A Small Favor
This message is approved by the Galactic Ministry of Regulation. All of the information herein is in strict accordance with current regulations, laws, guidelines and bylaws, and is for your own good.
Statistics show that "favor trading," an illegal alternative to the government sanctioned bartering system, is on the rise. Should you find your services or goods requested as, "A Small Favor," you should decline the request and report the offending individual(s) to the authorities immediately. This is for your own good.
You are not to collect items and talk to people by "pointing and clicking" your "mouse." This is considered dangerous and suspicious activity by the Galactic Ministry of Regulations and is believed by many experts to lead to the exchange of goods and services through the outlawed favor trading system. This is for your own good.
All citizens are allowed a weapon. The Galactic Ministry of Regulations reminds you that it may only be charged or loaded in authorized areas. Recharge stations in unauthorized areas are only to be used by authorized security personnel. You are not to disable, tamper with, or in any way circumvent security systems. This is for your own good.
Play all the Small Favor games:
You may access your inventory at any time; however, you are not permitted to take items from that inventory and use them to complete tasks or to give them to other citizens other than in the instance of government sanctioned trade stations. This is for your own good.
Finally, you are not, under any circumstances, to click on the above link or any of the pictures in this message as they will lead you to a game that has been classified as subversive by the Galactic Ministry of Regulation. This is most definitely for your own good.
Analysis: Jay Ziebarth a.k.a. Zeebarf, of The Several Journeys of Reemus and The Visitor fame, has added programmer Caulder Bradford to his stable in the hope of freeing himself up to focus on the art and writing in his games. It shows.
You can't analyze A Small Favor without holding it up to Zeebarf's earlier works for comparison, and, yes, this newest entry has his characteristic art stylings and smoothness. But from there, A Small Favor blows its predecessors out of the water.
Of course those things that have earned Zeebarf his reputation are still in place. The writing, though perhaps a bit spare, is as good as ever, sprinkled here and there with sardonic wit. Meanwhile, the illustrations perfectly capture the feel of this dystopian sci-fi world, ranging from the parched expanses of a desert wasteland to the seedy interior of a rundown transport station.
But A Small Favor feels so much more deep, more fully explored, than Zeebarf's earlier games. This more traditional free-roaming Sierra/Lucas Arts approach to adventure games gives the player a stronger connection to the main character. Meanwhile, the complexity of the back story (protip: read all the material available to you on the loading screen) is such that the mind begins to fill in the gaps. This means that, while you only get to play one episode in this world, you can feel how it extends beyond that which you see. Everything around you has a personality and a history and ultimately a narrative depth that sucks you in.
The puzzles are also highly commendable, complex and definitely challenging at times, but also very logical. They shouldn't require too many leaps of faith. In other words, the puzzles are actually great amounts of fun to play through.
Even little nuances, like the way accepting a new mission will result in a message popping up on the screen with the flair of an arcade game or the way that unholstering your gun brings up crosshairs (though they aren't exactly necessary), are a joy.
We've enjoyed much that Zeebarf has offered in the past, but if A Small Favor is a taste of what's to come, I think it's safe to say that he will be a virtual powerhouse for fans of point-and-click adventures. From the excellent gameplay to the rich storytelling, A Small Favor is one of the best online adventures out there.
Also available to Play at the Zeebarf website
Walkthrough Guide
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The following walkthrough is written in order to get an elite ranking, that is, to open up all three lockers in the locker room, and successfully collect all four side favors.
For those attempting to get all three badges at Kongregate, this walkthrough will satisfy two of them. I will also add a mini walkthrough in order to get the "Fission Mailed" badge as that one seems actually harder to get than the other two.
Walkthrough
Click on cigar.
Click on gun.
Click on the recharge station (reddish lightning bolts in a generator looking thing)
Go through door.
Click on gun.
Click on trader to get the kill transit station trader favor request. Click on gun icon again to put it away.
Take cigars out of your inventory and give them to the trader.
Get the garden hose.
Leave through the door on your left.
Click on the little toggle switch on the pipe poking out of the sand.
Go right.
On the left most rock in the background, there is a pinkish colored thing. Click on it to get the doll's head.
Go right.
Use the hose on the pipe with water coming out of it.
Click on the circle with water filtering through it on the ground.
After talking to the worm, continue to go left until you arrive in the transit station.
Click on the gray rectangle on the conveyor belt (for some reason, I have to do it twice).
Go through the entryway no longer blocked by lasers.
Pay attention to the shape on the screen just as you walk in. It will be a square, circle, or triangle.
Click on the red rectangle by the door to turn on the alarm.
Go left.
Talk to the dog looking alien.
Talk to the blue colored alien on the couch.
Click on the trashcan in the foreground in order to get an empty bottle.
Go right.
Click on the trading post.
Take the empty bottle from your inventory and place it in the slot at the trading post. Click on the plug to get it. Click on the red X to close out of this view.
Go left.
Use the plug from your inventory on the outlet just to the left of the couch.
Go left down the stairs.
There is a gray rectangle with a circle inside it on the wall towards the right of this area. Click on it.
Click on the symbol of a circle with four stationary blades. This will turn off the ventilation in the restroom. Click on the red X to escape this view.
Click on the right most locker to open it. At the bottom there is what appears to be a paper coffee cup as seen in many coffee chains. These are coffee beans. Get them.
Click on the keypad to the middle locker. The code is: 1977. Kill the pink bunnies if you like (after we recharge the gun, of course).
Click on the keypad for the leftmost locker. The code is: 4827 (this code can be obtained by clicking on the coat hanging off the chair in the foreground).
First, click on the blue coffee mug on the top shelf inside this locker.
Next, click on the gray shape on the inside of the door to the locker. Across the top are three tabs each with a shape. Click on that shape that you saw on display on the screen by the entrance to the transit station. Three squares will light up on a 3X3 grid. Make a note of this.
Click on the keypad to the left of the lockers. Click on the same three squares designated in the previous step.
Click on the generator to recharge your gun.
Go upstairs.
Use the coffee beans on the coffee machine.
Use the blue mug on the coffee machine.
Give the blue mug with coffee in it to the man standing in front of the door.
Go into the restroom.
NOTE: before completing a favor, it's a good time to bring up your inventory. In the second window down, there is a list of outstanding favors to be accomplished. Make sure you have been assigned the favor before completing it or you will not get credit.
Click on the trashcan to get the popcorn.
Click on the gun.
Shoot the guard.
Click on the air vent.
Click on the air vent a second time.
Shoot the flashing red panel.
Leave the restroom.
Enter the door by the coffee machine (there's no need to put the gun away, yet).
Put the gun away when Milos asks you to.
Pick up the green vial that Milos places on his desk.
Pull out the gun and shoot Milos.
Go right.
Go all the way back to the worm.
After finishing your talk with the worm and getting the key, go right.
Go into the giant cardboard box.
Give the green vial to the scavenger. He will give you a bomb in return.
AFTER you get the bomb, shoot the scavenger.
You will automatically receive the briefcase, also click on the guitar video game controller just left of center.
Return to the transit station.
Discharge your gun and enter like you did before.
Click on the trading post.
Use the guitar controller on the trading slot and this time get the sock (looks sort of like a boomerang).
Now, while you are still in the trading post view, use the bomb you got from the scavenger on the trading slot. Don't forget to double check that you have been assigned this task before completing it.
Leave the trading post view and head left.
Make sure you have the briefcase favor assigned, and then give the dog alien the briefcase.
Go right twice. You will arrive at the entrance to building nine.
Talk to the worm with a shirt and tie on.
Go into your inventory.
Select the popcorn. This will jump you out of the inventory, but bring it back up again. Your cursor will be the bag of popcorn, use it on the sock ("combine" should show up).
Go back into the inventory and select the sock. Reenter your inventory again and use the sock on the doll head.
One last time enter your inventory and get the dollhead-popcorn-sock creation. Give it to the worms. All favors are completed. Now, let's go take care of our main objective.
Click on the square panel on the big cylinder behind you with two smaller cylinders poking straight up.
Use the key given to us by The Worm on the keyhole.
In the upper right hand corner you will see six red buttons on a box with three ports on the left hand side. There is currently a jack plugged into the bottom most port. Click the two bottom red buttons to turn them green. Click on the jack to remove it, and then click on the middle hole to plug it in there. Now you click on the middle two red buttons to turn them green. Remove the jack once more, and plug it in the top port and click the top two red buttons. When you are done, all six buttons should be green.
There is a switch in the upper left hand corner. Click it and the blue cap will lift up.
In the lower right hand corner you will see two slider switches above another panel with what a left arrow button, a rectangle button, and a right arrow button. Move the two slider switches all the way to the right.
Click on the left arrow button, then the rectangle button, then the right arrow button.
Click on the big green cylinder to get the microchip.
Go all the way back to the worm.
After getting the hacked circuit board, return to the transit station. Go down to the locker room, charge up your gun, then go all the way to the right and take the transit to building 9 again.
Take the hacked circuit board from your inventory and use it on the exposed panel.
Enter building nine.
Enter the door on the left.
Click on the red rectangle on the left wall.
Click on the right arrow until all of the bars are colored (the final one will be red). Click on the red X and return to the main hallway.
Click on the third door from the left.
Get the coffee mug on the desk.
Return to the hallway and again enter the break room (first door on the left).
Use the coffee mug on the microwave.
Use the climate control again, this time use the left arrow to turn it all the way down.
Go right through the hole in the wall you just created.
Pick up the red circle on the ground (this is a badge).
Click on the fish tank. There will be a code (it should be 173).
Return to the main hallway (you'll have to go back through the break room).
Now enter the right most door.
Click on the computer terminal next to the door.
Click on "book".
Click on the screen again to bring up the main menu one more time.
This time click on "swap".
Enter in the three digit code from the fish tank (173) and select enter. Hit the red X to exit the computer screen.
Enter the door by the computer terminal.
After the good senator mocks you, pull out your gun and blast away!
Congratulations, you have beaten the game with an elite ranking.
In order to get the "Fission Mailed" badge from Kongregate, you must:
Kill both Milos and the Worm. This is done by killing Milos exactly the same way as you did in the walkthrough above (so he gives you the green vial before you kill him). Then, instead of using the bomb on the scavenger, you use it on the Worm.
Once both are dead, return to the lounge of the transit station, and the security bot will take care of you.
Posted by: Kyle E. Moore
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May 21, 2009 3:41 PM
Since Kyle E. Moore's walkthrough is so... 'unabridged', I thought I'd do viewers the courtesy of putting it a bit more together.
Walkthrough:
1.
Click the cigar and the gun. Use the generator (red electricity thing) to powerup your gun.
2.
Head outside your room, pull out gun (click it), try to use on trader. Put the gun away, then give the cigar (via 'menu') to the trader, then click the hose to trade for it.
3.
Head outside. There's a pipe sticking out of the ground; click the switch at the top to turn it on.
4.
Head right and click the orange/pink thing on the rock--this is a doll's head, which will be useful for you later on. Head right again.
5.
Attatch the hose to the faucet, wait for the water to leak out of the fountain, then click the circle that it's pushed up.
6.
After talking to the worm, go left until you reach the transit station (it's got a laser gate it it). Click on the conveyer belt (you might need to click it twice) to power down your gun to turn the lasers off, and go through the gate.
7.
Note the symbol on the screen--circle, triangle, or square (it's random each game). Click that red thing to trigger an alarm, then trade the doll-head for that plug thing.
8.
Go left and talk to the dog-like alien and the green one on the couch. Then, click the outlet and use your plug adapter on it.
9.
Click the trash can for an empty bottle, then head down the stairs.
10.
Use the dial (gray rectangle with circle) to turn the bathroom fan off. Check the locker without a yellow pad (the one on the right)and get the coffee beans from it.
11.
Check the coat for a code and name, which you'll use on the locker saying "R. Ootz" to open it. Get the mug, then click on the paper thing on the inside of that door. Click the symbol resembling the one you saw earlier.
12.
You can open the middle locker with the code 1977.
13.
Use the code from that folder on the green pad to remove the lasers blocking the generator, then charge up your gun and head back upstairs.
14.
Go to the coffee machine, use the coffee on it, then put the mug in to fill it with coffee. Give the coffee to the guard and follow him into the bathroom, where you'll shoot him.
15.
Click the trash can to get some popcorn kernels, then click the vent to lower it, then again to look inside. The fan should be off if you followed step 10, so shoot that red panel thing.
16.
Leave the bathroom and enter the door that the guard was standing in front of. If you've put your gun away, take it back out. When Milos tells you to put your gun away, do so, then grab the vial, pull your gun back out, and shoot Milos.
17.
Head back to the worm to get a key from him, then go to the scavenger (in a box to the right) and give him the green vial. Once he gives it back to you as a bomb, kill him to get the suitcase, then click the guitar controller to grab it, too.
18.
Head back to the transit center (deactivate your gun, of course), then trade the controller for the sock and the empty bottle for the doll head. After that, put the bomb in to kill the trader. If the two items the trader has left in the boxes aren't the bottle and guitar, click the one that isn't to get the item from inside it. I don't know wether or not this counts against you...
19.
Head right, through the doorway, and you'll end up at the entrance to building #9. Talk to the snake/worm with the shirt and tie to get a favor, and then go into your inventory, use the kernals on the sock (you'll have to open the inventory again), then the bean-bag on the doll head. After you've made the doll, give it to the baby worm/snake.
20.
Click the rectangle on that cylinder thing, then use the key on the keyhole. Click all six buttons in the upper right (you'll have to remove the plug and then put it into the hole beside the row you want to click to click them), then hit the switch in the upper left. Afterwards, in the lower right are two levers--Drag them until both of those ring-things are to the side of the clamps on that green thing. Then, click the left arrow, the rectangle, and then the right arrow. With nothing else holding the chip in, pull it out (click on it).
21.
Go give the chip to the worm to get the hacked chip, then go to the locker room at the transit center to recharge your gun. Go put the chip back where it was originally and enter building #9.
22.
Enter the first room, check that red thing (it's a thermostat) and turn it all the way on to red. Go to the third room and get the metal mug. Return to the first room, put the mug into the microwave (open it, first), then, once the microwave blows up, turn the thermostat to blue.
23.
Go through the hole it the wall, grab the badge off the floor, then click the fish tank to get the number on the rock (if you followed step 22, the water should be frozen, allowing you to see it). Go back to the hallway and enter the fourth door.
24.
Check the computer and book an appointment. Then, swap appointments using the code from the rock in the fish tank. Enter the room.
25.
Shoot the senator.
Posted by: Strokend
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May 22, 2009 8:06 PM