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Note: It is to be pointed out at the outset that these notes and the walkthrough are based on playing Alice in the easiest of the four levels of difficulty offered; however, it should serve as a basis for the more difficult ones.
American McGee's
Observations, Comments, & Walkthrough
By Soren Andersen
"This is an all new Alice adventure, and can be considered a third chapter in her story. It takes place after Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and although it features many characters and places from those stories, things have definitely taken a turn for the worst in Alice's childhood dreamland..."
The foregoing is a quote that I found somewhere. There are a lot of things that are unique about this game, different from most Adventure games. Actually, it is really a Role Playing Game, which is a very close relative of Adventure games, or perhaps it may be considered an Action game. The dynamic graphics are exceptional, with much detail and continuously adjustable perspective. There are whimsical quirks thrown in, just one example of many being Alice's breath becoming visible in an icy scenario.
EA Games has provided much supplemental information for and about this game. Go to
START>Programs>EA GAMES>American McGee's Alice>Gameplay Help
for an Internet help supplement; in the header will be found several categories on which to click for expansion. In addition, if in the above Start series you choose Web Resources instead of Gameplay Help you will have the opportunity to access the game's home page, where under the Wonderland choice you will find descriptions and illustrations of characters you will meet, and maps with none too accurate florid words concerning many locations, including animated sketches. I strongly advise you to carefully peruse these two help items at the outset of gameplay, and in addition I suggest that you print the entire Gameplay Help for ready reference while playing.
Interfacing with the game action takes some getting used to for the Adventure gamer. The keyboard and the mouse are employed simultaneously, including both mouse buttons. Learning to use the four movement keys without looking for them would be a big advantage. The many controls, actions, and options are thoroughly covered in pages 12-17 of the Gameplay Guide booklet, and also the Internet Gameplay Help reference above...However, I think there are a couple features that that could bear more emphasis: when Alice is on a rope or a vine, the [default] Enter key will cause her to climb up and the F key will do the reverse...When the rotating jump footprints appear, pressing the jump key will cause Alice to jump to that location; however, if a movement key is pressed at the same time as the jump key the footprints are ignored and the distance she jumps is dependent on how long the movement key is held down. It is not necessary for the footprints to be showing for her to jump.
Saved games are limited in number only by available storage; they are saved in folder
C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\American McGee's Alice\Base\Save
If you look at this folder you will find that it takes 4 files for each saved game, a total of about 1.2 MB for each save. The files with the .tga extension are the thumbnails that you see in the stored games display when playing, and if you have an appropriate graphics display program (I had Microsoft Picture It! that came with Windows XP) they can be used to identify the particular file in the many saved ones.
There is no inventory as such; the few items that Alice acquires, other than weapons, she carries invisibly and are automatically used when appropriate, usually in a video...The Cheshire Cat can be summoned for a comment by the use of the keyboard C key, but I found his remarks are usually too enigmatic or irrelevant to be of any value...There is more whimsy when Alice is left idle for a bit: she indulges in two or three tricks with whatever weapon she is currently holding to pass the time until action resumes.
As the game progresses Alice gathers a series of weapons (also referred to as toys) to use against the innumerable enemy attacks upon her. There are ten of these weapons, and very generally they are more powerful the later they are found. After acquisition they are selected for use by the keyboard numeric keys, and used closeup by the left mouse button (primary attack) and at a distance by the right button (secondary or alternate attack). The one in effect is indicated by the icon flag at the base of the red meter column on the left. Be sure and note the targeting indicators on the enemy for the different units. She must have Will—-the blue column at screen right—-to use these weapons (the exception being the knife, the first one acquired), and the more powerful the weapon, the more Will is used up when it is employed, as reflected in the height of the blue Will meter. Will builds up again, but slowly; it takes a minute and a half for the meter to fill itself after it has been completely emptied. If her Will is too low when she fights an enemy, her weapon reverts to the knife since that requires none. There are small and large Sanities floating about that Alice can acquire, as well as many metas of different strengths, all of which help replenish Will in incremental amounts.
Some of the weapons are found more than once and should be picked up each time because in theory that adds to their power. The only direct evidence of this is with the Demon Dice, in which case an additional die is added to the signature flag at the bottom of the Sanity meter and indicates an additional demon...You must be careful about using some of the more powerful of the weapons in Alice's arsenal. As warned by the Cheshire Cat, do not employ the Demon Dice when alone as the demon may well attack Alice if it cannot find anything else. When she tosses the Jackbomb it may not go where intended and the fires thrown out by an exploding bomb can consume her if they get too close...When the Jabberwock's Eye Staff is complete, the way to use it is to hold down the left mouse button, and after a short delay a beam will emanate from it as long as the button is held down. Keep the beam trained on the enemy, but note that as you do this that the Will meter is draining. It is not clear whether there is a Jabberwock's Eye Staff secondary attack using the right mouse button.
The meter that appears as a red column on the left of the screen is called the Sanity meter. As Alice takes hits during enemy attacks the red level lowers, and if it becomes completely empty Alice is done for. When she takes out an enemy, a Sanity meta appears above its remains and she can use it to replenish the meter; generally, it is of a higher order that if not gathered within a short period degenerates to a lower value, and then if still not gathered soon it may vanish. There is a faint whoosh when this happens. There are many other metas floating around Wonderland to be gathered as needed.
Alice will encounter about twenty-five different types of enemies, and like the weapons, they are more powerful the later they appear for the first time in the game progression. At intervals there are a half dozen with which Alice must undertake a sustained running battle, and these present a particularly difficult challenge. Which weapon to use against a particular enemy depends not only on the latter's response to the weapon, but also on the dexterity and personal preference of the player as well as the situation encountered. I suggest recalling a saved game and then trying a different weapon. I myself found that the primary attack of the Ice Wand to be the best in general (secondary attack almost never employed). As it happens, I did not use the Dead Time Watch very much (which is reflected in the walkthrough), but there are several situations in which it could profitably be brought into play.
It is important to realize and remember that Alice will be set upon by a variety enemies almost continuously as she journeys through Wonderland, and you must be alert at all times for attacks; the only ones that gives any real warning are the flying beetles, which sound like helicopters and get louder as they approach.
There are four items called Powerups that appear infrequently and for me were of little use. For one thing, their effectiveness lasts only about 20 seconds, and they are not necessary for gameplay. The Darkened Looking Glass is valuable once, and the Deadtime Watch—-which seems to be considered a Powerup as well as a weapon, having flags on both meters--very helpful once. Others may find these items more useful.
Alice's default movement is running, with walking achieved by simultaneously pressing both the [default] W and shift keys; this may be reversed in the Options menu by clearing the X in the Always Run entry. There are a few instances in which having her run is mandatory, but considering how much of the time her progress is rather delicate I usually chose the always walk option rather than having to press two keys at once so much of the time. Up to you. The mode may be changed at any time (except during cutscenes) by setting or clearing the X. Also to be considered: there are times when fighting enemies may be avoided simply by running past them, though they may catch up to her. Alice is swift and indefatigable.
Sometimes when going from venue to venue, particularly when going through a portal, there is a reasonably relevant location on the other side, at other times this device is used to transport Alice to a situation that is an abrupt change from that which she left. Something to accept...Also to be accepted is that the names of the venues very frequently have no relevance to the venue content; these names are the ones displayed on the stored games display page.
There are cheats for this game that are not like any other I have encountered and lend a new meaning to the term. You can alter many of the game responses in a way that eliminates challenges, and I guess you could use them if you become really desperate, such as the running battles. I have supplied an attachment that details a selected few of them; there are more but I don't think they are particularly relevant.
I think this is a very difficult game indeed, even in the Easy mode that I chose to play. Alice has innumerable opportunities to perish, so whenever she was in a tricky or dangerous situation I would employ the common technique of saving the game so that when something dire happened I could restore and try again. Then when I had got her past the crisis and reasonably advanced I would delete interim stored games, keeping only those that I deemed important, so that I did not accumulate an unreasonably large set of stored games, but even so the number of retained saves in this game that is so full of hazards approaches an astonishing 270. The game in fact facilitates this technique by automatically setting up a return to the last saved game prior to Alice perishing.
The Readme indicates that this game will play on several versions of Windows; Windows XP is not mentioned. However, that is what I used, and it installed and played with no problems at all. There is a lot of gaming on just two disks.
The following walkthrough was developed from the game as I played
it, and I must re-emphasize that of the choice of four degrees of play difficulty offered the player at the initial launch, I chose the least of these: Easy, which I found to be difficult enough for me. Please keep this selection in mind if you consult the walkthrough, as greater degrees of difficulty may not exactly fit the described action at certain times or situations.
The concluding scenarios of this game are pretty far out even for a computer video game, but after all, that is what it is.
Soren Andersen, December 03
The game begins with a video from which it may be gathered that Alice was the only survivor of a disastrous fire, and the resulting emotional trauma has landed her in an asylum of some sort wherein her dreams, imagination, or hallucinations have taken her back again to a very different Wonderland. As in the past she falls down a hole where she finds the White Rabbit, who tells her they are very late and not to dawdle, then scampers off. The Cheshire Cat appears and tells her to follow the knowledgeable Rabbit.
As she moves off to do this she enters a mine where on the walls is crude machinery that does nothing but move. She meets a despondent troll miner, then to continue has to float across a broken plank bridge on some vapor bubbles. Another miner tells her to beware the Queen of Hearts; Alice is defiant. Down the mine passage can be seen a Small Meta that Alice can use to fill her Sanity meter, after which she can acquire her first weapon, the Vorpal Blade knife.
Alice sees the White Rabbit shrink and disappear into a small hole. She tells another miner she wants to become quite small, and he informs her that she must go to the Fortress of Doors to find out how to do that. As she continues on she encounters her first enemy, a Club Card Guard, which she can readily dispatch with the knife, either by throwing it (right mouse key), or waiting for him to come close then slashing (left mouse key).
Continuing on around a corner near the hole into which the Rabbit went she enters another mine area where the Cheshire Cat appears on a ledge below three animated smoking pipes. Jump and climb to this ledge, then go up more planks to yet another miner who can't tell her how to get to the Fortress of Doors, but says that deeper in the mine there is one who can. Up more planks and across a platform is a sign that says Yur Mine, and Alice must jump to the floor just below it, being careful not to bounce off the wall and miss, after which she goes on to a new venue.
Alice now has her first encounter with a hanging green rope, which she must here use to cross a slime hazard. Employ the forward and jump keys to get her near the rope, release them so she grasps it, use the forward and back keys to get her swinging in ever increasing arcs, then when she is near the far platform press the jump key again to get her to release the rope and land on the platform. (Actually, Alice can jump across, but the learning experience with the rope is worthwhile.) Go down the planks and over to the Troll Elder.
In a cutscene he states that he can make her small in return for a key that she must get for him from the Card Guards quarters. Proceed along the mine corridor, around a corner, and upward to where a video has Alice get onto a mine cart and ride down a long rickety track, at the end of which the cart crashes far below. Fortunately, Alice got off onto a platform before the cart went over the edge, but she is immediately attacked by a Card Guard whom she can dispatch if she turns and acts quickly.
In the distance is seen another weapon for her to pick up, the Card Deck. After getting it and backing up a little, she is in front of a large wooden door that is the entrance to the Card Guards quarters. Through this door, then another, and up some curving stairs she can see the key that she needs glistening at the far end of the room. Defeating some guards (or running) she can get the key, then go up stairs on the left to a swirling portal that looks like a cosmic galaxy.
Passing through the portal she is back in the same area where she entered this venue. There is a quick cutscene of the Troll Elder in front of another portal beckoning. Two Card Guards are shooting cards at her from a distance. Go around the corner to the left and take care of the Guard there and continue so that the building shields her from one of the distant Guards. Move forward a little toward the Guard that can be seen up on the platform from which she jumped to the rope; eliminate him with a secondary knife attack, then do the same to the other Guard. With danger gone Alice can move forward and either jump or swing to the platform where she landed after her first rope swing, then pass the through the portal where the Elder was beckoning.
He is waiting for her on the other side in a Troll-powered airship, and in a long video he takes her to the Fortress of Doors, telling her on the way that there is a skool in the Fortress where she will find the items needed for a concoction that will make her small. He leaves her on a ledge outside the Fortress wall.
Fortress of Doors 1
A short distance ahead is a break in the Fortress wall that lets Alice enter a courtyard with a slowly oscillating building in it. Proceed over some blocks to a gate in the wall on the right. In the gallery inside, deal with the Boojum (secondary knife), then go into the large roofless room and head for the stairway on the far side. When she gets to the center of this room it slides apart, but there is a long floorboard on the right from which she can jump across the gap and continue to the stairway.
Go up the stairs and cross the balcony. On the other balcony above the entrance gate can be seen a slowly rotating portal, and in front of Alice is a Z-shaped walkway leading to that balcony. Jump to this walkway, which slowly sinks due to her weight while the other end rises. If she walks along the walkway, when she gets to the other end it will have sunk and she will be unable to jump to the portal balcony, therefore what she must do is run along the walkway so that when she gets to the end it is still high enough so that she will be able to make the leap to the portal balcony. Go through the portal to another venue.
Emerging from the portal Alice is at the entrance of a high walled simple maze in which there are a number of Card Guards for which she must be ready. Move ahead, and as she does go to the right and then to the left and she will be at a low pedestal on which there is a Ragebox. It may be ignored. Move to the left of the pedestal, then straight ahead into the corridor. In it go right and the maze exit door will be seen.
There are in fact four doors. Exiting the last Alice will be in a maelstrom where in the distance can be seen a portal in a ruin. Have her make her way to this portal, and when she goes through it she will be in a very similar scene, but where there was a portal there now is a door; should she go to this door she would find that it will not open. In front of her is a lever in the floor, and when she pulls it there is a brief cutscene of three doors closing, each one with a musical tone, and the sequence of the tones must be noted: low, high, and middle. Once again, should she try the distant door it will still not open.
Go down a stairway that is on the left. At the bottom is a row of three floor levers that are to be pulled so that the door closing tone sequence is reproduced (low being on the right). This action is the key to unlocking the distant door and the ones behind it, as shown in the cutscene if the levers are pulled correctly. Return up the stairs, cross the ever lengthening pathway, and proceed through the door.
Here another cutscene shows a room with a tiled floor that beaks up, then the sections continually rise and fall. Alice must jump from section to section so that she progresses to the top of the far end of the room. Just use the jump footprints and in short order she will be ready to make the final leap to the platform where through the open door may be seen yet another portal.
This portal takes Alice back to the maze, but now she is on the top of the maze walls, with the pedestal where the Ragebox was going up and down. There are three piers in front of her with a door on the center one. It opens briefly to display a portal, evolves into three doors that bound from pier to pier for a bit, then settle down so there is a door on each pier. She must approach a door hoping it will open to show the portal, and that she can go through it before the door closes. She will eventually succeed and will be back at the Fortress of Doors looking at the top of the surrounding wall.
From her position on the wall Alice can see the slowly oscillating building that she saw in the courtyard when she first came through the Fortress wall. This is the skool that on the balloon trip the Troll Elder said contained the items needed to make the get small potion. Go along the wall to the opposite side and in the building she will see an open window. Climb up on edge of the wall and jump through the window.
Skool Daze 1
The room in which Alice lands when jumping from the Fortress wall offers the first exposure to the Insane Children, whose sole function seems to be making annoying sounds and getting in the way, though later it will be found that the Mad Hatter uses them as fodder to produce his Clockwork Automatons. Move directly through this room and Alice will emerge in the main hall of the skool. She will encounter a multitude of Card Guards throughout her experiences in the skool.
The first thing to do is to acquire the new weapon on the small balcony on the left. Go up the stairs and move along the main balcony toward the smaller one. She can jump to the fireplace mantel and from there to the weapon, the Croquet Mallet. Jump down to the main floor and go through the doors underneath the weapon balcony.
Alice has entered the skool auditorium. A video shows her joining the Elder for a conversation down by the auditorium stage. He states that the potion recipe is to be found in the Book of Bizarre Things that is in the skool library. Two Card Guards come running down the aisles to attack; after Alice takes them out (her new weapon?), leave the auditorium and go back to the main room, where another video shows the Troll Elder in the library entrance moving a wall of books so as to give access to the main library. This entrance is at the top of the stairs and is the only accessible set of doors on the balcony.
Follow the book lined hallways to the bottom floor of the main part of the library, which is a huge four floored atrium. Go to the center and turn left, where in an alcove will be found the first of four Blue Books. When Alice moves to it it flies away, but this is not the last of it. Return to where she entered this atrium where may be found a platform at the base of a column with spiral markings. Get on the platform, which is an elevator that will take her to the second floor. When she gets off a cutscene shows the Cheshire Cat tilting a vertical bookcase to make a ramp to the next floor; remarkably, the same thing happens to a bookcase across the atrium. Turn left to see the second of the Blue Books, and it too flies away when she approaches it.
Go up the bookcase ramp the Cat produced and turn left at the top. At the end of the floor is a large red panel over which is a sign that says OBSERVATORY; Alice can't get in at this time, but its location is now known. Turn around and follow the perimeter of this floor all the way around until she is across the atrium from the Observatory and in front of a large elevator. On the way around the two Blue Books will be seen hovering above, and she will also encounter a third one and send it flying. Get in the elevator, which takes her up one floor, where in front of her is a fourth Blue Book. As she gets to it a cutscene shows it joining the other three at the far end of the atrium. Go there and jump from book to book to a large volume in an alcove. This is the Book of Bizarre Things.
Go over or around the book. In a cutscene the Cat appears and Alice tells him the book won't open, he suggests that she give it a tap, whereupon she pushes it off its base to fall to the first floor far below. The Blue Books have rearranged themselves so that Alice can use two of them to get to the next floor below where she can take the bookcase ramp down to the second floor and from which she can jump down to the Bizarre Things Book. The latter has conveniently fallen open to the desired recipe:
MUSHROOMS, POPPIES, SUGAR AND SPICE
ALL THOSE THINGS ARE VERY NICE
WHEN COMBINED THE PROPER MIXTURE
MAKES A GETTING-SMALL ELIXER
After she has read it she is transported to a new venue.
Skool's Out
The game fades her to the entrance of a new room in the skool, one that is circular in shape, and with a large dark pillar in the center; off to the right are double doors with pink heart-shaped lights on either side, and to the left are identical doors with white lights. Proceed through the doors on the left, where the Demon Dice weapon may be seen down and to the left on a room fragment floating in space. Go down the stairs and to the edge of the broken floor, where the idea is to jump to and gather the dice, jump back, and continue the game. However, this is not easily done because of the Boojum that appears immediately after the dice are acquired, and which can blow Alice off the platform into the void below.
Here is one way to success: have Alice jump to the right of the dice so that she does not pick them up, then turn back to face to the right of the stairs. Strafe to the right to get the dice, whereupon there is a comment from the Cheshire Cat that should be kept in mind. When the acquisition video fades, Alice will be holding the dice; immediately press the keyboard 3 key so that she will have a weapon to engage the Boojum that is right there. Having done this she should be able to dispatch it, then jump back and return up the stairs to the circular room.
Cross the room and enter the doors between the pink lights. Above these doors is a sign that says 1ST GRAYD, and beyond them is a hallway with two more doors, either of which opens to a large room that is a gymnasium. Off of a stage to the left is a small room with a lever in the floor, and when Alice moves this lever a cutscene shows bleachers extending from a side of the gym, and the Troll Elder beckoning from the rafters in one corner of the room. Go to the left end of the top of the bleachers where she can jump to a rafter, then to another, and make her way to the Troll Elder, hurrying past the swinging lamps to avoiding being knocked off the rafters. When she gets to him there is a cutscene in which he says that he has one of the ingredients of the getting small recipe and he shows Alice a mushroom. At the conclusion of this video be prepared for a serious Boojum attack which is best handled from the gym floor, so jump down to do so.
Return to the circular room and climb the stairs around the pillar to the second floor balcony. Here there is only one door that is not boarded up or wildly swinging, so go to that one. Above it there is a sign that says 2ND GRAYD. When Alice goes through the hall she will enter the skool laboratory with some apparatus bubbling on a table. The Troll Elder is being attacked by card guards, so she must save him.
A cutscene ensues in which the elder says he has sugar spice drops and now all that's needed is poppy seed, which Alice must get. For reasons not yet revealed, to do this she must have some Jumbo Grow, which the elder points out is in a nearby cupboard. Go over to the cupboard and get the flask of Jumbo Grow, then leave the lab. In the hall there are doors on either side; it doesn't matter which are chosen to go through because the results will be the same. She will enter a hall identical to the one just left, except that the sign above one of the end doors says 3RD GRAYD. Go through this door.
On the opposite wall from the room doors that Alice just entered is another set through which she must pass, but before she does, get another Croquet Mallet that is off to the left. At the far side of the final room is a large planter in which is a sign that says POPPY SEEDS. Approach the planter and the Jumbo Grow will appear and empty onto a glowing area, whereupon a lollipop will grow out of it. This is evidently the poppies (lollipoppies?) of the Book of Bizarre Things recipe; climb onto the planter to acquire it.
Now Alice must go back to the 2ND GRAYD laboratory where the Troll Elder is waiting to make the getting small potion. In a video he waves his arms at the apparatus and a vial of potion labeled Drink Me appears next to it. The elder is holding a shiny gold star, and he tells Alice it is for her. He says she must now leave the skool by way of the Observatory, then disappears leaving the star behind. Pick up both the star and the potion. When she turns to leave she finds that there is a portal in the doorway. Go through it.
Alice emerges from the portal through the previously locked door under the stairway in the skool main room. Go up the stairway to the door to the library on the right, through the hall to the unenclosed platform elevator, and up to the second floor. Go left and go up the tilted bookcase ramp to the third floor, then left to the Observatory. Since she has the star from the Troll Elder, the Observatory doors will open, and upon going through them she is in a rising elevator. When the elevator stops, leave it to enter the Observatory.
There is a large sphere in the center of the room and on a balcony a telescope pointed at it. Go around the sphere and up the broken stairs to the balcony, where the sphere can be seen to be a geographic globe. Look through the telescope to initiate a video in which the globe opens to reveal another portal, Alice drinks the get small potion, and flies through the portal to the Vale of Tears.
Pool of Tears
In this new exterior venue, Alice has achieved her goal of becoming very small, "about the size of a mouse", and her enemies for the time being change from Cards and Boojums to flowers, ants, and flying beetles. She now faces a high cliff down which cascades a waterfall, and she must make her way to the top. The White Rabbit can be briefly seen near the top of the cliff before he disappears into a crevice as an ant soldier pushes a boulder down sealing off the entrance.
Go over to the signpost on the left, from where Alice can jump across the ravine to the path at the base of the cliff to begin her ascent. She must do much jumping and climbing from rock to rock as she goes back and forth along segments of path across the cliff face, moving ever upward. On two occasions an ant soldier rolls a boulder down the path which will destroy her if she does not avoid it; in the case of the first one she can go behind the nearby waterfall, and when the second one is seen all that has to be done is stop and wait for it to fall away before it gets to her. The flying beetles that show up can be ignored, or she can gain experience knocking them out of the air; for a long while in the game there will be many more dropping acorn bombs on her. At the top of the cliff she will encounter a couple ant soldiers, but she has weapons to easily disposed of them.
From the waterfall crest travel upstream along the path next to the stream, jumping across it as necessary. Soon Alice will meet the Mock Turtle next to a pool, and in a video he tells her that the Duchess has taken his shell, and if Alice gets it back for him he will lead her to the White Rabbit and thus the Caterpillar, whom she must find in her quest to save Wonderland. He then jumps on a leaf floating in the pool and sails off down a branch of the stream. Another leaf falls onto the pool surface, and Alice must use it to follow the Turtle.
Jump on the waiting leaf, which then starts downstream, passing over a small waterfall onto more rapidly moving water, then another small waterfall and into another pool. Here the leaf turns and passes under a large overhanging root that can brush Alice into the water (Snark attack), so before this can happen she must jump from the leaf to the root. Ignore the flying beetles. If she is adept she can jump back onto the leaf after it passes under the branch, otherwise she must get onto another of the endlessly passing leaves.
The leaf takes Alice over another small waterfall where she sees the Mock Turtle ahead of her, then over a large waterfall where she falls into the stream. Immediately go left and jump out onto the bank before the Snarks arrive. Walk along the bank and dispatch two ant soldiers, then jump from lilypad to lilypad to the waiting leaf, which starts downstream. Right after emerging from the spray of a waterfall there will be another root that she must jump over or be brushed into the water, or else jump on and wait for another leaf, which will carry her onward through a hollow log. Keep her positioned near the center of the leaf as she continues on until another root hanging down is seen; move to the right until past it.
In due time she will come to a waterfall that will cause her to perish if she goes over; a helpful warning sign that she is approaching it is some thorns from a Pink Rose shooting by. Just before reaching the falls the leaf carries her close to the right bank where there is a streamside ledge to which she must jump from the leaf. Go up and around a large rock to see the leaf waiting in the stream below at the base of the falls. Go down to the leaf and continue downstream where there is yet another group of roots waiting to push her into the water; jump onto it.
Here Alice will be subject to a serious flying beetle attack, so she must be prepared to deal with it or they will bomb her into the water. As soon as possible, have her jump onto a leaf. As she goes downstream toward another fatal waterfall the Mock Turtle will be seen crossing a bridge. Almost immediately after that she will be at the brink of this dangerous falls, where she must look for a hanging vine to grasp or a rock on the left to which to jump (the latter is perhaps easier). If she goes to the rock, jump and climb to be near the bridge that the Turtle crossed; if she grabs the vine, climb it a little, then swing to this area.
Do not bother to cross the bridge on the left, it leads to a dead end. Instead, follow the path away from the bridge, climb up a ledge, and continue upward to another pool. Keep Alice close to the right hand wall of rocks and she will get a glimpse of the Mock Turtle. When she gets to the pool a leaf will fall onto it; jump on and it will start down stream. Keep Alice near the center so some mushrooms will not knock her off. She will go over a waterfall and into the next venue; however, if she does get knocked off the leaf she can swim to and go over the waterfall.
Hollow Hideaway
When gameplay resumes after Alice has gone over the waterfall, she has somehow rescued herself and is on a path next to the stream, where she has a long walk ahead of her. On the way she must dispatch a pair of ant soldiers, and another pair when she gets to the end of the path at a calm lake where there are two lilypads moving slowly back and forth. Beware of this calm water, in it dwells a very large fish that will end the game by swallowing Alice in one gulp if she falls in and stays too long in the water.
Jump from lilypad to lilypad to a black rock; if flying beetles are heard coming, Alice must get ready to dispose of them as they approach because they can bomb her off the lilypads into the water and the waiting voracious fish. Jump to the rock when the pad swings close to it. From there go along the path skirting the lake until stopped, then jump down to a root protruding over the lake and onto another of those conveniently waiting leaves. Be ready to strafe because there are three opportunities for Alice to be brushed into the water as the leaf sails along. When it stops, leap to the path on the shore.
Move along the path, using a lilypad to get around a rock, until it ends below a slope where there is a Hart Meta next to an evil mushroom (the first of many that will be encountered) with several ant soldiers in the background. These 'shrooms are best avoided, because once drawn to them it is difficult to escape; however, one can try by simultaneously moving backward and strafing or jumping. They can also attack by emitting a green toxic mist, but if they do that they are then vulnerable to your weapons. Go up the slope toward the large white tree on the left; you can get past the 'shroom by staying close to it.
Eliminate the ant soldiers and the Pink Rose that pops up, then move along and take care of the second set of soldiers. Keep going to meet another Pink Rose and possibly a flying beetle, then go to the shore and another waiting leaf. There two of these, jump to the one on the left. The trip on this leaf will be very short. Ignore the flying beetles and look around for torches on shore, then use a couple of lilypads to get to them, eliminate the ant soldiers, and go up the path to the house. Here will be a creature that is most likely a lizard, and in a cutscene states that he is Bill McGill and that this is the Duchess's house. Follow him to be drawn into the house and the next venue.
This venue is just one big fight with the Duchess to keep her from eating Alice, and when this creature is destroyed, Alice will get the Mock Turtle's shell for him. It will not be easy to best the Duchess because she is a formidable foe, continually attacking with her big teeth and virulent clouds of pepper. From the house entrance move Alice along the corridor into which she has been sucked by following Bill McGill and she will arrive at the arena where the confrontation will take place. For convenience Alice should be in the always run mode in this venue. Around the sides of this large room are several metas that can be used to regenerate the red Sanity meter as hits are taken from the Duchess, and on a table in the center of the room is a new weapon, a Jackbomb. Go to the table and jump up to acquire it.
The Jackbomb is a pretty fearsome weapon if one learns how to use it. The left mouse key primary attack causes Alice to toss the bomb ahead of her a short distance where after a delay that allows her to move out of range it explodes, presumably destroying any enemy nearby (but maybe not, depending on the enemy); the right mouse key alternate attack explosion is delayed longer but the explosion throws out fiery streams in several directions that persist for a while, consuming anyone they touch or who runs into them, and this includes Alice. After she tosses it, there is a delay until it appears in her hand to be used again.
As soon as the Jackbomb is acquired, the Duchess appears from the fireplace and comments are exchanged in a video, at the conclusion of which the battle begins. The best weapon is the new Jackbomb, trying to toss it to a location where the Duchess is expected to be (and Alice will not) when it goes off. Before being successful there will probably be much running around the room recharging the Sanity meter from the several metas. Keep Alice trying.
There is one ploy that Alice can try: she can get on the fireplace mantle where she will be safe from the Duchess and attack her from there as long as the latter remains close by. However, if the Duchess moves away she can use her pepper clouds on Alice from a distance.
When the bomb does the Duchess in she literally sneezes the top of her head off. This brings up a cutscene in which a panel in the room wall swings open and Bill McGill and the Mock Turtle enter. The Turtle gets his shell, and to keep his bargain with Alice to find the White Rabbit says she must now swim behind him, following his trail of bubbles as an air supply. McGill opens the table top, and the Turtle and Alice jump to the next venue.
Wholly Morel Ground
In this venue all Alice does is follow the Mock Turtle in a long underground swim, staying in his stream of trailing bubbles as a source of air. As might be expected this is not as easy as it sounds. There are many impediments in this watery scenario that she must maneuver around as she pursues his erratic path, killer slabs that fall from above, Snarks and another voracious fish that can swallow Alice in one gulp. It is easy to lose the Turtle and difficult to find him again. Hold down the forward movement key and be very nimble with the mouse until she finally reaches the exit opening in the cavern roof.
Dry Landing
Alice flies out of a pool after the long underwater swim following the Mock Turtle and lands on a path next to the pool. A cutscene follows in which the Turtle appears, talks to Alice and makes her an honorary reptile (she is shown briefly wearing a turtle shell, so it should be amphibian, not reptile), and he then swims away. As an honorary amphibian she can stay under water longer without having to surface to breathe.
Move Alice along the path between some large rocks where she encounters an ant soldier. Flying beetles are heard all the time so be on continual alert for them. Advance to another pool in which there are lily pads. Leap pad to pad to a hanging vine. Climb the vine and swing to a path on a ledge. Proceed along the path toward the waterfall, encountering a Pink Rose on the way. Go behind the waterfall and keep going along the path until it ends next to a Bounce Mushroom growing from the cliff wall out over the stream; also over the stream is a hanging vine. Face the vine, strafe jump left to the Mushroom, and bounce to the vine. Swing to a path where the White Rabbit is waiting. A cutscene ensues in which the Rabbit says they must find the all-knowing Caterpillar, then he runs away down the path.
Follow the Rabbit to a cliff edge where two fungi can be seen on the far wall. Jump to the fungi; from the second one jump to another hanging vine and then swing to a path below a big tree branch. Proceed along the path, encountering another Pink Rose. Flying beetles can still be heard, expect an attack. Keep going, encountering another Pink Rose and flying beetles. If necessary, a Heart Meta is available by climbing a couple of fungi.
The path takes Alice to the edge of a deep abyss in which can be seen four Bounce Mushrooms, two hanging vines, and a ledge below on the left. Jump to the ledge, walk to the first vine, and get rid of the ant soldier on the ledge across the way. Alice can get to that ledge by swinging vine to vine, or by jumping to the Mushrooms and using the movement keys. From the ledge go through the arch in the base of a very large and tall tree stump into its hollow center. Here she will find two small Sanities floating above a rock, a Bounce Mushroom growing from the stump wall, and high up two fungi, from one of which hangs a vine.
Go up on the rock past the Sanities and jump to the vine. Climb the vine to the height of the Mushroom, back off so that she is looking down, and start swinging. Let go when near the Mushroom, and if everything has been gauged correctly, Alice will bounce up between the fungi to a ledge near the top of the stump. Move along the ledge to the deep notch in the stump. She can see another ledge far down—don't have Alice jump to that as the distance is too great and she will perish. Try to jump to the top of the stump to the right of the notch; she won't make it but will fall to an opening in the stump wall a short way down.
An alternative is to manipulate the mouse and the movement keys after Alice bounces off the Mushroom so that she lands on the fungus from which the vine is suspended. From there she can jump to the opening in the stump wall.
Be on the immediate lookout for an ant general and take him out right away. Proceed beyond the opening in the stump wall down a quite long path, watching and listening for flying beetles, until Alice comes to a narrow rock bridge, which an earthquake causes to crumble and fall away just as she approaches it. Jump to the near Bounce Mushroom, which will pass her to the other one and back up to the path beyond the collapsed bridge. Keep going along the path until she gets to a vine that she can use to get to a fungus growing from the rock wall, and where there is another vine. Jump to this vine, climb to near the top, and swing to the nearby path.
Move along this path, watching for flying beetles, until it ends at the river where three flat rocks are to be found in the water. In the distance can just be seen a Pink Rose that will attack when Alice jumps to the nearest flat rock, but it easily vanquished since she knows it is there. Jump back to the river bank on the right, then to the two flat rocks ahead. Jump to the path along the river to the left, which will take her into a cave that leads to the next venue.
Immediately after exiting the tunnel from the Dry Landing venue there is a series of cutscenes in which the White Rabbit tells Alice that the Caterpillar is nearby (it isn't) and they should hurry to him, then he scampers off leaving her to follow. A pair of legs with very large feet appears and stomps the Rabbit flat. Alice is discouraged and remorseful, then the Cheshire Cat appears and tells her to get on with it as she must find the Caterpillar.
Gameplay resumes with Alice in a level area next to the flattened White Rabbit. There are three exits from this area: one leads back to the cave from Dry Landing, the one ahead goes between hills on which is a very large mushroom on the left, and a yellow flower and two metas on the right, and off to the right rear past a nearby meta is an exit that goes under an arch made of two very large stones. Should Alice decide to return to Dry Landing she will find that the cave has somehow become blocked, so she can't go back.
There are at least three holes in the grounds of Herbaceous Border, all of which lead to an underground maze of caves, walkways, and deep pits that have various game elements at the bottom and on the sides. These elements can be helpful, such as vines, gaseous thermals, and metas, or they can be inimical, such as evil mushrooms and ant soldiers. (On the surface she can encounter several Pink Roses and flying beetles, and perhaps Ant Soldiers and Ant Lions.) The pits are interconnected by the caves and crossed by the walkways, some of which fall away before Alice can use them. Her endeavor to make her way through this maze in her quest to find the Caterpillar can be done from any entrance hole and by different paths, though longer routes provide additional chances for her to perish on the way.
One of the cave maze entrance holes is readily found by passing under the arch of stones. To get to another Alice must jump/climb a series of ledges below the two metas, then move off to find two vines hanging from the stone arch in order to swing to the area of the hole. To get to a third hole, move straight ahead between the large mushroom and the yellow flower, then bear to the left past a Heart Meta on a fungus, turn sharp left, and go up to find the hole below the mushroom.
As stated, Alice can enter the maze from any of the holes, and she can proceed through any of the caves (and you may well have fun trying the different ones), but the path here described is the most direct. Go to the hole under the stone arch and jump into it. Proceed through the cave until it ends at a ledge overlooking a pit in which can be seen on the right a hanging vine and on the pit bottom two towers emitting vapors. Faintly through the bubbles can be seen a cave entrance on the wall opposite. All that Alice has to do is jump into the thermal bubbles, then use the forward movement key to have her float across the pit to the cave entrance. If she falls to the bottom and survives the fall, she can climb the vine and swing back to the ledge to try again to float across.
Progress through this new cave until it divides, whereupon Alice should take the left passage toward a pathway stone bridge that leads across another pit. Just as she get to the bridge, however, the pair of big feet that flattened the White Rabbit stomp on the ground above and cause the bridge to fall away. In this pit she can again see on the right a vine and below two towers giving off thermal vapors; also below are 3 metas and an evil mushroom. Most important, on the wall of the pit on the left is a Bounce Mushroom, and overhead is a walkway that did not collapse when the other one did. You must have Alice use the Mushroom to bounce up to the pathway.
To do this, have Alice face the Jump Mushroom, quickly press and release the W key and the spacebar, then when she bounces up, briefly press the W key and she will land on the pathway. If she misses the pathway and falls to the bottom of the pit, she can get back to the ledge for another attempt by using the bubbles or the vine.
Follow the pathway across the pit and through the cave on the other side to yet another pit with a pathway across it, near the end of which is a fungus on which there is another Croquet Mallet weapon. Jump up and gather this Mallet even though Alice already has two, since the more she has of a weapon, the more effective it will be. Return to the path and continue through the cave; as she approaches the end there will be a cutscene in which the Cheshire Cat tells Alice to go with the flow.
Alice is now at the beginning of the exit of the underground maze. As previously stated, other caves to traverse may be chosen and encounter other pits and obstacles, but there will always be a way for
her to persist and get to this point.
From the ledge at the end of the cave can be seen two vines, thermal bubbles rising from below, and on the far wall a couple ledges below which are two fungi. In the distance is a ledge with something glowing on it, which from the cutscene with the Cat just seen is another set of Card weapons. The Cat's admonition is a hint for Alice to jump onto the rising thermal bubbles; she can then float to the first of the vines, climb it to the level of the ledges on the wall, swing to the next vine, and then to a ledge. Do not go to the fungi. Jump to the next ledge and then to the Cards. Gather the Cards, then go through the cave and climb out to the surface.
Upon leaving the exit hole go up the slope and turn left, moving until coming to a vine hanging from a tree branch. Swing across the chasm on the vine, and keep going to soon come to another hole. Enter the hole to a cave that will take her to the next game venue, Rolling Stones. At this point it is advisable for Alice to be in the running mode.
This venue begins with a cutscene of flying beetles swarming in and one of them dropping a huge marble into the cave entrance where Alice now is. In her reduced size the marble can easily crush her, and in the confines of the cave all she can do is run from it. Guide her down a ramp that curves around the wall of a large shaft and through a short cave where she uses a couple Bounce Mushrooms to get to another cave, at the end of which she must cross another chasm on the bones of some large beast to yet another cave that terminates at sheet of thin ice, and when she crosses that to a final cave she falls through the cave floor to another venue.
This is a part of the game that is simple in concept but difficult in execution. Here is what to do: before the initial flying beetle cutscene ends, press the W key and hold it down through the entire episode so that Alice keeps continually running; any delay (such as storing a game) will almost certainly allow the marble to catch up with her. Upon leaving the pathway down the shaft and entering the first cave, a short runway appears at its end, extending out into a chasm; do not go out on it. At the point where the runway begins, jump to the Bounce Mushroom on the right, then immediately turn Alice slightly to the left so she lands on the fungus next to the Mushroom. She will keep running to the adjacent Bounce Mushroom and jump to the next cave.
Keep her running through the cave and across the curving skeleton bridge, through the cave on the other side and out on the ice sheet. She may cross without falling through, but it will help if she jumps as she gets near the far edge of the ice. She will continue until she falls through the cave floor and away from the marble. Now she can stop running.
Icy Reception
Alice lands on a flat rock in a large cave with a floor of ice and slides to a stop at a cave wall. As might be expected in this frigid venue, most of the surfaces are quite slippery, and this presents a danger because she can slide off them to her doom. Go to the mouth of the cave where it overlooks a pit and jump up to a rock on the right so that she gets a good view of the pit. An Ice Wand weapon will be seen below on a platform atop a pedestal with narrow walkways leading to it from the left and right, the latter one leading to an exit cave in the pit wall.
From this rock it is possible to carefully jump to a ledge below, carefully being the operative word, and move up to a position above the Ice Wand so that Alice can jump to it. If she does this she will gather it into her weapons collection when she lands, then the pathway to the exit cave will fall away. Face Alice toward the rocks from which she jumped to the Ice Wand platform, and though it looks quite far she can leap and climb to a rock overlooking the entrance of the exit cave, and then to this cave.
If the foregoing access to the Ice Wand platform is found to be too difficult (too slippery), an easier route is to return to the cave overlooking the pit and jump up on the rock on the left, then have her make her way along rocks and ledges on the side of the pit down to where she will be across from a ledge that encircles a conical spire. Jump to this ledge, and on the other side of the spire is a walkway leading to the Ice Wand. When she gets to it and gathers it into her arsenal, the pathway to the exit cave falls away; if she does not pick it up this does not happen and she can follow the pathway to the exit cave, but then she will not have the powerful Ice Wand, which she will need many times. There is no other Ice Wand in the game.
As Alice enters the pit exit cave there will be a brief cutscene in which the marble appears and bounds with uncanny accuracy to this cave, so be ready to start running again as the cutscene ends. As Alice approaches the far end of the cave she will find a recess in the left wall of the cave where she can stop and be out of the path of the marble and it will roll on past her; alternatively, she can exit the cave and move to the left to escape the marble as soon as she gets out. In either case, be prepared to deal with three flying beetles immediately after the marble passes.
Out of the cave to the left is another Jackbomb to acquire and strengthen that weapon, then follow the path along the canyon edge to the right of the cave until it ends at two towers emitting thermal vapors. Leap into the bubbles and steer Alice across the canyon to the path on the other side. Follow this path and Alice will finally find the Caterpillar. After a lecture from him and instructions of what she must do now, he will create a portal for her to go to the Fungiferous Flora venue (Forest, he says).
Fungiferous Flora
Once again Alice is in a cavern, this time in the center of a ring of stone pillars, half of them short and flaming. She is facing a pair of evil mushrooms that she must get past, but there is not enough room to go between or around them without being captured. She must run at either one and when very close she can jump over it to the exit cave behind it. The frustrated 'shroom will start spitting its green poisonous mist, so she must get far enough away or turn and hit it about three times with her thrown knife.
There is another evil mushroom at the cave exit and there is not enough headroom to jump over it, but she can run past it if she stays as far as possible to the right, but she must be ready to do battle immediately with an ant lion, an ant soldier, and flying beetles, though she may be able to run past them as well. There are more enemies farther on in this hilly world of mushrooms, most of latter being benign but several evil ones.
Alice must proceed through this venue until she locates a pond that is under the trunk of a very large fallen tree on the left; it is also near a dense group of large mushrooms with fat stems. The pond will be readily apparent because there are three metas floating above it. Swim through the pond, keeping to the left so that when emerging she will be away from the grasp of an evil mushroom.
Again Alice has an alternative, and a good one. In the cave facing the two evil mushrooms, at the base of one of the tall pillars to her left she can find a Darkened Looking Glass, which when she picks it up and looks at it, renders her invisible for a short time (her weapon can still be seen). In this unseen state she can bypass the mushrooms to the passage behind them leading to the Fungiferous Flora. If Alice starts running as soon as she locates the passage she can get beyond the enemies at the exit before her invisibility wears off, but she must be alert that she is not near an evil mushroom when this happens; there are a number of them around. In fact, if Alice starts running immediately after the mirror cutscene fades and invisibility begins, she can actually make it into the pond and almost out before visibility returns.
A little farther along after Alice gets out of the pond under the fallen tree she will have the opportunity pick up another of the Demon Dice. Then continue on, staying close to passage edges to avoid evil mushrooms, and she will shortly come to a tunnel opening in a tree. Jump in, move forward to a ledge, and jump down. Run forward to get past the flying beetles and Alice will become a captive of the Soldier Ant minions of the Centipede and thrown by them into his lair.
Centipede's Sanctum
This venue is primarily a difficult running battle with the Centipede, very much like that with the Duchess, with metas around the lair perimeter. This villain can spit venom, bite, and release miniature copies of himself. Hit the ground running and keep it up; running backward might be a good idea, as well as strafing. If a miniature centipede attaches itself to Alice, it can be dislodged by jumping.
When the Centipede rears up to lunge for a bite his weak spot is revealed, a red area on his lower body. Have Alice hit this a few times with her weapon of choice and he will be killed. The Ice Wand has been suggested, but others will work, perhaps the Jackbomb or throwing the knife. When mortally wounded he staggers a bit, then falls. As he hits the ground stalactites fall from the roof forming a series of steps that are used to get to the mushroom up on the central rocks. A bite of this mushroom and Alice regains her full size and a video takes her onward.
Caterpillar's Plot 1
The scene into which Alice has been transported is a flat rocky area containing lava pools and surrounded by huge boulders. Here she will meet several new enemy types and a number of old ones. The Heart and Spade Card Guards here are tougher and have more powerful weapons to use against her than the Club and Diamond Guards had previously. Right away there will be couple of the weak Fire Imps, but they are readily eliminated by the Mallet, Knife, or Ice Wand.
A weapon can be seen on a pillar not far away, and it is always a good idea in this game to acquire a weapon when one becomes available. Getting to it is not a straight path and getting up the pillar might present a little difficulty, but not much. This toy is the first part of the Jabberwock's Eye Staff, and when Alice gets it a short cutscene shows a gate below a stone arch going down, a good indication of the next objective. Alice can see this arch from her position atop the pedestal, and on the way to it a sign indicates that it leads to the cave of the Oracle.
Passing a lava pool she will probably have her first encounter with a Magma Monster-—the Ice Wand will take care of it. A Phantasmagoria will likely appear from under the arch-—the Ice Wand works on this enemy as well. If Alice starts running when she is under the arch she will get past a lot of enemies, otherwise she will have Boojums, Imps, and Card Guards to deal with.
Shortly after three Sanities can be seen in the distance, Alice will have a dialog with the unseen Oracle in a cutscene. He tells her that "the endgame with the Red Queen is possible only after you crush her sentinel--the vile, fierciucious, and vengeful Jabberwock. Without the staff that bears his name, destroying him is the hopeless work of a wasted life." Alice tells him she has one piece of the staff and asks where she can find the rest. His reply: "Scattered throughout the world. When you have them all in hand, checkmate is possible. The pale royals may be of use." Another brief cutscene shows a castle with a portal in the gate and a couple red pawns patrolling in front of it.
Alice interprets "pale royals" to mean the white chess King and Queen. There is a sign back at the entry area that indicates the direction to the Pale Realm, so head back to that area and proceed up the pathway indicated by the sign. The rocky pathway eventually turns to one of scattered chessboard squares leading upward. Several red pawns can be seen moving on the tiles. The pawns are susceptible to the knife or mallet at a distance (usually) or the Ice Wand when close.
About half way up the path distance that can be seen from its start there is a Darkened Looking Glass to be found with a little searching under a square, but this Powerup is of limited use because its effect wears off before getting very far on this broken path.
Have Alice just keep going up the path, dealing with enemies as she comes to them, and when she reaches the portal in the castle entrance, continue through into the next venue.
Pale Realm
After passing through the portal there is a cutscene of a clock, followed by another of a White Rook coming out of a door and taking a position in front of it, and the door closing. Proceed into the almost colorless hall; it is, after all the palace of the White King and Queen. The palace is under attack by the Red Queen's chess pieces, and the multitude of the latter that are all about in this castle will assail Alice as well as white chess pieces. The Ice Wand is very effective against all of them.
Inside the hall on the right there is a wall fountain with a pool, and on the left is a White Bishop standing in front of a short corridor. Go to the Bishop and a cutscene shows Alice becoming a white bishop at the other end of the corridor.
Bishop Alice must traverse the room in front of her to the exit on the right, and she can only move according to chess rules: diagonally on white squares. There are impediments: many squares are bottomless pits and several have deadly spikes going up and down over them. Clearly these squares must be avoided, and this is easy to do because the view can be adjusted to see ahead where not to go, so in about 20 moves the bishop is at the exit and becomes Alice again.
Go up the steps ahead into a courtyard in which there is another Croquet Mallet weapon on a pedestal in a center pavilion. To jump up to the Mallet stand a little away from the pedestal. Alice will be returning to this courtyard several times, so from the advantage of the pedestal top look about and note the features around the perimeter. She can see the White Rook of the initial cutscene, the entry where she came in, and a door that has the same appearance as the castle entry door. On either side of the latter are doors to small rooms that contain Sanities in case they are needed.
On a low terrace to the left of the entry is a set of double doors leading into a room that has a platform elevator. When Alice steps on the elevator it lifts her to an opening where she can move off into a hall with two doors. Go to the one on the right, the other leads to a dead end. Through this door and around a corner and she is looking down a corridor that has a row of noisy spikes shooting up from the floor, dropping back down, then repeating one tile farther away. When the spikes have moved to the far end of the corridor the process begins again. Watch it and see. All Alice has to do is get close to the spikes as they rise near her, them follow one tile at a time as they move down the floor, and when they recycle to start all over they will be way behind her and she can move on.
Ahead is another open area, this one with a bridge in the center (over the chess challenge when Alice was a bishop, as it happens). Cross the bridge and go to the right to the doors with the lighted windows, behind which are stairs leading upward, with another Deck of Cards weapon in an alcove. At the top of the stairs is a door that opens to a courtyard balcony in which there is a floor lever. When Alice pulls it there follows a cutscene in which the doors from which the White Rook emerged at the start of this venue open again and he goes back through them. The doors remain open.
There are several ways to backtrack to the courtyard floor, but the most straightforward way to get there is simply to jump down from the balcony, and from there follow the Rook through the doors he left open. He will fight with a Red Bishop; Alice can either help him or let him do it on his own. Ahead and to the right is another open area and another bridge, this one crossing water and with an unmoving waterwheel on the right. On the left are more spikes going down and up. Cross the bridge and go around a tower to them.
Alice now faces another chess challenge similar to the one she had when she briefly became a bishop. Here a White Knight transforms her to another one and she must pass through another board of spikes and pits. It would be expected that her moves should conform to the L-shaped ones of a knight, but this is not always the case (at least in the easy play mode); at any rate, getting through the challenge is quite easy, and when accomplished she is again Alice.
Move forward and go right up a set of steps, turn right and go through a smaller door. Inside go up the stairs to find another Jackbomb weapon on a table. After picking it up go out the door, along a walkway to a tower, through that and across another walkway to a tower with a floor lever. Upon pulling it a cutscene shows the waterwheel turning, and the water level rising.
Return across the walkways to the area just outside the door to the stairs; looking left across the water Alice can see a Heart Meta at the edge of the water. Go down the stairs, out the door, and move to where she completed the knight chess challenge and became herself again. The Heart Meta is straight ahead. Enter the water and swim to it; with the higher water level she can reach the edge of the wall and pull herself up. Go up the stairs, through the large dark doors, and along the corridor. After turning the corner a cutscene will take her to the next venue.
Castling
Go through the doors into a vast courtyard in front of a very large castle. There are fallen White chess pieces, which would indicate the loss of a fight. Proceed under the arch toward the castle gate, and as Alice nears it a cutscene shows the captured White Queen being carried off by Red Rooks escorted by Red Knights. The Rooks carry the Queen to a conveyance and take off while the knights stay to attack Alice; the Ice Wand takes care of them. Go into the castle to come upon a fight between Red and White pieces; she can help if she wishes, but it is not necessary.
This room has a wall fountain on the far end, balconies on each side, and on each of these two identical doors. On either balcony enter the door closest to the fountain and move through the halls and doors following the only route that can be taken. Alice will come upon another battle where the Red pieces may attack her. At the end of this fight she should be on a landing between two rising stairs and in front of a large picture of royalty. Go up the broad staircase opposite the picture and through the doors into the presence of the White King.
Advance toward the King and in a cutscene a long exchange ensues in which the King says Alice must help rescue the Queen and he presents her with a pawn to help her. She in turn says that her immediate mission is to get the remaining parts of the Jabberwock Eye Staff, to which he makes no reply. He says she must make a fontal attack on the Red Castle, and that the Rooks will show her the way. Immediately turn and follow either one of them—she will have to run to keep up—until he leads her to a portal. Jump to the portal and the next venue.
Checkmate in Red
Move Alice forward in the hall in which she finds herself until she can jump down to a broad flight of steps. Go down these and then another flight to the right. Here, except for the color, everything looks familiar. She is near a bridge over some water and on the right is a turning waterwheel, just as in the Pale Realm; however, Alice is not to follow the same movements of that venue.
Do not go out on the bridge, rather move Alice to the foot of the tower on the left and enter the water. Turn around and swim to the two metas to be seen in the wall recess, then jump out. She may find herself clinging to a rope or on a ledge next to it; if the latter, jump and grab it. Climb to the top and swing to the ledge up there. Follow the pathways through the next tower and to the door from which two Red Pawns emerge. When she goes through that door she will find the last of the Demon Dice weapons. Having acquired them, there is another door to exit, which takes her to a hallway where she is treated to a video of the Red King applying a guillotine to the White Queen.
At the conclusion of the video she has to travel through a long succession of many different hallways and stairs until she finally comes to a hole in the floor. On the way, when she comes to the porch on the right keep her close to the wall on the left to protect her from an attack from atop the wall. Jump through the hole to the floor below, then go over the drawbridge to a chessboard platform with a pavilion floating above it. A cutscene shows the drawbridge rising, then the Red King materializes.
Now Alice must vanquish the King in one of those running fights such as she had with the Duchess and the Centipede. For distance attack he has the destructive laser beams that the Red Bishops have, and up close he can strike using his scepter. As before, metas appear around the edge of the arena, but she must be careful not to run over the edge into the void when getting to them. The Ice Wand will suffice to eventually do him in, but using it can exhaust the blue Will meter at least once, probably more, and if that happens, Alice's weapon reverts to the Knife, so after the meter receives a charge from the metas the Ice Wand must be keyed again. Or else do not let the Will meter become exhausted before going to the metas.
Upon the King being conquered, a long video shows a series of rather confusing scenes. One of these has Alice placing the White Pawn she is carrying onto the chessboard where it changes to a White Queen-—one of the rules in chess is that if a player can get a pawn to his opponent's last row he is allowed to replace it with any other piece. The Mad Hatter (who is a villain in this version of Alice's Adventures) appears towering over Alice and delivers a hit to her head that knocks her out, and she regains consciousness in the next venue.
The confusing video continues. Alice is lying on her back looking at a portrait of a man in a top hat (a young Mad Hatter??), then at several breaking clocks; the scene rotates a quarter turn and she slides down to end up standing on a track with insane children walking back and forth. There are exits on both the left and right, beyond which can be seen mirrored hallways. Going in either direction will move the game along, but send Alice to the left. Curiously, the innumerable mirrors do not show a reflection of her.
As may be expected, these halls contain many enemies, both old and new, but the Ice Wand takes care of them all. Despite appearances, going through these hallways is quite linear. There are many places where the path divides, but in each case one of them turns out to be a dead end, and Alice just has to be sure that she don't become confused when backtracking and end up on the return path; this is particularly true subsequent to repulsing an enemy attack. After a fairly long trek through the tunnels and mirrored hallways she will come upon another weapon for her arsenal, the Jacks.
After leaving the alcove where Alice found the Jacks, move straight ahead to the hallway end. Before her is a mirror wall, but on the left is a display window through which can be seen a clock with pendulum swinging. Recall in this venue starting video all the breaking clocks—-that was a hint. Turn around and proceed through the tunnel on the right and continue bearing right, looking for the room where the clock was seen. It will be found behind a mirror that has been broken, where there is also a large vertical pipe and a large horizontal pipe, as well as a turning gear. Alice could jump onto and follow the horizontal pipe to get to the clock, but she doesn't have to do that. Throw the knife at it, and when it breaks, through the window the mirror wall will be seen to rise, so return there to see what awaits.
What awaits is the end of a large tube about the size of the mirrors. Carefully and slowly approach this tube and when Alice gets to a critical distance it vanishes to show on each side a pair of corridors facing each other. Continue ahead, the tube reappears, and she can leap into it. When she gets to the center a Phantasmagoria approaches from the other end; after finishing it off with the Ice Wand she will find that the tube has rotated a quarter turn connecting to the two facing corridors. Looking at them it may be seen that they are mirror images of each other; in fact, most of the rest of this venue is a mirror image subsequent to this point.
Alice could go into either one of these corridors, but for this walkthrough continue to the one ahead, and in the rooms behind all the doors with windows use the knife or cards to break the clocks and stop the gas coming from the ceiling pipes. Each time she does this immediately key the Ice Wand again so that she will be able to take care of the several Spiders that drop from the walls as she moves along the corridors. After four rooms go back through the tube and repeat this clock breaking action in the other corridor for another four. (In one of these eight rooms the clock is already broken.) When she breaks the clock of the last room there is a cutscene of a vertical pipe that begins to leak and then explodes along with a door next to it. The glimpse of the room behind the burst door is too brief to tell what it contains.
Now go through the two sets of big wooden double doors at the end of the corridor. When Alice goes through them she will be attacked by one to four Boojums, so be ready for them. Try to do this close by, maybe get them to follow Alice inside the outer door, so that their metas will not be out of reach. She may have to wait a bit to be sure that all appear that are going to.
Beyond the doors is a short section of solid floor followed by three tilting platforms, the first and last tilt front to back, the middle one side to side. When Alice steps out onto the first one it starts to sink under her weight; run up and get to the second one, and if she stays in the middle it will not tilt and she can walk to the third. Walk out onto this one and it will sink beneath her. Alice will slide down to the edge but not off. Continue walking up the steeply tilted platform and as she approaches the center it will start to level itself. When the far edge is near the ledge below the doors that she must reach, run up, jump to the ledge, and climb up to face another of the big wooden double doors. If Alice falls into the void during any of this, she will end up between the first two doors and can try again. Boojums already eliminated will not reappear, but there may be others.
Inside the doors is the scene that was seen in the cutscene that so briefly showed when she broke the last clock. Be prepared for a couple of immediate enemies. Looking down the long room it appears to be one of mechanical activity with a wide walkway reaching to the other end. At intervals along both sides are large pipes with openings pointed upward; these are suction sources that will pull Alice off the walkway into the water below if she gets too close to any of them. Possibly she will land on a ledge instead of in the water, in which case she may be able to reach a rope and swing back to the walkway, or even jump back.
Down near the middle of the walkway may be seen a Clockwork Automaton. Select the Jacks and move toward it, being careful not to get caught by a suction pipe, until a rotating targeting reticle appears on it. Throwing the Jacks a couple times should take care of the Automaton. The Demon Dice may work as well. However, depending on how effectively the weapons are used, the Automaton may be able to reach Alice, in which case quickly switch to the Ice Wand.
The way to get past the suction pipes is to run. Off to the side of the walkway center where the Clockwork Automaton was first seen are three large rings in a row swinging from chains, and a narrow walkway leading to them. What Alice must do is run down to and out on this latter walkway to the rings, go through them, and onto another walkway that leads to an exit from this area. Of course this not that easy, because there is a Boojum that will scream her off the narrow walkway, and if she manages to dispose of it, there is another Clockwork Automaton hidden near the second walkway to blow her off by the explosives it throws.
Difficult or not, it must be done. Before Alice runs down to the rings, try waiting for the Boojum to come up to her, as it will be easy to use the Ice Wand to dispose of it near the long room entrance. Then, Jacks in hand, make the run to the rings and look for the Automaton by the right hand ring and get it in the swirling reticle so the Jacks toss will be effective. Getting so that she is shielded by the rings is one possibility. With no more attacks imminent, she can take her time passing through the swinging rings to the far walkway and then to the exit door.
Going through the door Alice meets Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee for another running battle such as those that she has had before. Again the Jackbomb is the weapon of choice, or maybe the Jacks, with the Ice Wand perhaps being used after a while. As she races around the arena look for a raised area on the sides of it, as there will always be one or two metas on it to lift the Sanity meter level. The Dums spawn miniature versions of themselves to aid in their attack, and these leave behind metas when destroyed.
At the successful conclusion of the battle there is a cutscene in which the Mad Hatter appears for an enigmatic conversation with Alice, as follows:
"Bad timing. Pity. Reliable help is so hard to find these days. You're just in time for tea."
"I only take tea with my friends."
"Count me among them. Accurately. I mean honestly. That's the truth. Oh, I quite forgot. You and the truth are not on familiar terms."
"And you would know?"
"Truth is always bitter to those who fear it."
"I fear nothing."
"False. You fear much...A return to the asylum, for example...The memories that drove you there...More years in, shall we say, supervised hospitalization...Ah yes, you fear much. All that might be avoided."
"How? Tell me, what do you mean?"
The Hatter does not answer. Instead the roof falls in and Alice goes to the next venue.
Crazed Clockwork
It looks as though the Mad Hatter has placed Alice in a padded room. Go out the opening and she is in another maelstrom of suspended fragmentary platforms and swirling skies with objects, mostly clocks and watches this time, floating by. Move forward onto the large astrological female symbol in front of the big clock (which will be revisited later). Take two hops to the chessboard and the door on the right, go through it and down the steps of tiles past the turning double helix, and into a circular gallery with a pool in the center and a gear high above it. Go in either direction around the gallery to a floor lever and pull it to start the gear rotating. Go back around the gallery to another floor lever and pull it to lower the rotating gear so that Alice can hop onto it.
As she rotates on the gear she can see in one of the several openings a meta and splashed on the wall above it the words "You're Next". Anticipate the passing of this opening so that she can jump to it, then proceed through the door and up another set of tile steps to a pool containing thirteen pillars with clock faces on them. Across the pool is another floor lever and to the right is an opening closed off by panels.
The Cheshire Cat appears and says, "A reflection exposes more reality than the object it echoes." Look in the mirror, only four of the pillars there show clock faces; these are the ones on which it is safe to step. Jump over to the floor lever, pull it, and jump back. The panels in the opening to the right have moved aside, so now jump over there.
The corridor to the right has several locked doors and a vertically barred gate, also locked, through which may be seen more tile steps leading down. Ahead a bit from the opening at the clock pillars and to the left is another short corridor in which are two busts of the Mad Hatter, an enormous key protruding from a keyhole in the floor, locked doors, and a Phantasmagoria. Have Alice take care of it now or it will follow her. Go back out and continue to the left. Around the corner and near the corridor end on the right is an alcove with some floor tiles displaced so that she can jump down to the room below. Do that, and be ready for Spiders from here on.
Up the tile steps is the locked gate, so follow the corridor instead, which takes Alice to the Hatter's laboratory, where in a long video she sees that he is performing strange and despicable experiments on Insane Children, the March Hare, and the Dormouse. There is conversation with the latter two, and she learns that the Hatter is due to come for a check at 6 o'clock precisely. There is another floor lever for Alice to pull, and when she does that there is a cutscene of the vertically barred gate rising and another of the Hatter striking the enormous key, which then sinks to the floor.
Alice can't do anything for the Hare and Mouse, so leave and return to the room into which she jumped from above. Go up the tile steps to the now open gate and on to the corridor with the key recessed into the floor. The doors there are now open. Go through them to a half gear platform, down and up tile steps to another half gear and through the doors there. There follows a video where Alice has a conversation with a gryphon in a cage:
"Those two seem to barely comprehend their situation."
"They're blithering idiots. But the Hatter does come at 6 on the dot."
"For his tea?"
"No. To check his experiments. With gears, springs, levers, and mechanical gizzards. He seeks an impossible precision like a watchmaker obsessed with infinitesimal fractions of seconds or a mathematician who tries to square the circle. He'll turn all the inhabitants into his automatons or kill them in the attempt."
"That's simply awful. 6 o'clock you say?"
"6 precisely, by that clock."
"Hmm...Perhaps 6 comes early today."
Leave the room and go down the tile steps to the right and continue ahead out into the maelstrom to be confronted with a portal.
Through the portal and Alice is on a giant table set for tea, with two candles, four teacups, and four chairs-—each with a Spider on it. Get them to attack and get them out of the way. Each of the teacups is filled with hot tea and a floating sugar cube. What Alice is to do is leap to a chair cushion, and if gauged correctly she will bounce back into the teacup and sink the sugar cube. She must jump out quickly because the tea is hot, and she must turn so that she lands on the table. After all four sugar cubes have been sunk, the clock floating above the end of the tea table lowers and a portal appears in it.
Going through this portal allows Alice to enter the clock seen at the beginning of this venue. In it there is a floor lever. Move to the other side and pull it, and a cutscene shows the clock hands moving to 6, and the clock in front of the gryphon now also shows this time. A door down some tile steps is open and contains a portal.
The other side of the portal shows the arena in which Alice is to have another running fight, this time with the Mad Hatter. In the center of the arena is the second part of the Jabberwock Eye Staff. Select the Jacks, then move to pick up the Staff part. As it happens, she—-thankfully--does not actually need to engage in a running fight with the Hatter (though she could); just as soon as he materializes, repeatedly hit him with the primary Jack attack and he will be defeated before he can defeat Alice. If she acts quickly, she can do this without even running, but it wouldn't hurt to do so.
With the Hatter lying headless on the arena floor, move straight ahead to the clock on the edge of the arena where a pair of weights is going up and down. Hop on either one and ride it to the top, where she can get off and collect the Dead Time Watch, which when called shows flags at the bottom of both the red Sanity column and the blue Will column. When used, everything but Alice stops for about 20 seconds as the Will flag slowly disappears; after the Watch is used it cannot be called again for a presently undetermined period.
When the Cat gets through speaking, the doors will open on yet another portal. After Alice goes through a video begins in which the cage holding the gryphon is pulled apart and he flies out to land by Alice, who happens to be waiting below. The gryphon is grateful to her for disposing of the Mad Hatter and thus releasing him, and he tells her so:
"With gratitude, I offer you my services."
"Promise only what you're prepared to deliver. I am destined to battle the Red Queen. The outcome is uncertain."
"You won't fight alone. Permit me to serve as your commander. I'll muster the forces whose alliance your courage and skill have already won."
"How shall we prepare for battle?"
"An assault on the Queen depends on breaching the gates to her kingdom. Only the Jabberwock's Eye Staff can pry them open. If you open the gates, I'll lead the troops to victory. Let us right the wrongs of the world, together."
She climbs on his back and he flies with her to Jabberwock country, the Land of Fire and Brimstone.
Burning Curiosity
This is a bleak place, all rocks. The gryphon puts Alice down on a flat area surrounded by huge boulders. He tells her get what allies she can, and he will come back with reinforcements, and he then flies away. Have Alice move ahead, dealing with Fire Imps as needed, and she will come upon a lava pool that she can cross by hopping from rock to rock to the far side. The way to the Jabberwock is up the formidable cliff that she is now facing.
Start by going to the first meta on the left, then to the rock below the second one. From there she can walk up a light grey slope, where at the top is a Will that she perhaps can use. Continue ahead and she will soon see another up on a rock. Jump up to it, and a short way past it is a cleft between two rocks that leads to another slope, at the top of which from behind a rock can be seen two Jabberspawn. One of them appears to be dancing.
Since Alice is sheltered by the rock, toss a couple of Jackbombs at them. When things settle down, go past where they were and a Ragebox will soon be seen. Move toward it, then slide down the steep slope on the left and follow the valley into a cave. Inside are more lava pools and streams, and more rocks for jumping. She will soon come upon a lavafall, and up to the right are two more Jabberspawn, which the Jackbomb should again take of. Alternatively, she can jump up and use the Ice Wand when they come to her.
Move onward to a rock pillar. She can go around it on either side; to the right she will meet a Magma Monster, to the left she will not. In the distance on the other side of the lava river can be seen another weapon on a ledge, and when Alice gets to it after some rock hopping she will find another set of Jacks. Don't let her tarry on this ledge after she gets the Jacks, as there is a Fire Snark in the lava who will emerge and throw a fire stream at her, and unless she can dodge she will be done for after a couple of those. As a precaution, perhaps take just a moment to toss a couple Jackbombs into the lava, though that may not be effective, in which case the delay could be costly. Continue quickly rock hopping to get to the other side of the lava stream.
Move along the rocks a short way and there will be a fairly long jump across the lava, then jump to and climb a rock face to a level area with a couple Fire Imps running around, and more in the distance. Cross the area to a rock on which there is one Fire Imp. Eliminate it, then jump up and toss a couple Jackbombs into the lava because there is a Fire Snark lurking there. Maybe toss one in before jumping up on the rock. From this rock it is a long leap, but possible, across the lava to a ledge on the left side of the stream.
From here Alice has a long and perilous rock hopping trip upstream. Other than Fire Imps, the only enemy she will encounter is a Jabberspawn that she can take care of with Jacks. Maybe another Fire Snark. Eventually she will arrive at a grey sloping area on the right bank from where can be seen a Ragebox on the other side and more Fire Imps. Go around a big rock to the right away from the lava and up a valley (enemies!) where she will again meet the Oracle, and this time he will be seen.
There is a long discussion about why Alice is here in Wonderland and also that she must hurry and complete her mission. The reason for this haste is not stated (and in fact it is not necessary). After this, head up to the left to a black rock on which there is a small meta to which she must jump. Standing on the level area where the meta is, jump up to the next meta, then turn about and jump and climb to a third one. From there go to the large opening in the rocks where there is a good view of the Jabberwock's house high up on the rock pile. Getting there is not easy.
There are two Fire Imps to be seen; get rid of the closer one because Alice needs to get on that rock. Start from the left and keep jumping until she gets there, then make a giant leap to a rather large long rock to the right that is near the lava surface. Have the Ice Wand ready because a Magma Monster may come out of the lava. Begin rock hopping toward the wall on the right, and toss Jackbombs into the lava along the way to take care of Fire Snarks.
When Alice gets to the wall jump upward on ledges. There is one that is a high jump that can be difficult, she has to be in the correct location and have the right view. When she makes it she must then leap to a ledge on the wall below the house, and from there to the top. For this last jump hold the jump key down so that Alice makes it to the ground by the house in a double jump. Go around to the front of the house, where the door shows a portal for Alice to enter and meet the Jabberwock.
Jabberwock's Lair
The Jabberwock is a grotesque creature, and when he confronts Alice as she comes through the portal he spends considerable time taunting her and giving her a bad time about her actions during the fire that seems to be assuming more and more importance as the game progresses. When he finally finishes she is to have a running fight with him. He has several powerful ways to attack and it appears to be an impossible contest, but there is a relatively easy way to survive.
The arena is a little smaller than the previous ones, with only one meta near the edge, and like the Red King's chessboard, is surrounded by a void so Alice can fall off its ragged edges. The thing to do is equip her with the Ice Wand, then she must immediately start running as the confrontation begins. Keep her far from the beast, dashing and swerving near the edges and doubling back so that she will be harder to hit. Shortly a Jabberspawn will join the fray and she can annihilate it with the Wand, then resume the chase. Another Jabberspawn will arrive, and when she Ices it and runs just a little more, the gryphon will arrive to take on the Jabberwock. During the fight the gryphon will tear out an eye from the Jabberwock, who will then fly away leaving Alice with the final part for the Jabberwock Eye Staff. On to the next venue.
This is a familiar place, as Alice has been here before when she got the first part of the Jabberwock's Eye Staff. Leap across the narrow lava stream and head for the arch above the gate. A feature not here before is Humpty Dumpty sitting on a ledge and smoking a cigar. From his appearance the King's men and horses were able to put him together again after all, but didn't do a very good job of it. Alice must jump up on the ledge next to him, and as she does note the brick in the wall slide inward.
Go down to the gate, which is closed again. To the left of it there is now an opening to a crypt in which Alice will find the last weapon for her arsenal, the Blunderbuss. A very powerful device, but it will completely empty the Will meter when used. From here go to the only path left open, the one to the Majestic Maze.
When Alice starts up the path and turns the corner she will come up against several Spade and Heart Card Guards, both close and at a distance. These Guards are more powerful than the other two suits, and the best weapon to use against them at a distance is probably the Jacks, closeup the Ice Wand. Move up the valley, fighting Guards until coming to a large curtain blocking it off. (Running and jumping will get her past Guards, but at the expense of some Sanity.) Equip Alice with the Jabberwock's Eye Staff, get close to the curtain, and hold down the left mouse button to make a spectacular opening to the Majestic Maze.
Majestic Maze
The first thing to be aware of now that Alice is in Queen of Hearts Land is that enemies are more numerous and frequently come in groups, and in light of this much increased danger this walkthrough is annotated by an (E) where this happens. Perhaps the general weapon of choice is the Jacks, though the Jackbomb has its place if used judiciously. The Ice Wand is still the best for closeup fighting, including Boojums, if the Sanity meter is near full. Remember that the Card Guards now throw explosives rather than cards.
Alice has just entered the first maze of this Land. There is more than one path to get to the exit, but the following is probably a little shorter than others. Exchange the Jabberwock's Eye Staff for one of the above weapons and head into the Maze. From the large vase at the entrance, go left, around the corner, up a slope in a tunnel, up steps that turn right, and ahead to a junction. Go right.
Follow the path around the corner (E), up a slope, under an arch and right, down a slope to a junction (E) at which there is a Ragebox. Go right and down a slope to a portal (E) (she cannot enter it). Continue down the slope, around the corner (E), passing through a sort of heart-shaped tunnel, and around the corner (E) to a really heart-shaped tunnel that divides just after the entrance. Proceed through either side—they join again—and enter another sort of heart-shaped tunnel where a portal can be seen at the far end. About half way through an Insane Child dashes across the pathway and a gate closes over the portal.
When Alice gets to the end of the tunnel she can see that the Child has gone through another portal (the one she could not enter from the other side of it), and had been standing on a stack of tiles containing a floor switch that held open the gate. If Alice steps on top of the stack the gate opens again, but when she steps off it closes quickly before she can get to it. Move close to the switch plate and use the secondary Ice Wand attack to build an ice wall on it; the gate opens and Alice can approach and pass through the portal.
Airborne Terror
Take a moment to look around. Alice is in a tower built over a lava pool showing many chimneys emitting vapor, and by now it is pretty well established that she is going to have to float on them. There are quite a few platforms connected by rather rickety walkways, and high above is a portal that past experience indicates is probably her destination. Be warned that this place is full of Boojums, really a lot of them, but no other enemies. Equip Alice with the Ice Wand or Croquet Mallet and be very alert. If possible, when they appear try to get her in a position so that she will not be blown off the platforms and walkways, and that metas can be retrieved when Boojums are destroyed.
Things are pretty easy at first. From the entry platform float straight ahead on vapors across a short space to another platform, then repeat to the right. Follow the walkway around the pillar to the next platform higher up. Now things get more difficult: floating on the vapors is not so bad, but there are three masks in the wall on the left that can blow Alice off the vapors to the lava below. Fortunately, these masks blow intermittently, so she must watch and hover until it momentarily stops, then move ahead before it starts again. The fact that there are three complicates this process. She may also have a little problem getting off the vapors to the platform at the end.
From this latter platform move upward to another one, then float across a narrow space to a walkway that leads into an opening in the wall. Follow the stone passageway to a platform that overlooks the area where Alice was when she came through the entrance portal—which can be seen below. Go up the walkway along the wall to reach the highest platform of the many in the tower.
From here there is a trip over a row of many chimneys, but it is a relatively easy one because there is only one mask blowing across, and it appears to be not very active. At the end go up to another platform, then float over three chimneys to the final passageway leading to the exit portal.
Mystifying Madness
This venue is really a pain because of the swimming that must be done. Following the Mock Turtle previously was bad enough, but at least he was there as a guide. Here there is a very confusing jumble of rocks and passages wherein Alice must find a particular above water opening among several where she can emerge into a cave. And of course there are those pesky Snarks that can nibble her to death if she doesn't kill them or get away from them.
The portal high in the vapor tower has deposited Alice at the entrance to another maze. This one is a brick wall and hedge maze as was the previous one, except that here the lights along the walls are aces of diamonds rather than clubs. She is standing in front of some steps, and in the distance is a tower that has three faucet spouts discharging streams of what is presumed to be water. Ascend the steps and follow the pathway around the corner to a junction. Peek around the corner to the left and spy a Card Guard at the bottom of the slope. Toss a Jackbomb down there so that he will not come up and attack. After that go right, then left down the path (E) and at the bottom go left into a tunnel. Shortly she will see off to the right a water filled square opening in a grassy plot (E). Go to it and walk into the water.
Getting Alice to swim where you want her to sometimes presents an exercise in aggravation, but here in principle is what she should do: swim to the bottom of the shaft, look to the left to find a passage to a small group of bubbles. Swim to them, then a little to the right through another passage to a much larger group of larger bubbles. (As you will remember, bubbles are supposed to supply Alice with air.) Continue straight ahead past a light on the bottom and up to a cave. Pass to the right of a round masonry column built of stone blocks and bear right between rocks toward three cylindrically shaped walls next to each other, and be looking for three metas in a row; though visible from under water, they are on land, and when found, Alice can jump out of the water to them.
After she gets out, move away from the water as a Snark may try attacks not yet encountered: a tongue whip, which can pull Alice back in the water, or spit green venom in the manner that Fire Snarks shot fire. A Jackbomb tossed in might discourage it. Maybe not, but if it does a meta will be seen underwater. Go up to the peak of the high rock, from where the rest of the masonry block pillar is apparent, and immediately to the right of it across the water is a level area with a hanging light above it. A Card Guard is hiding there. If she can use the Jacks to remove him from this location, do so.
Go down to the very edge of the rock and use the jump footprints to locate another rock across the water to which Alice can leap (this may take a little searching). Jump across and again quickly move away from the water as the Snark may still be there. She might well toss in a couple Jackbombs before jumping. Then, if she was not able to eliminate the Guard before, quickly do it now. There is a Heart Meta floating nearby that she can probably use by now. Move around on the rocks so that she can jump to the level area where the Guard is now only a meta. Be careful in choosing the point from which to jump so that she does not bounce sideways off the roof and into the water.
Go around the rectangular hole in the floor and move to the corridor with a metal grating floor (E). Proceed past the big metal spider to the corridor end where there is a floor lever. Upon pulling it a cutscene shows a grating gate rising somewhere at the end of a long large underwater pipe. The lever also opened doors releasing two Clockwork Automatons nearby, but as usual the Ice Wand will take care of them. In addition, it has dropped a gate at the end of the corridor where Alice entered it, so she can't go back.
Return to the metal spider and go down the steps across from it, where she will come to a room in which is another metal spider and a large spiral stairway. Go up the stairway and along a walkway into a small room, then through an opening on the right and along a grating walkway. Hop over a low wall onto a pipe, and keep going to a Heart Meta in an opening where Alice can reenter the water.
She must find the large pipe that was shown in the cutscene. Swim through a passage in the rocks on the right to find the cluster of large bubbles that she swam through when she first entered the water. As before, take the same path past the light on the floor and past the masonry column, but keep going beyond the structure with the open arched gate and around to the left. There is the pipe. As she swims through it, make use of the two sets of bubbles in it. After she goes through the gate that opened, go up a long shaft from which she will emerge in the maze upper level.
Note: if Alice goes up into the cave as she did after the first swim past the masonry block pillar, she can follow the same path as she did at that time to the area where the Card Guard was hiding, and she can reenter the water through the rectangular opening in the floor. She will be right at the entrance to the large pipe.
In the maze move Alice away from the water because a Snark may have followed her up and can tongue-whip her back in. Move along the path right, left, and she will be at a junction (E). Go left here, then immediately right, and continue until she comes to a bridge. Cross the bridge and follow the path to the right, left, left again, and right to a floor lever. Below can be seen a portal with a gate in front of it. Have Alice pull the lever and it may be seen that the gate has opened.
Turn around and take the path to the right, at the end of which she can jump to the maze lower level. About face and go into the tunnel to the portal (E) and on the next venue.
Water Logged
More swimming—lots of it. More aggravation—lots of it. The latter in trying to get Alice to swim where you want her to, and also because of the Snarks. There are no other enemies here, but there is a multitude of Snarks, and they are the vicious kind that employ tongue whips and venom shooting. Alice can try and outswim them, but as a general rule success is more likely if she fights them, then uses the resulting metas to restore her Sanity level. Maneuvering Alice so her knife is effective is not all that easy, and despite the Mock Turtle making her an honorary reptile—-she is still wearing the turtle shell under water-—she must remember to go to the surface for air quite frequently.
She can also toss Jackbombs into the water to eliminate Snarks before swimming, sometimes this works and sometimes not; if it does get a Snark a meta will be seen under water. However, she must be careful with the Jackbomb because it does not always go where she is trying to throw it, and it could capriciously land nearby rather than in the water.
In this location (in that tower with the water coming from the faucet nozzles) there are three upright pipes that are capped, with floats attached to the lids. The water level must be raised in steps so that the floats will successively lift the lids and Alice can enter the pipes. The first of these may seen in the water of the first room, the one in which she entered this venue: the more or less spherical object is the float, and the lid is behind it. A closer look may be had by jumping to them, but it serves little purpose. Beware of Snarks attacking from the water.
From the portal go through the passageway on the right to get to the second of the two rooms in this venue. There are more Snarks in the water here than the first room. The device to raise the water level the first time is on the far side of this room, and it is not easy to find. There is no way to get there but to swim. Fight the Snarks, and with all of them eliminated Alice can take her time looking for the place to jump out. Go under the dark flat area, then turn back and she can climb out and up a series of risers to a walkway where there is a hanging platform that is the water level switch. Even though she has just killed all the Snarks, more have arrived from somewhere and are lurking in the water ready to spit venom. Jackbombs have worked here.
Step onto the platform, which will sink into the rising water. Swim forward a little way and there is above the water an opening in the brick wall on the right to which Alice can climb or jump. Walk through the passage to come out on the walkway in the first room where the Cheshire Cat was sitting. Just as she comes to the column inside the passageway, look up and note the rectangular opening in the ceiling. When she gets back to the first room, stay in the doorway to avoid Snarks and look around. Above are two more water level switch platforms, to the left in the room where this venue began is the float now holding open the first pipe cap, and to the right is the one to which she must go next. The portal is now under water.
Enter the water to the left, do battle with the Snarks, have Alice get some air, and then enter and swim down the pipe. There are two screens with apertures she must go through, then go horizontally a bit, turn right to some life saving bubbles. Turn about and swim toward the fan and turn left just before reaching it, then go up to the surface, where she will jump to a ledge that goes around the pipe just above the water. Climb to the top of the pipe, then walk around to the wooden platform. Jump and climb the brick riser and she will have reached the second water level switch.
Below is the float for the pipe she has just traversed, and ahead on the other side of the walkway is the one to which she must go next. Get on the switch platform and as it lowers, the water rises again so that it is above the walkway and she can swim over it to the second pipe, now uncapped by its float. To avoid a Snark, jump ahead just before the switch platform reaches the water. Swim straight ahead into the top of the pipe and down to bubbles coming from a disk. This is a straight shot from the platform to the pipe and Alice needn't fight the Snarks. If one follows down the pipe, dispatch it and gather in the meta.
Swim right, left, and right again down to bubbles coming from a mesh grate. Now she must turn around and swim toward the fan at the far end of the pipe. Keep to the upper left and tap the jump key to avoid being pulled into the fan at the right or the one below. Just before the fan at the end turn left and then go upward through a fan in the space where blades have broken off. When she gets to the top of the pipe she will jump out to the rim of the pipe. If Alice needs more air before going up through the broken fan there are more bubbles nearby.
The exit pipe is surrounded by a brick wall with two low sections in it. Move to the one at the left and climb the three risers quickly in order to try to avoid Snark venom, and at the top stand in the center. Alice is now at the third and last water level switch, across which can be seen a passageway that is above the one used earlier, now under water, to go from the second room to the first. Jump on the switch platform, and once again, jump when the platform nears the water. Have Alice in the run mode so that she can scurry into the passageway, otherwise she will be drawn back into the water by a Snark tongue whip.
She can probably use the Heart Meta before diving into the rectangular opening that takes her down to the now submerged passageway and back to the second room. The third pipe is right before her, so enter and swim down to the portal and back to the maze.
Labyrinthine Revenge
Alice is back in a brick wall and hedge maze, this one with ace of spades lights to distinguish it from the others. There is another tower to be seen, this one with a gear on the top, and she will be alternating between it and the maze. When in it she will encounter challenges involving a lot of mechanical equipment, mostly very large gears, some of it reminiscent of that in the mine at the beginning of this game. The lava is here as well, as are many enemies. Equip Alice with the Ice Wand.
From the pleasant vista of the arrival, turn about and walk to the wall to discover the lava on which this venue is floating. To the right and just above the lava surface is a turning clockwork escapement wheel, and she has to work her way down to it, jump on, then almost immediately jump off to the adjacent gear island or be brushed into the lava. There are two other gear islands, jump to them. Don't hesitate on the center one, as Alice's weight causes it to sink into the lava. The walls of the lava stream have many geartooth shaped lamp housings that may be used to get first to the right side (E), then at the end where the stream disappears underground, to the left side. Now follow the path inside and up a ramp where water going into the lava generates steam acting on vanes to turn a horizontal wheel. Jump onto the cross member of the wheel and when near a passageway entrance on the other side, leap to it.
This pathway takes Alice to the lower level of the cavernous interior of the tower. Here is a vertical turning gear having a large aperture in it but is otherwise solid. Get close to the gear on its right side, and when the aperture is vertical—or just before—jump through it. There is another aperture gear to pass, but before doing so, look upward and note the multitude of slowly turning interworking gears and shafts. Alice will spend quite some time here, going in and out as she presses ever upward.
Treat the second aperture gear the same as the first, but here there is a crankshaft operating a bellows overhead, and it keeps her from getting close to the gear until it moves out of the way. After these gears, it is just one long walk/run through several passages, meeting the occasional enemy, then going outside to the maze for the same path following action. By now it may have been noticed that this venue is really not a maze, Alice just keeps going wherever the path leads, interspersed with challenges for her to overcome. This is characteristic of the entire venue and continues until she reaches the exit.
From the outside maze Alice goes inside again and on to the next challenge. She is higher in the tower and must get across a walkway that is below a vertical gear whose teeth nearly touch the walkway; before and after the gear are alternating jets from bellows operated by the two aperture gears. The jets can blow Alice off the walkway to the lava over which the tower is built, and the slightest touch of a gear tooth will do her in, so it is a matter of timing to get her across and continuing on her way through a passage that takes her up to another level in the tower.
Alice will come to an opening beyond which is a rotating horizontal gear. It is an easy leap to this gear, where she is in no danger as long as she does not go out on the teeth. However, when she is ready to jump to the rising vapors, go out on a gear tooth and leap when she is opposite them. In the first plume turn right and float to the next one and on to the balcony (E). Move around the balcony to the rising vapors at the other end of it. Jump to the first plume, move to the next one and float a little higher on it, then turn to face the large horizontal gear. Float forward slightly, and gauging her movement carefully, go forward to one of the gear teeth. Move off the tooth, and jump/climb to a platform when the gear brings her around to it.
The passageway from this platform takes her to the yet one more gear. From the small platform she must jump to a gear tooth, and be sure and do so well before it comes opposite her or she will miss. Stay well away from the hub or she will be brushed off. Jump/climb to the platform when she comes to it.
Improbable as it may seem, when Alice goes out the two doors after moving ever upwards in the machine works she is back in the maze. Proceed along the path (E) and she will reach a clearing (E), where on the opposite side are two heart-shaped plates going alternately up and down. Getting past them is simple, as is moving beyond the next set that is swinging from side to side. Continuing on she will come to three vapor chimneys over a waterfall that has been seen before. Just jump into the vapors and ride them up to the ledge beyond the last one.
Go to the right and follow the passageway to the last challenge of this venue, that of getting past three thick rotating gears. Get very close to each gear, then run at a tooth, which should be just out of the way when Alice gets to it. After the third gear proceed to the exit portal.
Machinations
If the just finished gear challenges were a pain, they pale by comparison with the ones now to be encountered. This venue is probably located in another tower, and its only game purpose seems to be to get Alice to the portal that takes her to the next one. It has three rooms, all filled with machinery of sorts, and the bulk of Alice's progress is made by jumping amongst it. Each room starts from an entry platform from which can be seen most of the room, and Alice must leap from machine piece to machine piece to get to the room exit at the far side. She can perish if, for example, being hit by a moving machine part, but in the case of falling after making a jump she mysteriously returns to the room starting platform. One other thing: there are no enemies here.
The first room is filled with gears, all rotating horizontally with the exception of a bevel gear. In the left foreground the gears are thin, in the right rear they are quite thick. The latter are rising and falling (r&f) gears, and of course they are not doing so in unison. What is to be done is leap from gear to gear and eventually to the exit passageway. Head for the thick r&f gears because this passageway is behind them. Jumping from rotating gears is disorienting and a challenge in timing anticipation, particularly if the rotation is fast. Passing through this room is an exercise in patience and persistence, but it can finally be accomplished and Alice can follow the passageway to the next room. The Dead Time Watch might find an application here.
Most of the next room contains pedal pairs similar to the ones used on bicycles. Use the first two to get down to the left ledge of the two with the metas on them that are on the left wall, from there jump to the swinging single pedal, and then to the other ledge. Looking up Alice can see two r&f gears on the same shaft, and a primitive gear whose teeth are spokes uniformly spaced between end caps so that it is hollow. There is a pedal pair close to the ledge that will carry her to the lower r&f gear, from which she can leap to the inside of the primitive gear. Looking toward the entry platform will show yet another pedal pair that be can used to get to the top of the primitive gear, then to the upper r&f gear from which Alice jumps to the vertically rotating spur gear, and then to a platform by the room exit passageway.
The third and final room has in it some equipment pieces that resemble clockworks. Hop on the r&f gear in front of the entrance platform and ride it down so Alice can jump to the pivot arm that holds the wheel running back and forth along the wall. Move along the arm toward its pivot so she can get on the lower gear of the r&f pair. Next she must leap to the tilting platform and adjust her position and that of the platform so she can get on the r&f gear at the other end. Repeat this action with the upper tilting platform to get to the upper r&f gear. Jump to the thin grey horizontal wheel (one can fall through this one) and then to the r&f gear on the opposite side of the big centerless escapement from where Alice has been. When the escapement teeth are horizontal enough so that she will not slide off, jump there and quickly position her in the center so she will pass through the fork in the hammer bar. When through, immediately turn and go along the bar to its pivot, from which she can jump to the exit portal.
If Alice wishes she can jump to the other side of the portal rather than the near one and look through the opening, where she will see far below the gears of the first room. The portal may be entered from either side.
Royal Rage
Alice has entered the arena where she must have another running fight with the Jabberwock. First there is a video of a flying battle between the Jabberwock and the gryphon, which the latter loses and falls mortally wounded. The Wock destroys the bridge Alice used to enter this arena from the machinery tower, and the only other access is an open drawbridge, so she can't leave the arena. The fight with the Jabberwock is of course the most difficult one so far. He has several weapons, a fire stream being one of the worst, and he uses it from above since he can fly. The only weapons to fight him are the Eye Staff and the Blunderbuss, and whichever is chosen should be used immediately before he begins to fly. If Alice can hit him enough times during the fight he is forced to fight on the ground, where he is more vulnerable.
There is only one meta at the arena edge, though it reappears quickly; she has to jump to get it and may fall off the edge. Keep running, jumping, strafing, and weaving; the gryphon will provide some protection, and she can hide briefly under its wing. Eventually a technique will be found that will do the Wock in, which brings on another video wherein the gryphon gasps out some dying words to Alice about continuing the battle with the Red Queen and then expires, leaving her overcome with grief.
The drawbridge may be seen to lower (the screen trembles when the bridge hits the ground), so go across it to the Red Queen's stronghold. A Card Guard jumps in front of Alice from high above, but the leap is too great and he does not survive it, leaving behind a meta. Continue through the gates into the next venue.
This opens with Alice running ahead of a collapsing walkway. She must now move along a series of walkways, narrow in places, over the lava that seems to underlie much of Wonderland. She will meet several groups of enemies, mostly Heart and Spade Card Guards, whose explosive missiles can knock her off the pathway into the lava. Try getting as close as possible before they start shooting and toss a Jackbomb, making sure it goes near the group and not into the lava. Turn and run to get out of range while the Bomb takes care of them, dodging and jumping–—and being careful not to fall off the pathway–—then hurry back and gather metas if needed. It may well take more than one Bomb.
Alice might successfully employ the same technique using the Jacks or the Demon Dice, realizing that the Dice Demons are not always victorious. Knife throwing can come in handy, as well as the Ice Wand if she can get close enough. Even the Blunderbuss is appropriate if she meets a lone persistent Guard and has time to wait for the Will meter to recharge.
Fortunately there are some Heart Metas along the path should the Sensitivity or Will meters run low. It is a long path but eventually Alice will pass into the next venue on her way to a confrontation with the Queen of Hearts.
Another abrupt change in surroundings, in which Alice now has to jump and teeter her way among huge rocks and across girders. Proceed into the rocks to the top of a green pedestal on the right and leap to a ledge on which there is a black stain. In order to avoid a Card Guard attack, run up the beam and climb to the ledge, then go right to hide behind the red pillar. Step out, throw Jacks or knife, get right back and hide again. Repeat as often as necessary to take care of both Guards.
Proceed to the ledge where the guards were. Go under the beam and down to the left where a tunnel entrance will be found, at the exit of which three Guards attack, but they are readily taken care of in a bunch with the Ice Wand. Cross a ribcage bridge and into another tunnel, climb out of that and back among the rocks again. Here there is only one path that may be followed, jumping as required and overcoming enemies, and Alice will shortly come to a cave in the rocks at the end of which (E) is a series of mostly vertical passages inside a structure of red blocks. Jump/climb to the left to a vent of rising vapor. Before riding it upward, go forward and left and look up to the right to see a Heart Card Guard waiting; she should be able to eliminate him with the Jacks.
Ride the vapors up to where the Guard was. Around the corner is another vapor column, and below the ledge is another Guard who is a client for the Jacks (or he may be waiting around that corner, in which case use the Wand). Ride this new vapor column way up until Alice can get off at a ledge where there is a Small Will, then jump/climb the wall at the left. Go around the corner and she can make a long jump down to a paved area on which are two metas and a wide roadway leading left to the Queen's castle gates, before which are two Heart Card Guards. Once more, the Ice Wand will take care of them as she approaches the gates.
When Alice gets close to the gates they will slide open. Inside the revealed entry hall is a phalanx of Card Guards to prevent Alice from passing through, and after a moment the guards begin shooting their bombs. One thing that might be tried is tossing in one of the weapons and then quickly backing off, whereupon the doors close again and she waits a bit for the weapon to do its damage, then repeat. Be sure and wait long enough if the Demon Dice are used. Another procedure is to toss a weapon, then run for a corner on either side of the gate where she will be shielded from the guards. (They do not leave their stations and come out.) Do this from both sides of the gate. It may take a while, but eventually they will be cleared out.
A Grasshopper Tea will crawl out through the doors, but if you decide to gather it up you will most likely find that Alice moves far too fast for effective control. You can try.
However, none of this fighting has to be done (though it might be a fun challenge). As soon as the gates open, invoke the Dead Time Watch and run up the ramp, around the obstacle ledge that is across it, continuing upward through a couple openings to the top and down the other side. What Alice is looking for is a prominent brown rectangle with the corners removed: this is an elevator, and when she hops onto it she will rise up to another venue.
The elevator stops in a huge hall with very little in it but columns and space, and double doors at one end. Pass through these doors into another hall, this one with a little more in it. Be warned now at the beginning of this venue that there are numerous Heart Card Guards herein, some visible at a distance, some popping up as Alice turns a corner or opens a door. All of them are vulnerable to the Ice Wand, so have her carry it at all times.
Go down a ramp into a central depressed area where on the walls are three portraits—caricatures, really—of foes with whom Alice has had running battles: a Tweedle, the Jabberwock, and the Mad Hatter. In the center is a pedestal mirror that may be rotated, but not here. Return up the ramp and go around the hall to the doors on the opposite end from those through which she entered, and which she will find to be locked. These doors lead to the Red Queen's throne room.
Here Alice will find on the rim of the depression one of the familiar floor levers. Pull it to observe the mirror pedestal rotate, stopping when it is positioned to reflect the Tweedle. Go down to check this out. Strangely, what is actually seen in the mirror is not the Tweedle picture but a club image. Now begins a series in which Alice does much moving between rooms in order to unlock the throne room doors.
Go back to the elevator room and cross it to find doorways at the other side leading to a vapor vent that Alice can use to rise to a ledge one level up. When she gets off the vent she is facing doors with a club over them and passageways to the left and right. Since a club was seen in the mirror, enter these doors. Move forward into the spotlight, whereupon the room lights up and copies of the three portraits are revealed. Select the Tweedle by throwing the knife at it, and shortly the room goes dark once more. Remember to have Alice select the Ice Wand again as she will encounter more Card Guards.
Leave the room, jump to the lower floor next to the vent, and return to the floor lever. Pull it again and go down to note that the mirror is now positioned to reflect the Jabberwock but that a diamond is seen. Go again to the vent and go right after she gets off, and Alice will come to doors with a diamond over them. Inside use the knife to select the Jabberwock picture, then return again to the floor lever.
This time when she pulls it and goes down to the mirror, as may be anticipated the Hatter is not reflected, but a spade is. Go left after riding the vent to the spade room, and now when Alice knifes the Hatter picture a cutscene shows the throne room doors opening. When she goes there, that is indeed the case, but beyond them is yet another pair of double doors. Go toward them, and when she is near a cutscene begins with the Cheshire Cat lecturing and warning Alice, but he never finishes because as he is talking the doors slowly open behind him and a blast of something blows his head off. Once more Alice is overcome with grief, and she is then propelled through the doors into the presence of the Red Queen.
Move toward the throne to be introduced to the Queen. She must really be seen rather than described, but she is a several tentacled grotesque being that moves about on a very long supple arm extending far from the throne. She has numerous attack powers, many of which are those of the enemies that have been encountered and several in addition, all in differing degrees of effectiveness. She is not your everyday queen.
In Alice's battle with the Queen her defense is as before to keep running, dodging, and jumping. She can hide behind pillars—-the two nearest the door have metas that keep regenerating-—but even when hiding she is vulnerable to a force of attraction that the Queen can generate and which she uses to slam Alice against a wall or to draw her in and gnaw on her. When this force is used Alice is surrounded by orange sparkles; a cloud of blue sparkles (and also a faint sound like a telephone ringing) is a warning that the orange ones are coming and she must move to avoid them, but in practice the orange follows so quickly on the blue that unless Alice is already moving she will be caught. The Queen employs this force far too often.
The only weapons to be used in fighting the Queen are the Jabberwock Eye Staff and the Blunderbuss. With the Eye Staff, hold down the left mouse button (producing some blue sparkles easily confused with the above warning ones) and shortly a beam will emanate from the Staff as long as the button is held. Keep the beam trained on the Queen as she moves, and she will flinch and cry out each time it registers, but you must watch the blue Will meter as it will be draining, so as it gets low you will have to abandon the attack and run to the metas behind the pillars; the hits you have made on the Queen are not lost. The Blunderbuss is more effective but empties the Will meter with one shot, and must be carefully aimed because there is a detectable delay between the time of trigger pull and when the musket ball reaches the enemy, difficult with a moving target. However, if Alice is a good shot and can keep going until the Will meter is recharged, a couple hits should take care of her.
Alice just has to keep trying over and over, hitting the Queen a few times, running to the metas behind the pillars, then hitting her some more, and with experience she will be able to hit her enough times so that she will be killed, after which the long arm will collapse and withdraw into the throne. However, that is not the end of the fighting.
The queen's place in her throne is replaced by her real head, the head's mouth opens to reveal the Mad Hatter's head, and his mouth in turn opens to show Alice's head. The latter harangues and threatens Alice for quite a while, after which Alice enters a dark place in her subconscious and is confronted by a demon that is presumably her inner self, and was engendered by her guilt at escaping the fire while all else perished, as related in the game introduction. This psychiatric demon is really what is wrong with Alice's Wonderland, and must be destroyed.
In the void of this dark space is a ring of rocks around which Alice must keep running and jumping to avoid the blasts of the demon in the center of the ring. The demon has many weapons, of course, all designed to destroy Alice either by direct hits or blowing her into the void. The demon keeps sinking below the rock ring, giving Alice a little respite, then rising to attack.
There are many large metas on the rocks for Alice to regenerate her Sanity and Will, and whenever the latter is complete, she should stop on a large rock, advance toward the inner edge, and fire the Blunderbuss at the center of the demon, an easy shot since it does not move much. (If she is not near the inner edge, or the rock too small, the recoil that knocks her down may also knock her off the rock.) Then she must be up and running and jumping again. The game may be saved to retain each success.
After perhaps five successful shots the demon will fly apart and the concluding video plays, wherein many game scenes and personnel are seen, and Alice leaves the asylum.
Selected cheats
The game designers of Alice have made provision for players to go into what appears to be DOS code and make changes and shortcuts to the game response. There are about 50 of these changes, though only a few have any real significance, and these are detailed below. The entire list may be found at several sites on the Internet.
To facilitate the changes you must have Console mode activated. This is a default setting, but you can check it by clicking on Settings in the Main menu screen, then on 4 in the resultant Settings screen; there should be an X in the box following Console.
To install a cheat you must be actively playing the game, i.e., the game screen is on the computer. Press the tilde (~) key to bring up the console, which consists of several lines of code at the top of the screen, the last line of which should be blank, except for a >. Enter the code on this line, then press Enter on the keyboard, not on the numeric keypad. Cancel the console display, and the cheat should be in effect as you continue the game.
In this mode enemy attacks on Alice have no effect. The code is god; to cancel the cheat repeat the code entry.
No Attack Mode
In this mode enemies will not attack Alice, she is in effect invisible. The code is notarget; to cancel the cheat repeat the code entry.
Change View Mode
In the default/normal view of the scene you are behind Alice and see her as you look at the screen. If you want to look at it as she sees it, the code is cg_cameradist -45; to return to the normal view the code is cg_cameradist 128.
The red level in the Sanity meter may be set with this cheat. The code is health # where # is a value from 1 to 100.
Unrestricted Movement
Use this cheat to move through walls and to fly. It has limited movement and usefulness, though it produces some interesting views. The code is noclip.
Specific weapons may placed in their respective keyboard control keys. The codes are
Vorpal Blade give w_knife.tik
Card Deck give w_cards.tik
Croquet Mallet give w_mallet.tik
Jackbomb give w_jackbomb.tik
Ice Wand give w_icewand.tik
Jacks of Death give w_jacks.tik
Demon Dice give w_demondice.tik
Jabberwocky Eye Staff give w_eyestaff.tik
Blunderbuss give w_blunderbuss.tik
Dead Time Watch give w_watch.tik
All of the weapons my be called using the code wuss or the
code give all.
GAME BOOMER'S Hints, Cheats, and Walkthroughs