Maximum score 185 · Magic doors to open 3 · Keys to find 3 · Ways to die many
Orientation
How this game actually works
King's Quest II is a fetch quest wearing a fairy tale. Three magic doors stand in the Kolyma countryside, each needing its own key, and the three keys are held by Neptune, a mountain cave, and Count Dracula. Almost everything else you pick up is either a gift you owe someone or a treasure that exists purely to score.
The shape of the route
Phase 1 collects. Phase 2 spends what it collected on the people who want it, and comes away with the first key. Phases 3, 4 and 5 each end with a door being unlocked. Phase 6 is the ending. If you get lost, the question to ask is "which key am I missing?"
Rooms that kill you at random
The dwarf's house and Grandmother's cottage each have two possible occupants, one harmless and one fatal, decided when you walk in. You cannot tell from outside. Save on the doorstep and reload until you draw the safe one — that's how the game is meant to be played, not a cheat. The coffin room works the same way, except there you're waiting for the coffin to be closed.
Working the parser
Graham takes typed commands and the arrow keys. The verbs this route leans on:
look in hole, look in log — several items only exist after you look for them. Looking scores separately from taking.
get [thing] — the workhorse.
wear [thing] — the cross, cloak and ring score on being worn, not on being found.
give [item] to [person] — every gift in Phase 2.
throw [item] to [creature] — the bridle at the snake, the ham at the lion. Both from a distance.
ride seahorse, ride carpet, ride fish — the three set-piece journeys.
F3 repeats your last typed command, which is worth knowing for the coffin room.
Reading the point tags
Each scoring step carries a tag like +47. The first number is what the step is worth; the second is your running total. The last tag reads 185.
Click a tag as you complete the step and the score bar at the top of the page fills. The reset button next to the score (or the one below) clears everything for a fresh run.
Ticks live in this browser tab only.
Phase 1Landfall in Kolyma
Graham is king of Daventry and entirely alone. His magic mirror shows him Valanice, held in a quartz tower across the sea in Kolyma, behind three locked magic doors. Phase 1 is the sweep: almost every portable object in the countryside is worth points, and four of them — the cross, the mallet, the stake, and the pot — are the difference between finishing and dying later. Collect everything before you spend anything.
Grandmother’s mailbox: From the starting beach go two screens east and walk up to the mailbox outside the cottage. open mailbox. +1
get basket, then close mailbox. The basket belongs to someone you’ll meet later. +2
The chapel: at the church entrance, open door and go in. Approach the monk and pray. +2
He asks your name — answer graham. +2
He offers a silver cross against the evil ahead; wear cross immediately rather than carrying it. +2
Leave the chapel.
The rock: find the rock with a hole in it and look in hole to reveal a brooch. +1
get brooch. +7
The bridge: cross it. The crossing itself scores. +1
Continue to the magic doors and read inscription on the first one. You can’t open it yet — this is a look, not a solve. Then walk back and cross the bridge a second time. +1
The hollow tree: at the tree with a hole, look in hole to reveal a mallet, then get mallet. +2
The dwarf’s house — save here.open door, go in, climb down the ladder and walk right. If the dwarf is home, reload and re-enter until he isn’t.
At the chimney, get pot. This is the soup. +2
At the chest, open chest, get earrings, close chest. +7
Leave the house.
The fallen log:look in log to reveal a necklace, then get necklace. +7
The shore: walk up to the trident stuck in the sand and get trident. Don’t be tempted to use it as a weapon — it’s a gift for someone. +3
Further along the coast, approach the large shell. get shell, then get bracelet from inside it. +7
The trees: find the wooden stake and get stake. Pair it with the mallet and don’t spend either. +2
Phase 2Debts and gifts
Nothing in this phase is taken by force. Every point comes from handing something over — the basket to the girl who lost it, the soup to the sick old woman, the flowers to the mermaid, the trident to Neptune. The chain matters: the basket buys the flowers, the flowers buy the seahorse, and the seahorse is the only way to reach Neptune, who is holding the first of the three keys.
Find the girl: she wanders between the pond and the clearing, so check both until you catch her on screen. speak girl — she’s been gathering flowers and has lost her basket of goodies.
give basket to girl. She hands you a bouquet in return. +4
Grandmother’s cottage — save here.open door and go in. If the wolf is home, reload and re-enter until you find the old woman instead. She is clearly unwell.
offer soup to woman — this is the pot from the dwarf’s chimney. +2
In thanks she mentions something valuable kept under the bed. look under bed to find a black cloak and a ruby ring. +4
wear cloak. This scores nothing on its own — put it on anyway.
wear ring. +3
The mermaid: go to the coast and swim out to her. give flowers to mermaid. +2
She summons a magic seahorse. ride seahorse — it carries you down to Neptune’s court. +2
Swim up to Neptune himself and give trident to neptune. It’s his, and returning it is the whole point of carrying it. +4
He gives you a bottle and opens a shell containing the gold key. Swim to the shell and get key. That’s the first of three. +5
Back on shore:look at bottle to find a large piece of cloth inside, then get cloth. You need it in the next phase. +2
Phase 3The first door
The gold key opens door one, and behind it is the rest of the game. This phase converts Neptune's key into transport: a bird stolen from Hagatha's cave becomes a lamp in the antique shop, the lamp becomes three wishes, and one of those wishes is the carpet that carries you to the mountain.
Hagatha’s cave: go in and approach the cage. cover cage with the cloth from the bottle. +2
get cage, then leave; don’t explore. +2
Head back toward the magic doors, crossing the bridge again on the way. The crossing scores. +1
The first magic door: with the gold key in hand, unlock door, then read inscription. The inscription itself scores nothing. +7
Cross back over the bridge again, heading for the antique shop. +1
The antique shop:open door and go in. give cage to woman — she trades you an old genie lamp for the bird. +6
Leave the shop before rubbing it.
rub lamp — first wish, a magic carpet. +2
rub lamp — second wish, a sword. +2
rub lamp — third wish, a bridle. The lamp then vanishes. +2
ride carpet. It carries you to the top of the mountain. +4
Phase 4The mountain and the second door
The shortest phase and the most lethal. A snake blocks the mountain path and is not something you fight — the bridle from the genie turns it back into the winged horse it always was. The horse pays you in a sugar cube that makes you immune to poison, which is what lets you take the second key out of the cave beyond.
From where the carpet sets you down, go right along the mountain.
Stop short of the snake and throw bridle to snake. The bridle breaks the enchantment and the snake becomes a winged horse. +5
speak with horse. It thanks you with a magic sugar cube. +2
eat cube — you’re now immune to poison. +1
Continue right to a cave and a rock with a hole in it. look in hole at the rock for a period advertisement for Sierra’s own Space Quest I. It’s an easter egg and scores nothing.
Go into the cave, approach the key and get key. That’s the second of three. +5
Leave the cave and ride carpet back down.
Cross the bridge again on the way to the doors. +1
The second magic door:unlock door, then read inscription. The inscription scores nothing. +7
Cross back over the bridge again once you’re done at the doors. +1
Phase 5Dracula's castle
The largest scoring phase and the one the whole route has been preparing for. The silver cross from the chapel keeps you alive through the first coffin opening; the stake and mallet from the countryside finish the job on the second. Two keys come out of that room — one opens the chest with the tiara, the other opens the third and last magic door.
Crossing: at the shore of the poisonous lake, enter boat. The boatman ferries you to the island. exit boat.
Into the castle: at the entrance, open door. From the main hall, go left and up the staircase to a room with a writing table.
At the table, open drawer, get candle, close drawer. +2
Leave the room. At the staircase, approach the wall torch and light candle. +1
The dining room: back down to the hall and right. At the table, get ham. Carry it to the very end of the game — it is the only thing that gets you past the lion. +2
The coffin room — save here. Go right, then down the staircase. If you arrive and the coffin is already open, leave and re-enter until you find it closed.
Approach the closed coffin and open coffin, then wait. Dracula rises and attacks — the cross you’re wearing drives him off. +3
look in coffin, then get pillow and get key. +5
Second pass: leave the room and re-enter until the coffin is closed again. This time, open it and kill man — the stake and mallet do the work. +4
get key — the one he was carrying. +2
The chest: return to the dining room and go upstairs to the chest. unlock chest, then open chest. The point is for the unlock. +1
get tiara. You don’t need to look in the chest first, and you don’t need to close it afterwards. +7
Back across: leave the castle, enter boat and let the boatman return you.
Cross the bridge again on the way to the doors. +1
The third magic door:unlock door. It opens onto another world entirely. +7
Phase 6The Quartz Tower
Through the third door is a different world, and the last twenty-two points are a short, clean run: a net, a fish big enough to ride, an amulet with one word engraved on it, and a lion standing between you and Valanice. The ham you have been carrying since Dracula's dining room settles the lion. The word on the amulet ends the game.
Go north from where the door leaves you, approach the fishing net and get net. +1
Return to the starting point and go to the water’s edge. fish, then get fish. It can take several tries before one bites — keep casting. +2
throw fish to put it back in the water. +3
ride fish. It carries you to the island where the tower stands. +1
The amulet: walk the ground around the base of the tower until you find it. get amulet, then look at amulet — a single word, HOME, is engraved on it. Remember it. +3
Into the tower: go in and head upstairs. A lion blocks the stair. throw ham to lion and it settles down to eat and sleep. +4
open door and go through. Valanice is inside. +5
Approach her and speak with girl. She gives her name; give yours — graham. Then kiss girl, and finally home to use the amulet. +3
The score
Point ledger — all 185
A reference tally of every scoring action, grouped by phase, summing to 185. Everything here scores once, on the first occurrence. Track your progress by clicking the point tags on the route above — this list is for findingwhere you lost something.
Phase 1 · Landfall in Kolyma49 pts
Open the mailbox outside Grandmother's cottage+1
Take the basket from the mailbox+2
Pray at the chapel altar+2
Give the monk your name+2
Wear the silver cross+2
Look in the hole in the rock+1
Take the brooch+7
Cross the bridge (first crossing)+1
Cross the bridge again on the way back+1
Find and take the mallet in the hollow tree+2
Take the pot from the dwarf's chimney+2
Take the earrings from the dwarf's chest+7
Find and take the necklace in the fallen log+7
Take the trident from the shore+3
Take the shell and the bracelet inside it+7
Take the stake from the trees+2
Phase 2 · Debts and gifts28 pts
Give the basket back to the girl for her bouquet+4
Offer the soup to Grandmother+2
Look under the bed for the cloak and ruby ring+4
Wear the ruby ring+3
Give the flowers to the mermaid+2
Ride the seahorse+2
Give the trident to Neptune+4
Take the gold key from the opened shell+5
Look in the bottle and take the cloth+2
Phase 3 · The first door29 pts
Cover Hagatha's cage with the cloth+2
Take the covered cage+2
Cross the bridge again on the way to the doors+1
Unlock the first magic door+7
Cross the bridge again heading to the antique shop+1
Trade the caged bird to the antique dealer for the lamp+6
First wish — the magic carpet+2
Second wish — the sword+2
Third wish — the bridle+2
Ride the carpet+4
Phase 4 · The mountain and the second door22 pts
Throw the bridle over the snake to free the winged horse+5
Speak with the horse for the sugar cube+2
Eat the sugar cube for poison immunity+1
Take the second key from the mountain cave+5
Cross the bridge again on the way to the doors+1
Unlock the second magic door+7
Cross back over the bridge after the second door+1
Phase 5 · Dracula's castle35 pts
Take the candle from the writing desk drawer+2
Light the candle at the stairway torch+1
Take the ham from the dining table+2
Open the coffin and survive Dracula (the cross wards him)+3
Take the pillow and the key from inside the coffin+5
Kill Dracula with the stake and mallet+4
Take the key he was carrying+2
Unlock the upstairs chest+1
Take the tiara+7
Cross the bridge again on the way to the doors+1
Unlock the third magic door+7
Phase 6 · The Quartz Tower22 pts
Take the fishing net+1
Catch the fish+2
Throw the fish back into the water+3
Ride the fish to the tower island+1
Take the amulet and read it+3
Throw the ham to the lion+4
Open the tower door and find Valanice+5
Speak, give your name, kiss her, and say HOME+3
Hazards
Ways this game kills you
Kolyma is friendlier than Daventry right up until it isn't. Two of the deaths below are decided by which occupant is home when you open a door, and the rest are on you.
The wolf at Grandmother's house
The cottage has two occupants and only one of them is Grandmother. Walk in on the wolf and the run is over. There is no way to tell from outside which one is home, so save on the doorstep and reload until you draw the old woman.
The dwarf in his own house
Same problem, same solution. If the dwarf is home when you climb down the ladder, you die. Save outside the door and reload until the house is empty.
Count Dracula
Opening the coffin without the silver cross worn is fatal. Wearing it is the whole reason the chapel is the second stop on this route — the cross wards him off long enough to loot the coffin.
The poisonous lake
The water around Dracula's island is lethal to touch. The boatman is the only crossing. Don't try to swim it, and don't walk off the edge of the jetty while lining up the boat.
The snake on the mountain
Approach the snake too closely and it kills you before the bridle lands. Throw from a distance. The sugar cube you get afterwards grants immunity to poison, but it comes after the snake — it will not save you here.
The lion in the tower
Climbing past the lion without throwing the ham is fatal. This is the reason the ham gets carried all the way from Dracula's dining room, and the reason not to use it anywhere else.
The sea
Swimming out to the mermaid means swimming in open water. Stray too far from shore and Graham drowns. Keep to the route and surface where the screen lets you.
Hagatha
The witch's cave is a smash-and-grab. Take the covered cage and leave; lingering long enough to be caught ends the run.
The mountain paths
The climb after the carpet ride runs along ledges where a wrong step is a fatal fall with no warning. Save before each screen change.