The Black Cauldron is an 3-D adventure game for children, based more or less on the movie of the same name. The game has you controlling Taran, whose mission is to deliver the visionary pig, Hen Wen, to safety and destroy the black cauldron.
The game is similar in style with other Sierra games of its time, but rather than typing commands at a prompt. Most often, you will perform actions using only two commands: DO and USE. The DO command allows you to perform an action on screen (talk to characters, press buttons, flip switches, etc.) The USE command is to use something in your inventory with something on the screen, but you have to select that object using the game's HIGHLIGHT command.
There are alternate solutions to puzzles, and can be done if you want to take a different path than that of the actual movie.
You begin your adventure outside the cottage of Dallben in Prydain. Walk to the door and use the DO command on the door to open it. Approach Dallben and talk to him using the DO command. You will be told it's time to feed the pig. Walk up to the fireplace and use DO to get the food cooking there. Leave the cottage and head east to the pig pen. DO the gate to open it and enter. Highlight the pig food and use it to feed Hen Wen.
ALTERNATE SOLUTION: Instead of feeding the gruel to Hen Wen, get the corn in the shed and use it to feed her.
Hen Wen takes off in a hurry, so follow her back to the cottage. Go inside and approach Dallben again. Your mission is outlined and Dallben gives you the rope. Go to the cupboard in the upper-right and open it. Take everything from inside. Leave the cottage. Now go north and west.
Note: While wandering in the woods, watch out for the gwythaints sent from the evil Horned King to capture Hen Wen and take her to the castle. If the gwythaints appear on screen, they will get Hen Wen if they get close enough to her. To avoid her being captured, it is best to stay close to the edge of the screen as possible, so that when they do appear, you can immediately move to another screen and re-enter. But even if the gwythaints end up capturing Hen Wen, don't worry. You have the chance to rescue her later on in the game.
There is a tree with a hole in it. Walk up to it and use DO to get the lute from inside it. Go north (x2) to a briar maze (which is Arcade Sequence #1). Go into the briars and work your way north where you should find a river nearby. Go up to the edge of the river, and use the water flask to collect some fresh water. Return to the briar maze and head to the tree north-east of the rock. You will end up in front of a house.
Open the door to the house and enter. This is the home of the Fair Folk, and they will take care of Hen Wen for you. Gwystyl has given you Dallben's message, which is the magic word. He then takes Hen Wen to safety (unless she was captured earlier). When he is gone, go to the cupboard at the back wall. Open it and get the cookies. Leave the house and go east. Wait here and you should see a little creature called Gurgi running around. He is dirty, cute, and hungry. Give him either the apple or cookie. Go south to the lake with the smooth stones. Cross it without coming into contact with the waterfall. Go as far east as possible, then go north. Go across the footbridge and swim close to the rocks in the waterfall.
Move to the rock that sticks up rather high, highlight the magic word, and USE it to make the rock drop. Now step on the rock going slightly up to the next flat area, but not really straight up. If the next screen is dark, you have reached the right place. Go east until you see the Land of the Fair Folk being challenged by King Eiddileg. Use the DO command to tell him who you are and give him the lute using the USE command. You will be given some flying dust. USE the dust and fly out. USE the magic wand to lower the rock again and return to the ground. Go north (x2) to the bridge. Go into the stream and LOOK at the bridge to find a food wallet. Retrieve it using the DO command. Now if at some point in the adventure you are hungry, all you have to do is USE the wallet to eat some food. With the wallet, you'll never run out of food.
Go west (x3). See that tree with a dagger that is holding up the No Trespassing sign. Go toward the tree (using the NNE direction) and get the dagger. Go north and west to the base of Eagle Mountains. There are several large rocks blocking the way, and you must navigate your way to the top (look for V shapes etched the rocks for hints). You will eventually end up in front of a barren tree.
Walk up to the tree, and use the rope on it. The rope will be attached to the tree and head on up to the top corner of the screen. If it doesn't, move around a bit and try again. Make note of whuch way it went, as you need to climb down later. Use the DO command and you will start climbing the rope. Carefully climb across it using the keyboard until you work your way to the top, saving the game as you go in case you fall down.
When you get to the top, cross to the other side of the ledge and slide along the wall until Taran clutches it. Go down to the next ledge. Walk around the ledge and climb again. Up this time and away from the side your rope is on. If your rope is on the let (it went right), move until Taran's feet is just clear of the long ledge one level up from the rope and then drop down. If the rope is on the right, you will need to move all the way up to the ledges on the top before coming down or you will not be able to get him onto the ledge. Save your game. Make your way across the long ledge and climb it until you get to the final one. It is likely that you will fall off, and you may need to adjust a bit. Save your game and go onto the next screen.
Go north and you will arrive at the castle. To get there, however, requires you to navigate the ledge-style path. So do this to end up at the moat filled with alligators. Go west to the side of the castle to arrive at the open drawbridge, and the king's henchmen will exit with a cart. (If the bridge is closed, however, leave the screen and keep coming back.) As soon as you see the cart, go behind it and use the DO command to hide in it. The henchmen go back inside the castle. As soon as they leave, get out of the cart and go north. You'll end up in the wine cellar.
ALTERNATE SOLUTION: At the moat, wait until the alligators move apart. Get in the water and swim to the wall. Now climb the wall until you are at the windows, avoiding the falling rocks. Cut the vines at the top-left window, and climb in.
ALTERNATE SOLUTION: If Hen Wen was captured by the Gwythaints earlier, go north and west. Go up the stairs and east. Go through the east door to arrive at the balcony overlooking the throne room. From there, jump off and retrieve Hen Wen to break the spell. Either throw her off the parapet, or cross the drawbridge. You can also go down into the dungeons, letting her go out through the hole in the burial chamber.
From the wine cellar, go between the first and second wine casks from the door and you will fall down a garbage chute.
ALTERNATE SOLUTION: Go north, west, down the stairs, and south. Turn the figure on the wall and climb down the ladder.
Note: If you get caught by the guards while walking around the castle, you will be placed in the dungeon. To get out, rattle the cup at the cell door to open a passage. Before you enter this door, retrieve your inventory from the closet through the left door at the back in the area, located north of the wine cellar.
When you get down to the bottom, you'll say hello to Eilonwy and her magic bauble. Go west (x2) and north (If you got captured by the guards, go north first. If you went down the stairs, go north and west.) and you will see a wall where five of the stones reach onto the floor from the wall. Move up in front of them and remove them all one-by-one using the DO command. Go through the hole into the burial chamber. You see a stone coffin with a glint of metal at the top.
The magic bauble will find an exit to the north-northwest and Eilonwy will follow it out of the castle. You are unable to follow suit, so move up close to the coffin and use the DO command to retrieve the magic sword. Go south (x2) and east. You will arrive at a scene with a gargoyle and the ladder. Stand in front of the gargoyle and open the trap door with the DO command. Go to the ladder and HIGHLIGHT the sword.
Note: The game is over if you are caught with the sword.
Save the game and go up the ladder. When you arrive at the top, move to the center of the screen and go north. You will see a henchman guarding the cell and the dungeon. Get close to him and use the DO command to attack him with the sword. He will be stunned for a few seconds. Before he is able to control himself, get the keys from the right wall and go south. Go back to the center of the screen and go north again. The henchman will follow you. Attack him with the sword again, then quickly HIGHLIGHT the keys and USE them on the dungeon door. Enter to see Fflewddur Fflam. Walk up to him and DO. Taran will introduce himself and untie him. You will be given his harp and he will take off.
HIGHLIGHT the sword again and leave the dungeon by going south. From there, go west through the next door, up the first stairs, east, and then south (x2) to arrive at the drawbridge area.
ALTERNATE SOLUTION: Go up the stairs, west (x2), and use the DO command to jump off or back out the way you came in if you climbed the wall. If you do the parapet method, you will sacrifice 13 points.
If you are still at the drawbridge area, the henchman will appear. Attack him with the sword, then move up to the drawbridge mechanism and USE the sword. The sword will cut the chain, causing the drawbridge to open permanently. Go out the door, across the drawbridge, and back to the rock wall (make sure that you can see the rope here). Climb back down the cliff and the rope the same way you got up. Navigate back through the rocks, exit south, and go south again to the swamp.
Either jump on the rocks until you get to the other side. Go toward the door and use the DO command to open it, and then go inside.
ALTERNATE SOLUTION:: If you went west out of the rock maze, go south (x2) and fly west from the northeast corner of Morva Marsh.
ALTERNATE SOLUTION:: It's a lot easier to just use the flying dust. Simply HIGHLIGHT it and then USE it. Go toward the house and use the DO command to land.
There is a chest here. Move up to it, and open it with the DO command. Appearing before you are some witches, who don't like what you are doing. They don't seem to mind turning people. Use the DO command to tell them who you are. When they ask you to trade something, HIGHLIGHT the sword and USE it to trade.
Note: If you fail to tell them who you are, the game ends.
Happy with what they have, all of you go outside where the cauldron is here. Move up to the cauldron and LOOK. Then move up to the witches and DO. Suddenly, a gwythaint comes by, steals the cauldron, and carries it to the castle. Now you have to return to the castle. Fly back across the marsh and land where you can. Navigate the rock maze, and return to the castle using the methods that were explained earlier. The drawbridge should still be open. Enter the castle.
Without getting caught again, go down the garbage chute between the wine casks. When you get to the bottom, go south. HIGHLIGHT the magic mirror in inventory, then east to the Horned King's Secret Burial Chamber. You see the king preparing to resurrect his evil army, he then sees you. When he gets close to you, USE the mirror. His own reflection causes him to jump into the cauldron, and he dies. Game over.
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