Walkthrough :
Return To Zork
RTZ is full of illogical points and obscure puzzles. While there is muchinformation in the game, with vague hints on what to do in some situations,there is also a lot that isn't very clear at all. This walkthru should helpyou finish the game without too much frustration.
Save often as you venture through Zork, and take pictures of everyone andevery place that you can. Some of those pics are important. I will bementioning key items thoughout this file, but remember to show all the itemsand pictures to everyone.
Also, when you're finished with an item, keep it in your inventory. You'llneed everything that doesn't get used up for the endgame.
RTZ isn't exactly non-linear, but there are many things you can do indifferent order and still reach the end game. For instance, you can easily mapyour way through the Whispering Woods without the bats, and thus visit Canuk
before you see Witch Itah. You would still have to release the bats therelater, though, in order to get the bat guano (the bats can only be let out atthe Whispering Woods).
So, if you are playing the game a little differently than detailed here, it'sprobably not a cause for worry. Simply check the walkthru for those placeswhere you're stuck.
Okay, you start at the Mountain Pass. Pick up the rock at heave it at thevulture, so you can use your knife to dig up the bonding plant. You must digit up, not just pull it up, as a living plant is needed later on.
From there, move along forward to the lighthouse. Talk to the keeper, then goback outside and around to the vines and planks. Cut up the vines and use themon the planks to make a rickety raft. Ride the raft downriver, and be ready toturn right when you see the broken bridge. This will land you in Old West Shanbar.
Drop in the the mayor, talk to him, and read all the stuff in his files. Thentrek over to the schoolhouse and ring the bell with your knife. Ms. Peeperswill let you in, and give you a pop quiz. This is part of the game's copyprotection, and the questions are random. Whatever she asks, you can find in the Encyclopedia Frobozzica.
She'll give you a notebook that takes some automatic notes as the game
progresses. That's all you can do here for now, so continue on to the hardware
store. Pick up the box and crank. The mice are not important, so don't take
them (besides, they're diseased; you could carry them safely in the box, but
as you don't need them, why bother?).
Go back to the bridge and down to have a brief chat with the Waif. Climb up
and go left to visit Boos Miller. Here's where the info in the Mayor's files
comes in handy. Boos offers you a drink (he does this every time you enter his
shack). Follow the toasting ritual, being sure to dump your liquor into the
potted (haha) plant each time, and also pretend to drink each time after the
stuff has been poured out.
Afte he's had his third shot, ask for his keys. Before this, he's not drunk
enough to give them up, and on the fourth he conks out, so it has to be done
now. Finish up the ritual. Get the silver flask from the floor and step out
the other door to pick up the key for the gift shop. Also pull the chock out
of the water wheel so the trap door will open inside the mill.
Go to the gift shop. Take the money and tickets from the cash register, and
the battery from the shelf. Put the battery in the Teleglobe. Return to the
Waif and give him the tickets. He will give you a "gift". At this time, fill
the silver flask with water from the river (just there at the right edge of
the screen).
You're pretty much done here for now, so go back to the mill and down the trap
door. Use Boos' bunch of key to unlock the door at the bottom. Go through that
and you'll be in East/West Shanbar (the New West Shanbar).
Stop in at Moodock's first, and play Survivor with him. After you win, he'll
give you a rusty sword and a coin. Go to the Blacksmith's and give him the
sword to clean up. While he's doing that, go talk to Molly at the Inn. By now
the sword should be ready, so pay the two zorkmids for it. Don't worry about
money too much; you won't need a lot of it, and this walkthru will show you
how to get the most from it.
Cross the bridge, and go left from the Hero's Memorial to the Fool's Memorial.
Pick up the book. This is a joke book. You can't read it, but several others
in the game can, and you need to collect four jokes for your stint at the
Comedy Club later on.
Go right to Pugney's Farm. Do NOT touch the box on the lawn. Talk to Pugney,
being sure that you use the "apologetic" expression while he goes into his
diatribe. He will then let you take the box. Back up to the Fool's Memorial,
and this time go right to Snoot's Farm.
Enter via the window (no one will answer the door). Step through the far door
left to surprise Rebecca while she brushes her teeth. Then she surprises you
with a hefty right. Ouch! Sorry, no way to avoid that. While you're sprawled
on the floor, under a shotgun barrel, you get to answer another copy
protection question, again from the Encyclopedia. This, fortunately, is the
last one you have to answer.
Rebecca gives you permission to take what you need, and vanishes for the time
being. After this, she will pop up along the different roads around the
Shanbars. You'll be running into her now and then, so she hasn't gone for
good. For the moment, raid the refrigerator for the meat, and pick up the
Thermofrozz on the table.
Put the soap in the sink and turn on the water. Wash the Waif's gift in the
soap suds. Ta-da! You have the first of six pieces of the Flying Disk of
Frobozz. Then go to the bedroom and help yourself to the mirror on the table.
There is no way past Alexis, the poodle/hellhound. However, it IS important
that you make him growl once, so you have it on tape. You will need this
recording near the end, so don't forget it.
On your way out, go left to the silo. Use the crank from the warehouse,
clockwise, to break the thing open. Snarf some carrots. Then head back to
town, and visit the incinerator. Pull lever 1 and throw the box of brassieres
into the incinerator. Pull lever 1 to close the furnace.
Now pull lever 2 and look in the box. A single hot wire resides within. Pour
out the water in the flask on it. Use this wire to pick the lock on the door
of the general store.
Shake the cereal box two times to bring the vulture whistle to the top. Take
that, and then catch the rats running around. Put them in the crate you got
back at the warehouse.
Go out of town past the incinerator. Take a picture of the Whispering Woods.
Then go the other way to the ruins. Pick up the tiles, then step into the
woods and come out again. This time, you see a frame on the ground. Take that,
and put the tiles into it to create the sliding-block puzzle.
When the tiles are properly arranged, they spell out the following message:
"Water unseen at falls
Mix with bat dropping
Yields potion for invisibility"
The last tile will appear when the others are in the proper positions. You
must do this puzzle, because the second message (the large letters) tells you
to look again at the ground around the ruins. This time, you will find two
pieces of illuminite, and the second piece of the Flying Disk. These don't
appear until after the puzzle is complete.
Okay, visit Ben Fyshin off the left of the bridge. Show him a picture of any
woman. He will ask you to take a letter for him to Witch Itah. Click on the
knot so he shows you how to make a cow-hitch knot. Now rent a boat from him.
At the close-up of the motor, take the rats from the box and put them into the
motor. Ride forward to the swamp and Itah's hut. By this time, the meat is
pretty rank, so drop it outside her door before you enter, or she won't talk
to you.
Show Itah the book and get your first joke. Then give her Ben's letter. She
hightails it out of there, allowing you to take her stick. Do NOT touch the
bat cage at this time, or you'll be in big trouble. Go out the back door, and
make your way through the bogs, using the stick to test the earth along the
way.
As soon as you're back, go to the Spirit Forest (not the Whispering Woods).
After you step inside, go north, east, east, and south to the Zorkmid Tree.
Hit the tree with the stick. This will shake down some money for you (you
could also use the sword, but that breaks, and we don't need extra
complications here).
Then rent another boat from Ben for a second trip to Itah. This time, show her
your picture of the Whispering Woods, and she will allow you to take the bats.
Pick up your rotting meat, and make a second trip through the bogs. Luckily,
you won't have to visit the dear lady again.
Return to Pugney's Farm, and head over to the barn. Pick up a clump of hay,
then drop it. Light a match to burn the hay, then warm your cold little hands
over it. Get the Thermo from your inventory, hold it over the cow, and milk
the darling for all she's worth.
Trek back to the Spirit Woods. After you step inside, go north, north, west,
south, west. Here you see a blind archer trying to shoot a fairy. At the first
opportunity, give him the Thermo of milk. Now that he can see, he's a trifle
embarrassed, and after making apologies, drops his bow and arrows before
taking off, probably for some quest or other (what a kingly gesture ;).
Grab all the stuff. From here, go north twice. Face west, light a match, and
walk west to have a chat with the fairy. Be sure to use the friendly face so
you get the fairy dust. That's all you can do in the forest for now, so make
another trip to Pugney's barn.
This time, move off northwest to the Vulture Pits. Standing carefully outside,
sprinkle the fairy dust on the meat, then throw the meat. After the vultures
wolf it down and flap off into dreamland, nip inside the pit and grab the
talon (there's nothing else in here to grab).
It's been awhile since we've seen our friends in Old West Shanbar, so now is a
good time to revisit. Show the book to the mayor to get your second joke. Also
show it to Ms. Peepers. She can't read it, but she tells you that Rebecca
might help with this. Also show her the pic of Moodock, so you know about that
little extra move (or non-move, actually) in Survivor. You must have this
information for the endgame.
Okay, head over to New West Shanbar, and the Whispering Woods. On this
occasion, simply walk straight in for a few screens, then turn around and walk
out again. When your peripheral vision fails, drink some milk. This won't be
enough, though. Altogether, you need three sips, and the Thermo only holds two
at most. Since the archer had a slug, yours empties the Thermo.
You guessed it, it's cow-milking time again. Been wondering about those
carrots, eh? This is when you feed em to Bossy....and of course, you have to
warm up those frigid digits of yours again, too.
With a now-full Thermo, return to the Whispering Woods (stop off at Snoots
farm along the way to grab some more carrots). After you step in, free the
bats. They helpfully leave a trail of guano for you to follow. Remember to
pick up one piece of it. Then just go along in the wake of the bats, drinking
milk when necessary. Eventually, you emerge at the ferry dock.
Ring the bell three times ("three rings begins"). As you expected, the
skeletal ferryman appears. Show him the coin you got from Moodock. You *must*
SHOW it, only! If you give it to him, you'll be in trouble (actually, not too
much trouble, since you have the talon, but life is easier and you do need
that coin later for something else).
When you arrive, walk up the path to Canuck's hut. Use the sword to pry off
the magnet door knocker. The sword will break, but that's okay. Go inside.
Pick up the scroll, and read it to the duck to restore Canuk to his rightful
form.
Show him the book to pick up your third joke. Ask him about various inventory
items (he IS informative), especially the disk pieces. Then click on the
bottle in back and ask him about it. He'll tell you there's a disk piece
inside it and shrink you down so you can get the piece.
Once inside the bottle, go straight forward to the room (just outside the
room, you can go up to read the safe combination, if you wanted to). Pick up
the rag, then set the tumblers to 9427 and open the safe. Take the disk piece
and rusty metal. Close the safe, and back out to where you arrived.
Before going further, get the mirror from your inventory. If by any chance you
don't have that, wipe the rusty metal with the rag to get a reflective
surface, and hold the shiny metal in your hand.
Whichever, one of those two items must be ready before you leave the bottle.
As you likely figured out, Canuk is possessed at times by Morphius and as soon
as you emerge from the bottle, Canuck will cast a Duck spell at you. If you
don't reflect it back, the game will end somewhat abruptly.
Once Canuk is a duck again, pick up the scroll and feed it to him. He will lay
an egg. In this form, you can take the scroll out of the hut with you. That
finishes up this segment, and you can return to Shanbar by ringing the ferry
bell twice ("two rings return"). As before, show the coin to the ferryman to
gain passage.
Now it's time to have a little showdown with Mr. Blacksmith. Show him the
sword, and use the threatening expression several times. He admits he made a
little goof with the sword (ie, the one he gave you wasn't the one you gave
him), and hands you a voucher to give to Ben. So do that little thing, and now
you have the real Elvish (NOT Dwarven; it was *never* a Dwarven sword!!!)
artifact.
Walk around until Rebecca turns up and show her the book to obtain the fourth
joke. Go to the Cliffs of Depression, pick up the rope, and tie it to the
tree. Get out your tape recorder, and set it for the four jokes. Doing this
now saves you time later. Just scroll through to the four people, and set the
tape at the beginning of each track with a joke on it.
Okay, climb down the rope and enter the comedy club. Play the tapes. Let each
track run through to completion. After the fourth one, Cliff will give you
another piece of the Flying Disk. Your bonding plant is almost dead by now, so
don't stick around. Climb back up, and remember to take the rope with you.
There's a little segment here that doesn't do much for advancing the action,
but you do get some points for it. Rent a room from Molly. Once in your room,
put the illuminite on the night stand, and turn off the light. After the
dream, turn on the light, take back the rocks, and leave. Kinda disappointing,
but that's all there is to it.
Go to some open place (for instance, the ruins). Hold the magnet and use it
with the whistle. A vulture will fly up and carry you off. You can go anywhere
on the map, and the place you want is the lighthouse.
After you land, visit the keeper. Give him one of your illuminite rocks. Then
have a little chat with him. The first thing is to show him your pieces of the
disk. Amazingly, he has one, also, and hands it over to you. You now have five
pieces, and the disk is almost complete.
All right, upstairs you go. Tie the rope to the rail with the cow-hitch knot.
Tie the talon to the rope, then toss the rope. Thanks to the talon, you have a
double rope bridge that is safe to cross.
Just outside the temple, take the shield from the statue. When you meet the
Holy Woman, be sure to use the "fascinated" expression several times, as only
this will get her to tell you anything about the disk (oddly, showing her the
pieces will not evoke any reaction at all!).
At this time, you get a special gift. Your map has become a magical map, and
you can travel instantly to any spot on it, merely by clicking on the location
(bet you were wondering how to get back down river, eh? ;).
Now give her the sword so she can bless it. That takes care of the temple. On
your way out, go NE (right) from the courtyard to the Dwarf mines. One of the
Dwarfs will give you a miner's helmet. Use your map to get to the Troll Cave.
Wear your helmet and ready your sword. You must defeat three Troll Guards
before you reach the Troll Chief. Use a Left stroke for the first guard, an Up
stroke for the second one, and a Down stroke for the third.
Okay, when you walk in on the chief, you MUST use the "threaten" expression
repeatedly while he talks. He'll go from bluster to whining, and finally hand
over the necklace before running away in shame. Just showing him the sword
won't help; he'll whine and cringe, but he won't do anything else.
The end game isn't far off now, but you still have a few things to do here and
there, such as in the Spirit Forest. Make your way back to the spot where you
got the fairy dust. From there, go west, north, north, north, east five times,
south, and east again. At this spot, you see a pile of leaves on the ground.
This is a trap. Throw anything at it to set it off (I used the shiny metal
piece myself). Once that's out of the way, go east once, and then due north to
the Hungry Board Memorial. Strike it three times with your sword for the sixth
and final piece of the disk. Back up one step.
Go west, north, west four times, south, west, west, north, west, west. You
should now be at the nasty spider. Show it the necklace, and off it goes. Some
fearless spider ;). Break the web with your sword. Go forward to flood control
dam number 3, then forward again to the back side of the falls. Fill the
silver flask from the backside of the water, then drop the piece of guano in
it. Your invisibility potion is now complete.
Use the map to return to the Dwarf mines. Since you have the sword, another
Dwarf shows up, and the byplay between the two of them is supposed to tell you
the directions to maneuver the mine car to reach the statues. But as you have
this walkthru, though, you don't have to take any notes (heh).
Mine car directions: Left, Right, Straight, Right, Left, Right, Straight,
Right, Left, Left, Right, Straight.
(The "straight" means pass by a branch without turning)
The car should end at the seven statues. First, put the disk pieces into the
trencher. Now put the following items on the statues, from left to right:
Witch Stick, Talon, Thermo, Box & Helmet (these go on the same statue),
Shield, Orb.
Then push the green button. The statues should start to move, tossing the orb
around until it ends up in the hands of the seventh statue. The one wearing
the helmet shines light on the orb, and that reforges the disk into a whole,
functional one. Whew!
Take the disk from the trencher, and use the map to travel to the Cliffs. Go
to the left of the Cliffs, where the path is apparently blocked by rocks.
This, of course, is the Wall of Illusion. Throw the disk. Smash! That takes
care of the illusion, and you can approach the Citadel.
Use the bow with the arrows (NOT the other way around) to shoot the hand and
open the door. Get your tape recorder with the Alexis track ready. Pick up the
silver flask. Walk in on the Orc guard. Take a sip from the flask, then play
the tape to scare him off (it would have made more sense to walk in already
invisible, but....)
In the next room, you have to shed ALL your inventory items. Doesn't matter
much, since you don't need any of them after this. Just keep chucking stuff at
the bridge until you get the message it's safe to cross over. Before doing
that, however, save the game.
When you cross the bridge, you finally meet Morphius, and must play a game of
Survivor with him (you get the Trembyle piece). During this segment, you are
NOT able to save or restore the game. So, in case you lose, or get yourself
into a corner where you can't win, you want a save position handy.
The game itself is just what you played with Moodock, but since you have the
Wizard this time, you have to be a bit more careful with your moves. And keep
in mind the ability to pass, as this is what will win the game for you.
Winning the game causes Morphius such anguish he pretty much explodes (sorta
like being in a transporter beam set to maximum dispersal). After that, you
can sit back and enjoy the ending sequences.
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Addendum
I found grossly inadequate the RTZ walkthroughs given by this site; and
even Activision's phone RTZ walkthrough was crap when it came to
overcoming two major obstacles in the game; namely, how to burn the bra
box to get the wire, and how to cross the lava bridge to get to the
endgame puzzle.
Well, here's the necessary vital information that'll absolutely,
definitely need get you through the game! This is NOT a complete
walkthrough. But IT IS WHAT YOU NEED. Because another complete
walkthrough on this old game is definitely NOT needed on this website,
that's for sure! But I do list all the right moves that will get you
painlessly through the game, and actually enjoy it as a story as well!
(And you'll also notice that I'm not humble about it either!)
ABSOLUTE ANTIKILLER RULE NO. 1: Do NOT pick up the mice in the
beginning of the game. They are diseased! (Probably mutated Anthrax,
ya know?) If you carry them for more than three minutes you're gonna
die!
BRA BOX vs. OVEN
You're standing in front of the oven. Pull lever 1. Notice some red
and yellow flashing lights above the round golden plaque (it's supposed
to be a yellow plaque that depicts a yellow flame)? Well, those
flickering red and yellow lights are supposed to be the OPENING to the
oven where you can THROW objects in. But due to the lousy 2D graphics,
it's anybody's guess what the hell that is! PICK UP the bra box from
your inventory and carry it above that yellow plague then hold it onto
those vague flickering flames. Left click the box and choose the THROW
option to get the bra box into the oven. Pull lever 1 again to CLOSE
oven. Now ... pull lever 2, and go into the CLOSEUP view of the open
metal drawer for your glowing wire that you'll need to pick the store
lock. Use water pitcher to cool wire off and GET wire, etc., etc.
DWARF MINE RIDE (ALA MR. MAGOO):
I had no trouble negotiating the maze inside the dwarven mine to get to
the statues, which are supposed to mend the broken Flying Disc of
Frobozz. But I did have a bit of trouble memorizing the LRSR LRSR
LLRS(?) mining cart route. HOWEVER, If you take two minutes to memorize
this easily remembered sequence, you'll have no trouble handling the
mouse-driven mining cart. To defeat the sluggish (buffered) mouse
cursor, try anticipating where you gotta turn next by quickly moving the
mouse cursor to whatever side of the screen you're supposed to click on
next. The mining cart doesn't move too fast; which leaves you plenty of
time to move that sluggish mouse cursor to whatever side of the screen
needs clicking on. After that, you'll end up with manipulating the
sequence that'll get you your Flying Disc of Frobozz.
HOW TO GET THE LAVA BRIDGE UP!
Make sure you've got all your items, including some hay and carrots.
You won't have the Flying Disc of Frobozz because it was lost busting
the wall of illusion. And you won't have Canuk's ship in a bottle or
his duck scroll because you can't remove them from his hut -- they must
be enchanted or something, like Ollie North's missing files....
Oh well, anyway, you'll find that all the crap you toss at the bridge
won't raise the bridge all the way. No way! Despite what all previous
walkthroughs tell ya! That's because you still need THREE MORE ITEMS.
Using your enchanted map, beam yourself back to the Whispering Woods and
grab some bat guano; then transport to the blacksmith and steal back the
golden coin that's on the table behind his, er, behind; and, lastly,
beam yourself back to East Shanbar and grab the diseased mice from the
torn down old hardware building -- you know, where you had gotten the
crank and wooden box earlier on.
Now, with the diseased mice in your pocket, you're gonmna hafta travel
fast, or else you're gonna die! Beam yourself at once back to the evil
castle and walk quickly back to the lava bridge. By throwing in the
mice, guano, and coin the bridge will finally raise itelf. Save game
before crossing bridge. Now, you can finish RTZ by winning the
not-so-cleverly disguised chess game -- a game wherein you're the
Wizard, who is actually a knight. But a knight that has to battle a
super queen -- a queen who can also jump to any square on the board.
(Must be a Broadway Queen.) It's a pretty cheap game you're forced toplay, being that you're playing against a piece that has infintemobility -- something that even a queen in a real chess game doesn'thave! But, oh well, for $9.99, who gives a diddly!
