Salt

Note: This page is about the substance. For the Twine game by Gareth Damian Martin, see Salt (game).

Representations

• Indivisible container of salt. This is a box of salt, salt shaker, salt packet, etc. where the salt is not coded as a separate object from its container. You probably can't empty the container at all, or if you can, it'll be done in a way that all the salt is used up.
• Divisible container of salt. The container and the salt are two distinct objects in the game. The potential problem here is that if you empty the container, you'll have a pile of salt that you won't be able to pick up again because it's a powder.
• A chunk of salt. This is a rock that just happens to be made of salt.
• A grain of salt. This version of salt is rare, but it does suggest a wordplay puzzle where you must literally TAKE ADVICE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.

Verb Checklist

• TASTE SALT
• EAT SALT
• SPRINKLE SALT
• POUR SALT (ON/IN <object>)
• PUT SALT (ON/IN <object>)
• EMPTY SALT SHAKER

Getting Salt

Most salt in a game will be ordinary table salt, and will likely be found in the kitchen, dining room, or at a restaurant.

A chunk of salt is more likely to be found at a salt flat or in a salt mine. You can probably just pick it up, but if you can't, use a pickaxe or maybe a chisel to get a chunk. If you've found a salt statue ala Lot's wife, you'll certainly need a pickaxe.

Another source of salt is a kettle. If you can boil water in a kettle, there will be salt deposits left inside, although, of course, this won't be the same type of salt as table salt. Evaporating salty ocean water should also do the trick, if you have some other way of making water evaporate quickly.

Using Salt

• Slug destroyer. Pour salt on any giant slugs that threaten you or block your way, and the monster will shrivel up and die. Salt is well-known as a slug's fatal weakness.
• Ice grit. Pour salt on slippery ice to make it non-slippery. (Other things to use against slippery ice are sand and sawdust.)
• Fake sugar. Powdered salt and sugar look very similar, so maybe you should try switching the two around. For example, if a guard is a heavy coffee drinker who uses sugar, he might be temporarily incapacitated if he swallows coffee with salt instead.
• Battery. Alternating disks of metal in a salt water solution can create a weak battery. You probably won't need salt, just salt water from a sea or ocean.
• Superstition. If you spill salt, you might have to throw some salt over your shoulder to ward off bad luck.
• Wordplay. You might have to act out the phrase "take advice with a grain of salt" literally.
• Cooking. Salt might be an ingredient in a cooking, chemistry, or alchemy recipe.
• Preservative. Salt might be used to preserve meat or even a corpse.
• Symbolism. Salt and pepper are a classic pairing, like black and white or yin and yang, so salt might be featured in a matching puzzle of some sort.