You are standing in an open 
field
west of a white 
house,
with a boarded front 
door.
There is a small 
mailbox*
here.
*Try opening!
(>|)
You just started up a game and now you’re staring at text
and a blinking cursor and you don’t know what to do!
Don’t panic kids—
Crazy Uncle Zarf is here to help you get started...
 
 
You can try all sorts of commands on the 
things you see.
Try the commands that make sense!
Doors are for opening; buttons are for pushing; pie is for eating.
(Mmm, pie.)
◇◇◇◇
If you meet a person, these should work:
TALK TO name
ASK name
ABOUT something
TELL name
ABOUT something
GIVE something
TO name
SHOW something
TO name
Each game has slightly different commands, but they all look
pretty much like these.
 
| EXAMINE it TAKE it
 DROP it
 OPEN it
 PUT it
IN something
 PUT it
ON something
 
 | PUSH it PULL it
 TURN it
 FEEL it
 
 | 
When in doubt, examine more.
 
 
 
| EAT it DRINK it
 FILL it
 SMELL it
 LISTEN TO it
 BREAK it
 BURN it
 LOOK UNDER it
 
 | CLIMB it WAVE it
 WEAR it
 TAKE it
OFF
 TURN it
ON
 DIG IN it
 ENTER it
 SEARCH it
 
 | 
| UNLOCK it
WITH something 
 | 
| LISTEN SLEEP
 WAKE UP
 UNDO†
 
 | JUMP PRAY
 CURSE
 SING
 
 | 
†Take back one move — handy!
 
| { | Does the game intro suggest ABOUT, INFO, HELP?
 Try them first!
 | } | 
|  |  | N | (“Go north.”) | 
| NW |  | ┃ |  | NE | 
|  | ╲ | ┃ | ╱ |  | 
| W | ━ | ╋ | ━ | E | Also: Up, Down,
 IN,
and OUT
 | 
|  | ╱ | ┃ | ╲ |  | 
| SW |  | S |  | SE | 
“What if I only want to
type one or two letters?”
◇◇◇◇
N/E/S/W/NE/SE/NW/SW: GO
in the indicated compass direction.
L: LOOK
around to see what is nearby.
X: EXAMINE
a thing in more detail.
I: take INVENTORY
of what you posess.
Z: WAIT
a turn without doing anything.
G: do the same thing AGAIN
◇◇◇◇