Mari and the Black Tower

[richmond]

Hi there. Thank you for coming to my rescue. So...to date I have 1 essence key. It seems I am needing 3. There is a chest in the right hand room through all the poison but it wont open. Any ideas.?

What do I need to have or do to complete this level 1 please. I am truly baffled.

[Lady JJ]

Hi there. Thank you for coming to my rescue. So...to date I have 1 essence key. It seems I am needing 3. There is a chest in the right hand room through all the poison but it wont open. Any ideas.?

What do I need to have or do to complete this level 1 please. I am truly baffled.

Again, it's been some time since I played, so I'll post my notes for Level 1 and the crypt.

Level 1 Notes

Spoiler: show

The Black Tower – Level 1
There are 4 successive main rooms in this first level. The first is the entrance room. Travel north through the wooden door to the second room In the upper right corner of this room are 3 squares of spikes which will activate when you walk over to pick up the herb. Disable the spikes by pulling the lever on the upper left wall. Travel north again through another wooden door to the third room. This room is like a small maze. You’ll need to work around the recesses to the north and through the wooden door. The fourth room leads to yet another door in the north wall, but this one is locked. Time to explore to the left and right of these four main rooms. Retreat to the entrance room. If needed, exit and return to town to rest at the inn and replenish healing supplies. Don’t forget to always bring 1 or 2 teleport scrolls with you and a few torches as well.

When returning to town, you may notice it is now nighttime. Some characters only appear at night. There is a man doing some night fishing in the pond outside the item shop. More importantly, there is a man selling bombs and dynamite behind the inn. Buy a few bombs when you can spare the expense. The first one is free. All town buildings are open 24/7. The item shopkeeper will give you another quest.

Quest-Gathering Quest: Rolling Bones (bring 3 bags of bone dust to Margaret in the item shop)

If you have already gathered 3 bundles of herbs, you can complete the Gathering Herbs quest. You might also find Sera, Jake and Thomas at the campfire by the library telling ghost stories. Apparently they are quite good friends. Inside the library, Ned will give you your first map. It will help you to navigate the first level of the Black Tower. It’s rather crude, but helpful nonetheless. Outside of Dr. Hilden’s lab is an experimentation of Dr. Hilden’s that doesn’t seem to have gone as well as planned. Jondar is just as glum as ever. Amanda gives you the quest of finding her boyfriend Chad inside the Black Tower.

Quest-Side Quest: A Lover’s Gift

That’s it for the night life of Westvale. Rest at the inn and return to the Black Tower.

Let’s explore the left side of Level 1 first. In the entrance room, head left through the visible path. You’ll need to press ENTER or SPACE to open up the wall. The path then leads left and up. Continue left. You’ll find yourself in a room with gold and a chest. Don’t attempt to get the treasure yet as spikes will prevent you from doing so, and those spikes hurt. Go back to the previous room and this time, head north to a square room and then left. Another maze room with spikes. Be careful. Use a torch to avoid traps. Using the ladders, work your way to the gold pile and lever. Pull the lever and return to the treasure chest room where you can access the chest and gold. Return to the room with the lever and this time use the ladders to reach the exit in the lower left corner. Enter the next room. You may find an herb there as well as a torch. You can cross the spikes, but you’ll suffer much damage. Best to return to the lever room and find another route. This time maneuver your way to the northern exit and enter the next room, another maze room. Make your way up, left, and down to the entrance to the next room. Here you’ll find a platform with an unlit campfire, a pile of gold, and a sparkle (teleport scroll). Lighting the campfire will heal your party as well as give you a hint to keep an eye out for more torches. Head down to the next room via the lower left exit. You’ll now find yourself on the other side of those spikes and you can continue left to the next room, a gold room with a visible shrine. Look for a hidden door in the south central wall to reach the shrine. You can either use the shrine to increase the strength of one of your characters or tell the scrawny many where to find it next time you visit the pub. Back out to the perimeter and exit the Shrine of Strength room through the north.

The next set of rooms are ice puzzles. You’ll need to use the obstacles to stop yourself from sliding and change directions to get from one area to the next. Start at the gold square to the left of the gold wall, then U-R-D-R-D-L-U to next room. Get the key fragment in the red box. From the uppermost square you can reach without sliding, R-U-L-U-L-D-R-U-R, open chest, enter the cave to reach another gold pile, then retrace all your steps back to the room with the 3 spikes just north of the Black Tower entrance room. Travel north through the wooden door to the maze room. Exit to the left where you see the ice wall. This is another sliding ice puzzle where you’ll need to work your way to the stairs. There is an exit to the left but you’ve already collected the gold there. Climb the stairs and go to the next room. There doesn’t seem to be much in this room, but check the north wall carefully to find a Shrine of Health. That’s it for the left side of Level 1. There is another hidden room, but your characters aren’t strong enough to fight it yet.

Retreat to the room just north of the entrance room, the one with the 3 spikes. There are 2 exits to the right. Take the lower one. These are a series of tunnels where you can gather gold, herbs and an occasional torch. At the far right end, there is an exit to the north leading to the more familiar gray walls. Here you’ll find another red treasure box with the second key fragment. In the menu, use those key fragments to repair the key. Exit to the left, stepping on the red button to open the door. Lighting the torches reveals a red treasure chest. Exit to the left and you’ll find yourself in a room with a blue crystal and portal. You can’t use this crystal or portal until much later in the game, so travel left again. Move to the left again and you’ll be in another maze room with a pile of gold and a torch. Watch out for the spikes in the upper right area. One more room to the right and you’ll find yourself back in the 3 spike room 1 north of the main entrance. Move up through the wooden door to the maze room.

It looks like there are no exits to the right, but in the Black Tower, looks can be deceiving. The black recess in the upper right is actually a path to the rogue area. Walk across to the cell areas. Only the middle cell is accessible to you. Work your way to the right, heal at the campfire, check the sparkle, and exit left to another trio of cells. Again, only the middle cell is accessible to you. Nothing more to do right now so backtrack to the maze room and the north wooden door. Travel north to the room with the locked door. The key will unlock the door and you find yourself on a bridge with a sparkle (piece of clothing) to your right. Try to cross the bridge and it will collapse, plunging you into the basement crypt. Another sparkle reveals blood. Who else fell through? This might be a good time to teleport back to town to revisit the townspeople and replenish your healing supplies.

If it’s nighttime, the old man is still fishing outside of the item shop and Gaston is still selling bombs behind the pub. Give the scrawny man inside the pub the directions to the Shrine of Strength to fulfill that quest. Another patron tells you he found a cassette of the move ‘Black Tower.’ Talk to the barmaid, Natalya who gives you some info on Amanda’s boyfriend Chad. Up to you whether you feel pity or disdain for poor Chad. There’s a skeleton in the graveyard outside the church. Speak to it and receive a quest.

\

[Lady JJ]

Basement/Crypt Level

Spoiler: show

The Black Tower – Level Basement (Crypt)

The first room is a square room with one exit to the south. Be wary of purple pools throughout the crypt. Wading in these poisoned pools damages your party members. Travel south to a room with two exits left, two exits right, one north and one south, six exits in all. Take the upper left exit, collect what’s there and return. Take the lower left exit. Travel through the purple pond to another room to the left, then wade through the large purple pond to collect the gold. Remember to heal before your next encounter. Travel south, collect gold, then travel south again to a room with two blue torches and a red chest. There will be a battle, but you’ll find the first of three essence keys and other assorted goodies. The other areas are not accessible from this route, so return to the room with the four exits. Take the upper right exit to find a lever. Leave it for now. Take the lower right exit and collect the loot. Return to the six exits room and exit south to a room with a campfire and exits leading north, south, and east, three exits in all. You’ll find more dried blood. Explore the room to the east before using the campfire to heal. After healing, head south to a room with wide steps and a waterfall. Exit to the left, then move one room left and one room down to reach treasure in one of the previously entered rooms. Return to the room with the wide stairs and waterfall and move south to a room with a dragon skeleton. Move two rooms left to the third area previously inaccessible, return one screen right and move down to an east-west tunnel. Head west to the next room and retrieve whatever is there. Move back to east-west tunnel and continue east to find yourself back in the dragon skeleton room. There is a lever in the southern area of the dragon skeleton room. Pulling it releases a rope that allows easy access from the entrance room of Level 1 to this lower basement crypt level. Now you can return to town without using a teleport spell.

It looks like the area to the right of the dragon skeleton can be accessed from the lower right wall of the dragon skeleton room above, but that doesn’t work. Head back to the six exit room, pull the wall lever in the room off the upper right to open the way. Return and head south in the wide stairs with waterfall room through the newly opened exit. There are two exits here, both leading east. Take the upper exit first. A sparkle gives you another piece of torn clothing. You’re definitely on the trail of something. Ignore the south exit for now and continue east to a ‘J’ shaped room. Travel west to find Chad and a health essence crystal. Bottle up some health crystal for later. Return to the ‘J’ shaped room and travel east. You’ve now reached the lower left quadrant of a graveyard. Checking the tombstones might unearth some gold, or lead you into a battle. Leaving and re-entering the area resets the placement of the tombstones, but they can only be displaced once. Return to the room with the rectangular purple pool and head south to the next room. Traveling east here just returns you to the right half of the dragon skeleton room, so head east instead. There are two bridges here. The lower bridge leads to a crack in the wall. Use a bomb to find a red treasure chest. Return and take the upper bridge, then continue east. Attempt to open the double doors. Ambush! Once you’ve defeated the gargoyles, you can enter the crypt. Disturb the tombs at your own risk. Find the tomb that’s ‘different’ to complete the Proper Burial quest.

The northern area has no above ground access. Moving one of the tombstones will reveal stairs to an underground path that will lead to that area. Another tombstone in that newly accessed area will lead to a Shrine of Agility and a red box holding ‘Of Gods and Men-Page 1.’ Heal at the campfire before entering the temple. Destroy the small crystal and prepare for battle. After defeating the lich, you will be automatically transported back to town to report to Mayor Hendershot. The quest Spooky, Scary Skeletons is now complete.

Revisit the townspeople before resting up. Be sure to check on Amanda and Chad. Margaret will take her three bags of bone dust, if you have them, to fulfill that quest. The rest can always be sold. Restock on healing items and potions. Odd, the kids aren’t hanging around the campfire tonight. Inside the library, Matthew can translate Page 1 Of Men and Gods and also Darkness. This also triggers another story quest. This story quest will not actually be completed until near the end of the game.

Quest-Main Story Quest: Of Gods and Men

Rest up at the Inn to trigger the first flashback telling the background story of Mari and Abbie. Abbie wakes you in the morning and urges you to go to Mayor Hendershot’s house. There you’ll find your next main story quest.

Quest-Main Story Quest: On Love and Friendship

Stop by Westvale Farm to receive another quest from Janet

Quest-Gathering Quest: We Need More Herbs

Visit the librarian Rachel to find where Sera and her friends are headed. Ned will also give you a map to Level 2. If you have some gold, buy some upgraded equipment from Riko in the armory. Upgrade and equip what you can and then head to the tower. You’ll find Pascal there who tells you his father is interested in the miasma used by the lich.

Quest-Gathering Quest: Monster Infection

Pascal also tells you to read the bulletin board outside the pub to find another quest.

Quest-Side Quest: The Clumsy Thief

Enter the Black Tower and continue heading north until you reach the bridge. Watch the cutscene. Apparently you have to find a hidden passage. Return to the jail cells area where you’ll encounter Angoma the Legendary Thief and find the jail key and the hidden path. Loot the jail cells and then take the hidden path. A detour to the right will lead you to ‘Of Gods and Men Page 2.’Take the teleporter to Level 2.

[richmond]

You are a genius and my saviour.

Level 2 here I come!!

I hope you stay around for more help if I need it.

[Lady JJ]

You are a genius and my saviour.

Level 2 here I come!!

I hope you stay around for more help if I need it.

The geniuses are the people who make these great games, not just this one but so many others. If at any time you would like my entire set of notes for all the levels, PM me with an email address.

[richmond]

Have purchased the game but I cannot save any files NOR can I transfer my demo saved file.
I have down loaded the game 3 times but still cant save.
I have winzip on windows 10.

Sorted it.

[richmond]

Ok Lady JJ. Need your help badly again.

Level 6. Gate 3 is open but not 1, 2, 0r 4.
Looked at the blue cylinders in full screen but they are not telling me anything.!!


Giving up so please put me out of my misery.

[Lady JJ]

Ok Lady JJ. Need your help badly again.

Level 6. Gate 3 is open but not 1, 2, 0r 4.
Looked at the blue cylinders in full screen but they are not telling me anything.!!


Giving up so please put me out of my misery.

I remember I had trouble there as well. Unfortunately, my notes only go to the beginning of Level 6. However, I think my problem was that I didn't notice that some of the cylinders were not quite the same color. There was only a subtle difference, and it took me forever to see that difference, but some are a bit greener maybe, or maybe a bit more purple. That's all I remember about it, but I do recall that once I saw that subtle difference, the solution was easy. Let me know if this helps.

Edit-Read the discussion on Page 2 of this thread. The solution is there.

[poshpaws]

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party with this one. I'm rather stuck. I've been to Halonia and have got kicked out by the king for asking to use the red portal. I have to collect the 3 keys on the temple floor so that I am allowed to go through the door there. Can anyone please post a spoiler as to where the 3 keys are all located? I've been wandering around for ages now but no luck. Many thanks.

[Lady JJ]

Been a while and nothing comes to mind from memory, but I do have notes. If the king threw you out, does this mean you are on Level 5? And are you searching for essence keys? If so, you should have already found 2 of them. Here are my notes for finding the 3rd.

Note that the spoiler is very detailed and gives solution to the puzzles, so if you don't want a spoiler of the entire floor, let me know exactly where you are and what you've done already.

Spoiler: show

Level 5

King throws you out. Find an underground route to castle and portal. Pick up Gods and Men Page 6 along the way.


Level 6 Tech

1-Entry floor (foyer / waiting room)
Ladies’ Room Note: 47586
Vending machines
2-Cloning floor
Pipe puzzle opens chest with essence shard
Office-Chest with number lock (Floor 1 Map)
Storage-Gold, wooden chest (stun baton)
Clone-Pipe puzzle unlocks door, pipe on desk, broken cylinder (???), passcode of 6 digits (answer lies in the placement of the purple-rather-than-green cylinders in this same room)
3-Password to lockbox 97148 (floor 2), Passcode to unlock Gate 2 (42-answer to the universe)
4-Blue barriers (#1 unlocked by red button in elevator shaft, #2 unlocked by passcode floor 3, #3 unlocked by passcode floor 2, #4 unlocked by Ned)

After entering the 6-digit passcode (9-4-7-1-1-6) in the cloning lab on floor 2, return to the elevator and hit one of the buttons. The elevator malfunctions and you find your way to the elevator shaft. *** Be sure to have at least one bomb with you before you enter this 6-digit passcode***

Elevator Shaft Ladder: Crack (use bomb to find gold and broken shrine core) and an actual opening to maze (Of Gods and Men Page 7), exit and travel further to a door (messages #11 and #12), red button that opens Gate #1, elevator is now functional again

Teleporter to stars, if you don’t have any scorpion venom, keep initiating random fights until you get a scorpion to drop one.
Blue Area
All yellow puzzle, disappearing path puzzle, then invisible path (4U-2L-3U, 3D-2R-1D-3R-2D-2R-2U-3R-2D-3R-3U-1L-3U) to teleporter to blue maze.
This area repeats quite a bit, it is much smaller than it appears. There are only 2 transporters, the one in the 3x3 square that brought you here and the one in a 5x5 square that will take you to a campfire and a cutscene. After cutscene, exit to right. This is a timed puzzle where all the blue buttons need to be depressed before time is up. There should be plenty of time. Exit to right where blue meets green and the essence crystal.
Green Area
Another all yellow puzzle, disappearing tiles puzzle, invisible path puzzle (2D-2R-2D-8L-2U-2L-2D-2L-2U-1L-3U-1R (Of Gods and Men Page , 1L-3D-1R-4D-13R-3D-2L-1U-2L) to teleporter to green maze.
This area also wraps. It’s much easier to recognize the wrapping once the treasure chest is opened. Enter in the teleporter just northeast of the treasure chest, exit by the teleporter southeast of the treasure chest. Travel to a small maze, then a timed blue button puzzle. (You can reenter to get the torch in the red box after the puzzle is solved.) Light the campfire, watch cutscene, exit to green transporter (third essence key is twinkling above, walk out to it), transport to…

Level 6: Hellgate

[poshpaws]

Thanks Lady JJ. I’ve found the underground passage back to Halonia. However, I’m struggling with the sequence for the puzzle of yellow to blue buttons. Did you note how to do this please?

[Lady JJ]

If it's not in the full set of notes I sent you (which does abruptly end before the final level), then I'm afraid that's all I have. I'll see if I have a save prior to that area and see what I can do. In the meantime, you can always send an email to Joshua. Check page 1 for his email address.

[poshpaws]

I'm on Level 6 and it seems that I need to meet up with Ned. How do I do this? I've been back to town and have spoken with him but nothing is happening? Also the yellow button puzzle to get to 2 yellow chests in the underground of Halonia. I've been trying this for ages but haven't managed to solve it yet

[jkweath]

@Lady JJ

Thanks a bunch for helping everyone who's needed help with my game. I've been so wrapped up in game development (5th game at the moment) and supporting my recent Android ports that I completely forgot this thread existed. You're a lifesaver!

More apologies to anyone who's had issues installing the game from Aldorlea as the whole ZIP file thing makes it very awkward. I know how to build installers now - unfortunately, due to how I set up the files on Aldorlea, the process for replacing the ZIP with an installer would throw everything out of wack for anyone who's already downloaded the game. Because of this, I haven't updated the Aldorlea version of the game.

I recently updated Mari and the Black Tower on Steam - it's a minor update that removed a couple difficult puzzles and added a few helpful NPCs on the later floors. I also recently ported it to the Google Play Store for Android devices - this version has a massive dialogue overhaul among a few other minor updates.

If anyone who's bought the game here wants a free key for the Steam version or the Android version (if you have a modern high-end device, as it won't work on older devices), I will *happily* provide one.

Anyway, I also uploaded some puzzle solutions to this page here:

http://jkgames.net/black-dungeon-rpg/#puzzle-solutions

One more edit: For anyone who needs further help with the game (for any version) you can email me at any time: Jkweath@gmail.com. Depending on the time of day I usually respond within a hour.

I'm on Level 6 and it seems that I need to meet up with Ned. How do I do this? I've been back to town and have spoken with him but nothing is happening? Also the yellow button puzzle to get to 2 yellow chests in the underground of Halonia. I've been trying this for ages but haven't managed to solve it yet

Did you open the lockbox on the Tech floor? (The code for it is (edit) 97148 for anyone who needs it). Once you've opened this lockbox, you'll have an odd copy of the Floor 1 map, which will prompt a conversation from Ned after which he'll storm out and you can return back to the lockbox to continue the story.

[poshpaws]

The code was 97148