After yet another restart, here I am back in the library. It turns out Mystery House does *not* have electricity. Not only that, but every single command you type in wastes time, even SAVE. But since I am more much familiar with the game's commands now, I was able to retrace my steps really quickly. Hopefully I'll be able to find a flashlight or something so I don't get fucked again when then sun goes down. Also, it seems that the game instructions lied. The game doesn't "arbitrarily" pick a note to READ or DROP; it executes these commands on the first one you picked up. So to read the second note, I need to TAKE it and then DROP the first one. That, or maybe I shouldn't have picked up the first note again after my restart. Anyway, let's see what that second note says...
Seven minus six may equal one, but there are EIGHT people in the house. Still, the message is clear: people are gonna start dying.
To avoid any future annoyances with the notes, I've decided to drop the second note. I've also opened the eastern set of doors. Hopefully something fascinating awaits me in the next room.
I'm outside. And there's fucking nothing here. Fantastic. I guess I'll go SOUTH.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT, THERE'S A DEAD BODY! The proper thing to do in a situation like this, would probably be to call for help. That could backfire though. I mean, what if people think I'm the killer and I called for help to avoid suspicion? Or what if the real killer shows up and kills me too? No, there's only logical option here: I have to fuck the body.
I never learn, do I? Good thing I saved before I did that.
After examining the body, I find out it's Sam. I am horrified by this discovery. Not because I give a shit about Sam, but because I just tried to fuck a dead guy. Necrophilia is only cool when it's a girl. Well, I guess this means I can rule out Sam as the killer... OR CAN I? Nah, I'm pretty sure I can.
Since I don't have a CSI team at my disposal, I don't think there's anything else I can learn from the body. It's time to move on. From here, I can either go back into the house through some doors or out through a gate. After opening both, I opt to GO GATE.
I'm in a graveyard, there are six freshly graves, and there's a guy standing there with a shovel. Gee, I wonder if it's the killer. Let's see who it is.
It's Joe. Let's see what he has to say for himself.
Joe just got done digging six graves, he won't talk to me, and there's a dead body right outside the graveyard. Even if he's not the killer, he's a creepy ass bastard who seems to be anticipating the murders and perhaps even delighting in them. There's only one thing left to do: KILL JOE!
Shit, I don't have a weapon. I know, I'll use that shovel.
Dammit, Joe is far more clever than I thought. I guess I'll have to find a weapon elsewhere. Time to leave.
Hey Sam, how are you doing? Still dead, huh? That's nice... GO DOOR!
I'm in a dining room and it's getting dark again. There's a big obvious candle on the table, which I grab. Now all I need to do is find some big obvious matches... fast! I try to head WEST, but apparently that's not a doorway. I have no idea what the fuck is at the top of screen, but I try heading NORTH anyway. It works.
I'm back in the main hall and all seven guests are here, despite the fact that Sam is dead and Joe is in the graveyard. Fantastic. It must be some sort of glitch related to the fact I loaded my saved game. Just to be sure though, I'd beter examine these people further.
That's awfully lazy, Mr. and Mrs. Williams! Sadly, I don't have time to dick around anymore. It's still getting dark and I'm going to be fucked again pretty soon if I don't find those matches. I haven't been WEST yet or up the STAIRS, and I have no idea where I might find matches. My first instinct is fully explore the first floor before going upstairs, so I'll go WEST.
A kitchen. Jackpot! If there's not matches in here, I don't know where I'd find them. I bet you anything that they're in the refrigerator, but just to be safe I'll check the cabinet first.
I OPEN the cabinet and LOOK inside. Thankfully, there are indeed matches inside. I take them and CLOSE the cabinet.
Let's see, there's still a sink, a refrigerator, and stove to check out. Wait a second, if there's no electricity in the house, why is there a refrigerator? Or perhaps there *is* electricity in the house but there's not a single goddam lamp. Or maybe Roberta Williams didn't think things through very carefully when she was designing the game. At any rate, Now I have to see what's inside this glorious Kenmore appliance. Time to OPEN and LOOK again.
Great, there's nothing here but an empty pitcher. This blows. Obviously I need the pitcher, so I'll grab it.
Night has set in again. I have a candle and some matches, so it shouldn't be a problem this time. But it could be. There's been frustrating moments thus far where the game hasn't understood plain English. I'm going to try LIGHT CANDLE and hope for the best. Pray with me.
It worked! Now I am free to wander aimlessly around the house as I see fit without the constant fear that the screen will go black and I'll have to start over. But before I start exploring other rooms, there's still a sink and stove that I can play around with here. Let's see what happens when I light the stove...
DAMMIT!