Osmium Island is a traditional text-based adventure game, but on a large scale; there are around 350 locations spread over 5 zones. As a secret agent, you have been airlifted onto Osmium Island in order to find out what is going on.
In the first three zones there are robots that will attack you. Too many attacks and the game ends. You can replenish your energy by drinking and eating the goodies that appear randomly in the game ( This is not difficult, there's always lots around.) However to defeat a robot, you will need to be holding the 'deactivation item' specific for that robot. It is also helpful to be wearing the correct item of clothing that deflects the robot's weapon. To attempt to deactivate a robot, just type 'deac.'
The gameplay for all five zones involves getting hold of the correct keys to unlock doors into new locations within that zone. To progress into the next zone, you will need to be holding all the keys required for that particular portal. To get the keys, some are in plain sight, some are hidden in new locations and some are held by other characters. The goal is to keep trading items until you get a useful key ( not all are useful and are red herrings. ) These 'trading chains' are shortest in zone 1 and longest in zone 3. So for example, say you try to go 'North' in some location and it says you need the golden key. You know the character that is holding it ( it tells you this automatically as you enter new locations ) but when you try to "get the golden key" it might say something like "Major Snort does not want to give you the key, but says he will trade it for a laser." If you can find the laser, then you can come back and swap it for the key. The trouble is, the laser may be held by yet another character who may want to swap with yet another item which you have to find, and so on.
Be aware that although you can eventually gain entry to all 5 zones by trading to get keys, you cannot actually complete the adventure without completing the *additional* task required for each zone. So in zones 1 to 3, your goal is to simply deactivate all the robots in that zone. In zone 4 you have to translate a secret code by finding the correct language papyrus sheets. Zone 5 is littered with radioactive waste, and you have to clear all the waste before you can take on the terrifying final 'boss' robot.
To move around, you type North South East West Up or Down, shortened to n s e w u and d in order to make typing quicker. It does not tell you in any location where you can go, so at the start you should try all combinations in order to build up your map. You can 'get' items, 'give' items and 'use' items. Type 'commands' to get a full list of available commands.
You can also type 'save' and 'load' to save a game and re-load it.