Colossal Cave Adventure

WALKTHROUGH FOR COLOSSAL CAVES ADVENTURE

by Sean L. Palmer released to the public domain

This is a walkthrough for the 350-point version of the Colossal Caves Adventure by Crowther and Woods. It starts from the start of the game outside the building, and is (more or less) the exact commands needed to win the game with the maximum number of points. DO NOT use this walkthrough unless you have already solved the game or are just really stuck and have exhausted all other methods of getting hints (like typing "HELP" in the game itself). This walkthrough WILL RUIN THE GAME for you if you haven't already solved it, and you'll hate yourself forever for not sticking it out on your own. Besides, winning isn't everything, and some of my favorite memories from the game are some of the clever responses it gives for trying some of the wrong ways to solve a puzzle (like try typing "kill troll" or "throw axe" at the troll sometime.) This walkthrough will NOT solve any of the versions which have more total points. It is not a 100% optimal walkthrough, and I'm sure a few improvements can be made, though it is considerably better than at least one other walkthrough I've seen (less total moves). It is also not documented very well, so you are expected to halfway know your way around, though I've put some locations down for synchronization purposes. It also assumes that you don't find the first dwarf (the one who throws the axe) before completing the first trip into the cave (else you'll have too many items to carry). It also (whew!) assumes that you will pick up the axe as soon as you see it, and kill the other dwarves you see as you see them, and retrieve the axe afterwards. It also assumes that the pirate doesn't steal any treasure until you actually get into the maze of twisty little passages, all alike, or else you'll have to modify the chest-retrieval bit to account for it. Due to these random events, and certain other ones like passages occasionally dumping you into the same room you left from, this is not an exact walkthrough, and feeding the inputs shown into the game via input redirection will NOT work (unfortunately). You have to deal with the extra events as they happen, and maybe try several times before circumstances work out and you win the game. Notice: some versions of the game do not treat 'get' the same as 'take', and will complain at you if you type 'get x', but will accept 'take x'. In this case, replace all occurrences of 'get' in the walkthrough with 'take' and all will be well.

Now, without further ado, 'You are at the end of a road, outside a small building...'

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// e               //end of road get lamp        //can hold maximum of 7 items xyzzy on lamp e               //we intentionally leave the rod there for now get cage pit e get bird w d s get gold n n               //this should bring you to Hall of Mt. King free bird drop cage s get jewel n w get coins e n get silver n               //this should bring you to Y2 plover ne get pyramid s plover plugh           //if any dwarves have shown up already, restart! drop pyramid drop coins drop jewel drop silver drop gold get bottle get food get keys plugh s               //now get axe, when you see it d bedquilt slab s d pour water u w u reservoir get water s s d s d pour water      //should be at bottom of west pit now u e d get oil u w d climb w get eggs n oil door n get trident w d drop bottle sw u              //should be at sw side of chasm now toss eggs cross ne barren e feed bear open chain get chain get bear w fork ne e get spice fork w w cross          //should be at ne side of chasm now free bear cross sw d drop keys bedquilt e n open clam d d get pearl u u s u e u n             //should now be at Y2 again plugh drop chain drop spice drop trident drop pearl plugh s d bedquilt w oriental n w             //should put you in the alcove drop lamp drop axe e get emerald w get axe get lamp nw s get vase se e get pillow w w w d climb w            //should be in Giant Room now fee fie foe foo get eggs s d u w u s kill dragon yes get rug e e n n            //should be at Y2 again plugh drop rug drop pillow drop vase drop emerald drop eggs xyzzy        //now need to get a treasure stolen by the pirate if you haven't already get rod pit d w wave rod w get diamond  //let him steal this (we saved it for this occasion) w            //you ought to be at the west end of Hall of Mists now s            //into MOTLP,AA e            //hope the pirate comes while you're on the way to his lair s s s n e n e nw           //into Dead end (if he hasn't shown up by now, see note 1) get chest get diamond  //and any other treasures pirate stole se n d debris xyzzy drop rod drop chest drop diamond plugh s            //May need to save the magazines until now. May not. d bedquilt e e get magazine e drop magazine //last point in beginner section (276) n            //until you get out. See note 2 //wait until the Cave closes sw get rod ne drop rod sw blast        //Yay! Elves! ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The other walkthrough finishes the game in about 243 moves, not counting the dwarves and waiting for the pirate and getting out of Witt's End. This finishes in around 215 moves with those same stipulations. It could probably be improved by a few moves at least.

Note 1: If the pirate hasn't stolen something by now, you are basically screwed, but you can try the sequence se,n,w,w,w,e,e,w,s,n,s,s,s,n,e,n,e,nw over and over to try to find him before your lamp runs out.

Note 2: Don't go west here. Keep trying N and you'll eventually get out. After moving the magazines, I recommend going somewhere with light (either by the grate or in the plover room) and waste some time until the Cave closes.