MadPea Game: Buried

MadPea's Buried Hunt began the first of February and continues until March 31st. Like usual for my MadPea Hunt Guides, my commentary is in italics, most of the text from the HUD is in plain text, and text from a mysterious party is in bold to differentiate from "our" thoughts. For people who can't hear audio, the spoken words are always reproduced in local chat - a blessing. My hints for each puzzle will remain somewhat generalized with the images taken up close to the hidden objects, but they will almost always be made clear through the whole of the guide if you follow along carefully.

In terms of things I think you should know - the storyline gets very twisted and there is one instance of graphic gore. The end is more positive than negative, however, and I think most people would enjoy it greatly.

Buried Islands Map: Explore the islands by taking the boat from the deck. If you wish to play the game, you need to purchase the HUD.

The Guide to the HUD is on MadPea's Blog. It can be shrunk into a gray box saying "buried" in the top left corner of your screen. 

Welcome to BURIED the game by MadPea Productions.
You have landed on an island that a few decades ago was used frequently by campers. The islands you see ahead of you are privately owned by Lily and Joshua Morano. It's the end of June and Lily has been missing for two weeks. The police haven't found any clues about her whereabouts and Joshua is getting desperate. He would do anything to have his loving wife back and has offered a $500 000 reward for the person who finds Lily. That massive reward is the reason you (and hundreds of others) are here for.

You are equipped only with your tablet. Additional accessories to get immersed into the story with can be purchased from the store at the landing point. Start the game by exploring the island and finding clues about Lily and what could have happened to her. We recommend that you take the boat, it's a long way to swim and the waves are unpredictable. Good luck, Player! If you should require any help, you can always ask in MadPeas' group chat. The map icon takes you always back to the landing point.

The boat ride is quite an enjoyable one - you move forward automatically once you start and then you can move yourself from left to right using the arrow keys. I found it quite peaceful, especially using the sim windlight which is a lovely, soft sunset. I looked first for the image on the tablet, but when finding what I thought was that proved to be fruitless I ended up just going island to island. On the first island, Thelxinoe, is a small, lovely house within which one will find two letters - one to Lily, and one from Lily. There is also an axe stuck into the wall above the desk - very creepy!

Letter from Josh: Hey beautiful, it's been a while since I actually wrote you a real letter. I've been trying to reach you by phone for a couple of days but either you're all focused in writing and have turned it off or there has been a power outage again. I'm sure that by the time you're reading this, we have spoken on the phone already. I really love your idea of the new book. Geocaching sounds like a lot of fun. You should definitely show me when I come there next weekend. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there this weekend. My work has been insane. You know what they say about the stockbrokers... UGH.. but it helps us to get closer to making our dreams come true. My Lily, I can't wait to have you in my arms again, to press my lips into yours and make you mine. I miss the smell of your hair, your smile and seeing the excited look on your face. I'm sure you are enjoying the peace and quiet of the nature. I'll be there soon baby. I love you very much. You're always on my mind. Yours, Josh

Lily's letter to Mom: What is that strange language? Thank goodness for Google! It seems to be in Finnish, which apparently is Lily's native language. I wonder why the letter has not been finished. It reads:

'Hi Mom, I wish you would finally learn to use a computer, so it'd be easier to write to each other. :) Thank you so much for your anniversary gift! These years are going by incredibly fast. You were so right about Josh from the start. We're still as happy as we were in the beginning and our love is just getting deeper year after year. The wedding we had in Finland 6.6.04 is the most loved memory for both of us. That date has become our passcode for all possible things these days.. just don't tell anyone! ;) This anniversary was truly wonderful. Josh came to the island and we spent the weekend just the two of us. We took a lot of photos that I'm sending to you as well in this letter. How is grandma doing? I heard..'  

Hmmm.. I'm going to write that date down in case I need it for something. 6.6.04

Next island over, the main house seems to be on Melete. I entered through the back, checking out the dock with its camera first. By the back door, stuck into the combination woodpile and bench is another ax. The house itself is completely lovely, and there is some information about Lily and her husband, and the books Lily wrote.  

Photos: These photos show quite clearly how much in love she and her husband are. I guess he's been coming here often to be with her when she writes. I'm still suspicious of him though!

Books Written by Lily: The Star in you and Natural healing? It looks like she is the kind of person who likes to help others feel better about themselves.

On to Arche Island, where there is a small greenhouse and a freshly dug pile of dirt. The interactiveness of the next part of this is simply charming - I love how you get to wear the shovel, and shovel up the box, all of it completely seamless. This is MadPea at it's best- immersive and interesting. It can create something of a bottleneck if a lot of people reach this island at the same time - but I think the effect is worth it.

Dirt pile: This pad clearly belongs to Lily. Lilypad! How clever! Why has she buried it here? Or did she do it? How do I access it. It's asking for a 4-digit number and I have no clue. I should search the surroundings if I find something. I'm not going to take this with me though, so I won't be accused for stealing it.

If you've been paying attention, the code is obvious.

My name is Lillianna Morano and this is my Lilypad. I have to hide it, because I'm so scared. If you find this, chances are something terrible has happened to me. Look into the C-Me app, it's not what we thought. It's... it's.. something else.. like a twisted game. I don't have time, they're coming. Joshua, I love you, I love you so damn much. If someone else is seeing this, please.. I'm begging you, please take it to the police!

This is freaky! Hmm.. If I give this to Josh NOW, I will lose the big reward and I need the money desperately. I'm going to look into this C-Me app and just leave her pad here, maybe someone else will find it. I will have a headstart by then though.

It looks to be quite empty, only a few apps here. Damn! I was hoping to get access to her emails or social media! What do I do now? Hmm.. Wait a minute. I see there's an app called C-Me. I should click on that.

Click on that.

We're sorry, your C-Me license has expired. If you are a new user and would like to test the app, please accept this gift code for downloading it into your device.

The app button now appears on your Buried HUD - open it if you've closed it to hunt around the sim. Once you click on the ap button on your HUD, it's just a matter of following along with the directions to start the Grid-wide part of the game.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed C-Me - a new revolutionary geocaching application. Click on the arrow to continue.

During your C-Me Experience you will discover 25 C-Me Capsules around the district. Each of them will tell you a piece of a story. Your job, dear player, is to find the capsules in the order given to you. Follow the instructions you will receive by scanning the QR codes of the C-Me Capsules with your device. You may not have any other communication with the outside world while inside the C-Me Experience. You may not under any circumstances stop the Experience until it has been completed. By accepting these terms and conditions, you will not hold C-Me Industries liable for whatever may happen inside the Experience. Do you accept?

Those aren't ridiculous terms of service at all! Of course I accept. What could possibly go wrong?
Shit! I don't like the look of this especially with Lily using it and going missing. How else am I going to find her though. Maybe I should just tell the police? Damn money, half a million.. what if I just look a little bit into it at least and decide then..

Clicking on the red X on the HUD at this point teleports you to Cheeky Pea Mainstore. Like the initial instructions said, there are no written clues this time - just an image on the HUD itself. Judging by the first stop - the image is a wireframe view of a section of the sim rendered in white and gray, which makes it a lot of fun to figure out. Once you find the capsule click on it and your male guide will speak again our of your HUD tablet.

Welcome to your 1st C-Me capsule, player. That was easy now, wasn't it? Let's do a few more so you will get a good grasp of the concept. As you can see, the QR code you scanned sends this message to your tablet and you hear us. Click on the 2nd section to go and find another one.

Ok, interesting.. I found this but I have no idea what it has to do with Lily. Guess I'll play along and see where it takes me.

Clicking on the red X teleports you to !bang Poses Mainstore.

You just found your 2nd C-Me capsule, player. Excellent! Keep going.

This wasn't so bad. Let's see about the 3rd one.
Clicking on the red X teleports you to Consignment.

You are getting good at this. As you have noticed, the capsules can be hiding anywhere on the map given to you. They are visible though from some angle. Carry on.

Yeah, some seem a bit tricky, but I think I'm starting to figure out what to do now. It's kinda fun actually!

Famous last words!

Clicking on the red X takes you to This & That Design. This is the first sim where the C-Me capsule is a challenge to get to - all I can really say is that you're going to have to dig for it, professionally so instead of our earlier amateur efforts.

You've just unlocked the 4th capsule. Have you noticed the REC -button on the side? It's recording you all the time. Introduce yourself, please. We all want to know who our player is.

Ok, wow.. I didn't notice. I hope I didn't look stupid before! I'll just speak now and say my name and wave a bit.

Non-consensual recording - that isn't creepy at all! Clicking on the red XX takes you to Never Totally Dead.

You are doing great dear, player. Now we are curious about you. Talk to the camera and tell us a little bit more about who you are.

Ok, I guess I'll tell them a bit about who I am but I'm not mentioning anything about Lily and that I'm doing this because I'm trying to find her. I'll just say I'm a passionate geocacher! Yes, that's right! I'm just dying to keep playing!

You! With the famous last words! Oh my gods!! Clicking on the red X takes you to MiChiGaNs ShAcK's mainstore. Some places the images provided are more than a little unhelpful, and this is one of them. Instead, there is a hint box to hit; when I was there it gave the following hint for the buried hunt:

Your search begins in a filthy town
North, South, East, West!  Is it up or down?
Follow the path round the cascading weir
Through subterranean chambers, if you dare!
Don’t get lost, quick, make your way
Up the ladder and into the light of day
Search some more till you find the shack
Nearby is the clue, and that’s a fact!

IF YOU SEE A SIGNPOST WITH THE BURIED 

LOGO ON IT YOU ARE GOING THE RIGHT WAY!

There's a mountainous, rocky area to the west of the mainstore, but you have to leave the store through the north-west opening to get there; look for the path out between the sports car and the castle rezzing area, where a tractor trailer has run into a car on the road beyond. The "Buried" signs begin on the mountainside and take you to the entrance of the caves and a maze. Sticking to the right will take you to first a platform partway up, and then a ladder to the top (make sure not to miss it!) with another "Buried" sign. Then follow the path up and around to the shack mentioned in the clue and search about it minutely.

Player, what do you see in this picture? Talk to the camera and describe.

This is funny. I wonder what they want as an answer. It could be this or that or whatever.. but somehow it reminds me of money so.. ''My answer is lots of money''

It made me think of two women curtseying to each other, or a butterfly. The next red X takes you to Ravenghost Interiors Mainstore. This one is actually inside of the store, though you have to pass through several open doorways to get there.

Look at this picture carefully. What kind of feelings does this bring to you, player?

What the hell is this? I'm like being analysed here?! Am I supposed to say they're warm and fluffy? Nah.. ''Erm.. not much, I'm a dog person.'

I, on the other hand, adore the fuzzy variety and wish I was getting kitty cuddles right now - he's lurking by the front door currently. Clicking on the next red X takes you to Noodles mainstore. In this one, I found the wireframe image extremely useful and recommend you make full use of it. The image that flashes up when you click the C-Me capsule is very graphic; if you don't like those sorts of things, close your eyes or look away for about ten seconds and it will be gone.

What about this one, player? How does this image make you feel?

Of course I feel sorry for them but I'm still fucking confused what this has to do with anything ''Erm.. too bad for them but I'm still alive!''

Clearly, we are not a terribly empathetic person! Does this mean we'll survive? The woman we're trying to find clearly was empathetic, and the chances of her being alive seem low. Clicking on the red X this time takes you to Home of Tantalum.

Take a good look, player. How does it make you feel? Are you getting aroused or ashamed?

I'm kneeling in front of a capsule in some strange place and I'm asked what this shit is? I'm freaking out more than anything else but I'll try to sound witty. ''Erm, something I'll be doing as soon as this is over''

This is a twisted guy, that's for sure. I wonder how far along Lily got before she left her tablet buried for us. The next red X takes you to Vero Modero Fashion. You're dropped off in front of the outlet, but that's not where you need to end up; head in the opposite direction instead.

Dear Player, not only are you being recorded by voice or video, but currently 37% of the 240 people watching this show have chosen you as their favourite player. How exciting! Keep cranking up those numbers!

What the hell does that even mean? I'm on some show?? That's it!! I'd be so out of here if it wasn't for the money. But even then... Where is Lily?

This is looking like some interactive episode of Black Mirror; how bizarre! Clicking on the next red X takes you to Against the Wall.

Now we are coming to a very interesting part! Let's take a look at who else is playing. We have here James, Carlos and Lily. Select the player whose journey you want to follow.

OMG! Lily is part of this! I will choose her of course. This is no brainer! ''I choose Lily''.

It really is a no-brainer, but how is she continuing to do this if she left her tablet behind? That seems very strange to me!! In any case, clicking on the next red X takes you to Grafica Poses.

Here is your player: 

Hi, I'm Lillianna Morano, my friends call me Lily, and I just found my 4th capsule and this is so amazing! I can't wait to see what's coming next!

Lilyyy! Where are you? I'm coming to find you now and get my huge reward! I'm so glad I didn't stop this stupid game. Now I'm getting closer.

Is it just me, or are we really kind of thick - we recorded exactly the same kind of message! This clearly isn't in realtime. We have to keep going, though, so on to clicking the red X, which takes us to R3volt Mainstore.

Your Player - Lily - is a loyal and loving wife to Joshua and a passionate writer. She wants to help people to help themselves and writes books about the importance of getting back close to nature.

That's not really anything new to me. She sounds like a person everyone likes.. but we all do have our dark side too, right?

It's eerie how we're getting from our mysterious guide all of the information we had been asked before. Ironically, this is where we said we were dying to keep on playing! Clicking on the red X here takes us to Challis Products.

Player, your player Lily got to choose her player as well. She chose Morgan. Morgan is a waitress and a slut. Because she doesn't make enough money with waitressing, she is sleeping with guys in hopes of being 'discovered'. She has no talent but believes she is a big star.

Erm, ok get to the point. I don't get what this has got to do with anything. Ok, I know Lily chose Morgan like I chose Lily.

The description of Morgan doesn't sound like what Morgan would say about herself - I wonder at which point this puppetmaster behind the scenes starts his brutal analysis of people. It's all a bit cruel, especially since it seems likely both Morgan and Lily are dead. The next click of a red X takes us to katat0nik Mainstore. 

On the next stop Lily got to know her player - Morgan - a little bit better and discovered that Morgan would be willing to kill an innocent person to save her own life. Lily found this disgusting and sad. 

Hmm yeah well, but... why would you have to choose something like that..

We are seriously thick... at least we can click the red X to take us to [ abrasive ] mainstore.

We gave Lily a choice. She was asked to decide how Morgan should die. Would she die by hanging, being shot or buried alive? Lily refused to make a choice and ran away. Player, no one is allowed to stop the game in the middle of it. It is strictly against the rules and has consequences. Are you planning on running?

They're shitting me right? If not, then this is fucking scary. Best be on the safe side and play along ''No, I'm not running. I understand and accept the rules''

I'm seriously glad I'm not the one playing, because I'd be running like Lily. Totally not cool - and if someone is willing to kill one person for a "game" than who says I'm safe even if I do chose to kill someone? Thinking that's the case is simply foolish; you can't trust someone who would trick people into a scenario like this. In any case, if you hit the red X again, you go to +REDRUM+.

Lily couldn't run very far and was easily found in her garden. We have people watching. ALL THE TIME. As they are watching you. Proceed to the next capsule to find out more.

FUCKING SHIT IS REAL. What do they want from me? I don't think I have another choice than finding the next capsule.

No shit, Sherlock. The next red X takes us to Lutricias Luxuries Skins.

Lily was reminded of the rules and was shown a little video of her loving husband Josh sleeping with a mystery guy next to his bed holding a knife in his hand. Lily was asked again: How will Morgan die? Lily's reply was interesting: ''Buried alive - at least then she will have a chance to be found before she dies''

They can see the look on my face. How scared and disgusted I'm feeling at the moment. How my heart is up in my throat. I feel sick. I need to move on. This is shit.

I completely agree! Next stop, clicking a red X, is [noctis] Main Shop.

Now dear Player. Before you think of running away, take a good look at this. Do you recognize this picture? Yes, indeed. That is your home and your loved ones are being watched. Would you like to see what happens if you run away? IF not, proceed, Player.

I want to kill those sons of bitches but I can't show them how angry I am. I won't, I refuse to, even though I'm crying and panicking on the inside. They can't hurt my family. Would they? I can't risk it no matter what. I'll just say ''I am following the rules and not running away.''

Clicking the red X this time takes you to Livalle Mainstore.

Excellent choice. Let's keep playing. On a scale 1-10 how nervous are you right now?

SHIIIIT... I can't help but to let the anger out .. ''How the fuck would you feel if someone threatened your family? What the fuck do you want from me?''

The next stop is Sn@tch. You have to find a room to go inside of to find this one.

You are doing excellent, dear Player. Currently 70% of the 1302 people watching this predict that you are going to die. If you do, the truth will be buried with you. Would you like to find out how to prevent this?

YES! GOD DAMMIT! YES!

I find it unlikely we're going to survive. The next stop is Discovery Bay. I found the map completely useless for this one - even once I knew where it was, I couldn't figure out what the wireframe referred to. Really, you should just take to your bed before trying to figure it out.

Wonderful. You have proven that you have the right spirit. Now let's get back to your player - Lily. Say hello to her!

Lily!!! I'm so sorry, I'm sorry Lily. What can I do to save her?

Lily is shown from the waist up, naked, covered in dirt and gagged. Clicking on the red X brings you to TRASHED Mainstore. We're back to the wireframe maps being useful again - so make good use!

Lily broke the rules again and begged us to take her instead of Morgan, thus letting her live. 22% out of the 1543 watching believe that you will take Lily's place and let her live. Is this correct? Speak out loud.

Is this real? Can it be? What am I going to do?! I can't. I can't. I can't take her place... Fuck this.. I just can't!!! ''This is not correct. I can't. I'm sorry Lily, I'm so sorry.''

Clearly me and "us" are very different people. Clicking on the red X gets you to Warm Animations this time.

Dear Player, it is time to make your choice. How will Lily die? Should we hang her, shoot her or bury her alive? Make your decision, Player.

Think! Think!!! There has to be a way out of this. If I run now, they get my family and me but I can't let her die. I have to follow how she was thinking.. so there is a chance.. ''She will be buried alive''

Click on the red X to get to the Buried Game sim again.

Thank you for playing with C-Me industries. After this message the C-ME app will not function anymore on your tablet nor will any of the information you received be available. 30% of the 2100 watchers on the show bet on behalf of your survival and won $210 000. Well played. Oh and good luck with explaining the authorities how you found Lily there.

Lily? Lily? Noooooo.. is it too late?! No! She's barely breathing but I feel a pulse!!! I think I actually got here in time. I'm calling the medics right away and maybe she has a chance. Thank god this is over!

And that's the end of the game. 

Clicking on the HUD then takes you to the prize room. Each store has it's own grave you can dig, the same mechanic used uncovering the box Lily buried and used uncovering her. I like the ability to chose prizes, and there are some lovely ones show at MadPea's website.

Overall, as always, the MadPea mechanics for the game are very good and immersive. The plotlines remain violent, with now interstitial cheerful games in evidence - the last one of those was the Lost Mine of Stonehaven Game, and I'm finding I miss ones where we really win at the end, or at least are a decent human being for the duration. This hunt was no where near as gory as the last one, but it and the protagonist are very out of step with who I am - and who I view myself to be - and I found myself feeling more depressed than pleased at the end, even though we managed to recover Lily with some vital signs intact. 

It is a very fun game, however, and people without my particular psychological pecadillos may find it much more uplifting and enjoyable - and I can daydream that we did save her completely in the end and somehow the cops caught the sick people who created the game, and their "audience" if said audience wasn't a lie.