Grim Fandango is a 1998 adventure game directed by Tim Schafer and developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows. It is the first adventure game by LucasArts to use 3D computer graphics overlaid on pre-rendered static backgrounds. Glottis (true vocal cords, anterior and posterior commissures; the lower boundary is a plane passing 1 cm below the apex of the ventricle) Subglottis (area from the lower boundary of the glottis to the lower margin of the cricoid cartilage), thyroid and cricoid cartilages, postcricoid area, medial wall of pyriform sinus, pre-epiglottic tissue. ‘Glottis is addicted to gambling.’ ‘ he’s a bad loser, so he’ll shut the place.’ How does this make sense in the same paragraph? Cheif Boegon is the one you have to kick out of your casino. I’m still stuck with Glottis after getting the picture.
Year 1
El Marrow
You begin this epic adventure in Manny’s office. Walk over to the message tube and pick up the message there. Pick up the deck of cards from the table, and leave the room.
Walk to the end of the corridor to encounter Eva, the secretary. Speak to her if you like, then use the deck of cards with the hole-punch. Walk towards the lifts, and use the one on the left-hand side of the screen.
Walk to the back of the garage and knock on the door of the metal hut to encounter Glottis. Talk to him until you get onto the subject of a driver – tell him you need one, and he should be your driver. He’s not too big – the cars are too small. You will receive a work order.
Go back to the upper lobby, and go down the other lift. Walk out of the large double doors. Walk towards the festival to encounter to sarcastic clown. Speak to him, and ask for two dead worms and a cat. Get some bread from the stall next to him.
Walk down the alley to the left until you come to the rope of ties. Climb up, and open the window of your boss. Change the auto-response on his computer to “Ah, cripes, Eva! Just sign it yourself, will you?”. Go back to Eva and try to get the work order signed.
Walk into the garage to be taken to the Land of the Living. Use your scythe with the parcel to find a grumpy little man inside. After he has been sent “packing” (sorry), go back down to the lobby. Find the room with the two chemicals, and put one of the chemicals inside each deflated balloon. Go up to Manny’s office and use these balloons on his message tube to mess up the server.
Go to the room containing the server, and pick up the fire extinguisher from the wall. Set the bolt on the door, and leave. When the maintenance guy has left, go back in and open the door. Use your punched card with the red message tube to get your first good client.
After being slightly confused, leave your office and walk towards Eva. You find yourself locked in the hut in the garage. Knock on the door, and tell the bloke that you want to get out and expose the DoD.
Once Salvador has introduced you to the LSA, talk to him until you get onto the subject of the eggs. Leave the building via the lift.
Climb the rope of ties, but this time walk around the corner, and enter the office of Domino Hurley through the window. Open his desk drawers to find a lump of corral, and hit his punch-bag until a gum-shield falls down. Pick up both of these objects.
Back on the ledge, use the corral on the loose end of the rope made of ties. Throw the rope, and climb across.
On the roof, you need to use the balloon in the roof-dish, and then use the bread on top of this. Watch those birds run! Then steal their eggs. You nasty person.
Go to the shack in the garage, and use the Fill-O-Dent with the gum-shield. Use the gum-shield by itself to get an impression of your teeth. Walk to the alley, and Use the eye on the wall to get back to the LSA HQ. Give the eggs to Salvador and the gum-shield to Eva. You’re then escorted out of the city, and on with your quest.
The Petrified Forest
Walk to the front of the screen to find Glottis sobbing his heart out. Literally. Follow it, and pick up a bone from the pile. Use the bone in the web, and then use your scythe on the bone. Go back to Glottis, and put his heart back in.
At the tree with the pumps, you need to topple the tree. To achieve this, you must ensure that the two pumps on both sides are working together, and both sides are alternating their movement. To alter the time the pumps operate, use the wheel-barrow to block some of the air-tubes. When you have achieved this, switch off the pumps. Wait for Glottis to climb up, and then switch the pumps back on again. The tree will tip over.
You can now go to the North on the other screen. Go through the small door in the huge gate, and pick up a bone from the bridge. Walk to the left, and throw the bone into the tar. Take out your fire extinguisher, and point it at the spot the bone sank. Hold the “Use” button to keep the extinguisher flowing. The flaming beaver should be put out, and it will die. Repeat this process until all the beavers are dead.
Return to Glottis, and drive back to the signpost (where Glottis ripped his heart out). Run it over with the bone-wagon.
Pick it up, and run to the left. Place the sign in the centre of the labyrinth and watch where it points. Pick it up, take it slightly in this direction, and then put it down again. Repeat this until a secret tunnel opens.
Walk down the tunnel and pick up the spooky key. Return to Glottis – you can now drive out of the forest.
Rubacava
Walk up the stairs and to the right – you’ll fall in the sea. The harbour-master will rescue you. Walk into the building, and talk to Celso. Get the picture of his wife, and show it to the harbour-master. He’ll give you a log book – show this to Celso.
Year 2
Rubacava
You begin the year as a successful businessman. Walk to the ground floor, and go outside. Watch the cut-scene with Meche, and then talk to the harbour -master about getting on the SS Limbo until you can say no more.
Go back to your club (finding your way around Rubacava does involve exploring – that’s part of the fun) and go upstairs to your office. Get the memos from your desk, and go downstairs to where Glottis is. Pick up the gold flake drink from behind the bar, and go through to the roulette tables. Talk to Charlie (the guy sitting down) and ask him to make you a fake union card. He’ll give you the ticket printer and should give you a VIP pass for the high-rollers club.
Show this VIP pass to Glottis – he has this gambling problem, y’see.
Go to the security check-point (behind the cat track) and talk to Carla. Drink some of the gold flake drink, and walk through the metal detector. When Carla and you are in the back, ask her about the metal detector. She throws it out of the window.
Go to the cat track, and find the “kitty litter” place. Get the tin opener. Use your scythe on the kitty litter to locate the metal detector, and pick it up.
Walk to the Blue Casket club, and firstly give your memos from Salvador to the revolutionaries. Pick up the book. Walk to the front of the room, and talk to Lola when she takes snaps of Olivia and Nick.
Go back to the casino, and ask your coat-check girl if you have any messages from Lola. An empty envelope? Strange…
Go to the high rollers club. Talk to Nick, using lots of flattery. Threaten to tell about Olivia and him, until he goes to talk to Maximino. Pick up his cigarette case, and take it back to the security check-point. Give it to Carla, saying it was left under her desk by a lunatic. She’ll detonate it, giving you the key.
Go into the kitchen of the high-roller’s club. Pick up the turkey baster. When the French waiter walks into the pantry, close the doors and jam them with the scythe. Glottis should hopefully walk in and drink from the barrel – if not, you may need to open the tap first. When it is empty, climb the ladder and use the tin opener with the barrel. You’ll be rolled into the wine cellar.
Drive the fork-lift into the lift, and go up. Climb aboard the fork-lift whilst the lift is moving, and push the prongs through one of the gaps (the raised sections) in the lift doors. When the lift passes an opening, the lift should stop. You can then use the lever on the side of the fork-lift to open the doors.
Note: On fast machines (PII 400+) the lift moves too fast for you to perform the actions needed. The patch to fix this is available on the LucasArts web site.
Walk down the passage and get the suitcase. But what is Charlie doing? Nutter! At least you got your union card.
Go to the lighthouse, and use Nick’s key in the lighthouse. Spare a minutes’ silent thought for Lola, then go and think about that clue.
If you talked to your coat-check girl earlier, it’s pretty obvious what you need to do with the tile (that is, if you were paying attention). Give the tile to her to get a girl’s coat. Search it to find the “rusty anchor” clue. Try giving this to Glottis, for a laugh. You can also give it to Olivia, for another laugh.
Walk to the Blue Casket, and enter the kitchen. Use the turkey baster with the dirty water from the sink.
Go now to the tattoo shop, and open the fridge, then the bottom tray to keep the door open. While the tattoo artist is distracted, use the water from the Blue Casket in the bottle. The sailor will fall asleep. Interrupt the tattoo artist’s telephone conversation by showing him the “Rusty Anchor” card. You’ll end up with a photo-finish card. Take the ID plate from the sleeping sailor, and leave.
Go to the morgue, and use the ID plate with one of the “dead” bodies. Give the metal detector to the pathologist, and you have bought yourself a ticket on the SS Limbo.
Go to the cat track, and use the ticket printer to print a ticket for “Tuesday, Week 2, Race 6”. Give this ticket to the guy at the photo-finish booth (ensure you’re not using the wrong booth – there are two) to get the photo.
Go to the docks where the Sea Bees are. Give the revolutionary book to them, and watch Terry get arrested (poor guy). Go to the high rollers club, and tell Nick you need a lawyer. Show him the photo to help convince him. Smack! That felt good.
One problem – Glottis is addicted to gambling. The only way to stop him is to go bankrupt. Go to Manny’s office at the casino and use the panel to make the guy lose – he’s a bad loser, so he’ll shut the place.
Year 3
In Dock
How does Manny manage to be so successful? Listen to the shocking news, and walk in shock amongst those poor, young souls (there’s great voice acting from Tony Plana here). Glottis saves you – what a guy. You now need to do the following to break free from your moorings (this still involves a bit of thought – shock – as to how to achieve these things):
Pull both of the anchors up. Drop the left anchor. Move away from the dock. Drop the right anchor – your anchors should have hit each other. Pull one anchor up. It should be linked to the other anchor. Use the scythe to pull the anchor in. Bring in the other anchor – this sets up the “dotted line”. Put the ship in full reverse, and break away! Glug.
Glottis Gambling Rules
Shipwrecked
Contemplate your future until the little wandering guy walks up to you. Speak to him, and agree to go with him (for a laugh).
Next time he walks past, talk to him to attract his attention. When you stop speaking to him, he will stand at the edge of the pool of light for a while. Pick him up, and whilst you’re holding him, walk towards Glottis. You will have a lantern!
The Pearl
Walk around the ridge until you come to the tentacles of the plant. Walk past them, and the little guy will follow. He’ll be trapped, and the octopus will be distracted by him. You’ll then be taken to the edge of the world.
The Edge of the World
Walk into the underwater complex, and go into the office. You’ll encounter Meche, and then Domino will walk in. He isn’t too pleased to see you. Or Glottis. Poor guy.
When you wake up, talk to the children in the cage and try to salvage your reputation. Tell them you can help them work, and then say your hands aren’t too big. Recover with dignity from the savage blow, then pick up the tiny hammer. If you like, you can go and threaten Domino with it.
Go and talk to Meche, and insist you don’t have a gun. She won’t believe you – move that ashtray, that’ll make you feel better. Get the stockings from the bin. If you’re feeling mean, you can show them to the kids.
Walk back into the water, and go to the left. Get talking to the wandering guy about his Bust-All, and give him your little hammer in exchange. Say you wish to trade something for a gun, too – give him the stockings. If you’re feeling mean again, you can show the Bust-All to the kids. The gun is far too easy.
Walk to the right from the complex, and switch on the conveyer belt to convey towards the bottom-right of the screen. Go down to the bottom-right, and climb down the anchor-chain. Luckily, your old friend isn’t dead after all. Climb back up the chain.
Go up the conveyer belt to reach the surface. Use the crane, and take it to the other side of the island. Drop the grabber, and go down to the beach where it landed. Use the Bust-All to cut it off.
Go back to the crane and raise the chain. Lower it again, then raise it to break the crushers. Take the crane around to the other side of the island, and drop the chain. Dismount the crane.
The chain will have been carried down the conveyer belt. Switch its direction to twist the chain, then switch its direction again to hook onto the anchor. Go back to the crane and raise the chain to raise the Titanic.
Tell Glottis to use the broken crushers as a corral-plough for the ship.
Go to Meche, and give her the gun. The distrustful twit turns you in to Domino, and she’s thrown in the safe. To open the safe, you need to use the Bust-All on the lock to reveal the tumbers. You must then do the following:
The tumblers must be flush to the door-jamb – their straight edge should be in the line with the edge of the door. The tumblers should be put in place from the top down To get the top tumber in place, turn the wheel on the door until all of the tumbers are rotating. Get the top tumbler in the correct place. Turn the wheel the other way. You’ll notice the tumbers start turning the other way one by one. The trick is to get the third tumbler in place before the fourth tumbler moves out of place. Reverse the direction of the wheel, and continue until all four tumblers are lined up. Get Manny to look at the tumbers. If he says “the tumbers are lined up and flush with the door-jamb”, you are correct. You now need to insert your scythe into the tumbers, and turn the handle to open the door. Close the safe door (bear with me) and use the scythe with the electrical contact to open the secret door. In the secret room, use your scythe with the pipes on the ceiling, and turn the valve to switch the sprinklers on. Use the valve again to switch them off, and watch the water draining through a tile in the floor. Strange..
Drag the axe from the other room, and drop it on the tile the water drained from. Escape!
You may now escape – but Domino suspects something when he sees you steaming away. He arrives to fight you. The periscope behind you looks very organic – try prodding it with something pretty sharp (like a scythe).
Year 4
The Entrance to the Ninth Underworld
Nobody told us that selling double-N tickets was a crime. Glottis seems to have gone a bit mad, so follow him – maybe he is right at the bottom of all the stairs. Open the coffin to find the grumpy guy from Year 1. You got here just as slowly as he did, but at least your trip was interesting, eh? Pick up the mug from the package.
Go and speak to the weird guy at the top, and laugh as Nick gets his comeuppance.
Walk into the cable-car station, and talk to the mechanics about Glottis’ condition. You have neglected him – Glottis is for life, not just for fixing engines. Walk into the kitchen, and get the rag from the drawer. Use it with the oil drums in the cable-car station, and walk back into the kitchen. Use your mug in the mug-tree, and then use the oily rag in the toaster. Watch as the mechanics walk in with a fire extinguisher – it’s not a magnesium extinguisher, is it? Oh.
Glottis seems cured, but if he wasn’t such a wimp you would be in El Marrow. Unfortunately, Glottis decides you need another swim in the Sea of Lament. Rats.
Rubacava
Glottis Stop Gambling
Open the door where the Bone Wagon is kept.
Who could have done this? Who? WHO?
Go and talk to the harbour-master. Tell him about the ship, and he’ll run off to get it. Pick up his ship in the bottle (he’s still working on it?)
Go to the tattoo parlour, and get the liquid nitrogen from the cupboard.
Walk to the Blue Casket, and enter the kitchen. Use the ship in the bottle with the dirty water, and go back outside. For some bizarre reason, Manny allows Olivia to go with him to El Marrow.
Give the ship in the bottle to Glottis, who will quite like the taste. He’ll come back, feeling sick. Talk to him about food until he is sick all over the trap. Use the liquid nitrogen with the trap, and disable the bomb. Enjoy.
Nuevo Marrow
The LSA seems to have expanded whilst you were away, and the city has changed a bit, too. In the LSA HQ (which has a bit more technology now), pick up the arm from the “dead” soldier, and pick up his photo from the bin. Show the photo to the carrier pigeon, and give it the threatening message from Hector. Hector’s gun specialist will do a runner.
Glottis Gambling Definition
Walk to the place where the stage show is. Pick up the coffee maker, and climb the ladder. Drop the coffee on the bloke’s head to make him run off. You can now have a job as a guy with a silly face – just go into the dressing room. This also provides a good disguise, which is nice. Now climb that ladder again and pick up the grinder from the snow-maker.
Bowsley has run away into the labyrinths, where a scary monster lurks. Pick up the remote control from the bone-wagon and raise the wagon. Use the LSA solder’s arm with the grinder to make a bone-grinder. Use this to sprinkle bone fragments over the Sproutella to make a trail. Sprinkle the bone fragments at the mouth of the cave you saw Bowsley run down, and get the Bone Wagon to give you some light.
Climb out of the Bone Wagon when you encounter the scary monster, and walk along the platform. Use the remote control to raise the Bone Wagon. Wait until the monster’s tail is under the wagon, and then use the remote again to drop the Bone Wagon. It’s now safe to climb down the ladder.
Glottis Gambling Games
Go inside the florist’s shop. You’ll notice he’s gone a little mad. Remove the wool from the door, and walk out. Walk back in to find him all smiles – now you have a gun and some extra ammo.
Go into the casino, and talk to the guy in the raincoat – he’s a member of the LSA. Now talk to Meche, and make sure she knows it’s really you. Drop the sheet over Charlie, and tell the LSA member to make the fruit machine pay out. You’ll now have some better clothes.
Go into the guarded lift – the guard won’t let you in unless you really know Hector. When he asks you a question, the answer is one of the numbers behind Manny’s head. Talk to Celso and his wife, and talk them into agreeing to Hector’s deal. Hector is very impressed, and tries to hire you for the LSA – you’ll have Manny Calavera’s old office.
You try to shoot Hector, but his highly trained bodyguard takes the blast instead. Hector tries to jump the roof, but doesn’t make it – however, his real double-N tickets do. Go onto the roof, and look at the gargoyle supporting the “roof decoration”. Use the bone grinder to sprinkle bone fragments into the crack, then use the sproutella with the bone fragments. The decoration makes a perfect bridge.
It looks like Meche and you are heading for a dream ending, when things go slightly wrong. I told you it was bizarre that Manny let Olivia come.
“Hola, Manuel!”
Hector won’t be too pleased with Manny – he tried to kill him, after all. Hector tries to return the favour, but unfortunately Bowsley took all the fast-acting sproutella with him. Rats. Use the liquid nitrogen to get rid of that pathetic growth.
Talk to Salvador. Witness Olivia’s death. Be glad.
Open the suitcase of double-N tickets, and pick up Salvador’s. Go behind the greenhouse at the top of the hill, and use the ticket to locate Salvador’s body. Get the keys from his pockets, and go and open the car boot. If you like, go to the greenhouse to have a shooting match with Hector – you won’t be injured.
Walk to the water tanks at the bottom of the hill, and use the gun with it. Walk to the greenhouse, and go in. The greenhouse has been redecorated , Hector-style.
The End