# What is the most fiendish puzzle ever found in an adventure/IF puzzle ever devised? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851 "2003-04-06T11:20:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/1 "2003-04-06T11:20:17Z")
I vote for the Babel Fish puzzle in **The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy**. What’s your take? ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/2 "2003-04-06T11:33:12Z")
Babel fish. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/3 "2003-04-06T11:33:50Z")
The game that developed my skill at typing “screwdriver” at top speed without looking at the keys. Yeah, that one was pretty bad. I was always restarting, when I realized I’d forgotten the bloody junk mail, _again_. There was a piece of IF done within the past few years about retrieving all the “adventuring junk” from a house, so that it could be demolished. (Yeah, that’s vague enough. I can’t recall the name, but it must be on my hard drive _some_place.) On the… second floor of the house were four rooms, north, east, west and south. In each room, only commands which started with the same first letter as the room’s cardinal direction were valid. That one was pretty clever. [sub]In the northern room, you had to “nab” or “nick” the item in question, in the southern room you had to “steal” it… getting **out** of the rooms was a bit tricky, too.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![j\_kat\_251](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71c47a/32.png) [@j\_kat\_251](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_kat_251)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/4 "2003-04-06T12:06:44Z")
Unless you were in the east room ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/5 "2003-04-06T13:15:31Z")
The Babel Fish was the first thing I thought of when I read the thread title, even before I opened the thread. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/6 "2003-04-06T15:30:16Z")
**Skeezix** , you’re thinking of _Ad Verbum_ by Nick Montfort, which came in 4th in the 2000 IF competition. Fun game. As classic as the babelfish puzzle is, I’m going to have to go with the language puzzle in _The Edifice_. Those who have played that game with know exactly what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/7 "2003-04-06T15:40:34Z")
Funny, Skeezix’ post made me think of _Ad Verbum_ too, but as I recall it was not linked to the first letter of the direction you’d gone. Rather it had to do with finding the right combination with another word/verb. I actually had great trouble with Pick up the Phone Booth and Die. Then last month I tried again and got it in the third try. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/8 "2003-04-06T15:56:58Z")
Actually, **Skeezix** was right. For example, if you go west…[spoiler] **White Wardrobe** Wee warehouse warily warded wearable wares - when wares were within. Wan, whitewashed walls wait without woolens. Wooden, weathered wainscoting wobbles weakly. Within: …wooden weapon. \> WIELD WEAPON Won. [+5]. \> WHACK WAINSCOTING WITH WEAPON Whack! Wall wavers. Wall wobbles wildly. Wall warps. Wall was withholding … weird widget! \> WIELD WIDGET Won. [+9]. \> WITHDRAW[/spoiler]And back to the Initial Lobby. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/9 "2003-04-06T16:03:55Z")
Just did a quick check… I was confusing _Ad Verbum_ with _Verb_, which was part of the Textfire hoax. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/10 "2003-04-06T16:06:32Z")
No problem. I recall the Textfire hoax fondly, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/11 "2003-04-06T16:11:15Z")
Man, I’d forgotten about the Babel fish puzzle. What about the marble puzzle in Riven, that you had to solve to power up the linking books? Or is that just “stupidly difficult and tedious” rather than “fiendish”? ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/12 "2003-04-06T18:17:47Z")
Nothing, _nothing_ compares to the Babel Fish puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/13 "2003-04-06T18:47:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Atreyu \* > \*\*Nothing, _nothing_ compares to the Babel Fish puzzle. \*\* Can someone post it here? All I find when I search for it is raves about how good it is. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/14 "2003-04-06T18:56:50Z")
You can find a link to the game and the solution at [Baf’s Guide to the IF Archive](http://www.wurb.com/if/game/924). The puzzle appears near the beginning, just after the main character (Dent) awakes in the Vogon ship. If you must, read the solution. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/15 "2003-04-06T19:01:00Z")
Crap. My last post is wrong. Some other dude decided he’d name is adventure in the same way. [Here](http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/infocomjava.html) is a link to an online playable version. I can’t find a walkthrough right now. You might check [the IF archive](http://www.ifarchive.org/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/16 "2003-04-06T19:18:05Z")
Well, a walkthrough is [here](http://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/12/02/0045.php). But I suggest not read it before you’re actually at the puzzle. In brief, the puzzle is as follows. You are in a room with a Babel Fish dispenser. If you try to get one, the fish falls on the floor and is cleaned up by the mechanical cleaner. You must find a way to get a fish. That’s all. The solution is not long but is very hard to find out on your own. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/17 "2003-04-06T20:02:40Z")
Babel Fish. I still recall when I had the brilliant idea to tie the sleeves shut on the shirt I was trying to use to catch the fish (this was several steps into the puzzle). The fish came out somewhere else (the neck?) and in the description it added, parenthetically, ‘nice try, though’. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/18 "2003-04-06T22:28:41Z")
The hardest puzzle I’ve ever seen(and I’d say I’ve played a good amount of games) is the microscope puzzle in the 7th Guest. It was a simple game you played against the computer, but was extremely difficult to win. I wish there was a online version of it. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/19 "2003-04-06T23:01:18Z")
**Mahaloth** : that game is commonly known as “Ataxx”. That may help you find a version of it to play. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/20 "2003-04-06T23:15:35Z")
While it’s not as hard as the Babel fish puzzle, I thought the sandwich puzzle in _The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy_ was grossly unfair – you had no real clue of what you had to do, and if you didn’t do it, you couldn’t finish the game. So you could easily end up going through two-thirds of the game, and then getting impossibly stuck because you didn’t solve the sandwich puzzle early on… :mad: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851.md?page=2)