Bored of the Rings Hints: To open the Morona gate, try taking the pepper to the gate and dropping it. To get out of the Willow tree, CRY HELP. The password for part 2 is 'Psychoanalysis', and for part 3, 'Psychoanalysis again'. For Sceptical, 'Don't ask us'. When typing in passwords, it is essential to begin with a capital letter. You must place the ring somewhere to finish the game. You have to enter the inn to get Arrogant. Just past the signpost on the great east road beyond the Puny Prancer is an unflagged exit N to the mountains; go UP to find the pepper. HIDE is the proper route to the farm (where there is some ale) and the route further into the adventure. When you hear the sound of hooves, hide and then go N to the Triffid Farm. After meeting the barrow wight, ask for a clue then go W,W,N to rejoin the Great East Road. Fire the rifle at the Nazal in the C5 - that will cure his adenoids. Buy the map from the pixie - using the coin (which you get by inserting the battery into the vending machine) - so as to find your way out of the maze. You must be carrying the map to escape. Move the mat to find the key. Try entering: IAN, WILL, FERG, HCW, MSX, and REM for a bit of fun. Solution WAIT twice at the start before going W until you come to Fag End. There, WAIT again until you have been given the ring. Now you can set out on your travels accompanied by faithful Spam the gardener and your boggit friends Murky and Pimply. Go E twice, S twice and then HIDE from the Riders until it is safe to go N to the Triffid Farm where, if you want a laugh, you should enter and have a drink of ale. After that - or straightaway if you are teetotal - go on N three times and then four E to the hedge. Here go F and E through the tunnel into the Old Forest. N twice will put you safely in the clutches of the tree, where you need to CRY HELP to get Tim Bombadul, and then E three times to Tim's shack. Now go S twice into the Downs and you'll encounter the barrow wight: ASK CLUE here, make a note of it and then move W, W, N on to the Great East Road. E takes you to Whee, and here you must move IN and IN again, so that you can meet Arrogant in the Puny Prancer and enable him to join you on the quest. E from Whee is a signpost and a single move E after that brings you to a trouble spot. There is an unflagged exit N here to a mountain and then you go UP to obtain the pepper which is essential to finishing this part of the adventure. However, if you get here to early, you won't find it as there is a move counter here. Just WAIT as necessary, trying to move N and U every so often. After getting the pepper, continue East along the road, past the Tollbridge to Rivendull: Here you must go in to get the rest of your party. You'll find Bimbo, Smelrond, Grandalf, Giblet, Legoland and Borrower waiting for you. When you leave Rivendull, go E to the crows and then S to the wolfs - yes wolfs - E twice to the dam and finally N and E to the ledge. One more move E takes you to the Gate of Morona and here you DROP PEPPER to get the password for part II: Psychoanalysis. Please note that it is essential to enter Psychoanalysis, using upper and lower case letters as indicated. Part 2 (Micro User September 1989) Begin by moving up - just to enjoy the joke - before going E twice to the Tourist Office. There's a battery here that you need to take back W to the large cavern: Insert the battery into the vending machine and you'll be rewarded with a coin. Now go S to the pixie's cave, move the mat to find the key and then by the map from the pixie. Examine the map and you'll be shown the moves necessary to get safely through the caves of Morona. However, first you must unlock the door to the secret room W of the pixie's cave. Take the rifle, move the rug and descend to the secret chamber for the treasure to be found there. Back you go to the pixie's cave and continue E into the maze. The moves needed to navigate your way successfully are E, N, E, E, S, W, S. Next move E to find the poster, and now go W twice, then S to the Dark Halls of Morona. From here move W into the large chamber and drop the poster so that the Gays don't impede your progress N to the bridge. Cross the bridge and PUSH RED to kill the Balhog: The fact that you also dump Grandalf should be seen as a bonus - in spite of his angry moans as he plummets away into the depths. After that, move S twice to the foot of the Whiffy Mountains and then W to get the rope. E twice from here brings you to the magical realm of Delorean where you receive a special ID. Plant the beans here to gain extra points. We are nearly at the end of this section now: S takes you to the leafy glade and then you should move E, S, W, E, E to bring you to the bank of the stream and the raft. Board the raft and dispose of the Nazal by firing the rifle at it, then board the raft at once. Now wait around some more until you reach land again. Collect the coin and go W to the clearing and then climb the mountain. At the summit you should insert the coin in the telescope and then retrace your steps to where you found the coin. A Basilisk will greet you with the information that the word HOG is a rope retrieval device - very useful in part III. Board the raft once more and you will be told that you have successfully completed this section. The password this time is "Psychoanalysis again", and once more it is essential to enter it exactly as written. Part 3 (Micro User October 1989) Very careful planning and moving is necessary in this third and final section. The starting location is the bottom of a gully and from here, the vital move sequence is as follows: E, GET BRICK (of platinum), S, E, SAY HOG, GET ROPE, TIE ROPE, D, GIVE BRICK (to Goldbum), N, N, SE, SE, N, N, E, S, E, E, S. This takes you safely past the basilisk which will otherwise do unto you as is the wont of basilisks - and you aren't much use as a lump of stone. If you were to map those moves out on paper you'd discover that you have traced the shape of the letters N and H, so - naturally - if you now go E, E, N, W, N, E, E, you'll not only have traced the letter S but you'll find yourself on a road near the gate. The pixie here informs you that, before you may proceed any further, you must return and give the basilisk his comeuppance. Fortunately there just happens to be a pair of trendy mirror shades lying around. Wear them and retrace your steps to the bottom of the letter H. The basilisk now conveniently expires, petriefied by his own countenance, so now you can safely return to where you met the pixie. From here go S to Effalien then E four times, followed by N and E to Puddle Vale. E again takes you to the foot of the stairs, so up and up you go to the very top. Proceed E into the dark cave, and E again to the N/S fissure. SAY HOG to get the rope, take it and throw it: The rope will conveniently tie itself so that you can swing across the fissure. S and E brings you to Sheslob's Lair where Goldbum will repay your generosity with the Platinum Brick by scaring the beast away. Keep on E to the base of the anti-aircraft gun tower, climb to the top and fire the gun to bring down the Flying Pig - a lovely touch. Now go back to the location where you could see the gun tower and move N to the foot of the slope, E, E, N into the forge where you will find a key which you should take. Retrace your steps to the top of the stairs west of the dark cave and move S. Push the button you find here, enter the lift and push the red button. You'll find yourself in the offices of a software company called Firebrick. Use the key to unlock the door to the N and - once the rush of escaping programmers has died down - enter the prison and TAKE DEBUGGER. Ignore the hyphen in the description, the game parser doesn't recognise it. Once you have the debugger you need to go back even further, and from Puddle Vale move W, S, S, W, W, W, W, to place yourself outside the bar. Go in and you'll find some unsavoury creatures known as kremlins busy tearing the place apart. When the follow you out simply enter KILL KREMLINS - and then return to the bar where you'll find a pair of scissors. Take these scissors out of the bar and go N and W to Yox Mall. Moving S from here puts you inside the electrical store for the final denouement. There's a parcel - a microwave - tied up with magic string: Cut the string with the scissors, open the microwave and place the ring inside it. This completes the game as the ring melts to a puddle. Apart from congratulations you receive yet another password 'Don't ask us' which gives you access to the last part of the tape. This is an imitation Ceefax with 100 pages, some quite amusing and well worth a browse. Well Done!!