Moon-Shaped A Fairy Tale Retold by Jason Ermer Annotated Walkthrough for Release 2 This document gives the full list of commands needed to complete Release 2 of Moon-Shaped. The walkthrough was written so that users can see "the full story", but it is efficient in its approach and so won't lead to the most rewarding gaming experience. In addition, different adventurers will find different pathways through the game; this document describes only one possible path. Annotations have therefore been provided to make it clear what's happening so that those who have progressed to a certain point via a different path can get their bearings. Comments on this document (as well as on the game itself) are welcome: jasonermer -at- gmail -dot- com. We play Rosalind Wechsler, age 13. It's Rosalind's birthday, but her mother is distraught and either hasn't remembered or isn't paying attention to her. So, Rosalind decides to visit her grandmother who lives in the forest. To prepare for the journey, we'll need all of grandmother's supplies (everything that's on the table: the wine, the bread, and the jar of honey), plus our red cape: > take everything from the table > open the chest > take the cape > wear the cape Before we go, though, some insight to the story can be gained from trying to talk to Rosalind's mother: > north Then, it's out the door and on to grandmother's house: > out > south > southwest Upon entering the woods, we meet a wolf (press any key to advance through the cut scene). He leads us somewhat astray, but Rosalind is becoming a resourceful young woman, and we soon finds our way back to the path: > (any compass direction) > (any compass direction) > (any compass direction) This puts us at the covered bridge and the edge of the Black Forest. Now that we've reached the forest, many options are possible. For the pursposes of this walkthrough, we'll go first to grandmother's house (to retreive her locket). It isn't far: > north > northwest > north > north Something seems amiss here in grandmother's living room, and having a good look around may be in order. We're after the locket, which is up in the attic crawlspace, which we can access via the kitchen: > west Before going up the the attic, note the cellar door: > open the cellar door (More on that later.) In the meantime, let's proceed to the attic: > up > examine the glint > take the locket > wear the locket Now that we have grandmother's locket, other important parts of the game will become available. There's one challenge though: > open the locket The locket won't cooperate with this, at least not yet. A hint about this can be found by stepping out into the woods and trying again: > down > east > south > open the locket To open the locket, we need to get out from under the canopy of the forest (and into the center of the lake): > south > east > east To properly get out from under the canopy, we'll need to get into the center of the lake, by boat: > pull the chain > enter the boat Under the unfiltered moonlight, we can: > open the locket This action activates the magical powers of the locket, prompting a variety of visions and remembrances throughout the rest of the game. To get back in to shore, we: > pull the chain There were some parts of grandmother's house left unexplored, so let's return there (to collect the walking stick and the monocle, among other things). On the way we'll make a detour so that we can have some light in the basement. To make all this possible, we'll need to re-purpose the jar of honey. > open the jar > wash the jar Then, we'll make ourselves a lantern: > west > catch some fireflies Now back to grandmother's house for some snooping around her side yard. > west > north (*this action will trigger a vision) > west In the side yard, there's grandmother's woodpile and the hatchet she uses to trim her firewood. > take the hatchet > examine the woodpile Someone's been digging through the woodpile. Perhaps you should as well: > search the woodpile You find an unusual log, which bears a closer look: > examine the log (* this action will trigger a vision) The other major attraction in the side yard is the old well: > examine the well > examine the bucket Recall that the cellar door was locked. This is out alternative route underground, where we find some important items, and return to the kitchen: > enter the bucket > take the key > north > take the glass fragment > examine it (*) > east > east [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UNLOCKING] Now let's return to the living room (to collect the gloves and the pebbles): > east > examine the quilt > take it > look Disturbing the quilt uncovers the gloves, which will come in handy later (the quilt itself is unnecessary). > drop the quilt > take the gloves > examine them The other important item here is the grandfather clock: > examine the clock > open it To open the clock, recall a specific detail from the vision: > concentrate on the locket (*) > set the time to 2:35 Inside the clock, we find a boy's hunting jacket. The jacket itself is less important than the contents of its pockets: > search jacket > examine the pebbles > south > examine the pebbles (*) Moon-Shaped is clearly based on the Grimm Brothers' tale of Little Red Riding Hood... but it may be at this point that another tale begins to come to mind (if it hasn't already). Anyhow, those pebbles sure are shiny -- just watch: > out Now that we've begun to notice them, we can spot those shiny pebbles in places we hadn't noticed before! They form a path which we can follow (to visit the burned ground and collect the candies): > southeast (*) > east > northeast > northwest > northeast (*) This creepy patch of burned ground has past significance (which is revealed explicitly if the old woman's monocle has already been discovered): > look > concentrate on the monocle (*) When the old woman wore the monocle, she moved as though was was avoiding "invisible obstacles". Wearing the monocle will grant us a similar ability: > wear the monocle Uh-oh. The orange candies inside the cage are mesmerizing. If we try a couple of different things while we're transfixed, a few hints will be revealed about how to free us from the candy's spell: > blink > eat the bread Now, let's try that again: > wear monocle > examine the cage > take the candies We can't reach the candies, at least not with our arms: > push the candies with the walking stick > take candies > examine them (*) The pieces are coming together, but there's one area that we haven't explored completely yet. We'll go there to collect the dagger, crush the candies, and learn the details of the curse (which will kick off the endgame): > remove the monocle > southwest > west > north (*) The cave entrance is blocked: > north But the vision we saw upon arriving indicates that the walking stick will be helpful: > swing the walking stick > north > down There are several things of note in the cavern. First the inscriptions, which are un-readable without the aid of the monocle: > examine the inscriptions > wear the monocle > examine the inscriptions > remove the monocle Once we have taken the candies and read the inscriptions, things can progress rapidly towards the endgame. A few final visions will "barge in" during the next few rounds. The first of these visions gives a hint about where to go next (the waterfall). But first: note that the inscriptions mention a bit about "sweet temptation" and show an image of snow or powder sprinking down onto a skull. To make some sweet powder, we'll use the mortar and pestle here: > take the pestle > put the candies into the mortar > crush them with the pestle > take the powder > put the pestle into the mortar Also note the tin box: > open the box > take the dagger Ouch! The silver allergy was also mentioned in the inscriptions, but don't worry. We're prepared: > wear the gloves Although you might have to do some inventory management, depending on what's in your hands at the time (the walking stick, for example, is dirty and would ruin grandmother's gloves). Once you're wearing the gloves, you can: > take the dagger Then, it's off the the waterfall (and the endgame): > up > south > south > southwest > southwest > down (*) If you had visited the bottom of the waterfall before, it was a dead end. However, by this point you're more attuned to your surroundings. Note: from here, there will be no turning back -- this would be a good time to save the game! > north There are two graves in this clearing (one for Rosalind's uncle Hansel and one for her brother Rainer), along with the wolf (her father) with grandmother (who was swallowed whole) in his belly. According the the inscriptions, we're in search of the bones of the first cursed person in the family to die. That's uncle Hansel, and to access his bones: > open the wooden grave From here, there are eight final outcomes possible. The endings have varying levels of "success" depending on whether you and your family members survive the next few rounds and whether you're able to lift the curse. There are several actions that can be undertaken in a variety of combinations: -- Attacking the wolf with the hatchet will free grandmother from the wolf's belly without killing him. -- Attacking the wolf with the silver dagger will kill him (and grandmother, too, if she's still trapped in his belly). -- Sprinkling the powder onto Uncle Hansel's bones will lift the curse and turn the wolf back into your father. (This action will kill grandmother if she's in the wolf's belly at the time.) -- Going south will be considered an attempt to run away. (You'll be given two opportunities to reconsider because this choice will always end badly.) Here are the eight combinations that will end the game: --- Ending #1 --- This is the best possible ending, in which Rosalind, grandmother, and father all survive and are free from the curse. > attack the wolf with the hatchet > sprinkle the powder onto the bones --- Ending #2 --- Rosalind and grandmother survive and are free from the curse, but the wolf (your father) dies: > attack the wolf with the hatchet > attack the wolf with the silver dagger > sprinkle the powder onto the bones --- Ending #3 --- Rosalind and father survive and are free from the curse, but grandmother dies: > sprinkle the powder onto the bones --- Ending #4 --- Rosalind survives and is free from the curse, but father and grandmother both die: > attack wolf with the silver dagger > sprinkle the powder onto the bones --- Ending #5 --- Rosalind and grandmother survive but remain cursed. The wolf (your father) dies: > attack the wolf with the hatchet > attack the wolf with the silver dagger > south > south > south --- Ending #6 --- Rosalind survives but remains cursed. Grandmother and the wolf both die: > attack the wolf with the silver dagger > south > south > south --- Ending #7 --- Rosalind dies. Grandmother survives, but remains cursed: > attack the wolf with the hatchet > south > south > south --- Ending #8 --- Rosalind and grandmother both die. The wolf survives but remains cursed: > south > south > south [THE END]