Game Guide

Overview

Stuck on a puzzle? TruchiEmu's built-in Game Guide sidebar brings hints and walkthroughs right into your game window, so you never have to alt-tab away from the action. The guide automatically appears for adventure and point-and-click games, pulling content from two trusted sources.

What You Get

Automatic Detection: Adventure and point-and-click games are automatically identified by genre metadata or system (ScummVM games always qualify)
Progressive Hints (UHS): Spoiler-free hints that reveal one at a time — get just enough help without ruining the puzzle
Full Walkthroughs (GameFAQs): Complete text walkthroughs as a fallback when UHS hints aren't available for your game
Gamepad Navigation: Browse the guide with your controller — analog sticks scroll, A/B buttons navigate, and the same R3/L3 toggle that opens the sidebar closes it
387+ Game Mappings: Pre-matched UHS guides for classic adventures including Monkey Island, Broken Sword, Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle, and hundreds more

How It Works

Opening the Guide

When you launch an adventure game, the guide button appears in the game toolbar. You can open the guide sidebar in three ways:

Toolbar Button: Click the guide icon in the game window toolbar
Keyboard Shortcut: Press Cmd+J to toggle the sidebar
Controller Toggle: Press R3 or L3 (the non-primary analog stick button) to open/close the sidebar

Guide Sources

TruchiEmu uses two guide sources, tried in order:

UHS Hints Primary

The Universal Hint System provides progressive, spoiler-free hints. Questions are organized into chapters, and each question reveals hints one at a time — from a gentle nudge to the full answer.

GameFAQs Walkthroughs Fallback

When no UHS guide is available, TruchiEmu searches GameFAQs for text walkthroughs. Browse the available FAQ list and read full walkthroughs in-game.

Game Matching

TruchiEmu uses multiple strategies to find the right guide for your game:

ScummVM Game ID: For ScummVM games, the internal game ID (e.g., tentacle, monkey, sword1) is matched against a curated database of 387+ UHS guide mappings
Title Matching: For DOS and other systems, the game title is fuzzy-matched against known UHS guide titles, including alternate titles and common name variations
Genre Detection: Games with "Adventure" or "Point & Click" in their genre metadata automatically get the GameFAQs fallback even without a UHS mapping

Using the Guide

Progressive Hints (UHS)

Browse Chapters
When you open the guide, you'll see a list of chapters and topics. Navigate with your mouse, keyboard, or controller.
Select a Question
Tap a question to see its hints. Questions are marked with a question mark icon; topics with a folder icon.
Reveal Hints One at a Time
Click "Show Next Hint" to reveal the next hint. Each hint gives you progressively more help. Use "Reveal All" if you want the full answer immediately.
Navigate Back
Use the back button or Esc to return to the chapter list. The breadcrumb trail keeps track of where you are.

GameFAQs Walkthroughs

Browse FAQ List
When UHS hints aren't available, you'll see a list of GameFAQs walkthroughs for your game.
Read a Walkthrough
Select a FAQ to read its full text content. The text is displayed in a monospaced font with text selection enabled for copying.

Controller Navigation

When the guide sidebar is open, your controller input is automatically redirected:

Analog Sticks: Move the cursor to navigate the sidebar. The primary stick moves at full speed, the secondary at reduced speed
A Button: Acts as left click (select items, reveal hints)
B Button: Acts as right click
R3/L3: Toggle the sidebar open/closed
Scrolling: Move the stick past the dead zone to scroll through the guide list

Input Capture: When the guide sidebar opens for DOS or ScummVM games, keyboard and mouse capture is automatically released so you can interact with the sidebar. When you close the sidebar, capture resumes automatically.

Supported Games

The Game Guide feature works with any adventure or point-and-click game in your library. Over 387 classic adventures have pre-matched UHS hint guides, including:

Series	Games with UHS Guides
Monkey Island	The Secret of Monkey Island, LeChuck's Revenge, Curse, Escape, Tales
Broken Sword	Shadow of the Templars, The Smoking Mirror, The Sleeping Dragon
King's Quest	Quest for the Crown through The Mask of Eternity
Space Quest	The Sarien Encounter through The Pitch
Quest for Glory	So You Want to Be a Hero through Dragon Fire
Sam & Max	Hit the Road
Day of the Tentacle	Full UHS guide
Grim Fandango	Full UHS guide
Full Throttle	Full UHS guide
The Longest Journey	Full UHS guide

Games without a UHS mapping will automatically search GameFAQs for available walkthroughs.

Troubleshooting

Guide Button Not Appearing

Symptom: The guide toolbar button is missing for a game.

Solution: The guide only appears for adventure and point-and-click games. Ensure the game's genre metadata contains "Adventure" or "Point & Click". ScummVM games always show the guide button. For DOS games, try refreshing metadata to pull the correct genre.

Wrong Game Matched

Symptom: The guide shows hints for a different game.

Solution: Title matching uses fuzzy logic and may occasionally match the wrong entry. This is most common with games that share similar names. The UHS fallback button lets you search GameFAQs for the correct guide.

UHS Hints Not Loading

Symptom: The guide shows a loading spinner but never finishes.

Solution: UHS hints require an internet connection for the first load. Check your connection and try again. Previously loaded guides are cached locally for offline access. If UHS fails, use the "Search GameFAQs" button as a fallback.