue   Interactive fiction and the All the Adventures project

You can use the months of the Softside Adventure of the Month as a sort of progress tracker of All the Adventure’s trek through 1982. Alaska Adventure is from December.

Source.

Once again, it is from Peter Kirsch, and once again, it has an experiment in structure. This time it didn’t seem like it ought to due to the premise (get 15 treasures). Rather than using that as a prompt for open-world exploration, the player gets sent through a series of small areas in sequence. It is quite possible (very likely, even) to miss a treasure, but you eventually start looping through the areas visited. Essentially Kirsch’s vignette-style is being combined here with a Treasure Hunt.

I have procured versions of the game for Apple II and Atari, but not TRS-80 this time. I went with Atari since it’s been a while and I’ve had previous attempts at trying to get the “best” version of a game go awry.

Before getting too deep in, I should give mention that the term “Eskimo” gets used in the game extensively. It is generally considered offensive now (not to Westerners in ’82); it most likely comes from a word meaning “netter of snowshoes.” Since we’re on mainland Alaska for this game I’m going to go with Yupik generally (as the indigenous people of Alaska prefer) but will still quote the game’s text when appropriate.

The room description for nearly every outdoor room is YOU ARE SOMEWHERE IN SNOWY, COLD ALASKA. I guess that’s one way to save on text space.

The game insistently repeats you are cold and hints you might die…

…but even after many turns (due to having trouble making the map) I managed to get through, so either the turn count value is super high or the constant “B-R-R-R-R-R-R” messages are just meant for atmosphere. The reason I had trouble making the map was the lack of items.

The sled isn’t takable. The shovel, in the trading post, requires that I trade something for the shovel. Trying LOOK SNOW on a couple rooms (the wrong ones) I thought I needed the shovel so I could DIG SNOW and neglected checking the command on the eastmost rooms, one which reveals an antique plate and the other a golden idol. The plate is not a treasure and is meant to be traded for the shovel; when trying to pick up the golden idol the game asks for a container to put it in. The golden idol cannot be collected yet but only can be taken after at least one full loop of the various locations.

Randomly a “huskie” will show up, as shown above. It took me a while to realize what was going on because of the sheer strangeness of the act: you need to GET HUSKIE and then they will land in your inventory. Then more huskies show up, and you can GET them too. You can end with with 6 of them; I imagine the author wasn’t literally imagining them tucked in the player’s back pocket, but even dragging them around snow while leashed seemed a bit extreme. The only reason I even came up with this is the opening mentions the word MUSH, and if you hop on the sled and try to SAY MUSH, the game is fairly explicit about what you need.

Drop the set of dogs while standing at the sled, and it turns into a DOG SLED and then MUSHing will work. (If you drop the dogs anywhere else, you get the message DOGS KLING ON TO YOU which is beautiful. But also confusing since it isn’t obvious doing it at the sled will work.) I think the missing narrative here is that we had a full dog sled and then something went wrong and the dogs scattered (and we lost our cold-weather gear in the process), which is why gathering the dogs up works in the first place.

At the next stop…

This map is wrong. I’ll explain the issue in a moment.

…straightaway you can LOOK SNOW to find an ALARM CLOCK. There’s also some WOOD TWIGS nearby (in the open) and an igloo with a MATCHBOOK, PARKA, and a FROZEN ESKIMO.

The parka allows finally taking care of the constant “cold” messages; for the poor Yupik, if you drop the twigs and light them on fire they will warm up, handing over a RARE COIN, our first treasure.

From there (my first time playing) I went on further, but I actually missed a area. The “every room is snowy, and also you can always go N/S/E/W” aspect to the game makes it easy to think rooms are duplicates that are actually different; there is a second igloo! Here is the correct map:

The extra igloo contains a sleeping Yupik. You can set the alarm clock here, walk out, wait for them to run to work…

…and then go back in and filch a PEARL and a PILLOW left behind, the former being a treasure and the latter being needed for a puzzle. I admit I’m somewhat glad I missed this on a first loop because it seems like one of the more mean-natured of the acts in the game; you’re literally tricking someone and stealing their treasure. Despite the absolute mania for Treasure Hunt style adventures still happening, they often had some thread of “this was being held by a monster” or “this was left behind by the eccentric prior owner” or even just “it belongs in a museum” but this is filching along the lines of It Takes a Thief, but without the early-established amoral character.

I realize the author probably was thinking more along the lines of “this is a sequence of things that can happen” and “here’s a puzzle that works given the setup” without any deeper intent. It just feels jarring given how many Kirsch games have tried to jog some sort of narrative out of the sequence-of-vignettes format.

Stop #3 on the trip involves the our first crisis. The dogs are thirsty, and won’t move without getting some water.

I know I’m missing exits now as every outdoor room still lets you go N/S/E/W, but I found trying to get them all on the map made things harder rather than easier.

We find some Yupik inside a lodge having dinner except they’re complaining about their salad not having dressing. To the west you can find some dressing and then hand it to them. (Again, the author seems to be just throwing out what works without deep message or intent.)

Taking care of this lack of proper salad accompaniment leads to getting an empty water bottle. Also nearby is an empty water dish. The trick here then is to take the SNOW from outside, put it in the bottle, let it melt by the fire, and pour it into the bowl. The dogs will now have water to drink and be happy (until their next crisis).

Also, when you get the snow the game says “you find something else too” which turns out to be a WEDDING RING, not a treasure, although it won’t be used until a later scene.

Onward, I mean, MUSH!

The next crisis: now they’re hungry! Nearby outside there is a room that looks like all the others but not only with SNOW, but also a SNOWBANK. DIG SNOWBANK reveals an igloo to the north.

The igloo has a dead Yupik and a tin of food. The body has a key on it, and we’d have enough for the dogs except we have no way to open the tin. (I missed the key the first time I played through here.)

Further on is a mountain with one of the tricky attributes games from this era sometime have, where the mountain represents two “alternate exits”. First, you can simply CLIMB MOUNTAIN and find a can opener on the top (??) and second, you can LOOK MOUNTAIN to find a cave, and ENTER CAVE.

The cave has a locked door — this is what the key from the body is for — and inside further it is dark. You can light a match to briefly see an ALASKA DIAMOND (a treasure). There is no way to turn on the lights permanently, but you can fortunately nab the diamond in the dark and make a getaway.

MUSH! (You can even just type MUSH on its own rather than SAY MUSH.)

Coming outside, there’s a polar bear (fortunately not one with an immediate hunger for our flesh). A few steps in, there’s an IGLOO with a crying bride, but that wedding ring found lost in the snow now comes in handy.

Now we reach a spot where I absolutely did not get it on the first loop and only found out what to do from the walkthrough. To the east there are some STICKY SHOES you can wear (fair enough) but it turns out the use of them is that with this igloo — this igloo in particular, which looks nothing different than the others — you can climb on top of it.

Oof. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Kirsch puzzle this unfair.

The speargun goes to the bear (that part was straightforward at least)…

…and then you can GET BEAR — yes, the whole bear — and head over to a trading post in this area that wants to trade furs. DROP BEAR results in you receiving a GOLD KNIFE.

(In case you’re curious, yes, the game has an inventory limit, it’s just very large.)

MUSH and … another crisis!

There are two igloos nearby. One (fortuitously) has a VET and a RADIO. The radio is just playing music; the vet tells you they can’t help without their black bag. The other has a telephone, which oddly asks you to name the radio station calling. You can go back to the vet, listen to the radio, and find out it is radio station KOOL.

This magically gets a mailman over fast enough to land a GOLDEN RECORD (a treasure) into your inventory.

That was straightforward enough, but where is the black bag? This was again call for a walkthrough. Back where you “parked” you need to MOVE DOG, which reveals the black bag (!?!?).

After delivering the bag, you can GET VET (it’s “metaphorical” get, ok?) and drop for service:

It’s not MUSH-time yet! It was my first time through, but there’s a treasure findable via more sticky fingers. You can go over to the telephone-room to find the vet sleeping; then, LOOK VET, and this will reveal a tiny key. This key will open the black bag, revealing a GOLD FILLING, which we abscond with.

I think even the protagonist of It Takes a Thief might start to have qualms at this point.

MUSHing farther, we’re getting closer to the loop; this area, plus one more new one, and we’ll be back at the start.

You remember that Yupik where we used the alarm clock and then stole a pearl and pillow?

At least the game knows our hero is less than heroic.

With the Yupik asleep, you can now LOOK ESKIMO to find a GOLD NECKLACE and then take it. At least by this point in the game I was catching on.

To the north there’s a lake with a DEAD WHALE. You can hop in and get some leaking oil from the whale.

In a different direction there’s a TOTEM POLE. You can LOOK POLE to find a hole, try to GO HOLE to find a treasure chest, and with the aid of the oil helping with rust on the chest, you can OPEN CHEST.

You can also climb the totem pole and look at the face to see an OPAL. You drop the opal but you can get it again by going down and typing LOOK SNOW. Also, there’s a BOX you can nab nearby that’s just hanging out in the snow (this is what’s needed for the gold idol way back at the start).

MUSH on to the last new section:

This is always the screen on a new area, and it always takes testing the N/S/E/W in order to avoid missing rooms. I missed the box from the last area just by missing an exit.

I should mention, first, there’s a SEAGULL that appears randomly in this area. As long as you kept your speargun (I didn’t, once) you can SHOOT it and feed it to a HUNGRY ESKIMO.

To the north is an igloo, and an unfortunate encounter if you just try to enter.

For reasons? … you can CLOSE EYES, head in the IGLOO, nab the VASE, and get out without the negative reaction.

Moving on, there’s a KAYAK with a POOR OLD ESKIMO.

You can drop a treasure (yes, one of the ones you need, you might see where this puzzle is going) and he’ll lend you the kayak. This lets you paddle to a new area, which has an igloo with a MAD ESKIMO who wants your matchbook for some reason.

This yields a BAR OF SILVER.

With the bar of silver safely in hand you can kayak back. Since the treasure is one you need, you need to steal it back. It’s with the naked person, so you need to go through the whole CLOSE EYES routine again (if you can’t see them, they can’t see you stealing!)

The next MUSH loops around. So with the BOX in hand it should be possible get the IDOL and win, right?

…no, not quite. I counted, and found I only had 14 treasures. I missed a treasure, but I just had to MUSH to the next stop to get it, and I’m just going to give screenshots with no commentary.

Despite having 15 treasures now, the game refused to register a win, but perhaps that’s for the best. All the game says is

This adventure
is over

Believe it or not, this isn’t the last Kirsch game of 1982. On the special disk version of Softside there was an extra game of Kirsch’s that uses graphics. After we play that one I’ll do a round-up and some vague amount of comparative rating. I will say while I appreciate the structural experimentation, this game lands near the bottom; there were enough annoyingly hidden parts to drag the overall gameplay down, not even considering having to repeatedly steal from the same person.

Coming up: a haunted house game “for children”.