Trapped in a One-Room Dilly

by Laura Knauth

Science Fiction
1998

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Number of Ratings: 9
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1-11 of 11


- k42write, October 28, 2023

>INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction

OK, probably the first thing I should confess is that I'm not hip enough to know what a "dilly" is. My handy dictionary suggests that it means "something remarkable of its kind" -- their example is "a dilly of a movie." Somehow I don't think that's what's meant here. So, judging from context, I'm going to assume that "dilly" means "relatively enjoyable puzzle game with good coding and writing, but a few guess-the-verb problems and sometimes not enough synonyms implemented." If this is what dilly really means, then Trapped In A One-Room Dilly has the most accurate title of any game in the 1998 competition.

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- Zape, March 24, 2019

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
An early one room game that is pure puzzlefest, February 3, 2016

While not the first, this game was near the beginning of the wave of one room games. It was entered into IFCOMP the same year as Enlightenment, another popular one room game.

This game is just pure puzzle fest. Solve a puzzle and another pops out. There is a lights out type puzzle with pegs, a mathematical dart board, hidden objects, codes, etc. It's similar to the more recent Grandma Bethlindas puzzlebox.

Recommended for pure puzzle fans.

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Excellent Puzzles! Loved It!, January 20, 2016
by Deboriole (San Diego, CA)

This game is on my all-time favorites list now. It is the epitome of the type of game I like: escaping from a single room. The puzzles are great and there is enough humor to make it entertaining throughout. The only advice I would give someone who hasn't played before: Don't assume you have thoroughly examined something if you feel there is more to the object than you already know — because you are probably right. A minor spoiler showing what I mean: (Spoiler - click to show)I got stuck in one place because I typed "listen" assuming it would include all of the sounds in the room, but what I really had to do was listen to something in particular. I recommend this game to puzzlers everywhere!

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- Floating Info, April 5, 2013

- loungeman (Bilbao, Spain), January 4, 2010

- Shigosei, October 1, 2009

- Audiart (Davis, CA), January 8, 2009

- Anders Hellerup Madsen (Copenhagen, Denmark), July 21, 2008

Baf's Guide


An entertaining diversion--you're trapped in a room with a whole slew of complicated objects, and the goal is to get out. Demonstrates some of the possibilities of the one-room approach--there are quite a lot of puzzles, for instance, as objects turn out to have more and more complexities over the course of the game. It's not quite as elegant as it might be--the room feels like an overstuffed attic, crammed with gadgets and toys, and it's easy to lose things in the shuffle--but it's still nicely done. One amusing touch: a bookshelf filled with books with plots that explain the one-room premise (e.g., alien abduction, mad scientist, etc.).

-- Duncan Stevens

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