I’m going to start working on a walkthrough of Lost in Time, a gigantic difficult puzzly Twine game. Feel free to pitch in or ask for clarification! I might not replay the game as I make the walkthrough, so some parts will be approximate and may be mistaken, so definitely ask me if it looks like I’ve messed up.
I’m going to do this in chunks–first chunk, the first room. I’m going to spoiler-tag everything with a descriptive (hopefully non-spoily) bit at the beginning to show what the spoilers are about. If you contribute, please also spoiler-tag things, so people who need help with one puzzle can avoid spoilers.
And when you’re playing this–save often and in multiple slots. There are lots of ways to die, some parts you basically need to trial-and-error through (if only to realize that there’s a problem you need to solve), and lots of ways to get yourself into walking dead situations, with no undo:
Did I manage to leave behind a critical object in the first room in a way that forced me to replay basically the entire game? Yes. Yes, I did.
Getting out of the first room:
As you will discover, most of the things you can do lead you to go back to sleep. Then you are dead. If you get a yellow card telling you it’s too late, it is, and you have to start over.
You’re not actually on a tight timer, though. You just need to avoid doing the things that lead to the bad ending…
like going to sleep, communicating with the person on the other side of the door before you’re ready, hitting the door.
What you should do:
Look at your notes. Toss the paper in the bin.
Clean up the mess. Look at the notes again.
There’s something glistening in the bin…
Search the bin, naturally. Keep searching. And take the key.
This next part may take a lot of trial and error…
Look at the notes and write a diary entry. You get to choose a name.
Now to work on the door…
Open the door. Unlock the door. Ehh, couldn’t be that easy. (But I think you may need to try it.)
Write a note. Yes, you need help. Pass the diary entry.
Now you have to go to sleep. But the card you get in the morning is more encouraging…
Look at the notes. Read the diary entry. Turn the page over. Take it. You will need it.
Check the time (it should be the actual time). Does an adventurer leave anything behind? No. Take the watch with you. (This was the thing that I failed to do and that made me start the whole game over.)
Open the door. Are you ready to embark on your journey? If you have the watch, key, and diary entry as well as the pencil, you should be. Exit the room.
And you’re out of the first room! Things are about to get large.