German educational game from 1997. A 2003 re-release exists to transition the game from 16 bit to 32 bit to make it run on newer Windows versions.
Link to video
April 10 2026 - Important Note:
In the video, the player received a huge amount of elfstones at 6:12 for the GLAS-GRAS and BINDE-RINDE solutions, which allowed him to attempt solving a puzzle at 6:25 (which requires 10 or more elfstones).
Normally you receive only 1 elfstone each for these solutions.
I'm currently in the process of asking the video creator how he did it.
I have not been able to reproduce any bugs that could allow receiving multiple elfstone rewards.
April 19 2026:
The user has not replied yet. I studied the video closely. They were playing on the 32 bit 2003 re-release version on Windows 10. Perhaps a regression bug or gameplay change introduced in that version of the game?
Guide by Cornelsen (german)
TCRF pageGame's plot
The villain Marigor captured all the animals and magical creatures in the world of the Tobis and the Tobi children Ela and Alo set out to release the creatures and face Marigor.
Gameplay
On each screen there are 2 or 3 objects that you can click on and if you write the German word for it correctly, you can gain up to 3 Elfensteine (lit. "fairy stones", basicly magic points).
If you have 10 magic points or more, you can click on the little stones to attempt solving a task/puzzle to rescue an animal or creature.
When you successfully solve a puzzle, there will be a cutscene. Some creatures will give you items.
There are 5 worlds: 1) Forest, 2) caves, 3) lake, 4) mountains, 5) world of dwarves
When you clear all stones in a world, you are given an ice stone.
You need all five ice stones to enter Marigor's palace.
Note: When an ice stone is created and given to you, your elf stones are reset.
On some screens, there is a random event of Marigor's robots spawning into the screen, which wastes time, but it may be avoidable in runs.
For example, I tested with savestates and when entering to a screen where it takes 15 sec for the robots to arrive, it looks like the 15 sec won't be depleted while doing other things.
You need to use items to advance into certain areas of the game. Items are stored in your backpack, which will be shown on each screen.
The backpack also stores a map which lets you quicktravel to locations you've been to.
On each screen, there will also be a sign, clicking on that shows a menu to let you continue or exit the game.
When trying a task/puzzle, you can fail a certain number of times until you fail the task completely and drop out of it, losing 5 magic points.
While trying a task/puzzle, you can click on the sign symbol to exit the task without losing magic points.
When solving a task/puzzle, you gain 20 magic points.
Note on the Cornelsen guide
There are several things listed in the guide that aren't true when I'm playing the game (the 1997 version).
Perhaps the guide is based on the 2003 rerelease version.
For example, it states that the puzzle for WURZELGNOM appears after using the keys on the door, but when I was playing, the puzzle was already available.
BugsAnimation bugs
During normal gameplay, I witnessed strange animation bugs on two occasions or so. This seems to be very rare and looks to be the game's fault rather than the emulator's. I haven't been able to reproduce such animation bugs so far. This involves yellow rectangles and the wrong sprite rendered on certain parts of the screen.
Cutscene skip
Some cutscenes can be skipped by clicking on the sign and then continuing:
Cutscene when releasing a creature
Leaving the screen, i.e. the walking animation (apparently this only works if the game doesn't have to check if the exit is blocked)
Arriving at a new screen, i.e. walking animation but also one-time-only cutscenes, such as when entering the cave
This looks like a significant timesaver!
Click on things before screen loads
This is a powerful bug that opens up many possibilities:
1) Leave screen instantly
When fading from inventory or sign back to the current screen, if you buffer a click to an exit, you will leave the screen immediately and the walking cutscene is skipped.
It seems this cannot be done with all the exits. For example, I've not been able to do it in FOREST MOUNTAIN SIDE on the exit towards the water rooms.
2) Start a puzzle that is not yet unlocked
Just buffer a click on the spot where the rock would appear later.
3) Witch incorrect voice line
Buffering a click on the witch might make her say something that she otherwise wouldn't.
4) Pick up an item not yet dropped
You can click on something else to cause another action happen simultaneously.
5) Solve an eye puzzle that has already been solved
Doing so will unlock the puzzle again even if it has already been done. If it is the last puzzle in the world and the world has been completed already, the ice stone cutscene will not play again though.
6) Select an item and buffer a click on the spot to use it with
This skips the witch asking what you want to use the item with and allows you to click on something else to cause another action happen simultaneously.
Game breaking bug: Don't get an ice stone
If you cutscene skip out of the release of the last creature in an area, you will not receive the ice stone for the area since that cutscene will be skipped, too, rendering the game unwinnable.
Puzzle bugs
Some tasks/puzzles are bugged and will behave as if you solved something in it even though you didn't, although details will have to be figured out and tested for each puzzle individually.
Examples:
The task at the bridge (frog), when aligning the pictures, it is possible to fail and still clear the task at the same time.
A task in the dwarves' world where you have to align pieces of words together, you can fail and the game would still treat a word as valid.
The fox task in the forest, when typing in "Fuchs", it normally plays a song, but I've had it be skipped on a rare occasion. The circumstances seem not well-understood. Sometimes it happens, and other times it doesn't. It is possible to skip past the "Type in the word" part of the puzzle by typing F U C H, and then the wrong letter several times quickly. Somehow this lets you go on to the next screen...
[1]There is a song during this puzzle that can be skipped, but the circumstances seem random and not well-understood. I managed to get past the song by typing F U C H and then the wrong letter several times quickly. This would somehow let me go on to the next screen.
[2]She will talk about the mushrooms item.
[3]Can't buffer click because mushroom item is overlapping.
[4]Buffer click on this will cause picking up Mushrooms instead.
FOREST MOUNTAINSIDE
(Compoter can randomly appear!)
[1]She will talk about the nest looking empty.
[2]You can buffer click it near the top left corner of the screen.
[3]I have not been able to click-buffer, might be because the game imposes a check first, if the path is cleared.
CAVE AREA
Room
Objects
CAVE ENTRANCE
(Room has an arrival cutscene)can sign skip! [1]
[1]You might have to sign skip twice. The first skip cancels the cutscene itself, the second skip cancels the climbing down sequence.
[2]During the puzzle, you can click on the sign at the top to make the creature stop talking, to end waiting time prematurely.
[3]During the puzzle, when the mouse reached the finish, you can click on the sign at the top or the thumb up button to end the puzzle quicker.
[4]Can't buffer click it, supposedly because the game imposes a "is this unlocked" check first.
[6]Buffer click on this will cause an error popping up:
Script error: Handler not defined
#count
[Stop] [Continue]
Clicking on Stop closes the game, clicking on continue lets you continue playing.
This does not happen on your first visit to the room. After sign skipping both cutscenes, you have to open the sign again or open the map and quicktravel to this room and buffer a click on the backpack.
CAVE FORGE
01 : CAVE ENTRANCEcan buffer click!
01 : FISCH → TISCH[1]can buffer click!
02 : HUMMER → 02 HAMMERcan buffer click!
01 : LAMPEcan buffer click!
02 : SITZBANKcan buffer click!
03 : BETTcan buffer click!
03 : RINGcan buffer click!
01 : FLEDERMAUS can buffer click!
02 : SILBERMÄNNCHEN[2]can buffer click!
Unlocks after using 02 HAMMER on 01
Drops 03 SILVER KEY on floor
01 : MINING CART WHEELcan't click buffer!
02 : HAMMERcan't click buffer![4]
Pickable after 02
Usable only in this room
03 : SILVER KEYcan't click buffer!
Drops after 02
04 : PLANcan buffer click!
Optional item
01 : ANVIL
02 : WITCHcan't click buffer!
03 : SIGNcan buffer click!
04 : BACKPACKcan't click buffer!
[1]This seems to be the only eye object in the game that isn't required to progress the game.
[2]During the puzzle, after assigning a material correctly, you can click on the above sign to advance quicker.
[4]Can't buffer click because 02 is overlapping.
CAVE MINING CART
(Compoter can randomly appear!)
01 : CAVE ENTRANCEcan buffer click!
02 : CAVE DWARF ENTRANCEcan't click buffer![3]
Passable after using MINING CART WHEEL on 02
Passable only if the 02 MINING CART is in this room.
01 : SCHAUKEL → 01 SCHAUFEL (shovel) can buffer click!
[1]In this puzzle, you can click on the correct word a lot of times quickly in order to finish the puzzle.
[2]In this puzzle, you can click on the correct word twice in quick succession to advance quicker
[3]Can't buffer click, supposedly because the game imposes a check "is the minecart there".
[4]If you buffer click the shovel and assuming the HEAP OF COAL is gone, clicking on the backpack will still work as if you clicked on the heap of coal. Alo will spend no time digging, as if the animation is cut short. It seems this will only work if the minecart is not in the room. Doing this, you can not click on something else for a simultaneous action. You can do a simultaneous action by buffer clicking on the shovel, then clicking on the heap (assuming it is there), then clicking on something else.
[6]She will comment on what might be under the heap of coal, even if it is no longer there.
CAVE DWARF ENTRANCE[4]
01 : BASE POSITION[7]
02 : RIDDLE POSITION[7]
01 : CAVE MINING CARTcan't click buffer![3]
Passable if you are positioned at 03
Passable only if the 04 MINING CART is in this room.
02 : CAVE MAZEcan't click buffer![3]
Passable if you are positioned in front of 01
Passable only after solving the riddle at 01
If DWARF ROOM 1 - FARBENZWERG has been accessed before, places you at the end of the maze.
03 : MOUNTAIN BEAR'S DENcan't click buffer![3]
Passable if you are positioned at 03
Passable if the bear at MOUNTAIN BEAR'S DEN has been given HONEY, otherwise triggers a failing cutscene[1]
01 : GITTERcan buffer click![5]
Clickable if you are positioned at 03
02 : STEINcan buffer click![5]
Clickable if you are positioned at 03
01 : KRÖTE can't click buffer![2]
Unlocks after using SHOVEL on 02 CRATE, while positioned at 01
Clickable if you are positioned at 01
01 : RIDDLE[6]can't click buffer!
If you are positioned at 01, clicking on this makes you position yourself at 02.
02 : CRATEcan't item click buffer!
03 : GO HEREcan't click buffer!
If you are positioned at 02, clicking on this makes you position yourself at 01.
04 : MINING CART
05 : WITCHcan't click buffer!
06 : SIGNcan't click buffer!
07 : BACKPACKcan't click buffer!
[1]You can sign skip during the latter half of the failing cutscene, but there is no point in this...
[2]In this puzzle, you can click on the sign to make the toad stop talking in order to advance quicker.
[3]Can't buffer click, supposedly because the game imposes a check "is the minecart there" or "is this unlocked".
[4]If you try to use the shovel in this room, aside from the 02 CRATE, the game will also allow you to click on 03 MOUNTAIN BEAR'S DEN, 01 RIDDLE, 03 GO HERE to interact with those objects. The shovel will still be displayed on the backpack after doing so and the game will still await you clicking on the crate while you are in the origin position.
[5]Buffer click will work even if you are not in the origin position.
[6]You can use the PLAN in front of the riddle or in origin position. The witch will ask you what you want to use the item with, but you can still click on anything else after that. The game will play a "bling" sound if you click on the riddle while in origin position, but you still have to click on the buttons yourself.
[7]When quicktraveling from this room and then coming back here, you will assume the position you have been in. When positioned at 02 RIDDLE POSITION and coming back to this room from DWARF ROOM 1 - FARBENZWERG or from CAVE MINING CART, a graphical bug happens where Ela and Alo are standing in front of the riddle/magnifying glass while Ela and Alo are also arriving to this room at the same time. After said cutscene is over, you will still be positioned at 02 RIDDLE POSITION, no matter what.
CAVE MAZE[1]
(This room cannot be selected on the map!)
Passable after clicking words in order to form the sentence "WER NICHT LIEST, VERIRRT SICH LEICHT"
01 : WERcan buffer click![4]
02 : NICHTcan't click buffer![3]
03 : LIESTcan't click buffer![3]
04 : VERIRRTcan't click buffer![3]
05 : SICHcan't click buffer![3]
06 : LEICHTcan't click buffer![3]
07 : WITCHcan't click buffer!
08 : SIGNcan't click buffer!
09 : BACKPACKcan't click buffer!
10 : GO LEFTcan buffer click!
11 : GO RIGHTcan buffer click!
12 : GO BACKcan buffer click!
13 : GO FORTHcan buffer click!
[1]During the maze rooms, you can sign skip and even backpack skip. Doing so while you are still on a given screen causes you to reset yourself to that screen.
[3]Can't buffer click, WER is overlapping.
[4]Works anywhere, regardless where you are in the maze.
DWARF AREA
Room
Objects
DWARF ROOM 1 - FARBENZWERG
(Room has a one-time-only arrival cutscene)[3]
[1]The maze rooms are skipped. You will arrive in CAVE DWARF ENTRANCE in BASE POSITION.
[2]In this puzzle, you can click on the image to swap the animal while placing a segment of the current word in quick succession. This causes the image to change but the segment will still get accepted, but will no longer be displayed. This causes a bug where words can get accepted without placing all the correct segments. When clicking on the image that has segments that are no longer displayed, the game will reset those segments and they become visible again. This bug seems useless for speedruns.
[3]Only if the witch has been locked in DWARF ROOM 4 - ECHSENHÖHLE, regardless if you visited other rooms where the witch is not visibly locked.
DWARF ROOM 2 - WATTEHAUS
(This room cannot be selected on the map!)
[1]I've had a graphical bug happen where the alphabet didn't get rendered. It is possible to resolve by clicking on a word that loads the alphabet graphics prior to entering this puzzle. You can still click on the letters in a TAS regardless, so no worries.
[2]In this puzzle, click on the sign at the top to make the spider stop talking to speed up the puzzle. It seems you can't lose even when picking wrong answers.
DWARF ROOM 3 - TRAUERMASKE
(Room has a one-time-only arrival cutscene)[3]can sign skip!(This room cannot be selected on the map!)
[1]You can click on the sign at the top to make the creature stop talking to advance quicker.
[2]If you click several times in quick succession on the creature, it will cause the screen to reset (short black flicker happens). Also, if you click several times in quick succession on the correct thing, you can clear the puzzle instantly.
[3]Only if the witch has been locked in DWARF ROOM 4 - ECHSENHÖHLE, regardless if you visited other rooms where the witch is not visibly locked.
DWARF ROOM 4 - ECHSENHÖHLE
(This room cannot be selected on the map!)
01 : DWARF ROOM 3 - TRAUERMASKEcan buffer click!
02 : DWARF ROOM 1 - FARBENZWERGcan buffer click!
01 : SCHNECKENHAUScan buffer click!
02 : SCHILDcan buffer click!
03 : BLATTcan buffer click!
01 : EIDECHSE can buffer click!
Unlocks after clicking on 01 GATE while it is open.
Clicking on this while no items are on it triggers a cutscene
Use an elligible item on this while 01 GATE is closed, causes 01 GATE to become half open.
Use an elligible item on this while 01 GATE is half open, causes 01 GATE to become open.
Elligible items:
SHOVEL
FLUTE
MAGNET BRICK
SCISSORS
CLAM
LANDING NET
03 : SNAIL SHELL TOPcan't click buffer!
04 : WITCHTODO: Test click buffer
05 : BACKPACKTODO: Test click buffer
06 : SIGNTODO: test click buffer
[1]Items will be given back to you, but in some cases they won't show up in your inventory anymore. For example, if you used the shovel with the crate in CAVE DWARF ENTRANCE before, it will no longer show up in your inventory. Flute will be given back to you. Magnet will be given back to you. It should be noted that you can apparently still use items in other rooms even after placing them on the plate.
[2]From here, you can only leave the room and there will be a short cutscene in the next room with the witch coming back. This cutscene can be sign skipped if you leave towards DWARF ROOM 3 - TRAUERMASKE, but not if you leave towards DWARF ROOM 1 - FARBENZWERG. You can use the map to quicktravel somewhere else, but if you come back here, the cutscene will still play. And DWARF ROOM 1 - FARBENZWERG is the only Dwarf area room that you can quicktravel back to. In a speedrun, just make sure this room is the last you are doing in the Dwarf area.
[3]When selecting an item and buffering a click on the plate, you can interrupt the cutscene causing the gate to not go down. However, this is only visual and the game will keep track of its "open/half open/closed" status correctly. Also, the game will allow selecting a third elligible item but will not allow you to place an item on the plate a third time.
[4]In this puzzle, you can swap the word by clicking on the sign at the top. If you clear a word while clicking on the sign, the word pieces will not be removed. That's just a little bug, nothing that speeds up the puzzle.
LAKE AREA
Room
Objects
LAKE MOUNTAIN SIDE
(Room has a plot-based recurring arrival cutscene)[4] TODO: Find condition
(Yes, AS is accepted in Round 1 but not in Round 2...)
Round 3: Form 4 words up to 4 letters from U A R N D
Acceptable words:
AN, DA, DU, DUR, NA, NUR, RAD, RAN, RAND, RAU, RUND, UND, UR
Valid but not accepted:
AD, AR, AU, DAR, DAUN, DRAN, NU, RAUN, RUN, URAN
[2]If you sign skip after the puzzle, the 04 PAIR OF HELMETS won't be dropped on the floor.
[3]If you sign skip after the puzzle, the SCISSORS won't be given to you. You have to watch the entire cutscene before the item is added to your inventory.
[4]The exact condition for this cutscene to happen is not known. The cutscene doesn't play when going here from a fresh start or when obtaining 1 ice stone (Forest) beforehand but it did after getting 2 ice stones (forest and cave). Once it happens, it will always happen whenever you come back to this room. In a speedrun, I suggest to just go here early on.
[1]The timing is a bit specific. The witch has to finish talking and then there is a split second where you can click on the fireplace and then on another thing.
[2]In this puzzle, at the end, you can click a wrong letter several times quickly to finish the puzzle.
[3]In this puzzle, you can click on the sign at the top to make the creature stop talking.
INSIDE THE LAKE
WATERFALL
(Compoter can randomly appear!)[1]
01 : LEFT SIDE POSITION[2] [5]
02 : RIGHT SIDE POSITION[5]
03 : ON THE CLIFF POSITION[3] [5]
01 : LAKEcan buffer click!TODO: Test buffer click from left pos, and on cliff pos. Right side pos worked.
02 : MOUNTAINTODO: Test buffer click from on cliff position. Right side pos doesn't work.
Passable when positioned at 03 ON THE CLIFF POSITION
Passable when positioned at 02 RIGHT SIDE POSITION and if the ROPE has been used with the 01 CLIFF
01 : KRÜCKE → BRÜCKETODO: Test click and buffer click in on cliff position.can buffer click!
If you solve this while at 01 LEFT SIDE POSITION, you position yourself at 02 RIGHT SIDE POSITION automatically.
01 : BUSCHtodo: test click and click buffer from all 3 positions.
02 : WEGtodo: test click and click buffer from all 3 positions.
03 : FELSENtodo: test click and click buffer from all 3 positions.
01 : FROSCH [4]can buffer click!can sign skip after!TODO: Test buffer click from left position and on cliff position
Unlocks after using ROPE on 01 CLIFF
02 : DRACHE TODO: Test buffer click from right position, left position and on cliff position; with and without drained room.
03 : LIBELLE can buffer click!can sign skip after!TODO: Test buffer click from left position and on cliff position
Unlocks after 01
01 : FIRE POT
01 : CLIFFTODO: Test click, buffer click and item buffer click in on cliff position. Clarify what happens if clicking or item clicking from left side pos.can item buffer click! → simultaneous action possible!,can buffer click! → simultaneous action possible!
When positioned at 02 RIGHT SIDE POSITION, and clicking on this, you will leave towards 02 MOUNTAIN automatically.
[1]Only if you are positioned at 02 RIGHT SIDE POSITION.
[2]When traveling to the room from the left side, you will position yourself at 01 LEFT SIDE POSITION. Once the bridge has been made, the 01 LEFT SIDE POSITION will always be omitted in favor of the 02 RIGHT SIDE POSITION. That means you will go over to the right side automatically upon entering the room.
[3]When traveling to the room from the right side, you will position yourself at 03 ON THE CLIFF POSITION. Once the rope has been used, the 03 ON THE CLIFF POSITION will always be omitted in favor of the 02 RIGHT SIDE POSITION. That means you will climb down automatically upon entering the room.
[4]In this puzzle, you can click on the sign at the top to make the frog stop croaking and speed up the puzzle.
[5]The game remembers your position when quicktraveling back to this room, but it will override your position if coming from an adjacent room, in contrast to the bug that happens in CAVE DWARF ENTRANCE.
MOUNTAIN AREA
Room
Objects
MOUNTAIN
SNOW AREA
MOUNTAIN BEAR'S DEN
EAGLE'S NEST
MARIGOR'S PALACE AREA
Room
Objects
ENTRANCE HALL EXTERIOR
ENTRANCE HALL INTERIOR
STAIRCASE
PALACE EXTERIOR
MISCELLANEOUS
Map
todo
Inventory
todo
Sign
TODOs / open questions:
- Is Forest Mountainside accessible from Lake Mountainside when the book has not been made into a water stream?
- Are the elf stones dropped by the elf in Forest Mountainside optional, can be left on the floor?
Check Cornelsen guide for every room.
- Can give HONEY to mountain bear from within cave?
- Check buffer click in all the rooms!
- Test using key in CAVE ENTRANCE and buffer click door. Generally test and document all "use item -> click buffer" possibilities.
For example, you can select the mining cart wheel from your backpack and click buffer the mining cart, then click on the exit (both actions happen simultaneously).
- Play on the 2003 version and find/document differences.
- In MOUNTAIN ENTRANCE, when exiting towards the CAVE ENTRANCE, a voice line plays "puh, ist das dunkel hier", which I've had skipped by click buffering. Test if this is consistent.
- In MOUNTAN DWARF ENTRANCE, test selecting the shovel and then on the mountain bear's den, after the bear has been tamed.
- At WATERFALL, test being on the left side (bridge not made yet), then going to this room from the right side. And vice versa.
- find out the condition why the cutscene at LAKE MOUNTAIN SIDE happens.
- find out why quick travel sometimes makes a sound (slows down the pace).
- check all witch click buffers and mark them as "can item buffer click! → simultaneous action possible!" if applicable.
Notes:
-Using map to go back to a room may be faster, especially if you can't sign skip the "walking out of the room" cutscene.
-Additionally to some one-time-only arrival cutscenes, some rooms have recurring "walking into the room" cutscenes that can sometimes be sign skipped, such as the CAVE FORGE room. These will not be noted in the above table.
Leave screen instantly
When fading from inventory or sign back to the current screen, if you buffer a click to an exit, you will leave the screen immediately and the walking cutscene is skipped.
It seems you cannot buffer a click to an object or item, however.
Nevermind, I found that you can! This opens up even more bugs you can do!
I found that you can click on puzzles before they are even unlocked! And it skips the startup animation! You can also do puzzles again, which is normally not possible.
You can pick up items that have not been dropped yet!
I found these things in the room FOREST MOUNTAINSIDE.
It seems you cannot buffer a click on every thing on the screen, however. It will need research and I will put the results in the guide above eventually.
Misc notes
In room DWARF ROOM 4 - ECHSENHÖHLE, if you do the lizard puzzle again, while the witch is still behind the gate, the witch will "fly in again" and try to pull the lever to retrieve your items again.
There are none and the game bugs out with an error:
Script error: Handler not defined
#getAt
[Stop] [Continue]
If you stop, the game closes. If you continue, the screen graphically bugs and the error happens again every frame.
Eventually it looks like this...
I have tested the bug again with the witch not yet inside the cave and using only one item on the plate, the bug did not happen.
If you buffer click the egg in FOREST MOUNTAINSIDE and the witch asks what to use it with, you can click on other things early which will glitch out graphics.
If you click on the FIVE ELFSTONES and on the left exit, both actions will be performed simultaneously!
Next to the lake, select the plate from the inventory and buffer a click on the gap in the pier. This skips the witch talking. You can then click on something else to cause another action happen simultaneously. If you click on the pier, the cutscene with Marigor draining the lake will happen sooner since the animation ends sooner.
Select fishing rod and buffer click on something that doesn't work, then click on the pier. This will cause the cutscene to play even sooner.
In CAVE MINING CART, you can buffer click on the shovel, click on the heap of coal and then still click on something else for a simultaneous action. Need to test similar things in other rooms.
In CAVE DWARF ENTRANCE, after clicking on the riddle/magnifying glass and positioning yourself in front of it, if you quicktravel somewhere and
then quicktravel back, you will still be positioned in front of the riddle. The game will remember alternative positionings.
then come back from an adjacent room, there will be a bug with Ela and Alo standing in front of the riddle/magnifying glass while also arriving to the room at the same time. After the arriving cutscene is over, you will still be positioned in front of the riddle/magnifying glass.
1997 vs. 2003 version
Finally got a hold of a CD-ROM that contains the 2003 version so I can test for the odd behavior that I noticed while watching the longplay (see the video and my notes below it in the opening post).
Unfortunately, the CD-ROM I received contains several read errors that I have not been able to resolve. After further investigation, it might be a deliberate copy-protection by the developer/publisher.
The game still starts and the behavior I noticed is strange:
The multiple overlapping sound effects after finishing an eye-puzzle such as GLAS-GRAS or BINDE-RINDE are not an indicator of receiving multiple elfstones at once.
The game simply gives you 8 elfstones + whatever reward the puzzle would give you, the first time you solve a puzzle.
Any subsequent puzzle doesn't gift you extra elfstones.
But it confirms there is this behavior on the 2003 version; perhaps it was added because younger players were getting stuck and frustrated at the word-solving puzzles since you would have to finishing at least 4 (but more realistically 6-8) of those before you could even start a ?-puzzle to try to release a creature.
Also it looks like, when creating an ice stone, the game leaves you with 10 elfstones instead of resetting to 0.
I also noticed you can't click on anything as long as the sound is still playing that plays when entering a new room or as long as the narrator tells the player that you don't have enough elfstones to start a ?-puzzle.
The "click on backpack" error message in CAVE ENTRANCE doesn't come up on this version, even by buffering a click during map quicktravel.
I have not been able to reproduce any "click on things early" bug from the 1997 version.
In CAVE ENTRANCE, when clicking on an exit, you can sign skip on 1997, but not on 2003.
However, you can open the backpack and it cancels the room transition. This doesn't work in CAVE MINING CART.
The game runs noticeably faster, there is almost no black screen between screens.
I could try copying game files over to the 1997 version to try to find more differences. When I find anything else, I will update this post. I added the findings to TCRF.
Further investigation
In DWARF ROOM 3 - TRAUERMASKE, while playing on the 2003 version, I found some bugs.
After the GUCKLING was released, I pressed to the right exit a few times and it caused a script error that made some clickable things unclickable.
The same thing happened when I picked up the barrow wheel and clicked to the right exit.
When clicking the witch and clicking to the right exit at the correct time, the walking cutscene is skipped and the next area is entered instantly.
Some rooms have backpack and sign skips that are not possible on the 1997 version.
TOBI FOREST AREA
I have tested the bug again with the witch not yet inside the cave and using only one item on the plate, the bug did not happen.
: CAVE ENTRANCE
: BINDE → RINDE
: STAMM
: FUCHS[1]
: MUSHROOMS
: WITCH
