SOME NOTES:

Get your sketch-pad out and be willing to take notes and draw some symbols.  You cannot make it through this game without writing some things down.  You will need to match some colors with numbers, with shapes, with alphabets, with sounds, with strange mathematical symbols, with ummmmmm, .....you get the idea.

Watch for the word MORE in hints.  This is a link to more detailed help at the end of the walkthrough.
 
 

Nine has the diabolical feature of using a random generator when a new game is started, resulting in uniquely different games.  The player has to combine and decode several sets of clues in order to play the correct notes on an organ.  It will be necessary to match a set of 24 character-symbols against the alphabet (with two letters missing!).  And then match those symbols with the musical keyboard.  It's tough, but not impossible; the basic logic of how to match one with the other is not very obvious.  The coding is entirely different for the four games.

Thankfully, there are no mazes in Nine.  Well, not exactly.  There is a kind of island-hopping in a space-like environment, which works something like a maze.  But, the layout is simpler than it seems.  Oh, by the way, I Hate Mazes.

Nine is semi-linear. You can do parts of it in any order, but some sections are not accessible until certain tasks are completed, which triggers availability to others.

This game is lots of fun, but the coding has some serious bugs.  There are many locations that will result in your system locking up when you try to save, especially in the upstairs hall area.
 
 

THE STORY, Briefly:

Your Uncle, Thurston Last, has died and left you his estate.  Two evil twins have made their way in and messed things up, and locked practically all the doors. (Must be they were cut out of the will.)

You will need to figure out how to get into the various rooms.  You will be searching for several objects that need to be reinstalled in the "Muse Machine."  You will also be looking for coded musical clues that tell how to play the organ.  The first musical set opens one of the doors.  The other four musical sets each yield a coin as a reward.  Each coin gives you information from Isadora  (voice of Cher).
 
 

LET'S GET STARTED:

The first view is the exterior of the Last Resort, as it used to look.  If you wait about twenty seconds, or if you click on the house, it changes to its current appearance.  Move in for a closer look and you can knock on the door or ring the doorbell.  The guy behind the door is a caretaker of sorts, named Salty (voice of Jim Belushi).  Knock first several times to hear Salty's smart-alec comments if you like.  Eventually he gets tired of talking and just goes away.  Ringing the doorbell gives you a closeup.

Included in the software box is a copy of Thurston Last's Last Will and Testament.  Read it and find the unlocking key for the doorbell.  Enter it precisely, including the hyphens.  Click on "OK" after you enter the code. If you can't find the paper copy of Uncle Thurston's will, the code to open the door is at the end of this document.  (MORE). Walk in, get "welcomed" by those dreadful twins.  Look around the vestibule at the art work if you like, then open the gate and take the monocle.  You will fall down the stairs, the twins will take the monocle away, and you will find yourself in the main hall (Lobby).  Salty watches as you pick yourself up.  Look around. (It's possible to climb back up the steps you just tumbled down, but there's no reason to do so.)

Straight ahead, in the center of the room, is the organ. There is a moat around it, and a bridge that needs to be raised.  To the left of the organ is a terrarium with a dog's skeleton in it.  You can examine it, and see the dog's reactions.  Entertainment only, it doesn't accomplish anything.

Further to the left is a red Grand Staircase.  You can get up the stairs, but no farther, because the floor is moving toward you and pushes you back.  To the left of the stairs is a doorway guarded by two Tiki-gods.  They won't let you in yet.

Look around behind the red stairs and you will find a lever.  This lever opens a gate and lets water flow through the moat guarding the organ.  Turn right and see the water wheel turning.  Now, you can raise the bridge that crosses to the organ.  Try the organ. Oh, no.  It doesn't work!  Turns out this organ is powered by steam.  We need to activate the boiler.

Find the boiler to the left of the Tiki-gods.  The boiler will need a water supply and fuel to burn.  For the water, go close-up to the boiler and turn the wheel, filling it with water.  For the fuel, turn right and go up the ladder.  Find a CD on the floor.  Bring it back down the ladder and look for a place to use it.  It's a picture on the wall near the ladder.  Put the CD there, and turn the fuel control.  Go to the boiler, light the fire, (wait for the steam to build pressure) and pull the steam control lever to give power to the organ.  Now you can go to the organ and play the first selection. Examine the music book.

Don't forget that sketch-pad. You will need to refer to the symbols from the music book later in the game. Draw the symbols, including the shaded boxes. Make a diagram of the keyboard.  Make your sketch large enough so you can write the symbols directly on it.

Take a good look at the Music Book.  This is the basis for the coded alphabet you will need to learn.  On the left-hand page, you see a representation of the Tiki-gods.  This suggests that playing this music will open those doors for you.  Notice the two symbols on each of the totem poles.  One is from the symbol-alphabet which you haven't seen yet.  And one is a square shape half-shaded in, either diagonally, horizontally or vertically.

That shaded square is a shorthand symbol for a three-note sequence.

Also, notice the diagram on the bottom of the page; a little rectangle containing five circles.  This shows the proper setting of those five buttons (organ stops) just above the keyboard.  An empty circle means button down; so the first setting is all down.  Later selections each call for a different one of the buttons to be up.

Drum Room

Look around. There is a cymbal-set to the left, you can play with. (Doesn't accomplish anything.)  There is a drum-set to the right that gives you an important clue.  Write that clue down. Further on, there is a door you can enter.  Straight ahead is a juke box.  Play with the four buttons to select different recordings.  You will need to find a clue to solve the juke box problem. (The solution set as a variant with each new game.)

Go to the left and observe the art work on the wall with the red, yellow and blue colors. (Important!)  Take notes.  Look at the colors and listen to the sounds. (Count them.) Then look to the other end of the hall and see a door.  Salty says not to open it.  Open it anyway, and see that it's chained on the inside and watch Salty try to fight his way in and lose, because he isn't "up to it" (poor fellow).  Look at the cat picture on the wall, and examine it to see a pictorial clue.  Later, you will assemble a guitar. And, you need to know what the body, neck and head look like.  (These also change from game to game.)

Let's go back and do the drummer puzzle.  Talk to the drummer and find the machine.  He will want to play "Simon Says" with you. Experiment with the six buttons until you think you can distinguish the different rhythms.  I found it helpful to make a diagram of the sounds, like which one end in rat-tat-tat or thump-de-dump, and so on.

Press the red button to start.  This is one of the randomized puzzles; each time you restart it, it uses a different sequence.  Imitate the sequence until the drummer is satisfied. Arrub-a-Dubb!   Styleee Mon!  He will give you a maraca.  Take it.  (If you go away and leave the maraca with him, you will have to redo the drummer  puzzle.)

Its time to find the Muse Machine.  Go back across the lobby to a ladder that goes up to a door with a diamond pattern.  The puzzle on the door is a memory match game ("Concentration")  Click on the pattern and match identical sounds.  Again, this one is randomized each time you restart the puzzle.  (If you are tone-deaf, or deaf at all, find a kid who likes rock music to help you.) After you clear the pattern, you can enter.  Go to the Muse Machine and open it.  There are five places to put objects.  Try the levers and buttons before you put the maraca in and nothing works.  After you put it in, try them again and there is some function to the machine.  As you exit the area, there is a diagram on the back of the door that lets you know what other objects you are looking for.

While we are in the lobby, go around the foot of the red stairs and pick up a coin that is hidden there.  Go back near the steps and give Isadora the coin.  Listen to some psychic stuff and hints. Look right and examine the back of the Sound of War CD poster to find the clue to Salty's favorite song.  It's called Dogfight.  The number varies from game to game.  Write that number down.

Go back to the Drum Room and work on the masks. Look for similarities and place Like next to Like.  Some matches are obvious, like the pointy horns.  Some are not so visible, like red eyes, or a wavy line on the forehead. If a mask is in the correct position, AND if it is surrounded by the correct neighbors, it nods up and down.  If it is wrong, it shakes "no no." ( See MORE hints at the end). When they are all correct, you will see the clue needed to select the record in the juke box in the next hallway.  There are four faces and four background colors.  The record you play is broken, and when it is played, the needle drops through and releases a gear to the bottom chamber.  Take the gear with you and go up the red staircase.

At the top, there is a ladder to the right.  Find the heart-shaped chamber and open it to see the gears that drive the moving floor.  You need the new gear to help reverse the floor.  Play with the gears in the chamber by pulling up or down on them. (MORE)  Before you go through, look at the portrait of Uncle Thurston and examine it close up.  There is another pictorial clue you need later, for the guitar.

Now you can go up the stairs to the upper hall.  If you try to come back, the moving floor stops you.  At the top, to the right, is the stairway to the attic.  You can't go there yet.  To the left is a large portrait of Uncle Thurston.  If you look down at him, he has a few things to say.

Walk forward and turn right.  There is a device (microwave oven?) with a paper inside it.  Look at the paper for another pictorial clue to the guitar.

Go forward again, and find a gramophone on the right.  You will need to play the correct selection in order to give Salty back his energy.  Play the number you found on the poster next to Isadora, to revitalize him.  Now he will be able to get you into the tapestry room.

Look around to the left and find a garage door. If you try to go in, the guard dog prevents you.  You will need to find something to make the dog happy.  Go to the end of the hallway and look left at a checkerboard.  You can click on the bottom button to see different patterns.  Flip the board over to get the music for selection number two.  You can't play it yet, because you haven't decoded the whole alphabet. Sketch or capture the image. One note is blanked out, ignore it.
 
 

Checkerboard clue You will need to translate the symbols. The key for deciphering the code is in the tapestry room.  Yours may be different.

To the right is a set of sightseer's binoculars.  You can look into the Null Void (borrowing the terminology from Torin's Passage) and check out some of the objects you will visit.  There is a bartender's station....Bar, a Skull, and a Skeleton (very small here, hard to see through the binoculars).

Since you have given Salty back his prowess, let's go to the tapestry room.  Use the elevator to return to the first level.  Salty wins the dogfight and cuts the chain so you can get in.  Listen to Aura and look at the various tapestries.  I'll name them: On the left wall: The Wheel of Fortune, The Clues, The Cat.  On the right wall: The Eyes, The Guitar.

Start with the far right, the "Eyes" control. (Note the airplane shaped hole in the wall.)  Go in and set all three eyes so they are looking at the throne.  They are correct if the irises blink.  I found this hard to do.  Not hard to figure out. Just hard to control and hard to see.  Go to the throne and sit.  Push the button that appears and it will project the clue for setting the Wheel of Fortune.  Write it down.  Go into the Wheel of Fortune room, set the wheel according to the clue.  Get out your sketch of the organ (you did make one, didn't you?) and fill out the symbols, one per note.  Then add the alphabet to it.  Be careful, there are only 24 letters, two are missing (R and M).  Now you will be able to decode the music that is either symbol or alphabet.  While you are in the Wheel of Fortune room, look straight down to find a mouse for the cat.  Take it.

Go into the clues-room.  There is a table with a book on top.  Turn the pages and make note of the directions for tuning  the guitar.  Then, open the three drawers.  On the left is a guitar string.  Leave it there.  You will need a guitar string, but this is not the right one.  In the middle drawer is a new musical selection.  IMPORTANT: Sketch or capture it.  Be sure to include the button-setting in your sketch.  On the right is an alphabet that is no use to you.  Ignore it.

Now, if you wish, go to the cat and give her the mouse in the food bowl.  If you go forward, you will be in the Null Void.  Wait.  You can go, but there is more to do here.

Here, if you turn around, is the Guitar Tapestry.  Click on it and you need to build the guitar from the three clues you found behind the various art works.  Body, neck and head vary from game to game.  When you get it right, you will be able to enter the projection room.  Look left, thread the projector.  Look right, turn it on.  Watch the movie.  Look left and take the lamp (Vacuum Tube) Ooops, the twins steal it.  Blast those dratted twins!

So, turn around and go to the cat tapestry and step into the Null Void (Chasm).

GENERAL DIRECTIONS:  Explore until you can find the Skeleton, the Skull, the Bar, and the Door you came in.  Talk to the Skeleton.  He is thirsty.  Go to the Bar and bring him back a bottle of wine.  Mmmmm.  Wild Irish Rose, maybe.  He will give you a bone, which might come in handy for a nasty dog. (MORE if you need mapping)

Go back to the garage and give the dog the bone.  Check it out.  There's a cylindrical thing to the right (tool shed) that you can't enter yet, an overhead view, and on the floor, some racing going on.  Go talk to the robot and enter the slot car races.  You can play to your heart's content, but the only winner is the slow, funny car to the right.  Just click on the starting lights, hold the mouse button down, and lead him through the track.  Don't make it hard.  Winning gives you the key to the tool shed.

Turn around and go to the race car to the left of the robot.  On the floor of the car is a music clue that you will have to fill in after understanding the on in the tool shed.  Sketch or capture the image.

Go to the tool shed and look inside.  Find the important musical clue that is the key for decoding all the others.  Copy it carefully, or capture the image. We'll look at it later.

While you are in the tool shed, pick up the gear on the left.  You will need it to enter the Skull in the Null Void.  Look down and slide down the pole to revisit the Skeleton.

After dropping in on the Skeleton, go to the Skull and look down to open the gear area.  Insert the gear.  The gears can be rotated and inserted into the central area.  To solve this puzzle, you need to orient the gears and insert them so that there is a pink button showing at every location. (For detailed help see MORE  "Skull Gears.") When solved, you will hear the Skull opening, so you can enter.

Go into the Skull and you will arrive in the guitar room (Dali).  Oh, those dratted twins were hiding under the stairs.  No matter.  We'll fix them later.
 
 

Go left and talk to the guitar.  She tells you the twins stole her G-string. (Whatever that means?!!) Anyhow, you need to find the G-string, which is hidden in the Null Void.  Can you guess where?  There aren't many place to hide things there (MORE if necessary).

Give the G-string to the guitar.  She bends over and wants to be tuned.  Note that she bends over backwards and the order of notes is visually reversed from the clue you have seen.  Also, be aware that the sequence of notes has nothing to do with a real guitar.  If you are a musician, ignore what you know.  The guitar gives you the tuning fork.  Make your way to the Muse Machine and put the tuning fork in.

This is a good time to go get the spark plug and put it in the Muse Machine.  The spark plug is on the shelf of the tool shed upstairs in the garage.  You can also retrieve the Vacuum Tube that the twins swiped from you.  Any idea where it is? (MORE).  Go get it and put it in the Muse Machine.

This completes most of the leg work for now.  It's time to figure out those musical clues.  Go to the Organ.
 
 

Don't come whining to me when it crashes, please!  There are some peculiar bugs in the program that cause things to hang up.  Some people recommend that you play all four musical selections before taking any of the coins from the monkey.  I have been able to do them one at a time, but not always. A hangup is possible.

You have drawn a picture of the keyboard. You could have already labeled the keys shown in the first clue, the book on the organ. Finish labeling all the keys by referring to the Wheel of Fortune alien alphabet.  It wraps around the keyboard from top to bottom.  You should also label the keys using the English alphabet, according to the Wheel of Fortune setting. Be sure to use only the 24 letters you see on the wheel!

Let's try an easy one.  Find the music that came from the pinball game in the guitar room.  This one is in "English" consisting of four notes.  The second note is missing, but the arrows tell you how to get to it.  Be sure to set the fourth organ stop UP.  (An organ stop is one of the five buttons above the keyboard.)  Play the first note.  Count left or right according to the arrows on the clue.  Play the second note.  Count left or right again from where you are, for the third note.  Repeat the process for the last note.  If you did it correctly, you will hear the reward sound.  Look up and the monkey will be holding a coin suspended for you to take.
 
 

If that worked, let's do another easy one.  Find the music from the middle drawer in the tapestry room.  This one is even easier!  Nothing is missing, and  it's in"English."  Just refer to your nicely completed keyboard chart and play the notes.  (Since I play the piano, I found it easier to transcribe the clues into actual music, but that is completely unnecessary.)

So, that was simple, n'est-ce pas?  Let's look at the others.  The one from the car seems the most mysterious.  It gives you a starting point, the second note (arrows, right?) and nothing else.  You will get the third and fourth note by filling in the math puzzle clue found in the tool shed.  Let's call it the Decoder.
 
 

Decoder ARROWS to the left are 'minus', arrows to the right are 'plus'. That means go eight notes down, or two notes up, or whatever appears in your game.  Yours may be different.

DO IT ON PAPER, PLEASE.  The two grids that are actually the same grid.  Draw a copy of one grid and put the informatino from the other one on it.  The vertical columns are math: they add up.  Notice that the right-hand column is finished and adds up, top to bottom: minus-8 plus two is minus-six, (or whatever the numbers are in your game. There are at least four variations.) The totem sign at the top represents the sequence from top to bottom.  Notice that they give you the complete top horizontal row.  The totem on the top left represents the sequence for the top row, left to right.  Go back to the music on the organ to help you understand the patterns if you need to.  See how each totem pole has an upper sign and a lower sign?  The upper sign is the first note of the sequence and the lower sign represents the next three notes. The upper sign may be English alphabet or an "alien" character.  The lower sign is a graphic square divided right, left, up down, or diagonally four ways.  Each graphic depicts a three-note sequence.  Now go to the decoder-clue diagram you drew.

The totem signs are arranged three across the top and three down the left side.  The top one on the left comes from the tapestry clue and should be the same pattern as the very first selection from the music on the organ.  But, the starting note is different, hence the other three notes in the sequence have changed, but the 'spacing' between them is the same. Just count up or down (always including the black keys.)

The three vertical columns will add up.  Start filling in the blanks by looking at the other clues; the car and the checkerboard, and you can then finish the pattern by making it add up. When you finish the chart, you can play all four selections, take the coins, one by one, to Isadora and listen to her advice.  She gives you a key.

Go to the attic and enter, using the key.  Oh!  A checkerboard.  Remember the patterns from the hallway?  No matter.  Go forward, and if you get bounced back, keep trying.  There is an elaborate way to pick through the toys, but if you time it right, you can just step right through the middle. If you like smutty comments, hang out and listen to the Teddy Bear before opening the toy chest and taking the elevator key-card inside.  He's a real creep!

Take the key-card. Use it on the elevator controls.  Go to the basement.  The place is crawling with rats; fake target rats which you have to shoot, one at a time.  Each time you score a rat, one of the Christmas tree bulbs lights up.  The object is to light all the bulbs, then you can go through.  You can reload the revolver by clicking on the bullet chamber at the lower left.  Here's the rub: real rats come charging at your through the other door. It takes about five shots to kill each big rat, or you get zapped.

You can convert your revolver in a machine gun by holding down the CTRL key and firing at a rat.  This turns the episode into a breathless shoot-em-up, but it seems to be the only way to finish.  Keep an eye on the revolver, it's a five-shot revolver, not a six-shooter.  When the machine gun function is active, keep an eye on the revolving target board.  When it spins, the time runs out on the machine gun.  Be patient. Ha Ha!  It will take several attempts to get past the rats.  Watch for variations in the scenarios.  One of them has fewer big, real rats, and this is the one you can finish.  Keep plugging away.  Go through the door, find the monocle, and take it to the Muse Machine.

The Muse Machine overloads, and when you look back, the twins exhort you to follow them down the broken stairs.  You are in the jungle.  Take the gondola across, never to return.

The close up of the real king of the jungle, Sir Monkey,  is just a view, nothing else. The Artist's palette, in close up, has colors that look familiar (MORE). If you stare at the small table for several seconds, a creature crawls out of the bowl.

When you close in on the organ, you get a musical clue from the totems.  Capture it so you will have time to figure it out.  Acutally, if you are prepared with your chart in front of you, you can play it straight off.  It should be four notes, a mixture of the two alphabets. Don't be surprised if some of the notes are repeated, represented by the different alphabets.

NOTE:  The twins are there.  And they don't make things easy.  If you try to play while they are talking, the organ just won't work.  And, furthermore, if you try too hard it double-plays, or sticks, or something. You can continue to play while the "helpful creature" is talking.  Take advantage of the time he is talking to squeeze the notes in.  You can CTRL-S to save or CTRL-Q to quit anytime during the totem sequences. Or, you can just back away.  Just remember, you will start back at clue-one each time you do that!

The next clue will be almost as straightforward, except you will find a grouping (shaded block) which you need to look up on your Decoder, and one of the notes is colored differently, meaning you will play that note two, three or four times. (MORE) Note: if it is a sequence you used before, remember to count up or down starting from your new note.

The third clue will present you with a colored sequence.  Be sure to play the starting note together with the sequence that same number of times.  For example: Do, (Mi-Fa-Re); Do, (Mi-Fa-Re).

The fourth clue will have a mixture of multiple notes and multiple sequences.  If you got this far, you know what to do.

Now, the very last clue is the kicker.  Only one note, and only once. But unnhh? It's the missing letter from the alphabet.  Remember there are 24 notes on the keyboard and 26 possible letters in the English alphabet? What to do? (MORE)

So, you finished!  My congratulations to you. Hope you enjoy the closing sequence as much as I did.  I sat right here and laughed out loud.

Comments are welcome at tallyh0@rochester.rr.com
 

GameBoomers Walkthroughs and Solutions

OPEN THE FRONT DOOR:

Enter the code: 0821-1996-A92C and press OK
(be sure to include the hyphens.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

MASKS:

Start with the round face with the big goggle-eyes on the left.  Try others in the number two spot.  When you get the right one, the first mask will nod.  Now, try others in the third slot.  When the right one is there, the second mask will nod.  That is, for a mask to nod, it must be in the right place, and have a correct neighbor.  I believe this puzzle is always the same.  So here's the spoiler.  From the left: Round face with goggle-eyes, fangs, two horns, wavy line, funny tongue, red eyes, multi horns, grimace, biggest eyes, silver skull.  Sit and stare at them for 30 seconds; they will jump on their own.
 

MOVING FLOOR GEARS:

Pull down twice on the center gear.  Then down twice on the right hand gear.  Insert  the new piece in the middle.
 
 
 
 
 
 

THE NULL VOID CHASM:

R=turn right   L=turn left  T=turn around  F=go straight forward  F2=go forward twice.

From the Door: F R F L F You are at the Skeleton. Talk to him. He's funny.
From the Door: R F L F2 L F You are at the Skull.
From (facing) the Skull: L F L F  You are at the Bar.
From the Bar: L F L F You are at the Skeleton.
From the Skeleton: T F R F L F You are at the Door
Later from the Skeleton: L F F You are at the Skull.
 
 
 
 

SKULL GEARS:

This puzzle does vary from game to game.  Here is the solution for one variation:
Number the gears from left to right.  Without rotating it, insert Number 1, followed by Number 3.  Then, turn Number 4 four clicks clockwise and insert.  Then, turn Number 2 three clicks counter-clockwise and insert.

Start with the piece with the fewest holes in it, and finish with the No. 2 piece, which has a hole in every position.
 
 

G-STRING:

It's hidden in the Bar, to the left of where you found the wine.  Go back through the Skull, R F L F
(Don't use the E-string from the drawer in the tapestry room)

VACUUM TUBE:

Is hidden in the back side of the Bar, in a 'fake' Muse Machine.
 
 
 

ARTIST'S PALETTE:

You see red, yellow and blue, the colors from the painting in the hallway.  Now, there is also green.  Let's assume the colors represent the numbers one, two, three, four.  Green is the number that wasn't given by the painting. As far as I can tell, these don't vary. Yellow=1; Blue=2; Green=3; and Red=4.

THE LAST CLUE:

The organ totems want you to play a non-existent note.  Mine was "M."  Looking at the keyboard chart, M falls between two white keys that don't have a black note between.  Therefore, assume that you must play in the cracks or play the two white notes simultaneously.  If it seems tough to do, remember your Windows mouse rules: The click is official when you let up on the button.  So hold down the mouse button until both keys are depressed, then release.