Homestar Ruiner Walkthrough

"There's no room in the House of Strong for crybabies."

The complete walkthrough to Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Legend

A description of events will be written in plaintext.

• Mandatory actions will be bulleted and written in boldface.
• Actions that increase your awesomeness rating, but are not mandatory, will be bulleted and written in plaintext.
• Optional actions that might help you understand the scene will be bulleted and written in italics.

Walkthrough

House of Strong

Strong Bad reads an email encouraging him to beat up Homestar. What a brilliant idea! But let's make some preparations first.

• Click the lower light switch twice to contribute to receiving the Exploration Trophy.
• Go downstairs and open the fridge to contribute a little more to receiving the Exploration Trophy.
• Go to the left a bit to find Strong Bad's room. While here, grab the Taranchula Black Metal Detector. This won't directly impact your awesomeness rating, but you'll need it for many items later on.
• Look at the Videlectrix poster twice to contribute to the Exploration Trophy.
• Play Snake Boxer 5 on the Fun Machine and Strong Bad will notice his manual is missing.
• Examine the Teen Girl Squad table. Strong Bad will notice that the awesome ideas he came up with have mysteriously gone missing.
• Go downstairs to find The Cheat near the dryer. Kick him into it and talk to him to contribute to receiving the Nuisance Trophy.
• Walk outside. Check the mailbox to receive the Burglar Beanie.
• Turn on your Metal Detector. Walk around until you find the hidden object. You can't do anything about it now, but Strong Bad will leave a marker for later.
• Leave through the front path or open the map. Strong Bad will want to add The Track to the map; add it anywhere you like. Head there.

Checkpoint: If you have done all of the above, you should have 36% progress towards your Exploration Trophy, 20% towards your Nuisance Trophy, the Metal Detector in your inventory, and 1/4 of the hidden costume items.

The Track

Homestar is training, and there are unusual objects scattered all over the place. Let's try to find out why.

• Talk to Homestar and he'll mention a race. Talk to him about it and the subsequent party.
• While you're here, ask him about your Snake Boxer manual. He'll say he gave it to Marzipan.

As you end the conversation, Marzipan will call Homestar. He will get upset at her and kick the phone away. He then heads into the locker room.

• Take Homestar's phone.
• Talk to Coach Z to learn more about the race. You can learn the rules, but it turns out Strong Bad missed the registration, so Coach Z won't let him run.
• Use the Metal Detector again to find another hidden item. Again, Strong Bad will leave a marker.
• Head into the locker room. Talk to Homestar again and annoy him by mentioning the race three times. A little more will be added to your Nuisance Trophy score.
• Check out the lockers, too. The one on the far right is Strong Mad's. Examine his lunchbox for some more points toward your Exploration Trophy.
• Leave or open the map to add Marzipan's to it. Head there next.

Checkpoint: You should now have 48% progress towards your Exploration Trophy, 40% progress towards your Nuisance Trophy, and Homestar's cell phone should have been added to your inventory.

Marzipan's

Marzipan is planning a post-race party in Homestar's honor. Yet Strong Bad was not invited. Let's see what she has to say about that!

• Ring Marzipan's doorbell four times to add to your Nuisance rating.
• Now would also be a good time to prank call everyone you can on Homestar's phone. Don't bother calling Marzipan (yet), but five other characters are available; call them all.
• Observe the scraggly hedge near Marzipan's house.
• Speak to Marzipan about the party to learn why Strong Bad wasn't invited.
• Speak to her about the hedge to learn that her shears are at Bubs' Concession Stand.
• Ask about the Snake Boxer manual, too. She'll say Coach Z has it.
• Grab an onion from Marzipan's garden. You'll need it later.
• Leave or open the map to add Bubs' Concession Stand. Head there next.

Checkpoint: Your Nuisance score should now be 60%, have an onion in your inventory, and have 5/7 characters pranked.

Bubs' Concession Stand

This is actually The Field: one large area listed as six on the map. Walking through the other areas will automatically add them to the map.

• Talk to Bubs about the shears and he'll hand them over to you.
• Talk about him and choose the "devil" option to insult him. The first time adds to the Nuisance rating...
• And doing it again causes Strong Sad to appear, adding to the Strong Sad Trophy percentage.
• Near Bubs' Concession Stand is a box. Peek under it to find a page to your Snake Boxer manual.
• Further to the left, you will find an unkempt hedge. Use the shears on it to add to your Hedge Trophy.
• At some point, you'll need hedge clippings. You can obtain them from any or all of the hedges after trimming them. Now is a good time to grab them.
• Further along, you will find The Stick. Examine it twice to add to your Exploration score.
• Even further, you'll find the fence. Near it is a box, and underneath it is a polo shirt.
• Use the metal detector in the vicinity of Strong Badia (even further along) to mark another hidden item.
• After you're finished with all you want to do here, use Homestar's phone to call Marzipan.
• Since you now can, prank call Homsar too.
• Head over to Marzipan's.

Checkpoint: Your Exploration score should be 60%, your Nuisance score 80%, your Hedge score 25%, and your Strong Sad score 33%. You should now have the shears and the hedge clippings. You should also have 2/4 hidden clothing items, 1/4 Snake Boxer Manual pages, and all people pranked.

Marzipan's

Thanks to your prank call, she left her home unguarded. Time to take advantage of it!

• Take the balloons from Marzipan's mailbox.
• Use your shears to make another hedge sculpture. And if you haven't already, get hedge clippings from it.
• And isn't that Homestar float an eyesore? Use the shears to decapitate it.

You'll also inadvertently torch it... just in time for Marzipan to return. Strong Bad will grab the float's head and jump into the bushes. Marzipan will see the float's head... and mistake it for the real Homestar. He took the blame, and now you have a clever Homestar disguise! Well, almost. You can disguise your head, but your clothes still give you away. If only you had some Homestar clothes...

• Head to The Track.

Checkpoint: You should now have 50% progress toward your Hedge score. The balloons and the Homestar float's head should be in your inventory.

The Track

• Talk to Coach Z about the Snake Boxer manual, and he'll say Bubs has it.
• Use your shears on the "depressing" hedge to cut it down. And grab the clippings if you need them.
• Enter the locker room. You can talk to Homestar about taking a shower, but he won't buy it; he just showered. So much for that plan...
• Use your Onion on Homestar. Homestar will be convinced that the onion will help him win, and he will rub it all over himself.
• Tell Homestar to take a shower now, and he'll agree that he stinks and will quickly strip and dart into the shower.
• Check Homestar's locker and remove his clothes. Finally, the perfect disguise is complete!
• Leave the locker room and walk a short distance.

As you leave, Homestar will notice that his clothes aren't in his locker. With no other choice, he'll dart out in the buff... in plain view of everyone else. He's in trouble now! But now that you have your disguise, you might be able to convince Coach Z to let you run... as Homestar!

Checkpoint: Your Hedge score should now be 75%. You'll have lost your onion, but gained Homestar's clothes. Combined with the float's head, this makes the full Homestar costume.

• Put on the Homestar costume.
• Talk to Coach Z and he'll start the race.

Unfortunately, Strong Bad is no great athlete and is woefully underprepared for the race. You can try all you like, but beating even Coach Z's old time is impossible, and forget Pom Pom's time. But it's not so bad since it was "Homestar" that ran, and not Strong Bad, right? And Homestar is also through with Marzipan and has a public nudity charge against him! Unfortunately, as Strong Bad discovers when he returns home, the publicly disgraced Homestar has decided to stay in the House of Strong until he can piece his life back together. Whoops...

House of Strong

Three different Homestars can be seen in the House of Strong. Each one is lamenting one of the disgraces in his life... and using Strong Bad's space to do it! You're going to have to repair his life to get him out, so let's do it.

• The Homestar in the basement is following his criminal investigation, and hogging Strong Bad's television in the process.
• The Homestar in Strong Bad's room is writing a graphic novel about a man who wins the Race to the End of the Race on Strong Bad's Teen Girl Squad table, so no comic writing for now.
• The Homestar in the kitchen is trying to prepare candy to make up with Marzipan.
• Homestar received a supply of Jela-Ton for coming in second in the race. It's sitting on the kitchen table. Hey, it was really you anyway, so no harm in taking it, right?
• Check the Lappy to see a spam e-mail advertising Total Load. Strong Bad thinks the stuff sounds great and orders some. Check again, and he'll have received a reply that it was delivered to Bubs' Concession Stand.
• Watch TV to unlock the KOT's castle. Head there now.

Checkpoint: You should now have Jela-Ton in your inventory.

K.o.T. Castle

• Use your shears on the hedge. Your Hedge rating will increase, and if you've been following the walkthrough up to now, you will receive the Hedge Trophy! And grab the hedge clippings if you still need them.
• Use the metal detector to find another treasure to mark.
• Enter the castle.

The Poopsmith is shoveling near the Hall of Records. If he sees you, he will somehow summon Strong Mad, and when Strong Mad catches you, you'll be thrown out and have to do the sequence over. Fortunately, The Poopsmith won't notice you at all while he's shoveling, or while you're behind the screen, the statue, or the plant in the second room.

• Grab the shovel near the drain.
• After making it to the second room, grab the plunger.
• Examine any pile of Whatsit along the way to add to your Exploration score.
• Place the plunger in the drain in the first room.
• Jump on the plunger and let The Poopsmith see you. Before Strong Mad arrives, jump into the vent above.

Strong Mad's lack of neck will save the day for you. Not only will he not catch you, but in his confusion, he's left Homestar's criminal record unguarded!

• Crawl to the end of the vent and drop down to steal Homestar's record.

Strong Mad will catch you after you grab it, but it's too late now — you have Homestar's criminal record! That's one of Homestar's problems solved; two to go.

• Use the shovel on the treasure marker to receive a Snake Boxer page.
• Head to The Track.

Checkpoint: You should have the Hedge Trophy complete now, and should also have increased your Exploration score to 72%. You should have the shovel and Homestar's record, as well as 2/4 Snake Boxer pages.

The Track

The results of the race aren't official until Coach Z sends the tape to Sweden. He's foolishly left the entire track unguarded while he and Pom Pom fill out paperwork. Just because you've lost the race doesn't mean you can't make up for it, but Strong Bad needs to prepare first, his way.

• Use the shovel on the treasure marker to get a Teen Girl Squad card.
• Examine the microphone to knock a mustache out of one of the speakers. Pick it up to add it to your clothing collection.
• Examine the microphone again to add to your Exploration rating.
• Grab a coupon from the stack near the track. Or, rather, grab all of them.
• Use the Jela-Ton on the water in the pool. It will gel quickly, and the log will stop rotating.
• Use the balloons on the Heavy Lourde. It will be lighter now.
• And knock the three obstacles in the last leg into a more pro-Strong-Bad order. Specifically, hurdle first, turtle second, and curdled milk third.
• Finally, examine the camera to erase the tape.

With "Homestar's" loss erased, you have another chance at running. With good timing, you should easily be able to get under 16 seconds in the now-rigged race — good enough to beat Coach Z's old time and good enough to give you maximum awesomeness, but Pom Pom is just simply too fast. You'll have to do something about that.

• Head to Bubs' Concession Stand.

Checkpoint: You should have 84% of your Exploration trophy now. You'll have candy coupons as well. You'll have 1/4 Teen Girl Squad cards and 3/4 clothing items. You'll have lost your Jela-Ton and balloons, but they've served their purpose.

Bubs' Concession Stand

• Talk to Bubs about the Total Load to receive it.
• Also mention the candy and he'll trade it for a coupon.
• And mention your Snake Boxer manual to get another page.
• If you try to use the Total Load and Candy on Strong Bad, however, he'll refuse to eat the candy due to its ingredients, and refuse to take the Total Load upon seeing the side effects.
• Use the shovel on the treasure marker in Strong Badia to get a Teen Girl Squad card.
• Use the shovel on the Cool Car to get another Teen Girl Squad card.
• Head back to the Track.

Checkpoint: You will now have 3/4 Teen Girl Squad cards and 3/4 Manual pages. Your inventory has gained Total Load and some Candy.

The Track

• Enter the locker room.
• Open Pom Pom's locker and put Total Load into his bag.
• You can also put Total Load in Strong Mad's locker for a funny scene.
• Knock on the office door to talk to Coach Z.
• Insult him to add to your Nuisance rating. After the conversation, you should receive the Nuisance trophy.
• Mention Total Load to Coach Z to have him inspect the lockers.
• If Strong Mad's locker was laced with Total Load, Coach Z will find it first. You'll need to talk to him again to have him search Pom Pom's locker.

Upon seeing that Pom Pom has (apparently) been taking illegal supplements, Coach Z disqualifies him. That means that "Homestar" now has the best "legal" time and you'll receive the trophy! Good thing for you that Coach Z didn't notice which racer was actually cheating...

• Head to Marzipan's next.

Checkpoint: You should have the Nuisance trophy, as well as the trophy for the race.

Marzipan's

Marzipan might like the candy, but she won't take it from Homestar directly, and The King of Town is prowling the area with a nose for chocolate. If the King gets the chocolate, you'll have to return to Bubs to get more.

• Dig up the loose dirt near Marzipan's mailbox to create a hole.
• You can dig up holes in the other loose dirt, but you won't gain anything from it.
• You can try throwing the chocolate down the hole near the mailbox to lure the King of Town in. It won't work, but Strong Sad will appear, giving you extra points toward the Strong Sad trophy. You'll have to get more chocolate from Bubs, though. Be sure to do this before you place hedge clippings on the hole.
• Pour Total Load down one of the holes to help evolve a race of mole people. They'll give you a Teen Girl Squad card for your trouble.
• Place hedge clippings on the hole nearest the mailbox.
• You can place hedge clippings on the other holes, but again, you'll get no benefit from this.
• Place the candy by Marzipan's door.

The King of Town won't see the hole now that it's covered by hedge clippings and he'll fall right in. Marzipan will then discover the chocolate and call Homestar to make up. Now you've solved all of Homestar's problems! Time to get him out of the House of Strong!

• Examine the hole The King of Town fell into to get some more Exploration points. That should be enough to earn you the Exploration Trophy by now.
  • If you get candy again and throw it down the hole that the King of Town is in, you'll have Strong Sad appear, even if the King is already down there. (This only works if you didn't throw candy down the hole before he falls)
• Go to the House of Strong.

Checkpoint: You should have 66% toward the Strong Sad Trophy, have completed the Exploration Trophy, and all the Teen Girl Squad cards.

House of Strong

• Dig by the treasure marker to get a Snake Boxer manual page.
• After digging up that Snake Boxer page, examine the hole left behind to get Strong Sad to appear. This should complete the Strong Sad trophy.
• In the kitchen, give Homestar back his cell phone. He'll hear Marzipan's message and will happily leave the kitchen!
• Homestar will also leave his Chef's Hat behind. Feel free to take it.
• In Strong Bad's room, give Homestar the race trophy. He'll believe he won the race and leave the room.
• You can now continue making Teen Girl Squad comics. If you have all the cards (and by now you should), you can get the full 5000 points necessary for maxiumum awesomeness.
• You should also have the code to unlock the forbidden mode in Snake Boxer (which is Up, Up, Down, Up, Start). Using this will make it easier to play the game. Get fifteen knockouts to clear that challenge.
• In the basement, give Homestar his criminal record and he'll leave the basement. That's all three Homestars gone!

Unfortunately, Strong Bad's peace is not long-lived. Marzipan's party has been relocated to Strong Bad's house!

Checkpoint: You should have all the hidden items by now. You'll have lost the cell phone, racing trophy, and criminal record, but you don't need them any more.

• Examine the boom box to change the music that's playing.
• The characters' moods will change depending on the track.
• When changed to Latin, the characters start a conga line.
• Without The King of Town blocking the way, you can grab the banana peel under the table.
• Placing it in front of the conga line doesn't help, though. The characters will slip but keep going.
• Extend the chair. The conga line will head toward the window.
• As the line approaches, drop the banana peel near the window.

Everyone will fall out of the window. Finally, the house is clear of freeloaders and the game is over!

Coach Z Trophies

The process to get all four Coach Z trophies is as follows:

• Exploration Trophy — Do all of the following. Each one is worth 12%:
  • Throw a light switch rave twice
  • Open the fridge once
  • Look at the Videlectrix poster twice
  • Look at Strong Mad's lunchbox once
  • Look at The Stick twice
  • Use the microphone twice after the race
  • Look at one of the piles of whatsit in the castle
  • Talk to the King of Town once while he's in the hole
  • After you do all 8 of those you will get the remaining 4%
• Hedge Clipping Trophy — Trim all four hedges. Each one is worth 25% They are located at:
  • The Track
  • Near The Stick
  • Marzipan's house
  • The King of Town's castle
• Nuisance Trophy — Do all of the following. Each one is worth 20%:
  • Kick The Cheat into the dryer, then talk to him while he's in there
  • Talk to Homestar in the locker room 3 times about the race. Alternatively, speak to him twice in extended play
  • Ring Marzipan's doorbell 4 times while she's there
  • Insult Bubs once
  • Insult Coach Z in his office once, after the race. Alternatively, speak to him once in extended play
• Strong Sad Trophy — Do all of the following. Each one is worth 33%:
  • Insult Bubs twice
  • Throw candy into a hole next to Marzipan's mailbox, when it's not covered
  • Look at the dirt after digging up the Manual Page in the Strong House front yard
  • After you do all 3 of those you will get the remaining 1%

Costume Items

The following are the location of all the costume items in the game. After finding each one it will be moved to the costume selection inside the Snap Shak, with the exception of the last one. If you leave the Snap Shak before taking off your costumes, you will automatically take them off to keep you from removing the costumes from the Snap Shak. Although, after you beat the game, you can take them out and walk around with them on as a reward.

• Burglar Beanie — Inside Strong Bad's mailbox, outside his house.
• Biz Cas Fri Shirt — Inside the box located by the Snap Shak.
• Mustache — Wedged inside the leftmost speaker at the track. Using the microphone on the right side of the track will result in the mustache falling out of the speaker and landing on the ground nearby.
• Chef Hat — After you get Homestar out of your kitchen, he will leave his chef hat on the WavyMic.
• Champion's Belt — Rank up to Chainsaw Bocce Bowler.
• Squirrel Shirt — There are two ways to get this shirt.
  • Click on the leftmost light and your cursor will become the shirt. Then click on Strong Bad and you will put it on. After you take it off, it will not return to the costume selection. You will have to get it again.
  • Run off the right end of the platform three times. After the third you will be on the under side of the platform. Walk over to the bottom of the entrance and Strong Bad will immediately put it on. After you take it off, it will not return to the costume selection. You will have to get it again.

Manual Pages

There are four Manual Pages of the Snake Boxer V manual to be found. Once you find all four, you get a secret code to play Snake Boxer V as a snake. There are four places that have a page, but each place doesn't have a specific page. You get the four pages in order, no matter what order you search the places. This is to make sure you get the last page last, for it is the page that has the code on it. These are the four places:

• In the box by Bubs' Concession Stand.
• Buried in front of the Strong House.
• Buried in front of the King of Town's Castle.
• Ask about the manual to Homestar, Marzipan, Coach Z, and Bubs, in that order. Alternatively, you can just talk to Bubs in extended play mode.

After you get all four you will see that the code is Up, Up, Down, Up, Start.

Teen Girl Squad Cards

There are five secret Teen Girl Squad index cards on which Strong Bad jotted down an idea on how to kill off one of the girls.

• Megaphone — Buried at The Track.
• Candy Bar — In a hole next to Marzipan's House. Pour Total Load down it.
• Car Keys — Under the hood of the Cool Car (use the shovel).
• Book — Buried in Strong Badia.
• Roach — Use the other four ideas properly in a comic.

Snake Boxer Score

You must reach round 15 or higher in order to achieve the maximum awesomeness score.

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
Promotional Media	Strong Bad Gameways, Advertisement, Gameplay Trailer, Tech Demo, Dev Blog, Workin' on the Game, Tutorial, Intros, Behind The Bad, Make a Scene with Telltale: Strong Bad Edition, SBCG4AP Collector's DVD
Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner	Various: Walkthrough, Snake Boxer 5, Teen Girl Squad Responses: House of Strong, Marzipan's, K.o.T. Castle, The Track, The Field Promotional Media: Homestar at the Track, Around the Field, Behind The Bad Chapter 1: The New Hire Songs: Handle My Style, Fluffy Puff Jela-ton, Showdown
Episode 2: Strong Badia the Free	Various: Walkthrough, Math Kickers, Cave Girl Squad, Maps and Minions, Countries, Homsartifacts Responses: Bleak House, The Field, Homsar Reservation, Pompomerania, Country, Marzistar, The Castle Promotional Media: Strong Badia the Free Gameplay Trailer Songs: Justice Combo Meal
Episode 3: Baddest of the Bands	Various: Walkthrough, Limozeen's Hot Babelien Odyssey, Teen Girl Squad Meets Limozeen, Bands Responses: House of Strong, The Field, Marzipan's, Club Technochocolate, The Track, Battle of the Bands stages Promotional Media: Baddest of the Bands Gameplay Trailer, Behind The Bad Chapter 2: The Heist, Baddest of the Bands Promo Spot, baddestofthebands.com Songs: Food-Related Love, Cool Tapes songs, Other songs
Episode 4: Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective	Various: Walkthrough, Space Circus Catastrophe Responses: Smoky Office, Brainblow City, Strongborneo, Secret Lab, Catacombs, Old Club, Cutesy's House, The Sun, World Locations Promotional Media: Dangeresque: Puppet Squad, Dangeresque 3 Gameplay Clips, Dangeresque 3 Mini-Site Songs: Today is Alright 4 2Nite
Episode 5: 8-Bit is Enough	Various: Walkthrough, Gel-Arshie's Pro Fruitboarder, Redcoat Ghost Patrol, Trogdor's 3D-Ungeon, Character Variations Responses: House of Strong, The Field, Crates, Videlectrix Mainframe, Halfathlon, Gel-Arshie's Backstage, Stinkoman 20X6, Peasantry Promotional Media: Behind The Bad Chapter 3: The Last Straw