[Let's Play] ACE Gamebook 01 – Alice’s Nightmare in Wonderland

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes acknowledged; going west.

280

The gavel path ends at a white-painted arbour, smothered with wisteria. Sat upon a table, inside the arbour, is a glass bottle containing a bright blue liquid.

“I wonder what will happen if I drink from the bottle?” Alice says to herself, suspecting that she knows exactly what will happen if she drinks the potion contained within.

If you want Alice to drink from the bottle, turn to 74. If not, the only other option open to her is to go back the way she has just come – turn to 270.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Thaluikhain]

Drink random things, I guess.

[deaddmwalking]

Let's eat one portion of Marmalade (+4 Endurance) first. But yeah, drinking from the bottle sounds like fun!

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; drinking from the bottle. Alice will also eat a portion of marmalade, as requested.

74

Putting the bottle to her lips, Alice takes a gulp of the blue potion before carefully setting the bottle down again upon the table. A moment later, her stomach lurches as the world start to spin about her.

The child feels horribly dizzy, as if she is having to endure a ride on the waltzers at a funfair. (Deduct 1 Endurance point.)

And then suddenly the world stops spinning. As the woozy dizziness fades, Alice dares open her eyes again. She is sitting on the ground beside a gazebo clad in honeysuckle, beneath which, resting upon a glass table, is a glass bottle containing a crimson-coloured liquid. A path leads off east into the maze.

“I’m beginning to get the feeling I’ve been here before,” Alice says to no one in particular, since no one in particular is precisely who is keeping her company at present.

If you think Alice should drink from the bottle, turn to 54. If not, she must follow the path east – turn to 220.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Alice’s Adventure Sheet
AGILITY: 9
LOGIC: 9
INSANITY: 1
COMBAT: 9
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: 2 uses
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: 3 uses
ENDURANCE: 18
EQUIPMENT:
Scissors (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Jar of Marmalade (3 portions, +4 Endurance per portion)
Golden Key
Shrinking Potion
Bread-Knife (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Mallet (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)

[deaddmwalking]

I suspect that drinking from the bottle would put us right back where we were - that this is some type of teleport between areas of the maze. If I'm right we could confirm it by drinking the potion (and presumably losing 1 Endurance to get back to where we were and 1 more to come back here if we want). While I'd like to test the hypothesis, there's no need to do it now - especially if it leads to a 3rd place. Might as well explore where we are now - I vote head East (220).

[Thaluikhain]

Makes sense, go east.

[JourneymanN00b]

Going east received 2 votes, so Alice will head that way.

220

The path Alice is following turns a sharp ninety degrees at the point where there stands a statue of a lobster performing a quadrille with a salmon.

If you want Alice to head south, turn to 140. If you want her to go west, turn 230.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Thaluikhain]

As the only other option is to return to where we just were, go south.

[JourneymanN00b]

Vote registered; heading south.

140

A white rose bush has been planted at the next junction in the path. Now which way should Alice go?

North? Turn to 220.

South? Turn to 160.

West? Turn to 110.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[deaddmwalking]

I think we're going to end up going through some of these areas multiple times. I like West first. Basically we keep turning right until we reach a dead end.

[JourneymanN00b]

Vote acknowledged; going west.

110

Mounted on a granite pedestal at the next turning of the trail is a curious statue of an old man balancing an eel on the end of his nose. Which way now?

East? Turn to 140.

South? Turn to 100.

I will assume that the choice is to go south.

100

Alice is quite enjoying exploring the maze. At the next turn in the path she doesn’t hang about but hurries on her way. But which way does she go?

North? Turn to 110.

West? Turn to 90.

I will assume that the choice is to go west.

90

Alice remembers visiting mazes before with her Nurse, and has learnt about the Labyrinth of Crete in classical studies with her Governess, so she feels quite at home here.

At the next junction, should Alice go north (turn to 24), east (turn to 100), or south (turn to 174)?

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[deaddmwalking]

Since we're heading West now, I think North (right-hand rule). Three rights make a left.

[silver877]

I think we should continue to follow the right-hand rule and head north. This strategy has served us well so far, and I'm hoping it will help us to avoid getting stuck in a loop or missing out on important areas of the maze. By heading north, we may be able to find a new path or discover a hidden clue that will help us to progress further in the game.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes recognized; going north.

24

Alice finds herself back at the entrance to the maze with its distinctive compass rose marked out in coloured gravel on the ground.

“After all my efforts I’m still just as far from the palace as when I first entered this interminable labyrinth!” cries Alice. “Why it’s enough to send one mad!”

Add 1 to Alice’s Insanity score.

There’s no point exiting the maze at the entrance, so which way should she go now?

To go north, turn to 38, and to go south, turn to 90.

Please make your votes on which route to take next (you can vote for multiple choices) before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Alice’s Adventure Sheet
AGILITY: 9
LOGIC: 9
INSANITY: 2
COMBAT: 9
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: 2 uses
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: 3 uses
ENDURANCE: 18
EQUIPMENT:
Scissors (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Jar of Marmalade (3 portions, +4 Endurance per portion)
Golden Key
Shrinking Potion
Bread-Knife (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Mallet (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)

[deaddmwalking]

Okay, I've mapped where we've gone so far and there's a couple of things people should be aware of. First off, when we drank the potion at the Arbor (280) and went to the Gazebo, we appear to have moved South - while I'm not sure of the scale we moved south from there and didn't cross our line of march east (38[flamingo]-58[yew-maze]-465[croquet]-250[sharp turn]).

There are 4 page options that we are aware of that we have not yet explored. This includes 70 (N1, E1, N1); 300 (N1, E3, N1, E1 [requires re-entering the croquet ground which will trigger a different event I believe]; 174 (S2); and 160 (S1, E1, N1, E1, S1).

When we originally left the starting place [compass rose] we could have backtracked but it would have been a different page option than what we originally had. That same option came when we entered the starting square from the other direction. Thus we'll lose 1 sanity every time we return to the start; or we'll lose 1 Endurance every time we jump from gazebo to arbor (assuming it works that way). It is possible that there's another connection between points in the maze from the 4 places we've had the option to visit but have not yet visited.

For sake of speed, I recommend we head South 2x (90, 174). That'll be the first 'new experience' for us.

I'll update the map as we go but I think I can navigate us back to any point in the maze with the caveat that it might cost us something.

[Dogopolis]

I'm too lazy to do any mapping, I'll auto vote for whatever movement options deaddmwalking says until the maze is done.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes recognized; Alice will go south to section 90, then south again to section 174.

174

“Well here’s an annoyance beyond all annoyances,” says Alice, stopping before a large pit that has been dug across the path before her. There is no way round it and the only way Alice will be able to cross it is if she jumps across.

If you want Alice to attempt to jump across the pit, take an Agility test; if she passes she clears the pit and continues on her way (turn to 510), but if she fails she misses the edge and plunges into darkness (turn to 204). If you would rather Alice not attempt to jump across the pit, she will have to go back the way she came (turn to 90).

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Dogopolis]

Take a leap

[deaddmwalking]

Let's make the jump.

I'm going to presume that we'll encounter this pit if we come back this way, but I think it is likely that this route will connect us back to the maze at another point. But unless/until we do, we're in uncharted territory.

[JourneymanN00b]

Attempting to jump the pit received 2 votes; so Alice will try this. Rolling the dice yielded a 5, so Alice passed the Agility test.

510

At a right-hand turn in the maze Alice finds a blackberry bush growing and scoffs a handful of its ripe fruit to keep her hunger at bay. (Add 2 Endurance points.)

Which way should she go now?

North? Turn to 184.

East? Turn to 304.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Alice’s Adventure Sheet
AGILITY: 9
LOGIC: 9
INSANITY: 2
COMBAT: 9
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: 2 uses
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: 3 uses
ENDURANCE: 20
EQUIPMENT:
Scissors (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Jar of Marmalade (3 portions, +4 Endurance per portion)
Golden Key
Shrinking Potion
Bread-Knife (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Mallet (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)

[deaddmwalking]

We were heading South before we crossed the pit and it references a right-hand turn, so I PRESUME that heading North is not back the way we came - it's definitely a different page number. However, I think we should head to 304 first. That's more likely to connect to the other parts of the maze if I'm situating it correctly in my map.

Vote East (304).

[Thaluikhain]

May as well.

(I like losing sanity due to being in a stupid annoying maze)

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; heading east.

304

The path Alice is following widens to form a ring around a pond, the surface of which is thick with lily-pads.

If Alice has visited the Pond before, turn to 324. If this is the first time she has been here, turn to 334.

Alice has not visited the Pond before.

334

As Alice approaches the pond, a pair of bulbous eyes breaks the surface and with one almighty leap a huge frog hops out of the water and lands on the path in front of her. Opening a mouth as wide as Alice is tall, a whip-like tongue shoots out towards the child.

“Goodness me!” she gasps. “I do believe this frog considers me a fly and wishes to eat me!”

What should Alice do to protect herself? If you want her to use the Curiouser and Curiouser ability, turn to 385. If you want her to use The Pen is Mightier ability, turn to 345. If not, Alice will need to defend herself – turn to 375.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Thaluikhain]

Fight the frog normally.

[deaddmwalking]

Giant frogs are a bit scary but I hope it's not an overwhelming challenge. Let's defend ourselves (375).