Colossal Cave Cheats and Tips
Inspect Everything
Players will be placed into first-person view from the start of the game and must use their visual senses to navigate more than just down dark tunnels. Players will have a reticle on screen that appears when an interactable object or clue is in range.
Players will then have the option to interact or inspect these objects to trigger special effects that will more than likely trigger a puzzle or unlock further progression. It’s essential to leave no stone unturned, as there could be value in leaving a pebble on the ground or picking it up.
Items Are Key To Progression
There are dozens of items scattered around Colossal Cave that players must discover in order to bypass roadblocks or unlock secrets that can aid them in navigating the cave. These items may be anything from a magic wand to an empty bottle and are key in the innovative mechanics around the game’s puzzles.
Unfortunately, the use of these items will almost never be obvious and will take some critical thinking to use effectively. Still, once the first puzzle reveals itself, it will be made clear how intricate the game’s mechanics are and the level of challenge to expect moving forward.
Magical Words Unlock Fast Travel
The world that has been developed by Roberta and Ken Williams stands true to many open-world games in terms of its size; the cave players will have to make it through is a massive sandbox that will take more than just one playthrough to trek through easier.
Thankfully, to make traversing the dangerous stone halls, there is a fast travel system in place, but it takes a keen eye to locate the locations where this is possible. Players will notice that scattered around the cave are carved “XYZZY” runes; finding these runes will allow players to move between a number of points they have discovered and reach locations previously passed earlier in the game.
Players Should Keep Inventory Management In Mind
Many times in Colossal Cave, players will hold on to items they think are important; while hoarding special items can lead to positive outcomes, that theme is not major in Colossal Cave.
There are numerous items players will discover, and out of all of them, only a few will be used more than once, so players should consider cleaning out their inventory at the beginning of each playthrough. In addition, some items prevent the solving of certain puzzles, which must be dropped in order to progress.