Introduction

If you've ever played a Coktel game before, or watched an LP of one, you might think you know what to expect from other Coktel games - nonsensical puzzles, a confusing story that isn't very well explained, translation errors that make things even more difficult than they need to be, and frequent trips to a FAQ or the Joker menu if you ever want to see how it all ends. Lost in Time is no exception, although it could probably be said that it has even more of all of those things than any other Coktel game I've ever played. I've beaten this game several times and still have only the most basic understanding of any of what's going on. However, I'll try to explain it all as we go along, as far as the game itself tries and fails to do so.

The first thing to understand is that most of this game doesn't take place in chronological order. We start about a third of the way through, with a few inventory items and no clue what prior events our protagonist is referring to. We'll eventually get a flashback to those events, which take place 152 years after the main storyline, before returning to the "present" (the distant past) to act on whatever we're supposed to have learned. It's essentially the plot of Back to the Future, but the plot really only becomes important in the last act of the game, where things are so linear that understanding what's going on is pretty irrelevant to solving the puzzles you're presented. Then there's a big infodump at the end that's supposed to explain everything.

Confused yet? Well, then you've got some idea what we're up against. Let's get this thing started... so to speak.

Table of Contents

• Episode 1: It takes me 20 minutes to get to the start of the game
• Episode 2: The most clichéd puzzle in adventure gaming, minus the piece of paper
• Episode 3: If it were really this hard to start a fire, everyone would freeze to death
• Episode 4: Clearly, the most sensible course of action when trying to sneak around is to be captured
• Episode 5: This will be an ex-parrot when I'm finished with it!
• Episode 6: I told the witch doctor I was in love with you. He didn't care because he's a total misogynist.
• Episode 7: Lifestyles of the rich and voodoo-capable

Character List

Doralice

Our protagonist. We see the world through her eyes and understand only what she manages to explain to us. In other words, we spend the entire game thoroughly confused.


Jarlath de la Pruneliere/Jarlath Equs

Our antagonist. He's a time traveler from 2059 who owns a slave plantation in 1840 and is allergic to orchids. He's apparently traveled back in time to smuggle a radioactive element by hiding it in a sarcophagus while it stabilized, then hiding that in a sunken ship for 150 years.


Yoruba

A slave trapped in the hold of the ship. He had a baby with Jarlath's wife, Velvet, which may be why Jarlath has shackled him to the ship he's going to sink. It could also be that the sarcophagus containing the radioactive element is Yoruba's ancestral treasure. The pendant passed down through his family tells Doralice that Yoruba is her ancestor.


Melkior

An officer in the organization that polices time travel, Melkior doesn't seem to be very good at his job. Melkior's current mission is to capture Jarlath and recover the stolen material.


Oswald

Melkior's friend, and a sailor aboard the Briscarde. He's just waiting for an opportunity to get his hands on the captain's magic gun so he can start a mutiny. Sadly, that will apparently never happen.


Captain Philibert

Captain of the Briscarde, he dies in the shipwreck in 1840. He seems to know that Oswald is plotting against him, but doesn't seem to care, probably because he's going to sink the ship anyway. His parrot, Galipo, once belonged to Makandal.


Amilcar

Makandal's son. He's been rejected by his father, and now takes care of a sick manicou... or so he claims. He's actually Celucie's son, and lies to get attention, but I suppose nothing says that he can't actually be Makandal's son. Either way, that possum is dinner, not a pet.


Makandal

The healer on St. Cristobald Island, he hates women as much as he loves money. He would do anything to be rid of Yoruba and Delia, but he needs Doralice's help to do it. He apparently worked closely enough with Captain Philibert to hand over his pet parrot - perhaps as part of a deal to ship Yoruba off the island for good.


Delia

A practitioner of voodoo who is in love with Makandal. She is a very good friend of Velvet's and can arrange to let Doralice meet her, in exchange for making Makandal drink a love potion.


Velvet Rochefort de la Pruneliere

Jarlath's wife, and Doralice's ancestor. Jarlath hypnotized her into killing her own father, then took her hand in marriage so he could take over the plantation where his prize would be found 152 years later.


Celucie

Velvet's maid/servant. Celucie cares for Yoruba and Velvet's son, Maximin.