For years this was my very favourite game; I tended to look back on it with a kind of rosy memory. A few days ago I actually found a C64 emulator I could get to work and got to play it again.

Well, it doesn't seem quite as big or as brilliant as it once did, mostly because after 12 years or so I can still remember an alarming amount that would otherwise take some figuring out... but it's still quite enjoyable, and one of the better C64 games, for sure.

This game by Windham is, naturally, based off the book of the same name. You play Fritz, the oldest child, burdened with the task of doing absolutely everything while the rest of the family sits around and works on their tans. Your youngest brother Franz is the exception; he tags around and is useful for the sole reason that he can haul you out of quicksand. This duo, slightly uneven though their workload distrubution is, is responsible for getting the family off their wrecked ship, of making their way to a nearby island, pulling together a living from supplies on the island, and ultimately finding a way to escape.

It's the sort of text-based command game (with graphics nonetheless) where you explore an area and complete tasks. Mum says it's the first game of this sort I played where I was old enough to start to figure things out myself, and I do remember getting stuck now and then, but I guess this is why I liked this game so much; it was the first semi-creative, challenging game I'd been able to play totally by myself.

Tips

Now that you've all rushed off to download the game, here are some tips. Don't read any of this if you want to figure it out for yourself, except that I'd give the advice that you a) save quite regularly and b) try the command 'tell family about ___' for hints on how to use some things you find.

List of commands

Most commands are very straightforward; if you want to use a particular item, think of what you would do with that item. For example, to use the ax, 'CHOP -whatever-'; to light a match, 'LIGHT MATCH'. Brilliant.

The following is not a comprehensive list.

NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST
LOOK (or LOOK ___)
TAKE ___
DROP ___
INVENTORY
LAUNCH BOAT TO THE ___
SAW ___ (saw)
CHOP ___ (ax)
CUT ___ (knife)
LOAD GUN
SHOOT GUN
OPEN ___ (you need to open *many* things before you can use them)
NAIL ___ TO ___
TELL ___ ABOUT ___
THROW ___ TOWARD ___
TIE ___ TO ___
PUT ___ IN ___
GO ___
FIND ___ (to find an entry in the book)

Getting off the shipwreck

This is probably the hardest part of the game. ^_^. I sat in blank incomprehension for some time trying to figure out the right commands. What you have to do is 'GO BELOW' (took an age for me to even realise there *was* a below) and collect all the items there; don't neglect to open the toolchest. You need almost every item on the ship although you can survive without the cow or canvas.

To get back up use the command 'GO TOPSIDE'. I can't tell you how long it took to figure this one out also; couldn't have something more immediately obvious like 'GO UP' or 'GO ABOVE', oh no...

Now SAW BARRELS, NAIL PLANKS TO BARRELS, and you've got a nice boat. Load the boat up with everything, and keep a few things on hand, like the map and the harpoon. The final challenge is figuring out how to *launch* the wretched boat. After about fifty unrecognised commands, I hit on 'LAUNCH'... okay, okay...

It seems obvious *now*, sure. ^_^.

Exploring the island

There are several items you *must* keep with you at all times, namely a gun and a rope, although a cutting tool (ax, saw, knife) is also very highly recommended (for cutting plants/aloe/dead animals), as is the map.

But the rope and gun are vital. If you meet a wild animal, you can't just run away from it; on the first encounter it will eat your dog (that's the only point of having the dog - as buffer ^_^.) and on the second encounter it will eat you. Remember to *load* the gun as soon as you've got it and after using it. If you forget, and meet an animal, you'll either die loading the gun or die with the message "the gun is not loaded". Not fun.

(Note re. gun: if you shoot at harmless creatures, or at Franz (^_^.), your family will appear from nowhere and take your gun. This is Not Good. They did this to me once, with the result that both Franz and I got killed by a tiger - I hope you're happy, oh loving family.)

You need the rope to 'throw towards Franz' when you fall in quicksand. Otherwise - you guessed it - you die.

Plantlife

There is much useful plantlife on the island, and it is useful to know what's what. You usually need a knife, saw or ax to make use of the plants.

Aloe (vaguely to west of cave) is useful when you are stung by hornets. Sugar cane (north-east region of island) is a nice food supplement which is easy to find and to eat. Bamboo (next to sugar cane) is good for a tent but not much else. Cotton (?) is good for clothes, waxberries (?) are good for a candle and rubber trees (?) are good for nothing, as far as I can tell.

Accommodation and innovation (also known as: dealing with your whining family)

Roughly in the north-western corner of the island is probably where you'll first land and set up your family. They'll settle at the campsite, in which case you must cut bamboo to make a tent from. You will need better accommodation come rainy season though. (Note: if you're at the campsite and a big snake comes, use the hammer on it. I died numerous times before discovering this.)

It's far better to just go south from this site to the cave, use your shovel and open the cave right from the word go, since you'll ultimately have to move there anyway.

Once in the cave, the demands begin. The first demand is for good lighting, which is one of the more difficult demands to meet, especially if you've never played the game before. Roam the island until you find waxberries (they're none too close to the cave) and take them; you also need driftwood (found in the north-east corner of the island).

Once you have these, go back to the cave. A slightly tedious process follows: drop driftwood, take matchbox, open matchbox, take match, light match, light driftwood, drop (everything one by one), take cauldron, put cauldron in fire, take waxberries, take string, put waxberries and string in cauldron... bleagh. Anyway, you end up with a nice candle.

Your family will also appreciate cotton for clothes and clay (taken when the ground is red and wet). The music box is useful after the traumas of the rainy season. None of these require much innovation to acquire at all.

Food

There are many sources of food on the island, although most of it isn't just lying around for the taking. There are pineapples, biscuits, the chicken (which will lay eggs), sugar cane (must be chopped from the sugar cane field, which is to the north-east of the map), potatoes (dug from a certain patch of nice brown earth), coconuts (thrown by monkeys)...

Anything you throw to the monkeys in exchange for a coconut is lost forever. Your tin, once you've taken the biscuits out, is expendable, as is, say, bamboo, but there are things you don't wanna throw.

For some meat, you can go boating and harpoon a turtle, which will wash up (anything dropped/thrown in the sea will be washed up ashore the island). Or you can keep your gun loaded and shoot a tiger, bear or lion. You have to chop the animal into steaks before you can carry it. ^_^.

It's good to keep one easy-to-eat item of food on hand always, lest you grow hungry. Sugar cane, cheese or biscuits are a good choice. Most foods are good to just drop on the ground in front of your family; they will store if for the rainy season and you won't have to prepare it. If you want to light a fire, put the cauldron on it, kill the chicken, cook it and eat it, you're welcome to, but when sugar cane is just as filling, and requires no preparation at all...

You need to store enough food for the rainy season or you will die. The rainy season is marked by grey skies and comes after quite a passing of time. You don't need much food to be ready, and your family will tell you when you've brought enough.

Locations

The map is good so you don't, like, wander blindly for hours. I can't believe it, but when I was younger I seem to have played the whole game without ever realising there was a map, because I remember much wandering blindly and getting lost. When the rainy season came it was always a bit of a panic trying to find the cave in time.

The main island is to the south-east of your shipwreck. The campsite and cave are in the north-west region of the island. The northern shore is where you'll find a bunch of miscellaneous items, and anything that else that gets washed up during the course of the game. In the north-east corner is the sugar cane grove, the driftwood supply and the highest point of the island.

Apart from your shipwreck and main island there are sundry smaller islands. One of these (north-west of the main island) has a tiger; all others are safe. In the north-westernmost corner is an island that will become significant later in the game.

Getting rescued

There are several steps to getting rescued.

Collect the ink jar and bottle (along northern shore) along with a feather (scare an ostrich or flamingo - don't shoot at it but find some other way to scare it). You can get loose paper out of your book and write a message to put in the bottle. The proper place to put this bottle is a place where the current moves away from the island. On the island (somewhere in the centre, iirc) is a black sand beach where the 'current is moving strongly'. This is where you should drop your bottle.

I'm not sure exactly what the next step is but maybe you just have to let time pass. I remember, years ago, I was in the boat and an albatross appeared, dropping a rag which meant there was another person stranded nearby. I can't remember how to get this albatross to appear now, which is annoying. Do you have to let two rainy seasons pass? Or can you do something with the nest?

Anyway, when the albatross appears it means Jenny is nearby. Jenny's island is at the very north-westernmost part of the map; you have to cross the tiger island to get to it. Rescue her and head back to your own island.

At some stage after rescuing Jenny, a ship comes near the island (in response to the message in the bottle?); your final task toward attracting it is to go to the north-eastern corner of the island, to the highest point where you can 'see for miles'. There you use some driftwood to light a fire.

Then you can get your family and take the boat to meet the ship, I believe.

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