1899 Steam & Spirit
Platform: Javascript
Sir Winston Churchill was many things during his long and distinguished career... a globe-hopping soldier, Nobel Prize-winning author, and even Prime Minister on two occasions. But what about his life as a secret agent onboard a Mediterranean steamer in 1899? While biographers have stated that Churchill spent that year in Britain writing about his army experiences, the Italian game developers at Moloc Lab offer a different take on history. In their old-school point-and-click adventure called 1899 Steam & Spirit, you get to play as a young Lieutenant Churchill (and bump into other historic characters) on a mission to Algiers filled with mystery, ingenuity, and discovery.
Moloc Lab's DHTML (HTML + Javascript) adventure takes place in the late 1890s, but with its large pixel-like appearance and control scheme, it has a quaint look and feel like something from the early 1990s. You control young Winston Churchill with the mouse by clicking around the screen. Selecting items of interest brings up a series of icons that let you pick things up, use them, examine them, or talk to them. Your inventory is spread across the bottom of the screen, and you can combine items or use your inventory on things in the world. If you get stuck looking for hotspots on screen, there's even a handy help feature that reveals all a room's clickable areas.
Despite its minimalist appearance, 1899 Steam & Spirit is a fun little adventure game with quite a bit of potential. Everything takes place in a compact world that, despite its size, still has a rich flavor to it. The game's characters, while not detailed visually, have amusing personalities that emerge based on their short conversations. Players should find that most of the puzzles are fairly straight-forward, though some object combinations and interactions are a little more obscure. In typical old-school style, moving around the screen requires you to wait for Winston to walk around, which can be somewhat tiresome, especially when you have to revisit areas. Regardless, the game's episodic nature offers a nice bite size experience for adventure and escape game fans. In addition, as a technical presentation (which seems to work on iOS platforms) it shows that you don't always have to design games in Flash to get fun and robust gameplay. Want to make your next break your "finest hour"? Then "never surrender" and go full steam ahead with 1899 Steam & Spirit.
Walkthrough Guide
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1899 Steam & Spirit Walkthrough
This walkthrough will take you through the game in logical order. You may end up picking up certain objects in a different order than in this walkthrough, but that shouldn't affect the outcome of the game.
Episode 1 - The Leviathan (Mediterranean Sea)
Escaping Winston's Quarters
Talk into the intercom.
You need to get to the bridge, so open the door.
Uh oh, it's locked. How do we open it?
Pick up the whiskey bottle.
Click the whiskey bottle and click the sink to dump the contents down the drain. This will reveal the room key.
Hmm, the room key is stuck in the drain. How to retrieve it?
Pick up the magnet (the red dot) on the map.
Pick up the pen on the table.
Combine the pen with the magnet.
Use the magnet-pen with the sink to get the room key.
Use the room key to unlock the door. At last!
Winston's Mission (Part 1)
In the hallway, climb the ladder to reach the bridge.
On the bridge, talk to the Captain. He will tell you that the ship has reached Algiers.
Talk to Lord Kelvin, the man sitting in the red chair. He will tell you that Dr. Cook is waiting for you in the mission room, and will give you a pass for him.
Click the hatch to return to the hallway.
From the hallway, click the hatch to reach the lower deck.
On the lower deck, click the left door to enter the mission room.
The Capsule Puzzle
In the mission room, talk to Dr. Cook. He will take the mission report.
Talk to Dr. Cook again. He will tell you to adjust capsule 2 in order to leave the Leviathan on your mission. The water must exactly reach the mark.
How to get capsule 2 to the mark?
Clicking capsule 1's wheel sends water to capsule 5.
Clicking capsule 2's wheel sends water to capsules 3 and 5.
Clicking capsule 3's wheel sends water to capsules 1 and 4.
Clicking capsule 4's wheel sends water to capsule 2.
Clicking capsule 5's wheel sends water to capsules 3 and 4.
Keep adding water to capsule 4 and send it over to capsule 2 until the water reaches the mark. Winston will say "Finally!" when you are successful.
Talk to Dr. Cook again. Alas, all the diving equipment on the Leviathan is gone!
You need to make an impromptu diving suit consisting of a transparent helmet, a waterproof suit, and a pair of weighted boots.
Click the door to exit.
Getting the Diving Helmet (Part 1)
On the lower deck, climb the ladder.
In the hallway, look at the lamp. Hey, there's our diving helmet!
Get the diving helmet.
Ouch, too hot. We have to turn it off somehow... but it's one of those newfangled electric lights, not a gas light.
The light gets its electricity by that wire. If only we could sever the wire...
Aha, an axe on the wall! Get the axe.
Confound it, the case is closed.
Read the sign next to the axe. "Automatic opening in case of fire."
Guess we have to start a fire. But how?
Let's explore a bit. Open the second door to enter the officer's bunks.
Talk to Harris (the guy sitting at the table). He will offer to give you a book of matches for a cigarette if you beat him in poker. Just what we need!
Where can we get a cigarette?
Wasn't there an officer smoking in the hallway?
Return to the hallway and talk to the smoking officer. The officer will give you a cigarette.
Once you have a cigarette, return to the officer's bunks and give the cigarette to Harris. He will challenge you to a game of poker for his matches.
Drat, Harris won. How can we beat him?
Getting the Matches
Leave and get another cigarette from the smoking officer.
Return to the officer's bunks.
One sleeping officer has keys to the cabinet. How to get the keys without waking him?
Use the feather on the officer. He will drop the keys.
Pick up the keys.
Once you have the keys, use them on the left locker.
Hey look, boots! Unfortunately they're not weighted, but we'll work on that later.
Pick up the boots.
While you're at it, pick up the spare uniform on the bed. It might make a good waterproof suit later.
Hey, what's that grate above the locker? Click the grate to climb up. Who knew Churchill was once so thin and nimble?
You're in Lord Kelvin's private bathroom. What's that on the wall?
Take the mirror.
Enter the door. Now you're in Lord Kelvin's stateroom.
Pick up Lord Kelvin's top hat on the desk.
Look, there's a piece of paper underneath.
It says "current location." What could that mean? Well, we'll figure it out later. For now, leave the room.
Click the grate to return to the officer's bunks.
Harris always seems to win in poker. We need to beat him to get the matches.
Maybe if we cheated...
Is there a way to see his cards?
Hang the mirror on the bunk behind Harris.
Give the cigarette to Harris again.
Once you beat Harris, you'll get a pack of matches.
Getting the Diving Helmet (Part 2)
Exit to the hallway.
Use the matches on the axe case.
Get the axe.
Use the axe on the wire next to the lamp.
Collect the helmet. One down, three to go!
Getting the Waterproof Suit (Part 1)
If you haven't done so already, get the spare uniform on the bed in the Officer's bunks.
From the hallway, climb the ladder to the bridge.
Talk to Lord Kelvin. He's too busy drinking tea to be much help.
Look at the book on the table next to Lord Kelvin. Hmmm... Marine Engineering Vol.2: Impermeability.
Stuff that's impermeable doesn't let water get in. Useful knowledge for making a waterproof suit!
Take the book.
Oh yeah, Lord Kelvin doesn't want you taking his stuff. How can we distract Lord Kelvin to get his book?
What if we make his tea disappear?
Perhaps we can put something on top of it?
Put Lord Kelvin's top hat on the tea. If you didn't collect the top hat, it's in Lord Kelvin's room, accessible from the officer's bunks, through the grate, next to the bathroom.
Eventually Lord Kelvin will ask the cook to make more tea, but the cook needs a recipe.
While Lord Kelvin is dictating the recipe to the cook, take the book.
Aha, a chapter on waterproof fabrics and their implementation. You will take a page from this book for later use.
Click the hatch to return to the hallway.
Click the hatch to go to the lower deck.
Click the second door this time.
There's Barker, the cook, making Lord Kelvin's tea. Interesting, he only follows recipes blindly.
Maybe we could get Barker to help with the waterproof suit?
What if we gave him a recipe for waterproof fabrics?
Select the page on waterproof fabrics and click the recipe on the wall.
Once Barker "agrees" to make the waterproof suit, you'll still need to provide the ingredients.
What ingredients are needed?
Read the recipe on the wall.
You'll need fabric, bituminous material, and a high temperature.
Put the uniform in the pot.
We'll need bituminous material. Where do we get that?
Lord Kelvin was reading about this sort of thing. Maybe he has some in his cabin?
Getting the Bituminous Material
Return to Lord Kelvin's room, accessible from the officer's bunks, through the grate, next to the bathroom.
There's a safe on his bookshelf, but it's closed. Maybe it contains something useful?
Look on the wall. There is a world map linked to a geoscope.
Look at the dot on the map.
Remember what the piece of paper under Lord Kelvin's hat said?
Is that the ship's current location?
No, the ship's current location is Algiers. That's in North Africa, right?
You need to change the map to reflect the ship's current location.
How do you adjust the position on the map to indicate Algiers?
Click the red buttons on the side of the map to move the positional indicator.
Click the right button 10 times, then the bottom button 4 times.
The safe will "click" when you reach the correct location.
Once the map is correct, the safe will open.
Click the safe to get its contents, which happen to be Bituminous Compound M27780. Patent nr. 5976. Perfect!
Click the exit.
Getting the Waterproof Suit (Part 2)
Once you have the bituminous material, return to the galley, on the lower deck.
Put the bituminous material in the pot.
Once it's in with the fabric, click the pot to get your homemade waterproof suit!
Now you just need some weighted boots.
Getting the Weighted Boots
Did you get the boots from the locker in the officer's bunks?
How to make them weighted?
You'll need something really heavy.
Look at the cast-iron pipe above the stove. It's nice and heavy.
Use the axe on the cast-iron pipe above the stove.
Click the cast iron cylinders on the boots to weight them down. Et voila!
Once you have the weighted boots, return to Dr. Cook to begin your mission!
Winston's Mission (Part 2)
Once you have all three components to your diving suit (transparent helmet, waterproof suit, and weighted boots), return to Dr. Cook and talk to him.
Give the helmet, suit, and boots to Dr. Cook.
Let's start the Madagascar Operation!
Episode 2 - Hit and Run (Algiers)
Reaching the Harbor
You will slowly descend from capsule 2. You need to find the infiltrator, disguised as a local.
On the sea floor is a wreck of a submarine, a pier, and a fishing line.
You won't be able to reach the surface wearing all the diving gear, but it would be suicide to take it all off underwater.
Look at the periscope controls on the ruined submarine.
The periscope control piece is missing.
Click the piece sticking out of the sand, near the fishing line.
Use the rusty wheel on the periscope controls. It fits!
Use the wheel on the controls again to raise the periscope.
Click the periscope to look through it.
Aha! A fisherman and a winch.
Getting to the Surface
The winch could be your ticket out of there, but how to operate it?
Maybe if you could signal the fisherman somehow?
Could you help him catch a fish? There's a fish, but it needs bait to be attracted to the line.
Use your axe on the mussels attached to the wharf pole.
Put the mussel on the fishing line.
Once the line is baited, click the periscope to look through it.
Now the fisherman caught a fish. It seemed to attract a pelican, which conveniently rested on the winch controls.
Click the debris next to the cage to weigh down the cage while you work on raising it.
Maybe there's something helpful in the submarine's locker?
You can't slide the metal latch. What could help with this?
Use your feather-pen-magnet on the metal latch.
Once the locker is open, you see that it contains... military boots.
Click the boots to collect them.
Help signal the fisherman by attaching the boot to the fishing line.
Click the periscope to look through it.
The fisherman will catch the boot and throw it at the pelican. Luckily, the cage stays on the bottom since you weighed it down.
Click the cage and move the debris. You will rise to the surface. At last!
On the Surface
You made it to the surface! Now what?
Look at the sign. It says "To the Kasbah."
Click the sign to use it. Good luck, Agent Churchill!
Posted by: J-Witz
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August 4, 2011 1:38 PM