Solved without Hints - an IFDB Poll

by joncgoodwin
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I'm very interested in hearing truthful accounts of at least somewhat difficult games (or games that don't solve themselves at least) solved completely without recourse to hints, walkthroughs, etc.

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Delightful Wallpaper, by Andrew Plotkin ('Edgar O. Weyrd')
7 votes
"Some Pride" [+]... "As long as you take the time to map the house you should have no trouble." [+]... "The first half..." [+]... "Contrary to the..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Dual Transform, by Andrew Plotkin
7 votes
"Easy but satisfying game." [+]... "Some puzzles..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Planetfall, by Steve Meretzky
6 votes
"I remember this game very fondly" [+]... "99% sure no hints were available when I played this" [+]... "Still my favorite" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Zozzled, by Steph Cherrywell
5 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Hunter, in Darkness, by Andrew Plotkin
5 votes
"Solved the second time around - I think I just wasn't persistent enough the first time." [+]... "Short and sweet" [+]... "A rare occasion" [+]... "Took a couple of..." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Zork III, by Dave Lebling, Marc Blank
5 votes
"When Young" [+]... "Zork III was one of my most memorable IF experiences. Solving it became a personal mission. I can still remember how fast I woul type in different sequences of operations in desperate attempts to solve puzzles I had been stuck on for weeks :->" [+]... "Solved this as a..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Babel, by Ian Finley
5 votes
"Classic IF at its best." [+]... "Read. Explore. Examine. The Three Adventuring Commandments. They will get you through.." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Pirate Adventure, by Scott Adams and Alexis Adams
5 votes
"Very easy, but then, it was supposed to be. Solved it the first day I played it. I was glad I didn't pay for it!" [+]... "One of the first adventure games I played." [+]... "My very first IF" [+]... (No comment) [+]... "This was the..." [+]...

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I-0, by Anonymous
4 votes
"East=y, forgiving, but short" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Plundered Hearts, by Amy Briggs
4 votes
"Dangerous Dining." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Junior Arithmancer, by Mike Spivey
4 votes
"Got 101 points." [+]... "101 points" [+]... "Ended with 102 points." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Pytho's Mask, by Emily Short
4 votes
"One of my favorite short games" [+]... "Great game!..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Spider and Web, by Andrew Plotkin
3 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Leather Goddesses of Phobos, by Steve Meretzky
3 votes
"The Riddle Took Me A While, But ..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Violet, by Jeremy Freese
3 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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All Things Devours, by half sick of shadows
3 votes
"Very logical, very satisfying" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Infidel, by Michael Berlyn
3 votes
""Wasn't Hard"" [+]... "The first game I ever completed without hints" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Lock & Key, by Adam Cadre
3 votes
"Fun game to..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Gun Mute, by C.E.J. Pacian
3 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home, by Andrew Plotkin
3 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Zork II, by Dave Lebling, Marc Blank
3 votes
"My proudest achievement" [+]... "Solved this as a..." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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John's Fire Witch, by John Baker
3 votes
"One of my favorites so far." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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The Impossible Bottle, by Linus Åkesson
2 votes
"Took me a long time, but I managed" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Pick Up The Phone Booth And Die, by Rob Noyes
2 votes
"Found all three..." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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All Roads, by Jon Ingold
2 votes
(No comment) [+]...

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Child's Play, by Stephen Granade
2 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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The Count, by Scott Adams
2 votes
"This one actually took me a several years of on-and-off play during the first half of the 1980s." [+]... "If this is the game I remember, I solved it in a couple of hours." [+]...

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Voodoo Castle, by Alexis Adams and Scott Adams
2 votes
"Took me about a year of semi-frequent play during the mid-1980s." [+]... "Easy adventure, magic instead of treasure" [+]...

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Brain Guzzlers from Beyond!, by Steph Cherrywell
2 votes
"Sleeping on it helped." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Ka, by Dan Efran
2 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Alone, by Paul Michael Winters
2 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Leadlight, by Wade Clarke
2 votes
"A great slasher/horror game. " [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Hollywood Hijinx, by Dave Anderson, Liz Cyr-Jones
2 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Cacahuetes, Sal y Aceite, by José Baltasar García Perez-Schofield
2 votes
"Short, inmersive piece of IF" [+]... "Baltasar loves..." [+]...

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams and Steve Meretzky
2 votes
"Getting the Babel fish was well worth the effort" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Aayela, by Magnus Olsson
2 votes
(No comment) [+]...

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Chemistry and Physics, by Caelyn Sandel (as Colin Sandel) and Carolyn VanEseltine
2 votes
"Took a damnably long time to solve this, but I did" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Skies Above, by Arthur DiBianca
2 votes
"Reached the ending (sort of - but no achievements)" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Large Machine, by Jon Ingold
2 votes
"Bugs made it..." [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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The Gostak, by Carl Muckenhoupt
2 votes
(No comment) [+]... "It rasked many..." [+]...

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The Magpie Takes the Train, by Mathbrush
2 votes
"Really intuitive and smooth puzzle" [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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An Act of Murder, by Christopher Huang
2 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Wishbringer, by Brian Moriarty
2 votes
"Only Infocom Game I ever solved without hints" [+]... "It is very forgiving, multiple ways to win" [+]...

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Lists and Lists, by Andrew Plotkin
2 votes
(No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...

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Wonderland, by David Bishop, Bob Coles, Paul Findley, Ken Gordon, Richard Huddy, Steve Lacey, Doug Rabson, Anita Sinclair, Hugh Steers and Mark Taylor
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Jigsaw, by Graham Nelson
1 vote
"Note: I did use..." [+]...

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Bradford Mansion, by Lenard Gunda
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Edgar's Adventures, by Frank Kunze
1 vote
"Nice puzzle game with combat" [+]...

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The Witness, by Stu Galley
1 vote
"In under 72 hours, back in 1984." [+]...

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To Hell in a Hamper, by J. J. Guest
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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The Hermit's Secret, by Temple Software
1 vote
"I started this..." [+]...

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The Plant, by Michael J. Roberts
1 vote
"Stuck Twice" [+]...

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Undo, by Neil deMause
1 vote
"Solved the game...." [+]...

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Letters from Home, by Roger Firth
1 vote
"Didn't get one of..." [+]...

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Border Zone, by Marc Blank
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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The Art of Fugue, by Victor Gijsbers, Jimmy Maher, Dorte Lassen, and Johan
1 vote
"Personal high..." [+]...

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Dutch Dapper IV: The Final Voyage, by Harry Hol
1 vote
"Hilarious and mind-bending... a worthy successor of Douglas Adams." [+]...

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Madam Spider's Web, by Sara Dee
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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When in Rome 1: Accounting for Taste, by Emily Short
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Perdition's Flames, by Michael J. Roberts
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Tass Times in Tonetown, by Michael Berlyn and Muffy Berlyn
1 vote
"One puzzle was a bit obtuse" [+]...

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A Bear's Night Out, by David Dyte
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Augmented Fourth, by Brian Uri!
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Firebird, by Bonnie Montgomery
1 vote
"Being familiar..." [+]...

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Adventureland, by Scott Adams
1 vote
"Very easy; took me just half a dozen tries, at most, during the early 1980s." [+]...

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Mentula Macanus: Apocolocyntosis, by One of the Bruces and Drunken Bastard
1 vote
"It's long, but..." [+]...

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STARFLIGHT: A Cosmic Adventure, by Chris Lampton
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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The Golden Wombat of Destiny, by Huw Collingbourne
1 vote
"Finished this game, but because of the ending, I wasn't sure if I'd missed something." [+]...

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Endgame, by Samuel T. Denton
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Fish!, by John Molloy, Pete Kemp, Phil South, Rob Steggles
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Pyramid of Doom, by Scott Adams and Alvin Files
1 vote
"The first adventure I solved without help." [+]...

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Broken Legs, by Sarah Morayati
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Softporn Adventure, by Chuck Benton
1 vote
"Quite simple. Took me about 2-3 days of determined effort in 1985 to solve my pirated copy." [+]...

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Trinity, by Brian Moriarty
1 vote
"It took me about..." [+]...

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Metamorphoses, by Emily Short
1 vote
"Stark, immersive atmosphere with open ended puzzles." [+]...

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Improv: Origins, by Neil deMause
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Make It Good, by Jon Ingold
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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The Lurking Horror II: The Lurkening, by Ryan Veeder
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Inside Woman, by Andy Phillips
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Conan Kill Everything, by Ian Haberkorn
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Sorcerer, by Steve Meretzky
1 vote
"Fastest time to..." [+]...

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Faithful Companion, by Matt Weiner
1 vote
"A creepy little..." [+]...

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Valley of the Minotaur, by Nicolas van Dyk
1 vote
"Solved it once, but was never able to achieve the maximum score." [+]...

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The Origin of Madame Time, by Mathbrush
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Jon Doe – Wildcard Nucleus, by Olaf Nowacki
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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The Xylophoniad, by Robin Johnson
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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First Things First, by J. Robinson Wheeler
1 vote
"Satisfyingly puzzly, but not impossible" [+]...

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Deadline, by Marc Blank
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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When in Rome 2: Far from Home, by Emily Short
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Redemption, by Sam Ruby
1 vote
"Great Eamon Game" [+]...

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Mindwheel, by Robert Pinsky, William Mataga, Steve Hales
1 vote
"This was a lot of fun, and took me probably about two weeks, in 1985." [+]...

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The Temple of Shorgil, by Arthur DiBianca
1 vote
"Visited all 49 rooms." [+]...

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Gourmet, by Aaron A. Reed and Chad Barb
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Adventurer's Consumer Guide, by Øyvind Thorsby
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Risorgimento Represso, by Michael J. Coyne
1 vote
"Didn't get full..." [+]...

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Suspended, by Michael Berlyn
1 vote
"Two difficulty levels" [+]...

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For a Change, by Dan Schmidt
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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The Weapon, by Sean Barrett
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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City of Secrets, by Emily Short
1 vote
"Reached the good ending without solving all puzzles" [+]...

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Myth, by Paul Findley
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Indigo, by Emily Short
1 vote
"Perfect blend of infuriation and satisfaction." [+]...

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The Black Knight, by Mandy Rodrigues
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Dinner with Andre, by Liza Daly
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Suveh Nux, by David Fisher
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Starcross, by Dave Lebling
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Alias 'The Magpie', by J. J. Guest
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Varicella, by Adam Cadre
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Oppositely Opal, by Buster Hudson
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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Countdown to Doom, by Peter D. Killworth
1 vote
(No comment) [+]...

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