General Help For Pogoman GO!

Well, the game mentioned that we'd have some online help -- this isn't it. But we also realized that someday that webpage may go down, so perhaps this is it, after all.

What is it?

Let's say someone has just parked a iPad in front of you saying, "Hey. You have to play Pogoman Go." And then they walk away or are swallowed by a sinkhole. Now you are left wondering. In the latter case, you might even feel some obligation to fulfill their last earthly request. After poking around for a while, the interface may seem confusing, so let us explain: Pogoman Go is a game or a story, depending on how you view it. It displays some text, then you have a chance to affect the story by typing in a command. After that, the story continues in a way that you have directed. That's it.

Pogoman GO! is written in the vein of interactive fiction and has a lot in common with text adventures (although we'd like to think we've come a long way since the early ones). There are a lot of excellent guides for people new to interactive fiction. Check out the Brass Lantern Beginner's Guide that introduces the genre, gives some advice about how to find and start playing these stories.

When it comes to playing, you will find yourself typing some short commands in English. To save some typing a lot of these commands can be abbreviated, like "n" for go north. After playing through a bunch of these works, you will realize that most games use a common core vocabulary and stick to a few conventions, like using compass directions to indicate which way you are walking. If a game expects you to do something new or special, it should hint about it in some unambiguous way (and we hope we have). A great aid for people new to the genre -- or for people who need occasional reminders -- is the interactive fiction postcard created by Andrew Plotkin. Take a look at it over at the People's Republic for Interactive Fiction.

When it comes to more specific help for Pogoman GO!, we have limited the amount of help packaged up in the story itself. To get help moving the game forward and getting past the next hurdle while playing the story, the "hint" command is what you are looking for.