=============================================================================== Walkthrough for Cubes and Ladders =============================================================================== Updated: Feb 21, 2023 Version: 1.2 Contact: prail@yahoo.com CONTENTS -------- 1. Introduction 2. Walkthrough 3. Game Trivia VERSION HISTORY --------------- 1.0: Jan 24, 2023 (First Version) 1.1: Feb 6, 2023 1.2: Feb 21, 2023 =============================================================================== 1. Introduction =============================================================================== Cubes and Ladders was written in 2022 using Inform 7 with Vorple. The game begins in a long hallway at Minimax Inc., a failing electronics company. You guide the protaganist, Jordan Michael, through an office adventure where he explores the office, talks to coworkers, and solves puzzles. Ultimately, you must keep your job by keeping Minimax Inc. from bankruptcy. There are multiple routes to solving this game. This walkthrough presents the most direct route to a solution; not necessarily the only one. Read this walkthrough ONLY if you get stuck as it reveals the game solution. =============================================================================== 2. Walkthrough =============================================================================== Hallway ------- The game starts in a long hallway. Take the leaflet and read it. This will give tell you the history of the company. Go west to your cubicle and meet the boss. Examine the boss (who speaks in cliches) and ask her about Minimax and your presentation. Apparently, your presentation is not good enough and needs improvement by noon for an executive meeting. Go southeast to end your conversation. The boss will give you an evaluation sheet and a year-end report. Go southeast to enter the cube farm, which is intended to be a kind of maze. Cube Farm 5 (CF-5) ------------------ The cube farm consists of nine cube zones, CF-1 through CF-9 with nearly identical descriptions meant to confuse. Some of the cubicles contain important objects you must collect. From CF-5 you go northeast to CF-4 where you meet the security guard who blocks you path to the south. CF-4 ---- Examine the guard and ask him about intuders and cubes. To get past the security guard and head south you must show him your year-end report. This bores him to sleep and you can then pass. Take the flashlight. Go north to CF-2. CF-2 ---- Nothing of interest. Go west to CF-1. CF-1 ---- Take the Buddha poster, which hides the silver key. Go east to CF-2, then east to CF-3. CF-3 ---- Take the Minimax branded mug which hides the bronze key. Go west to CF-2, south to CF-4 (and the sleeping guard), then south to CF-6. CF-6 ---- Nothing of interest. Go east to CF-7 where you see a Storage Door. CF-7 ---- Unlock the storage door with the bronze key. Open the door and go south into the storage room. Storage Room ------------ Examine the plaque to learn about the Complexifier. Examine the copier. Switch on the copier. Put the year-end report in the copier to produce a complex report. This report will appease your boss who wasn't pleased with your earlier work on the year-end report. Take the complex report and go north to CF-7, west to CF-6, north to CF-4, north to CF-2, and east to CF-3. CF-3 ---- Nothing of interest. Proceed southeast to CF-8 where you see the door to the Marketing Storage Room. CF-8 ---- Unlock the door with the silver key. Open the door and head east into The Marketing Storage Room. Marketing Storage ----------------- In this room you must get the cap that is out of your reach. Drop the complex report. Stand on complex report and take the cap. Go west to CF-8, Go northwest to CF-3, west to CF-2, and north to the breakroom. Break Room ---------- In the breakroom you meet Rich, the salesman who is interested in merch and donuts. You can ask Rich about different topics like the company, marketing, and rumors. You cannot get a donut unless you distract Rich, so give Rich the cap. Once he leaves, open the pastry box and take the donut for later. Go east to the Gallery. Gallery ------- The gallery contains a portrait that contains clues to help solve puzzles. Examine the portrait, the founder, the calculator and the bust of Marcus Aurelius. Write down the description of the bust for later. Go northeast to the Chairman's office. Chairman's Office ----------------- In the Chairman's office you meet Max Jr. the somewhat reluctant leader of Minimax Inc. Examine Max. You can ask him questions about Minimax and his father. Take the newspaper and head southwest back to the Gallery and then east to the conference room where your boss awaits you. Conference Room --------------- Give the complex report to the boss. This appeases her, and she quickly dismisses you and you end up in the Gallery holding a layoff memo. When you read the memo you learn the layoff rumors were true. Go west to the breakroom, north to the hallway, and then east to the Helpdesk. Helpdesk -------- At the helpdesk you find Ray the techie. You can examine Ray and ask him about Minimax and the research lab. He will not help you unless you give him the donut. Once you give him the donut he will open a trapdoor to a tunnel and leave. Enter the tunnel by going down. Damp Tunnel ----------- Switch on the flashlight. If you examine the black panel you will realize it can be opened by typing something on the calculator keypad. Type the combination you learned from the bust in the form 999-999 into the keypad (type 999-999 on keypad) to open the panel and reveal the secret research lab. Note that if your flashlight runs out of power it will be useless. You can retrieve a more reliable light source from the conference room after the executive meeting is over at 12:30pm. Research Lab ------------ You are in Max Prophet's legendary research lab. In the lab you must complete an important invention to save your job and the company. Examine the workbench. There you will find a notebook, a screwdriver, and a tic-tac-toe machine. Examine the magazine clipping to learn about the tic-tac-toe machine. Take the screwdriver. Examine the notebook to reveal what invention you are to complete from the parts before you. You need a part from the Complexifier so return by typing "walk to storage room" Storage Room (again) -------------------- The complexifier has a maintenance compartment that contains a part we need. if you try to open the compartment, you will be reminded it is shut tight with rusty screws. To unlock the compartment we use the screwdriver. Type "loosen screws" then examine the compartment's contents and take the neuropack, which is the brain of the complexifier. We need this brain to complete the invention in the research lab. Next, type "walk to research lab" Research Lab (again) ------------------- Connect the fax machine to the tic-tac-toe machine. Turn on fax. Examine the tic-tac-toe machine and notice it has an expansion port. This is where you place the neuropack to complete the invention. Because the Predict-Tac-Toe machine needs input you next put the newspaper in the fax machine which will send information to the invention. A projection report appears that predicts future business news, including stock prices. This breakthrough will save the company. To complete the game, examine the projection report. You find your self in the Corner Office. Corner Office ------------- Your reward for saving Minimax Inc. from failure is a promotion and a nice corner office overlooking a scenic golf course. =============================================================================== 3. Game Trivia =============================================================================== 1. You can open the maintenance compartment on the Complexifier with the impact screwdriver or the laser pointer. 2. There are two ways to die. You can stand on the office chair in the marketing storage room or you can try touching the frayed cable in the damp tunnel. This may have been how Max Prophet Sr. ended his earthly career. 3. The artwork helps the storytelling. I added AI-generated digital art from https://dream.ai/create based on descriptions from the game text. 4. Max Prophet Sr. was based on a real person--a finalist in the Westinghouse Science Talent search of 1950 who built a tic-tac-toe machine as described in the magazine clipping. Here a museum curator talks about him https://youtu.be/4sDYK4hDwAM?t=601 ** End of Walkthrough **