Return to Zork Game Walkthrough

Return to Zork Walkthrough


The Manx’s Return to Zork Walkthrough

The Story-

You're the winner of some kind of sweepstakes and find yourself swept off to a
magical world.

Misc. Stuff You Should Know Before the Game Begins-

The Guardian: This guy will show up and take all your stuff if you kill an
innocent person or take without permission something that doesn't belong to
you. Don't do that. Actually, I've found that by dropping all your droppable
stuff before leaving the screen where you committed the atrocious act will let
you just come back and pick it up after he leaves.

The Walkthrough-

You begin the game by arriving in the Valley of the Vultures. You'll have
several things in your inventory:

Map: This is filled in as you explore the game and shows you where, generally,
you are.
Camera: Takes pictures of things you see and people you meet when used. All
photos are placed in the photo album
Photo album: Contains all your photos.
Tape recorder: Automatically records the conversations you have for playback
later. Conversations are sorted by the character you have them with.
A Knife: Pretty much what you'd expect a knife to be.
Matches: Ordinary matches.
Tele-Orb: The wizard Trembyle will tell you stories and give you advice through
this thing. When the game begins, it's in need of a new battery.

Pick up the rock on the left side of the screen and throw it at the vulture on
top the signpost. Then look at the sign and use your knife to dig up the
bonding plant growing at the bottom. Look at the sign and the plant for extra
points. Proceed forward to the lighthouse and then forward again. Click on
the door to enter. Talk to the keeper if you like, noting that the road to the
south is impassable. You'll need to find another way to proceed. Then leave.
Go to the left around the lighthouse. Use your knife to cut up the vines, then
tie them around the lumber on the ground to make a raft. Click on that to
travel down the river. You'll end up in the town of West Shanbar.

Click on the building nearest on the right. Use the knife to hit the bell and
enter (the key and the crank you'll find in the town also work). Talk to Mrs.
Peepers. She'll give you a quiz, the answer to which is contained in the
Encyclopedia Frobozzica part of the booklet that came with the game. She'll
give you a notebook which "noteworthy" things are automatically recorded in.
Before you leave, take her picture. Then go to the building furthest on the
right. Take the crank and the box, then leave. Turn around, then go left.
Enter the house, ignoring Boos, the town drunk, for now. Go out the left door.
Remove the chock in the water wheel and pick up the key on the ground. Return
to the main street and go to the building furthest on the left, the gift shop.
Use the key to get in. Take the battery on the shelf and drop it into the orb.
Go over to the cash register, and take the Zorkmids and tickets inside. Then
leave. Go back to the school for bonus points, then return to the main street.

Go into the building nearest on the left. It's the mayor's office. Peruse the
files in the filing cabinet, like the Muses' poem, the rules of Survivor and
the procedure of toasting, then leave. Then go back to the main street, turn
around and go down the stairs on the right of the bridge. Give the waif the
tickets and go back up. Go back to Boos' place.

Click the glass on him and make a toast, then pour the glass into the plant on
the left. Then click the empty glass on Boos and drink (it doesn't matter that
it's empty. Do it anyway). Repeat twice. After that, click on Boos and ask
for his keys ("I'm too drive to drunk"). Then make a toast and all that again.
After he passes out, pick up the flask near his head and go down the trapdoor.
Unlock the door with Boos' keys and go out through the right door to arrive in
East Shanbar.

Head over the bridge and bear left at the Hero's Memorial. Pick up the joke
book at the Fool's Memorial. Keep going forward to the Snoot Farm. Enter
through the window, and go through the left door in the north wall to not only
meet Rebecca, but also get punched out. When you wake up, click on Rebecca and
you'll be presented with another quiz. Rebecca will authorize you to take
anything you need.

Go through the leftmost door and click on Alexis the dog to get a recording of
her barking. Go through the right door and look at the dresser. Take the
mirror. Then go through the central door and take the thermozz off the table.
Open the fridge and take the meat. Drop the soap in the sink and turn on the
water. Wash the waif's gift. It becomes a disk piece. Click the flask on the
sink and fill it with water. Zoom in on the stove and turn it on for a story
and bonus points. Then go outside. Go right to arrive at the silo. Use the
crank and turn it clockwise. Pick up some carrots then go right again.

Turn around at the main farm screen and go left. Return to East Shanbar. Go
into Moodock's armory (it's the red building on middle left). Click on the
Survivor game board in front of Moodock to learn the rules. When you beat
Moodock, he'll give you a sword and a token. Put them both in inventory. Go
back out and go to the incinerator (it's next to Moodock's). Pull lever 1, the
one on the right, and throw the bra box into the incinerator. Pull lever 1.
Now pull lever 2. Zoom in on the drawer and pour the flask of water on the
wire. Take the wire.

Go back to the farmhouse and click on the window. Apologize and you'll be
given permission to take the box. Back out and take it. Then back up again
and go into the barn. Take a picture of the cow, then pick up hay and drop it.
Light a match and burn it. Use the fire to warm you hands, then milk the cow
with the thermozz. Leave.

Go to the general store (the building with green windows) in East Shanbar, and
use the wire to open the door. Shake the cereal box twice to get a whistle.
Pick up the rat on the counter and quickly drop it in the box. Leave. Go the
bridge and go left. Meet Ben. Ask him about the picture of Mrs. Peepers to
get a letter to deliver to Witch Itah. Click on the "knot" area around his
hands to learn the cow-hitch. Then give him Zorkmids to rent his boat. Remove
the rats from the box and put them in the motor. Go forward. Go inside the
tree-hut.

Drop the rotting meat. Give the letter to Itah and take her walking stick
(it's the only thing she allows you to take). Go out and navigate the swamp.
It's different every time you play, and you need to use the stick on the island
in the direction you're facing to make sure it's safe. If the stick sinks into
the mud, walking that way will kill you. My advice: make a map.

When you get out, go forward to reenter East Shanbar. Visit the Inn of
Isenough several times to get stories from Trembyle and extra points, but don't
go in yet. Go back to Ben and rent the boat again. Go back to Itah's place.
Ask her about the joke book in your inventory and about the cow photo. Take
the bat cage and the rotting meat, then go through the bog again, but be warned
it's different from the first time. Look at the bat cage when you get out,
then turn around and enter whispering woods. Release the bats and pick up some
guano. Then follow the bats through the forest. When your vision almost
completely goes black, drink from the thermozz. After you get out, go forward
and click on the bell three times. Show Moodock's token to the ferryman to be
taken across the lake.

Turn around and take the path at the left side of the screen. Approach Canuk's
shack, then use the sword to prise off the door knocker. Go inside. Pick up
the scroll and read it to the duck. Ask Canuk about the joke book, then the
bottle behind him. Once inside, look up to see the combination upside down.
Enter the white door, and pick up the rag. Get close to the safe and enter the
combination 9427, then open it. Take the disc piece and the rusty metal thing,
then close the safe. Grab the mirror out of your inventory and back out of the
bottle. Use the mirror on Canuk QUICKLY, and leave.

Use the magnet on the whistle and blow it to summon a vulture. You can now go
anywhere you've already been by clicking on the location on the map. The curls
in the upper right corner flip the map between the upper and lower levels of
the game. Go to West Shanbar and ask the mayor about the joke book, then go to
East Shanbar and pay the blacksmith a visit (his building is next to the Inn of
Isenough). Give him the sword and ask him about the joke book. Pay him to
translate it, then pick up the Zorkmid and leave. Go out of town, in the
direction away from the footbridge, and go left to meet Rebecca again. Go past
her, and pick up the tiles. Turn around and drop them into the frame. Solve
the sliding puzzle.

When successfully completed, the top line says "Water unseen at falls mix with
bat dropping yields potion for invisibility," while the bottom says "search for
three more pieces on the ground where this was found" (a twelfth tile appears
once you've properly aligned the rest). If you can't seem to solve it, hit
reset and slide the tile next to the hole according to the directions below.

Left, above, right, above, left, below (x), right, above (x2), left (x2),
below, right, below, left, above, left, below, right, above (x2), left, below,
right (x2), above, left, below, right, below, right.

That is, when the directions say left, click on the tile to the left of the
hole, above the hole when it says above, and so on. Turn around and pick up
the illumynite and disc pieces. Go left and enter the Forest of the Spirits.

From the first screen, go forward, turn right, go forward twice, turn right
again and go forward. Hit the leaves with the stick and pick up the Zorkmids
that fall. Use the map to return to East Shanbar. Enter the Inn of Isenough
and pay Molly for a room. Take the elevator up. Put the illumynite on the
nightsand, then look at the monitor and turn off the lights.

When you wake up, look at the monitor and turn the lights back on. Take the
illumynite and leave the inn. Go to the blacksmith's and pay him. Show him
the sword and threaten him to get back the real one (man, I hate it when I give
a blacksmith my sword to have it cleaned and he tries to give me back a fake).
Go to Snoot's Farm, then back out. Turn left and forward to the Cliffs of
Depression. Take the guard rope and tie it to the tree, the go down. Enter
the comedy club. Play back the tracks on your tape recorder that are jokes
(you got Canuk, the blacksmith, Itah and the mayor to read them, didn't you?).
After you play all four back, you'll get another disc piece.

Go back up the cliffs and take the rope. Go back to the Forest of the Spirits.
Turn around, go forward twice, turn left, go forward, turn left and go forward
again, then turn right and go forward. Give the thermozz to the bowman. Pick
up the thermozz, bow and arrows. Turn right, go forward twice, and turn left.
Light a match and go forward. Talk to the fairy to get fairy dust. Sprinkle
it on the rotting meat. Go to the Hero's Memorial and go right to meet Rebecca
and learn about vultures' talons. If you don't run into her, that's okay. Go
to Pugney's Ranch. Go toward the barn, then turn left and go to the vulture
pits. Throw the meat at the cave. Enter and pick up the talon, then leave.

Fly to the lighthouse. Give some illumynite to the keeper and ask him about
the disc pieces to get another one from him. Go up the stairs. Tie the rope
to the railing with the cow-hitch, then tie the talon to the rope and throw the
rope to make a bridge. Cross the river to the temple. Grab the shield from
the statue and go inside the temple (come back to this screen a couple times
for extra points and background from Trembyle). Talk to the holy woman and ask
her about the sword. Give it to her and she'll bless it. Leave and go through
the hole in the right wall. Enter the dwarf camp, and pay attention to the
Abbot-and-Costelloesque conversation that follows. They're actually giving you
directions for later.

Go to the Hero's Memorial and go right to reach the entrance to the troll
caves. Wear the helmet, and take the sword out of your inventory. Look at the
skeleton to see a series of letters; "LUD." This is the direction you should
attack each of the guards inside the cave from.

Enter the cave and go foward. Attack the badly-costumed actor...I mean, troll
with a left swing. Forward again. Upward swing for this troll. Forward
again. Downward swing for the last one. Go forward again. Talk to the troll
leader and repeatedly threaten him to get the Necklace of Fear.

Go back to the Forest of the Spirits. Turn around, go forward twice, turn
left, go forward, turn left, go forward, turn right, go forward, turn right, go
forward twice, turn left, go forward twice, turn right, go forward thrice, turn
right, go forward five times, turn right, go forward, turn left, and go
forward. Throw something (besides the sword) at the pile of leaves to spring a
trap. Strike the trap with the sword to get back the thing you threw. Then go
forward, turn left, and go forward until you find the boar statue. Hit it
three times with the sword to reveal the disc piece inside.

Back up, turn left, go forward, turn right, go forward, turn left, go forward
four times, turn left, go forward, right, go forward twice, right, forward,
left and forward twice. Show the Necklace of Fear to the spider. Slice the
web with your sword. Go forward to the dam, then again on the right side of
the screen. Fill the flask from the waterfall and drop the bat guano in to
make a blue potion.

Go back to the lighthouse and get the rope. Then fly to the dwarven mines and
remove the helmet. Go toward the mines in the background. Click on the cart
and follow the directions the dwarves gave you earlier (left, right, straight,
right, left, right, straight, right, left, left, right, straight). If you mess
up, you'll just end up back at the beginning of the cart run.

Use the stick on the first statue, the talon on the second, the thermozz on the
third, helmet and box on the fifth, the shield on the sixth, and the tele-orb
on the seventh. Drop the disc pieces in the trencher. Press either the green
or red button, doesn't matter which, to repair the disc. Pick it up and stash
it, then get back all the stuff you used on the statues. Go to the Cliffs of
Depression, but then turn around and turn left. Throw the disk at the wall of
illusion to shatter it.

Approach the Citadel of Zork. Use the bow with the arrows and shoot an arrow
at the hand. Enter and drink the invisibility potion. Use the tape recorder
to play back Alexis barking to get rid of the orc. Then go forward. Throw all
your stuff that can be thrown at the bridge until the one sinks and another one
rises--you can't throw stuff like the camera, the tape recorder or the photo
album. Then cross. You'll have to play Morphius at Survivor, but this time
you're playing Trembyle, not Canuk. Move to following squares:

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

If a space is occupied when you need to move there, pass until the Canuk marker
is out of the way. Congratulations! You used my walkthrough to beat the game!

Legal Stuff-

Return to Zork is copyright 1993 Activision.
The Manx’s Return to Zork Walkthrough is copyright 2001. No portion of this
walkthrough may be copied or distributed without the consent of the author.

Contact Info-

I can be reached at gladrius@hotmail.com if you want to praise my work, find
out what other walkthroughs I've written, send me money, offer me a job, ask me
out or something like that.