Nacah is the brainchild of one-man team Monte Cheyenne Wofford, a multi-instrumentalist and visionary. His vision was to develop an adventure game with a Christian ethic and he succeeded: Nacah is his labor of love. It has been released with the tag, “the Biblical alternative to Myst” and those who enjoy Myst-like games will find a game quite similar to the original Myst both in presentation and content. The game is a first-person slideshow of pictures with occasional grainy QuickTime movies we have come to expect from adventure games. The end island and the second last chamber show more potential graphically. Other areas look dull and dated. The game has the same vagueness that Myst had: you are in a place for no apparent reason. The goal is merely to get to the end. There are no interactive characters. A couple of the puzzles are somewhat unique not merely because of the Biblical content. Where this game is significantly different is that it requires that the player have a Bible (preferably a King James version with an index). Hints are provided in the form of Biblical references. The sound is easily the highest quality aspect of this game. It could easily have come from a big budget game like Riven. The user interface is a little different and awkward: it is impossible to load a game from within the game itself. The player must quit the game and reload from the desktop. Otherwise the point and click interface is the same as Myst. Two areas that caused me no end of frustration were a “dead end” and an error in the booklet that made solving one puzzle impossible until I contacted Cheyenne. Be sure you watch the making of the game, where he demonstrates his ability with several different musical instruments and talks about the tribulations he had creating the game. It’s worth the price of admission just to see the effort he’s put into the game. Overall, I would recommend this to any Myst-phile or anyone who feels they have tried everything: using the Bible for hints is a novel idea that has not been considered before. The game is available for purchase from Cheyenne’s website (http://www.virtuegames.com/) or Bible Games Company (http://www.biblegamescompany.com)/. NOTE: There are six pages to find in this game that contain all the names of the books of the Bible. In order to win the game, you must find all six. It is possible to get right to the end with none of them! IntroductionThe game begins with a short video showing a door opening and closing. You are in a very dark cave. Cave 1Turn around. Read the passage: “And God said let there be”. The answer is, of course, “light”. Click on the letters underneath the quotation to spell “light”. Then click on the word. The room magically lights up. Turn around again. Go forward toward a raised bridge. BridgeTurn left. Get the key off the wall. Turn around. Head back to the quotation. Cave 1Turn left. Use the key to open the door. Go in. RoomRead the book on the table. The number required to lower the bridge is found in John 21-the number of fish the fishermen catch. The answer is 153. As you leave this room the light switches off. Go back to the bridge. BridgeTurn right. Click on the box to get a close up. Click on the numbers 1, 5, and 3. Click on the switch that comes out of the box. The bridge lowers. Go across the bridge. It is dark at first but slowly lights up. Cave 2You hear the bridge raise again by itself. Turn around. Look up. Take the key from the raised bridge. Turn around. Go forward. Turn left. The clues for this puzzle are a calculation:
Turn around. Use the key in the lock. Click on the panel. It spins around revealing some numbers. Select “1” from the left hand numbers, “85” from the middle numbers, and “4” from those at right to make 1854. Turn around. Look at the puzzle again. Take the key. Go up to the door. Turn left. Take page 1 (with the fish on it). It contains a list of some of the books of the Bible. There are five other pages to find also. Turn right. Use the key in the door. It opens. Go forward to the elevator room. Elevator RoomLook up to see an elevator. Turn left to see a shelf of three buttons with a chain beyond it. Turn left to a plaque. Click on it-it changes to Psalm 34:14. The reference is to the word “peace”. Turn back to the buttons. Click on the left one twice, the middle one twice, and the right one three times. Turn back to the plaque. The word “peace” shows now. Click on the button underneath and the elevator is lowered. Go in. ElevatorSwitch on the power (at top left). Pull the lever to be taken up. Exit to another cave. Cave 3Turn left. Take the scissors and the red square (no, it’s not a visual artifact!). Turn right and look at the note. It contains three references corresponding to three buttons to power the outside generator: Mark 4:6, Acts 1:8, and Luke 1:35. Only the second and third quotations make reference to “power”, so the first switch must be off and the others on to power the outside generator. Turn right-the outside generator is off and won’t switch on. Open the door at left. Go down into a passageway. Passageway 1Follow the passageway outside to a dock leading to an island. Follow it to the island. As you go up the stairs, be sure to pick up page 2 (with an X on it) from under platform. Continue up. Take the key off the girder. Also up here is a switch with three slots under it. These cannot be used yet. A cable car sits next to the switch. Sit in the cable car and note three quotations. Return to the cave. Be sure to pick up the yellow square at right just before leaving the dock to go back in. Cave 3Use the key on the locked door. Enter a corridor. Generator CorridorFollow the corridor. Be sure to examine the paper on the wall on the right. It relates to the elevator and contains three references: Job 1:22, Luke 17:24, and John 1:51. The John reference refers to up and down movement. Neither of the others does. Therefore, the third switch is the important one for powering the elevator. Take note of the diagram at the bottom of the page also. Continue to the end of the corridor and the water power generator. At this time, the elevator needs to be switched on. Ensure the top switch is in the up-down position. Ensure the left-hand switch on the second row is also in the upright position. The right hand switch must be in the left-right configuration. The left lower switches can switched any way, as they don’t come into play. Ensure the first two switches on the right hand side are in the left-right position and the third switch is up-down. The elevator is on. Return to the elevator. ElevatorGet in. Click on the switch. You are taken up to the sundial room. Sundial RoomEnter the room. Read the quotation on the paper on the wall-2 Kings 20:10. This tells that the “shadow go backward ten degrees”. Close up on the sundial. Click the middle button once and the right button once. Back away. Turn left. Get the green block. NOW, HOLD YOU HORSES! Cleverly, there is another puzzle to be solved relating to the sundial. This time move the sundial so that the shadow is two steps from extreme right. Back away. Turn left. A lit up thumb points upward. Click on it. Hop in the elevator. ElevatorSwitch on the power. You go up to a tiny room. Get page 3 (it has a circle on it). Descend back to the cave and return to the generator. Generator CorridorNow that you have completed the necessary tasks using the elevator, switch the power over to the outside generator. Ensure the top switch is up-down. The left switch on the second level should be in the left-right position. The right one should be upright. As before, the third row of buttons on the opposite (elevator) have no influence and can be in any position. The first on the left should be left-right. The other two must be in the upright position. Return to the cave. Cave 3Turn right. The outside generator button should be lit. If not, return to the generator and fix your mistake! When correct, go to the island. IslandNOTE: Before going up in the cable car, be sure you have three pages of Biblical books: one with a fish, one with an X, and one with a circle. If you don’t, you can’t win the game. Switch on the cable car power. Place the three blocks in the slots below the switch: green, red, and yellow in descending order. A clue for this was the quotes in the cable car: Psalm 23:2 (“green pastures), Proverbs 23:31 (“red wine”), and 1 Peter 1:7 (“gold”). Go in the cable car. Cable CarClick on the lit thumb. You are transported to the top of the hill on this island. Top of the HillExit the cable car and peer through the telescope. A sailing boat passes trough your field of vision. Turn around. There are three buttons in a girder above you. Click on each. Turn around. Four Biblical quotations have appeared in response to the buttons: Matthew 15:9, Acts 27:6, Matthew 8:23, and Hebrews 3:12. Only the second and third quotes make reference to a boat. Switch off the first and fourth buttons. Return to the cable car. Cable CarThe downward-pointing thumb is lit. Click it and arrive on another island. Island 2Go forward into a cave. Ensure you pick up page 4 (one with three lines on it). Go up to a door. Knock on it and it opens. Enter a lavish chamber. Chamber 1Turn right and take page 5 (one with a square on it). Exit through the right hand door. Enter a corridor. CorridorFollow the corridor as it ends in an alcove. Take the key on the shelf. Examine the Bible table of contents. Use the scissors to cut a flower and take it. Get the box under the table. Return to the chamber. Chamber 1Use the key on the purple door in the middle of the wall. You are presented with a Bible quiz. You must choose all the books of the Old Testament in order. You have five seconds to choose each (which is plenty of time to look at the table of contents in a Bible before responding!). The books in order are: Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkukuk Zephaniah Haggai Zachariah Malachi PHEW! The bad news is the New Testament books are still to come. You can have a breather at this point. When you are ready, the books of the New Testament are: Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Once you have completed this task, the door opens. Use the box on the ground in front of the door to get a step up into a passageway. Once you use it, the box magically disappears! Passageway 2Follow the passageway to the end. Get the key there. Return to the chamber. Chamber 1Use the key on the left hand door. Enter yet another passageway. Passageway 3At the end of the passageway, knock on the door to be let in another chamber. Chamber 2There are four metal consoles in this room that contain a down arrow and a right arrow. Push the right arrow and an image appears on the wooden screen above. The task is to match the image to one of three Biblical quotations, accessed by pushing the down arrow. The answers are: Console 1 (plant): Jonah 4:6 Console 2 (book) Revelation 10 Console 3 (fish) Matthew 17:27 Console 4 (ant) Proverbs 6:6 Be sure to place your flower in the urn between consoles 3 and 4. It spontaneously grows into another plant. Cut one of these flowers and take it. Pull the door handle on the wooden door. It rises and reveals another chamber. Chamber 3A coaster cart is the only point of interest here. It is secured with two ropes. Use the scissors to cut the ropes. Enjoy the ride. Get out in a passageway. Passageway 4Follow the passageway outside, across a bridge to a third island. Island 3Go straight across to a pine tree on a finger of land jutting into the sea. Turn around. Get page 6 (with a tree on it) from behind a nearby tree. Go up to the cabin. CabinRead the note. Hopefully, you have all 6 pages or else you aren’t going to see the ending. The solution to the dock puzzle is in Revelation. Take note of the letter representations. The solution is a number: 144,000. This translates to AWWZZZ using the code. Turn around and approach what looks like a car radio. Push the button. A voice asks for the pages in this order: FISH SQUARE X LINES CIRCLE TREE At this point, it asks for the flower. Put it in the slot also. The voice reveals the key to the dock puzzle is at the tree. Return to the pine tree. TreeLook up. Get the carefully concealed key. Go to the dock. DockUse the key in the top of the puzzle. A click tells you it’s open. Push on the three buttons underneath to change the letter configurations behind you so that they read: A-WW-ZZZ, to match the code given on the paper (each button corresponds to a block of letters). Click on the code word. The dock elongates. Get on the boat. BoatGo forward. You sail away. To be continued… (The game is due to be continued in “Derek”). (29)
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