Need help with this adventure game created for the Sharp MZ-700? Here’s a partial walkthrough.
Ropoko is a lovely little adventure game created for the Sharp MZ-700 computer by Tookato, and recently released for modern formats as well (Steam, Switch). I have been playing it, and tried to make a walkthrough at the same time. Unfortunately, I kind of got stuck, and haven’t made progress in a while. I still figured that what I have here could be helpful, and I hope that publishing it could be the trigger I need to get back to the game and complete it. So here goes!
Please note that I played the MZ-700 version using an emulator. The English is going to be published on cassette tape by Sharpworks. I haven’t yet tried the modern version, but I will soon. I see that there are some extra features there, such as a map.
Let me know if there are any mistakes, or if you would like to help kickstart my adventure again with a hint or two. My e-mail address is my first name, @spillhistorie.no. You can also reach me on Bluesky.
Basic information
You move around with the cursor keys. The basic interaction key is the space bar. Make sure to point Ropoko towards what you’re trying to interact with. Other than that, you use one-word commands to communicate with other characters as well as use stuff in your inventory (press F1 to see what you’ve got). I’m using capital letters for things you can type. It is not possible to die in the game, and you should not be afraid to experiment as you can’t make Sierra-style mistakes that will cause the game to become unwinnable.
Room 1 – Storeroom
Press space to break out of the locker.
Turn around and press space again to find a WIRE.
Move to the white button, look at it (up arrow) and press space to turn on the lights.
Exit the screen to the west to enter…
Room 2 – Doctor’s Office
Move to the doctor and press space to talk with her.
Press space again to prompt another conversation.
Type ROPOKO and press return/enter. Also ask about DOCTOR, LAB and AI (keywords mentioned by the doctor).
Move to the door and look at it as before, and type WIRE to use it. This opens the door.
If you chat with the doctor again, she’ll congratulate you. Exit the room through the newly opened door.
Room 3 – Small Passage
Nothing to do here. Move to the west.
Room 4 – Front Door
Move towards the western door and press space to pick up a FLYER.
Look at the locker door in the wall, and press space to open it. We’ll leave that room for now, though.
So rather make your way to the east, twice, to reach…
Room 5 – Narrow passage
You can ignore the open door for now, and head east.
Room 6 – Entrance
Look at the closed bathroom door and press space.
The occupant is clearly having some trouble. Move to the next room.
Room 7 – Cafe
Look at the sign on the wall. Note that it is a café, and that it mentions CLERKS.
Go back to room 6.
Room 6 – Entrance
Look at the bathroom door and type CLERK. The clerk will explain that there is no toilet paper.
While looking at the toilet door, type FLYER. It’ll have to do.
Now first leave the room, to give the clerk a chance to leave the bathroom offscreen. Then go back and enter the now open door.
Room 11 – Toilet
Flush the toilet by looking at it an pressing space. This surprisingly opens a door in another room.
Go south, then west, then north through the door we ignored earlier.
Room 8 – Sink
Pick up the HAMMER.
Then move on north. This door only opens when you flush the toilet in room 11, which is why we just did that.
Room 9 – Bathroom
Nothing to do here but go east.
Room 10 – Bathtub
This is slightly mean. Move to the right part of the bathtub and press space to find 100 yen.
Search until you got the money and then head back to the café.
Room 7 – Café
Chat with the café owner. Introduce yourself by typing ROPOKO. Learn keywords NANAKA, CAFE, COFFE, LAB, DOCTOR.
You find out that she’s out of coffee beans, but that she usually freezes them.
Go all the way to the front door and enter the locker room door.
Room 12 – Shoebox
The room is dark, but press space while looking directly ahead and you’ll open another door. Leave through this door.
Room 13 – Junction
First, look at the eastern wall. Standing before it, type HAMMER. A new door! This is what hammers are used for.
Instead of using the new exit, head to the left.
Room 14 – Cookroom
Observe the time. Go right twice.
Room 17 – Convenience Store
This is an automated store. Look at the sign to see what can be bought, and for what prices.
You do not have any yen at the moment, so head down/south.
Room 18 – Bus Stop
Look at the old lady and press space to chat. She complains about the lack of buses.
Introduce yourself (ROPOKO), then use her name (KEIKO). She says it is saturday, and that she’s thirsty.
Type BUS. She asks how many minutes to the next bus. Move to the information plaque and look at it.
It’s saturday (holiday), and you saw the tim in the cookroom. So you can deduce that there are 8 minutes to the next bus.
Look at the lady and say 8. She’ll give you 500 yen. Go north/up.
Room 17 – Convenience Store
Look at the tereminal and type TEA. It costs 100 yen. Go back to the lady and type TEA to give it to her.
You’ll receive a family heirloom; a WIRE. Go back to the cookroom.
Room 14 – Cookroom
Type WIRE to open the white door. Go through the door to…
Room 15 – Refrigerator
Note that there are some dots on the wall. Go south to…
Room 16 – Freezer
Pick up the coffee beans (space) and head all the way back to the Café.
Room 7 – Café
Give the COFFEE to the clerk (type COFFEE).
Type COFFEE again to get a free cup of coffee.
Then go back to the Refrigerator, look at the dots, and type COFFEE.
I don’t know what happened either. But now go back to the front door and note that the door in the left wall is now open!
Room 19 – Garden
This area is larger than it seems, and you can go north to…
Room 20 – Trees
Talk to the dove (SPACE). Type COO. Congrats, you’ve got a DOVE! Go south, then continue west.
Room 21 – Water Fountain
Look at the fountain and press SPACE to get 100 Yen.
There’s no point in entering the next room yet, so return to the doctor’s office.
Room 2 – Doctor’s Office
Talk to the doctor about DOVE. She’ll give you 400 yen!
You will now have 1000 yen. Let’s spend it at the store.
Room 17 – Convenience Store
Look at the panel again and type HAMMER to buy a hammer. Let’s find the next wall to take down!
So this basically just involves looking at blank walls and typing HAMMER, as before. The next wall is in the room we ignored earlier, to the west of the fountain.
Room 22 – Front Door 2
Look at the northern wall, type HAMMER and reveal a staircase. Use it.
Room 23 – Changing Room
New music! Read the sign on the wall (look at it & press space as usual). It says that you’ll need a pin code. Read the locker. It’s owned by Ooi. Who is that?
Well, she’s not here. Walk eastwards to find a potentially painful (but not dangerous) shortcut to the fountain, and head back to the doctor.
Room 2 – Doctor’s Office
The doctor never did introduce herself by name, so try OOI. Yup, that’s her.
Ask about LOCKER. She tells you her pin number is based on keyboard layout. Huh. Well, let’s head back to the changing room to experiment.
But before we go there, chat with the doctor again. She’ll tell you that she used the control room’s cooling unit as a fridge. (this might be a hint for an earlier puzzle)
Room 23 – Changing Room
The hint was perhaps a bit misleading. It’s not really the layout we’re after, but similarity. OOI – 001. Type that while looking at the locker. Enter it.
Room 24 – Locker
Another dark room. Here, first press space while looking straight ahead to open the northern door.
Then go to the western edge and press space to pick up a WIRE.
And finally, to the eastern edge and press space to open the final door. Head north, though.
Room 25 – Power plant
By reading the sign, you’ll find out that the power plant is overheating. We need to cool it down. Head south, and then east, to…
Room 26 – Cleaner closet
Pick up the hammer.
Use the wire on the door in the northern wall. Enter it.
Room 27 – Library
Read the sign. Read the text on the bookcases. We’ll probably find something useful here. But right now, head east.
Room 28 – Stack
Read the text on the bookcases. Seems the MZ took over the world. Yay! Head east.
Room 29 – Conference room
More bookcases, and what looks to be a Sharp MZ-80K. Read what you can, and head south.
Room 30 – Kitchenette
A BUCKET! Pick it up. Head back to the bathtub where you picked up 100 yen earlier.
(there’s a shortcut – head south from the kitchenette to Room 31 – Balcony and go west to fall down like in room 23)
Room 10 – Bathtub
Enter the tub and type BUCKET to get WATER. It’s probably luke-warm, though, so head to the freezer where you found the coffee beans.
Room 16 – Freezer
Type WATER to get ICE. Nice!
Now go back to the power plant.
Room 25 – Power Plant
Look at the power unit and type ICE to cool it down. This powers up the MZ-80K in the conference room, but you can’t use it yet.
Instead head to the balcony south of the kitchenette where you found the bucket.
Room 31 – Balcony
Look at the eastern wall and type HAMMER to open it. Head through.
Room 32 – Front of church
Look at the plaque. It suggests you join the MZ religion by giving love to the creator.
Knock at the door (space). You’re told that there’s no time for non-believers. You can still ask about, for instance, MZ-80K and MZ-700.
If you ask about MZ-700, you’ll learn that it is considered the creator by the cul… religion. Were there some info about it somewhere?
Ask about BELIEVER, and you’ll need to answer a question. When did the creator come down to Earth? Answer 1982, as noted in the library.
You may now enter…
Room 39 – Church
A new character! Introduce yourself (ROPOKO), and ask about anything you can think of. Otherwise there isn’t really that much to do yet.
Check out the statue. Then leave to the south, and proceed east from front of church.
Room 33 – Crossroads
Four directions. Start by going south.
Room 41 – Game arcade
Chat with the clerk. Tell her your name. She asks you to guess hers. You may try. She’s got a lot of conversation options, and some hints.
She also explains that as a gamer, you are entitled to test your skill. This is done in the room west of here, but not yet.
Instead, go back to the church.
Room 39 – Church
Ask about CLERK. Ah, her name is Eugea (big MZ-700 reference there). The nun asks you to convert her to the MZ religion.
And gives you 2000 yen to do it! Nice!
Now it’s time to test your skill. Head back to the arcade and continue west to…
Room 42 – Game cabinet
It’s mini-game time! Read the plaque for the rules. Then agree to pay 100 yen (you’re rich!) to play.
In short: You control the little Ropoko in the grid. You may move to adjacent squares. Your goal is the yellow square.
Black walls block you, but may be removed by hammers (one-time use). Blue walls can be moved through, but turn black immediately after.
You need the string to enter the yellow square.
F1 restarts the level (for free). To use a hammer or string, push the direction of the wall you want to interact with, and press SPACE.
Here are the solutions for each of the levels:
Yay! Go back to Eugea.
Room 41 – Game arcade
Tell her you’re the GAMEMASTER, and she’ll be impressed enough to join the church. Mission accomplished!
And there’s suddenly 100 yen here, so pick that up so you have 2000 yen again.
Head to the church.
Room 39 – Church
Say EUGEA, and the nun will reward you with a token of her appreciation – a WIRE.
Don’t be shy, use the WIRE on the door in the church. Then head north to…
Room 40 – Treasury
Pick up the TAPE. You can probably figure out where this is used, but let’s explore a bit first.
Head south twice, and then east to the crossroads. Now go north.
Room 35 – Slot Parlor
Pick up the HAMMER.
Check out the computer display to see that you can exchange prizes here. You don’t have any. Go north.
Room 36 – Slot Machines
Read the note. Don’t spend your money on the machines just yet, you’ll just lose them.
Go east.
Room 37 – Slot Machines 2
The doctor is here! Talk to her. She’s busy. But ask her about SLOTS. Hacking the slot machines, eh?
Now head back to Room 29 – Conference room , the library room with the MZ-80K in it.
Room 29 – Conference room
Stand in front of the computer and type TAPE to insert it into the computer.
Then, as instructed by reading the books just behind it, type LOAD.
After loading the AI system 80, interact with the computer by pressing space. Hm!
Type SLOTS to have it manipulate the odds. Make a note of the response.
Before we play the slots, let’s use that hammer. Go east from the crossroads to…
Room 34 – Street Corner
Look at the northern wall and type HAMMER. Enter the new door to find:
Room 38 – Secondhand Shop
Read the plaque on the wall. Interact with the terminal.
Nothing to do here yet, but this is where you exchange your prizes for money.
Room 37 – Slot Machines 2
Play on the second machine on the right. Next to the doctor.
You’ll lose and lose and lose until you spend your last 100 yen to win MEDALx40000!
NOTE: If you somehow fail by playing the wrong machine, you can follow the same procedure as the one described here, as you’ll always win at least a MEDALx2000 and get all your money back.
Now ask the doctor about the medal, and she’ll tell you to exchange it for a PLATE. Head to the terminal.
Room 36 – Slot Machines
Face the terminal and type PLATE to get the thing. Now head to…
Room 38 – Secondhand Shop
Face the terminal and type PLATE again, to get your reward. 40000 yen (or 2000 if you failed).
Now head all the way back to the convenience store.
Room 17 – Convenience Store
Face the terminal and buy: ROPE , EXTINGUISHER and Z80. Congrats, you’re broke!
And worse, you’re about to give away the most expensive thing you bought. Head all the way back to the slot machines.
Room 37 – Slot Machines 2
Look at the doctor and type Z80 to give her the processor. She’ll run back to her lab once you leave, so go back to the doctor’s office (the second room in the game) and enter the now open door in the western wall.
Room 46 – Doctor’s Lab
Ah, the dove again! Face it and type COO to pick it up.
Then chat with the doctor. She seems to have upgraded it (the dove, yes) with the Z80 processor!
If you head to the garden area, you can type DOVE to make it fly. But not quite high enough for what you need.
Room 23 – Changing Room
Stand next to the ledge and type ROPE to tie the rope to the ledge. It will now form a bridge over the garden area.
This also works in Room 31 – Balcony. Anyway, cross the rope.
Room 42 – Rope 1
Here you can move onto the rightmost tree to enter a new room:
Room 45 – Treetop
Type DOVE here. Your helpful friend will use your remaining rope to make another pathway, enabling you to move north to:
Room 47 – Windows
Open the window by interacting with it. Then enter it as if it was a door.
Room 48 – Playroom
Chat with the distraught girl, Kana. ROPOKO to introduce yourself, et.c. Learn about NYAPPY, her missing pet.
She says: He usually runs sideways but will turn left if a street is a dead end.
She also mentions her sister, who is the coffee store clerk, Nanaka. You can ask her about NANAKA to get an important hint about the back door to their shop.
Go east.
Room 54 – Department Store
You are now in a sort of maze section. This is where Nyappy is hiding, but when you enter the room he is in, he will quickly make his escape.
The shutters you find in various rooms can be opened and closed from either side. But only the ones in the east/west walls, annoyingly.
Something that is not immediately obvious is that when Nyappy moves through a room, he will flip the lights on/off. So it will be helpful to have a map.
The first thing to try is to make Nyappy light up all the rooms, in order to open the green door in the Police Booth.
The shutters come in very handy here, as you can prevent him from reentering fully-lit areas.
Misc notes
This is where I’m stuck! I wanted to create a detailed walkthrough of the Nyappy maze, but only got through it once. These are some notes I made, in case they’re helpful. I last played some months ago (my plan now is to buy the game on Steam and follow my own walkthrough to get back to this spot).
get hammer
cramped passage, use hammer
extinguisher
dove
get wire, get match
light fireplace, make everything light again, use wire
somehow trick nyappy through here (while keeping lights on) ??