Hollywood Hijinks

Hollywood Hijinks is an Infocom text-based game from 1987 that places the player in the Hollywood mansion and grounds of his or her recently deceased aunt and uncle who were big movie insiders. You have one night to complete a Scavenger Hunt for old movie props in the house to prove you're worthy to be their heir.

This comedy-adventure is typically Infocom snarky and has some easy and some tough puzzles.


 * Already Undone for You: Directly, in that . Also arises in the Fridge Logic that you're only the first heir to get a crack at the Scavenger Hunt. Who resets (and in some cases rebuilds) all the puzzles for the second heir if you fail?
 * A Winner Is You: The Prop Vault scene at the end of the game comes completely out of left field, and the ending resolves that scene but not the overall plot of the game.
 * B-Movie: The primary theme of the game, as your Uncle Buddy was an infamous producer of them.
 * Brown Note: The cause of Uncle Buddy's fatal Hollywood Heart Attack -- and, if you're not careful, your own.
 * Copy Protection: You're not getting into the house without the documentation.
 * Enter Solution Here: The combination of a safe and a secret phone number.
 * Featureless Protagonist: The game is careful never to refer to you by gender.
 * Feelies: An autographed photo of your uncle, your aunt's will, and a palm-tree swizzle stick.
 * Metal Detector Puzzle: Combined with The Maze, below.
 * Scavenger Hunt: The entire game is one, gathering props from Uncle Buddy's films.
 * Scoring Points: As per usual in Infocom games.
 * Set Piece Puzzle: A scale model of a city complete with remote-control attacking Atomic Chihuahua.
 * Sitcom Arch Nemesis: Cousin Herman, for most of the game, though only in Flash Back.
 * Solve the Soup Cans: There's a lot of this, only partially justified in that Uncle Buddy is testing you. Most of the time, though, anything complex you see has to be messed with because that's what complex things are for.
 * Songs in the Key of Lock: Randomized every game.
 * The Many Deaths of You: Not as frequent as in many Interactive Fiction titles, but when you do find one, it's a doozy.
 * The Maze: A particularly obnoxious one, though at least you're given a map in game.
 * Unexpected Inheritance: You were always the favorite, though that won't stop them from testing your cleverness.
 * Unwinnable by Design: Primarily Nasty, and more so than most Infocom titles. Accidentally destroying the treasures is very, very easy. The beach can be reached early in the game, but go there too early and you're trapped.
 * Videogame Objectives: Collect all treasures. Just having picked them up once (and thus scored the points) is enough.