Jack the Nipper

Controls

Left − Right ZX Joystick
Up − Down OK Joystick
Jump O + 0 Joystick
Shoot / Honk Z / X + 0 Joystick
Pick up / Drop 12
Enter door
Pause − Quit HQ

In order to shoot, you need the pea-shooter from the starting room; to honk you need the horn from the haunted house behind the secret passage in the museum. Both items can be used from either of Jack’s two pockets, but if both are present, only the one in pocket 1 takes effect.

While on floor or street level, up means walking towards the back of the scene, and in order to jump both up and fire must be pressed. When standing on furniture, however, up or fire alone both makes Jack jump. It is therefore not possible to shoot or honk there, but that would never be useful either. The two secret passages are entirely in the “furniture” mode, meaning that you cannot shoot in these locations.

Being in contact with any moving sprite, some stationary ones, or hot surfaces gives Jack (nappy) rash. Five seconds of contact requires a nappy change, and the fifth change spells the end of the game. There is no way to reduce the rash or gain extra changes (lives) in the game.

Map

map

The fifty screens in this game are connected in a few different ways. All left or right-leading doors or streets are two-way connections which Jack can simply walk through. The three streets are also circular, so that going in one direction takes you back to where you started after a number of screens. Alleyways on the other hand are one-way and take you to the next street simply by walking into them; but in conjunction with the streets, these too form a loop allowing you to eventually get back to where you came from. Doors in the middle of screens can be of both types, but must be activated by the Enter key. Some are one-way, taking you to another room or out onto a street, while others are paired, taking you from the street into a building and back to the same street. Both the entrances to and the exits from the two secret passages are one-way. The entrances work like alleyways and are entered by moving up into them, while the exits work like doors and require the use of the Enter key. When exiting these, you are dropped into the connecting room from the upper left.

Pranks

Dropping any of the twenty-two items while standing on anything above the floor breaks the item, which yields 1 % naughtiness. Some of the items have no other purpose than this as far as I can tell; the others must be used for their unique purpose first, which normally gives 5 %. As the bomb and the clay both are destroyed when used, the points for breaking these are awarded when they are used. The pea-shooter can be used to shoot any character, and the first twelve times this gives 1 %. All these actions will annoy one of the characters on the screen, making them chase Jack until he leaves the location.

Item Found at Use at Naughtiness
Pea-shooter Nursery Any character (shoot) 12 × 1 % + 1 %
Teddy bears Toy shop Anywhere (break) 2 × 1 %
China plates China Shoppe; Kitchen Anywhere (break) 4 × 1 %
Battery Police station Just Micro (mirror) 5 % + 1 %
Weight Jail Hummo Socks (conveyor belt) 5 % + 1 %
Flower killer I. Bloom Garden right of house (drop) 5 % + 1 %
Fertiliser Graveyard Garden right of house (drop) 5 % + 1 %
Key Lawn Bank and Museum (carry or drop) 1 %
Soap powder Bank vault Launderette (all machines) 3 × 2 % + 1 %
Credit card Master bedroom Bank façade (ATM) 5 % + 1 %
Glue Launderette Gummo’s Chomping Molars (conveyor belt) 5 % + 1 %
Floppy disc Bank Technology Research (terminal) 5 % + 1 %
Bomb Haunted house Jail (drop) 6 %
Horn Haunted house All three cats (honk) 3 × 5 % + 1 %
Clay Playskool back room Playskool front room (drop) 6 %
Potty Playskool back room China Shoppe (drop) 5 % + 1 %
Bust Museum inner gallery Anywhere (break) 1 %
Pacifier Museum entrance Anywhere (break) 1 %

In the two inner rooms of the haunted house and the graveyard outside it, there are ghosts that chase Jack from the outset. As these can only be exorcised by a hit from the pea-shooter, it is necessary to visit the haunted house twice carrying the pea-shooter in one pocket in order to collect both items there.

The key is not itself used for any prank, but gives access to the secret passages leading to the haunted house and to the top of the wardrobe in the master bedroom, where the credit card is placed in order to be out of Jack’s reach.

Rating

Depending on your final naughtyness score, Jack will give a fitting assessment of your character:

0–10%Goody Goody
11–20%Namby Pamby
21–30%Weedy Wimp
31–40%Meddlesome Wimp
41–50%Bothersome
51–60%Prankster
61–70%Trouble Causer
71–80%Messy Menace
81–90%Annoying Pest
91–99%Mischievous Brat
100%Little Horror!

Walkthrough

  1. Pick up the pea-shooter
  2. Go two screens to the left and shoot the ghost twelve times (12 %)
  3. Go right, exit the door and drop the pea-shooter on the street
  4. Enter the toy shop and pick up the two teddy bears
  5. Stand on the counter by the door, wait until the store owner is far away, then drop the teddy bears and exit (14 %)
  6. Go right, enter China Shoppe and pick up the two china plates on the top shelf
  7. Stand on the counter by the door, wait until the store owner is far away, then drop the plates and exit (16 %)
  8. Go right, enter the police station and pick up the battery
  9. Go right and pick up the weight from the jail
  10. Go left and exit back to the street
  11. Go three screens to the left and enter Just Micro
  12. Stand at the mirror in front of the counter (21 %)
  13. Escape the owner by using the shelves and the counter, and exit
  14. Reenter and drop the battery close to the door and exit (22 %)
  15. Go right and pick up the pea-shooter
  16. Go left twice and up the alley
  17. Go left and enter Hummo Socks
  18. Wait until the store owner is far away and jump onto the conveyor belt (27 %)
  19. Jump off it as quickly as possible and exit
  20. Go left and enter I. Bloom
  21. Stand on the counter by the door, wait until the store owner is far away, then drop the weight and exit (28 %)
  22. Reenter and pick up the rightmost flower killer
  23. Go two screens to the left and up the alley to the weedy garden
  24. Go left and shoot the aggressive ghost
  25. Go left and drop the flower killer (33 %)
  26. Go right and shoot the aggressive ghost and the stationary ghost, then pick up the fertiliser
  27. Go left and drop the fertiliser (38 %)
  28. Exit to the right and return to the left
  29. Pick ut the fertiliser, drop the pea-shooter, pick up the flower killer
  30. Go three screens to the left and enter the bank
  31. Stand on the counter by the door, drop the fertiliser and the flower killer and exit (40 %)
  32. Go three screens to the right and pick up the pea-shooter
  33. Go two screens to the left and pick up the key
  34. Go left, drop the pea-shooter
  35. Enter the bank and drop the key on the floor
  36. Enter the secret passage behind the radiator
  37. Pick up the soap powder and exit the secret passage
  38. Pick up the credit card, go right and exit the door
  39. Go four screens to the right and enter the Launderette
  40. Stand to the right of the washing machines, wait until the owner is even further to the right, then walk past the machines and exit (46 %)
  41. Reenter, drop the soap powder from the leftmost machine and exit (47 %)
  42. Reenter, pick up the glue and exit
  43. Go three screens to the right and up the alley
  44. Enter Gummo’s Chomping Molars
  45. Wait until the store owner is far away and jump onto the conveyor belt (52 %)
  46. Jump off it as quickly as possible and exit
  47. Reenter and jump onto the desk to the left
  48. Wait until the store owner is far away, then drop the glue and exit (53 %)
  49. Go right and up the alley
  50. Go four screens to the right and jump up to the ATM (58 %)
  51. Enter the bank and pick up the key
  52. Stand on the counter by the door, drop the credit card and exit (59 %)
  53. Reenter, carefully pick up the floppy disc without entering the secret passage and exit the main door
  54. Drop the floppy disc and pick up the pea-shooter
  55. Go two screens to the left and up the alley
  56. Go two screens to the right and enter the museum
  57. Go left, drop the key and enter the secret passage behind the radiator
    Note that the last jump in the secret passage is very difficult
  58. After exiting the secret passage, immediately jump off the hot fireplace
  59. Enter the door, go left and shoot the aggressive ghost
  60. Go left, shoot the aggressive ghost and pick up the bomb from the hot fireplace
  61. Go right and shoot the aggressive ghost
  62. Go right, exit the door, and shoot the aggressive ghost
  63. Go three screens to the right and up the alley
  64. Drop the bomb outside the Launderette; ensure that the pea-shooter is in pocket 1
  65. Go two screens to the right and enter the museum
  66. Go left, pick up the key and drop it again
  67. Enter the secret passage behind the radiator again
  68. Exit the passage, enter the door and pick up the horn
  69. Exit the door and shoot the aggressive ghost
  70. Go three screens to the right and up the alley
  71. Drop the pea-shooter outside the Launderette and pick up the bomb
  72. Go two screens to the left and enter the police station
  73. Go right and drop the bomb (65 %)
  74. Go left, honk the horn near the cat and exit (70 %)
  75. Go four screens to the left and up the alley
  76. Go right and up the alley
  77. Go four screens to the right and pick up the floppy disc
  78. Go two screens to the right and enter the house
  79. Go left into the living room, honk near the cat and exit to the right (75 %)
  80. Drop the horn and the floppy disc
  81. Go right into the kitchen and pick up the two china plates
  82. Go two screens left, break the china plates and exit to the right (77 %)
  83. Pick up the horn and the floppy disc and enter the door
  84. Exit the door, go two screens left and up the alley
  85. Go two screens to the right and enter Technology Research
  86. Wait until the store owner is far away, then jump onto the terminal (82 %)
  87. Exit, reenter, break the floppy disc and exit again (83 %)
  88. Go left and up the alley
  89. Go three screens to the right and enter the Playskool
  90. Enter the door to the back room and pick up the clay
  91. Honk the horn near the cat and exit the door (88 %)
  92. Go two screens to the right and up the alley
  93. Enter Gummo’s Chomping Molars, break the horn and exit (89 %)
  94. Go right and up the alley
  95. Go three screens to the right and enter the Playskool
  96. Drop the clay and enter the door (95 %)
  97. Pick up the potty and exit
  98. Go left and pick up the pea-shooter outside the Launderette
  99. Go three screens to the left and enter China Shoppe
  100. Drop the potty (100 %)
    At this point, the game ends; the following describes how to compensate for up to 5 missing percentage points
  101. Exit, reenter, pick up the potty, break this and exit again (101 %)
  102. Go four screens to the left, enter the museum and drop the pea-shooter
  103. Go left and pick up the key and the bust
  104. Go right and exit the main door
  105. Go two screens to the right, enter Just Micro and jump onto the counter
  106. Drop the key and the bust and exit the door (103 %)
  107. Go two screens to the left and enter the museum
  108. Pick up the pacifier and the pea-shooter and exit the main door
  109. Go right and enter the alley
  110. Go right and enter the alley (again)
  111. Go left and shoot the aggressive ghost
  112. Go two screens to the left and enter the house
  113. Enter the door and go to the right
  114. Jump onto the bed and drop the pea-shooter and the pacifier (105 %)
    The choice of final location does not matter, but the starting screen seems appropriate