Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers get all the girls

After Ernie has escaped his stepfather's clutches, the narrator says "after a few days of hitchhiking [a subject about which this author has already written his fill]". This is a reference to Steve Meretzky's work on the Infocom game The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (on which he collaborated with the author of the book, Douglas Adams).

The role-players at Frogkisser Hall play the game of Malls 'n' Muggers, a reference to the real-world game Dungeons & Dragons.

The title of chapter 6 of the game, The Restaurant at the End of the Ocean, is another Douglas Adams reference - this time to the second part of the HHTTG cycle, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.