Return to Zork Walkthrough

23 May 1994

Copyright © 1994 Balmoral Software (http://www.balmoralsoftware.com). Portions copyright © 1993 Activision, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, redistribution or conversion is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Balmoral Software. Contents subject to change! For the latest information, see http://www.balmoralsoftware.com.

General Notes
Walkthrough

General Notes

While comprehensive, this walkthrough does not mention every visual element in the game nor does it explore all possible playing sequences. Some inventory items may be unneeded. With this walkthrough, your score will be at least 211 out of a possible 225 total points.
The game requires a minimum of 591,072 bytes (577.2 KB) of available low memory.
Press the spacebar to skip most of the introduction.
Use the right mouse button to display your current list of inventory.
Move the mouse cursor to the upper left corner of the screen to access the system (game control) menu.
In some sequences of gameplay, it was found that scrolling, paging and updating of the flying-vulture map was nonfunctional, in one case actually preventing a continuation of the game. However, no problems of this type were noted for the particular gameplay sequence in this walkthrough.
The background music sequences in Return to Zork, although short, are quite good and really help to set an otherworldly mood in the gameplay. They may be played through separate audio tracks on the CD-ROM. Unfortunately, Boos' toasting music is not included.

Abbreviations used for movement through mazes:

F: Forward (Fn for n repetitions)
L: Turn left
R: Turn right
B: Back out
T: Turn around

Walkthrough

Get the rock and throw it at the vulture. Zoom in on the sign and dig up the bonding plant with the knife. Put the bonding plant into inventory. Zoom out and move forward to the lighthouse. Bear left behind the lighthouse. Cut the vines with the knife. Tie the vines on the wood planks and click on the raft to ride it to West Shanbar.

Move to the hardware store at far right. Enter it and put the crank and box into your inventory. Exit the hardware store, back out to the right, and move to the schoolhouse at near right. Strike the bell with the knife. Talk to Mrs. Peepers and answer her pop quiz using Encyclopedia Frobozzica answers found in the Return to Zork booklet that came with the game:

Zorkian Days of the Week

Sand Day
Mud Day
Grues Day
Wands Day
Birthday
Frob Day
Star Day

Take the notebook Mrs. Peepers gives you. Take her photograph with your camera. Exit the schoolhouse, move right then left to the town hall.

Zoom in on the file cabinet and open Drawer 1. Note the description of the Survivor game:

A game of strategy involving two players in the guise of Wizard
Trembyle and the Mage Canuk. The Wizard piece plays a compound move
comprised of one straight and one diagonal move in one turn. The
Canuk piece can move to any square on the board to block the Wizard
piece's movement. Whenever the Wizard piece vacates a square on the
playing board, that square turns into a pit. The object of the game
is to occupy the last remaining square on the board.

Advanced Rules: The Wizard Piece may pass on any turn.

Open Drawer 2 and note Boos Myller's description of Zorkian toasting etiquette:

The traditional Shanbar Ritual Toast consists of four steps:

1 - Here's to us!
2 - Who's like us?
3 - Damn few...
4 - And they're all dead.

Before each sentence of the Shanbar Toast, the host offers the guest
a glass of some drink (e.g. rye, wine, etc., but not Illumynade).
The guest then suggests a toast. The host recites the next sentence
in the toast and raises his glass. The guest drinks first while the
host waits. Finally, the host drinks his glass, and begins the next
step by offering another drink.

The first two or three steps of this intricate drinking ritual with
our highly potent local rye is enough to make you drunk. Getting
past the third step is the key.

Remember, don't drink and drive!

and the Muses poem:

	Bog down not with your staff,
	  but return to throw,
	   lest the vessel of sight,
	    miss your boxing helmet,
	     and your brilliant defense,
	      to hit you in the orb kicker.

Exit the town hall and turn left. Turn around at the bridge and head left to the old mill. Enter the mill building. Move the glass-of-rye cursor to the left-hand door and exit the building. Pick up the key on the ground and move the chock on the waterwheel. Re-enter the millhouse and immediately exit through the right-hand door. Turn around and move forward back into town. Move to the gift shop at far left. Use the key to open the door. Pick up the pinkish battery from the shelf. Drop the battery into the Tele-Orb in your inventory. Zoom in on the cash register and pick up the coins and tickets. Exit the gift shop and move left. Turn around on the bridge and head down the staircase at right center. Give the tickets to the waif under the bridge and get a gift in return. Return to the old mill.

Enter the millhouse and perform these steps in accordance with Zorkian toasting etiquette:

Click the full glass on Boos and make a toast
Click the full glass on the plant and pour the glass out
Click the empty glass on Boos and drink
Click the full glass on Boos and make a toast
Click the full glass on the plant and pour the glass out
Click the empty glass on Boos and drink
Click the full glass on Boos and make a toast
Click the full glass on the plant and pour the glass out
Click the empty glass on Boos and drink
Put the glass of rye into your inventory
Click on Boos and ask for the keys
Put the keys into inventory and pick up the glass of rye from inventory
Click the full glass on Boos and make a toast
Click the full glass on the plant and pour the glass out
Click the empty glass on Boos and drink

Pick up the silver flask near Boos' head. Go through the open trapdoor in the floor and use Boos' keys to open the green door. Return the keys to inventory and exit the second mill building through the peephole in the right-hand door.

Bear right to the Hero's Memorial, then left to the Fool's Memorial. Pick up the jokebook. Go straight ahead twice. Enter Snoot's farmhouse through the window to the right of the front door. Open the door immediately to the left of the open archway. After you wake up, click on Rebecca and answer her question using the Encyclopedia Frobozzica. Open the right-hand door off the living room, zoom in on the chest of drawers and pick up the mirror. Back out to the living room and move forward through the open archway into the kitchen. Pick up the Thermozz from the table. Open the refrigerator and pick up the meat from the freezer compartment. Pick up the soap next to the sink and drop it into the sink. Turn the sink on and wash the Waif's gift in it. Put the disc piece into inventory. Use the flask from your inventory and turn the sink on to fill the flask with water. If desired, turn on the oven for some Zorkian history. Return to the living room and open the door at far left. Click on Alexis the dog to get a tape recording of her barking. Back out to the living room and then again to exit the farmhouse.

Turn right to the silo on Snoot's farm. Put the crank into the silo latch and turn clockwise. Pick up the carrots and move to the right to Pugney's ranch. Head for the door in the house on the right. Click on the window and talk to Pugney. While he's talking, threaten, then apologize. Back out and pick up the bra box on the ground. Back out and bear left toward the barn. Enter the barn and use the camera from inventory to take a photograph of the cow. Pick up the hay and drop it on the ground. Light a match from inventory and burn the hay with it. Warm your hands over the hay fire. Milk the cow with the Thermozz. Return the Thermozz to inventory.

Back out twice from the barn, turn around and move through Pugney's arch to the left. Move forward twice to East Shanbar. Move to the incinerator at far left. Open the large hatch with Lever 1 and throw the bra box into the incinerator. Close the hatch with Lever 1 and open the drawer with Lever 2. Zoom in on the drawer and pour the flask of water on the hot wire. Put the flask and cooled wire into inventory.

Move left, then toward the general store at near left. Use the wire to open the door. Shake the cereal box twice to get the whistle. Carefully pick up the rats and drop them into the box you have in inventory.

Exit the general store, move right and head toward the footbridge straight ahead. At the bridge, turn left to the dock. Click on Ben's knot and learn the cow-hitch. Ask Ben about Mrs. Peeper's photo, and get a love letter from him. Pay Ben. Use the box; remove the rats. Drop the rats into the boat motor.

Move forward to the witch's hut. Drop the now-rotting meat outside the hut. Enter the hut and give the sealed letter to Witch Itah. Pick up the stick and begin navigating the bog.

Use the witch's stick to determine a safe passage through the bog (the maze is randomized each time you pass through it).

Move forward into East Shanbar, then enter Moodock's armory at middle right. Click on the Survivors gameboard and listen to the instructions. You can always win the game by figuring out the two or three possible knight moves for the Wizard piece at each turn and putting your Mage piece on one of them. Since it can never retrace its path, the Wizard piece will eventually be unable to move and you will have won the game. Take the sword and token from Moodock.

Exit the armory, turn right and revisit Ben at the dock south of the footbridge. Pay Ben again and retrace your steps to the witch's hut. Enter the hut and ask Witch Itah about the cow photo. Take the bat cage. Ask the witch about the jokebook in your inventory. Pick up the meat from outside and re-enter the hut.

Re-navigate the bog (the maze has changed from the last time you went through it).

Turn around and enter the Whispering Woods. At the first location with a (south) compass heading shown, release the bats from their cage. Pick up the green bat guano. Follow the bats through the Whispering Woods maze, drinking the milk from the Thermozz when your eyesight is almost completely dim:

F L F2 R F L F R F L F R F L F L F

Drink from the Thermozz.

F2 R F2 R F3 R F L F2

At the end of the Whispering Lake dock, ring the bell three times. When the ferryman arrives, only show him the token from Moodock. On arrival at Ferryman's Isle, turn around and go up the path on the left side of the screen.

Move forward and enter Canuk's Shack by using the doorknob. Pick up the scroll and read it to the duck. Ask Canuk about the jokebook in your inventory and about the bottle on the shelf behind him. After you've entered the ship bottle, immediately look up and get the combination:

9 4 2 7

Look back down and enter through the white door. Pick up the rag. Zoom in on the safe to the right of the bed and change the safe combination from 6 2 4 4 to 9 4 2 7. Use the handle to open the safe and pick up the disc piece and the rusty metal thing. Pick up the mirror from your inventory and back out of the bottle, reflecting the duck spell back to Canuk. Leave the shack and use the sword on the door knocker to obtain the magnet. Return to the dock.

Ring the bell twice and show Moodock's token to the ferryman. After you've crossed the water, use the magnet with the whistle; blow the whistle. You now have a tamed vulture at your disposal for instant transport to any location you've already visited using the map in your inventory. Use the curled corners of the map to see the other page.

Fly to West Shanbar on the surface. Enter the Mayor's office at near left and ask the Mayor about the jokebook in your inventory.

Fly to East Shanbar in the underground. Head for the blacksmith shop at far right and give him the sword. Ask him about the jokebook in your inventory; pay him to translate it (extraneous coin icon seen here).

Back out to the right, then move forward to the edge of town. Turn left at the fork and listen to Rebecca. Pick up the tiles, turn around and pick up the frame. Drop the tiles into the frame to create a complete puzzle. Look at the puzzle and solve it:

Tiles Puzzle

Press the left-hand reset button to set the puzzle to its original layout. Using the notation

A: Click the tile above the empty space
B: Click the tile below the empty space
L: Click the tile to the left of the empty space
R: Click the tile to the right of the empty space

the solution sequence is

LARA LBBR AALL BRBL ALBR AALB RRAL BRBR

Turn around and pick up the disc piece and illumynite rocks. Bear left and enter the Forest of the Spirits. Use this move sequence:

F R F2 R F

Strike the coin tree with Witch Itah's stick and get 4 Zorkmids. Exit the forest with this move sequence:

B T L F2 L F2

Re-enter East Shanbar and enter the Inn of Isenough at near right.

Give coins to Molly. Back out, then move right forward to the elevator. Drop the illumynite rocks on the nightstand. Zoom in on the monitor next to the door and turn out the lights. After the dream sequence finishes, zoom in on the monitor and turn on the lights. Pick up the illumynite rocks from the nightstand.

Return to the coin tree in the Forest of the Spirits for more money. Come back to the blacksmith in East Shanbar and pay him. Show the sword to the blacksmith; threaten him in order to receive back the true Dwarven sword.

Fly to Snoot's Farm, back out and turn left. Move forward to the Cliffs of Depression. Pick up the rope and tie it on the tree. Use the tape recorder in your inventory to identify which tracks are jokes. Follow the rope down and enter Chuckles Comedy Club. Use the tape recorder to play back four jokes recorded earlier (your track numbers may vary):

Mayor - Track #2
Canuk - Track #2
Witch Itah - Track #4
Blacksmith - Track #1

Pick up the disc piece.

Move forward through the exit and go back up the rope. Take the rope and fly to the Forest of the Spirits. (If you have no more milk in your Thermozz, you can refill it at Pugney's ranch by giving the cow a carrot.) From the entrance to the forest,

T F2 L F L F R F

Give the Thermozz of milk to the bowman. Pick up the Thermozz, arrows and bow.

R F2 L

Light a match.

F

Click on the Fairy. While she is talking, click on the Friendly icon. Sprinkle the fairy dust she gives you on the rotting meat in your inventory.

Fly to Pugney's Ranch. Head for the blue barn, then turn left toward the Vulture Pits. From outside the cave, throw the meat. Enter the Pits and pick up the red talon. Back out.

Fly to the Lighthouse on the surface. Give the illuminyte rocks to the lighthouse-keeper. Return the rest of the rocks to your inventory and go up the stairs. Pick up the rope from inventory and tie a cow-hitch on the rail. Pick up the talon from inventory and tie it to the rope. Click on the rope and throw it to make a double rope bridge. Cross the river to Bel Naire Temple.

Pick up the shield from the statue outside the temple. Enter the temple. Give the sword to the Holy Woman; she blesses it. Exit the temple, turn around and go through the wall opening on the right.

Move forward to the Dwarven mining camp and listen to the direction clues from the Dwarven general:

Left
Right
Straight
Right
Left
Right
Straight
Right
Left
Left
Right
Straight

Put the helmet into inventory. Fly to the Hero's Memorial. Veer right to the Troll Caverns.

Examine the skeleton and note the letters written on the ground:

L U D

These are clues for getting past three troll guards in the caverns.

Wear the helmet, wield the now-blue sword and enter the caverns. Strike the first guard with a swing to the left (L). Move forward and strike the second guard with a swing up (U). Move forward and strike the third guard with a swing down (D). Move forward and talk to the Troll Leader. Keep threatening him; he gives you the Necklace of Fear.

Fly to the Forest of the Spirits. From the entrance, follow this sequence:

T F2 L F L F R F R F2 L F2 R F3 R F5 R F L F

Throw the key at the pile of leaves to spring the trap. Cut down the pile of leaves with the sword and recover the key.

F L F4

Strike the Hungry Boar Memorial with the sword three times and pick up the disc piece.

Continue with this sequence:

B L F R F L F4 L F R F2 R F L F2

Show the Necklace of Fear to the spider. Cut the spider web with the sword. Move forward to Flood Control Dam #3. Move forward at the right side of the screen and fill the flask with the backside of water. Drop the bat guano into the flask, creating a glowing blue potion.

Fly to the Lighthouse. Ask the lighthouse-keeper about the disc fragments in your inventory. Put his disc piece into your inventory. Click on the lighthouse-keeper, remove the helmet and put it back into inventory. Climb the stairs and pick up the rope (talon). Fly to the Dwarven Mines. Move toward the mine entrance in the background.

Navigate the mines by following the directions you received earlier (changes of direction at each junction must be selected while the mine car is in motion).

Put the disc pieces from your inventory into the green pool (trencher). Using the clues given in the poem from the Town Hall,

Put Witch Itah's stick on the far-left statue
Put the talon on the next statue
Put the Thermozz on the third statue from the left
Skip the middle statue
Put both the miner's helmet and the box on the third statue from the right
Put the shield on the second statue from the right
Put the Tele-Orb on the far-right statue

Press the red button to reforge the Flying Disc of Frobozz.

Remove the disc from the trencher and store it in your inventory. Remove all items from the statues and fly to the Cliffs of Depression. Turn around, then turn left. Throw the disc at the blocked path to shatter the Wall of Illusion. Move forward to the Citadel of Zork.

Shoot the blue hand over the Citadel entrance with the bow and arrows. Put the bow back into inventory and enter the Citadel. Pick up the flask and drink it to become invisible. Play the segment from Alexis the dog on the tape recorder to scare off the Orc guard. Move forward to the fiery pit.

Throw all your inventory onto the Citadel bridges until the left one has fallen and the right one has risen enough to be safe to cross.

Move across the bridge. A winning move combination for the Wizard piece in the final Survivors game with Morphius is

A1 C2 B4 A2 C1 D3 B2 A4 C3 B1 A3 C4 D2 B3 D4

If the destination space is occupied by the Mage piece, pass until it is free. A Pass may be selected by clicking on the grey area in the foreground. All possible winning move combinations for the Wizard piece are listed here.

Watch the endgame sequence in which Evil Magic is vanquished and you are remembered forever in the Great Underground Empire (GUE).

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