Sorcerer of Siva is a spin off of the best selling Temple of Apshai series and it was the last stand alone Dunjonquest adventure to be published.
Morloc’s Tower and Datestones of Ryn were the two other stand alone games published by Automated Simulations which would later become Epyx. Both of the games were initially released in ziploc bags as depicted and then later released in the boxed format. These would be the only two titles in what was referred to as the MicroQuest series. Both of the adventures were much shorter and simpler than Temple of Apshai so they sold for half the price.
Sorcerer of Siva is not an expansion of the Temple of Apshai nor is it a Microquest adventure. It falls somewhere in the middle of the two.
The premise of the game is that you’re being hunted and herded towards the Mines of Siva. No one has ever ventured inside and lived to tell the tale. You are being hunted by the Sorcerer of Siva and the mines are his abode. The idea is that once you are trapped within his mines he will ultimately wear you down, then find you and kill you.
The Mines of Siva consist of five levels. The object of the game is to slay the Sorcerer of Siva and then make your way to the fifth level of the mines; which is where your exit to daylight can be found. You are also on the clock and you have roughly four hours to defeat the sorcerer and escape from the mines.
Sorcerer of Siva seemed more of an arcade game than a role-playing game. Your encounters with denizens from the mine, which randomly appear, are frequent. If you’re going to try to do battle with each of these you’ll easily become fatigued and perish pretty easily. To make matters worse, the Sorcerer of Siva always seems to teleport into a room during combat. He will usually teleport behind your opponent and then bombard you with spells. It isn’t pretty.
There are 24 commands available to you for maneuvering your character through the mines. You have seven major spells available to you in the game:
- Teleportation – spell #7
- Bolt of Lightning – spell #6
- Jumping – spell #5
- Locating a Staircase – spell #4
- Fireball – spell #3
- Heal – spell #2
- Opening Sealed Doors – spell #1
The cost/power of each spell and the numbering of each spell is of significance. Each time you encounter the Sorcerer of Siva he casts a spell of Forgetfullness upon you causing you to lose one of your spells from memory. You lose the spells in order of their power ranking so you lose your Teleportation spell first since it is your most powerful spell. You simply cannot win the game without the Teleport spell (more on this later) and the only way you can retrieve lost spells is by finding what are called touchstones scattered throughout the mines. Whenever you find a touchstone you will recall one spell – the lowest numbered spell that you don’t know. The spell system and use of the touchstones is unique to the Dunjonquest series. A veteran player of Temple of Apshai will recognize the rest of the commands in the game as well as the dungeon and character display.
In the above picture you can see the Sorcerer has teleported in just behind the ogre you’ve encountered making for a very deadly situation.
I mentioned that the Mines of Siva contains five levels. However there are trapdoors scattered throughout each level of the complex designed as traps. If you fall through one of the trapdoors you will find yourself in what is called the Underworld which is an additional part of the mines. The Underworld is a magically shifting maze and very difficult to escape from. Once you do find your way out you will once again be on the first level. Remember that you have only four hours to find the exit so not only is the Underworld deadly and hard to escape from but your racing against the clock. If you fall through a trapdoor it is likely that you’re game will soon be over.
When I first started playing Sorcerer of Siva I found the game to be incredibly frustrating. The frequency with which monsters were randomly appearing was very high. The Sorcerer of Siva had already made his presence known by teleporting behind one of my encounters. I was able to escape by fleeing but not before he stole my Teleportation spell. It was then that I became incredibly lucky.
In my next encounter the Sorcerer of Siva teleported right on top of an ogre I was battling. I quickly cast a Bolt of Lightning killing both of them in the process. I had slain the Sorcerer of Siva just minutes after beginning the game! Now all I had to do was map out the five levels of the mines and survive long enough to find the exit; all within the four hour window. It was an incredible stroke of luck.
The five levels of the mines are actually massive containing more than three hundred chambers and passages. What I found to be extremely annoying is that much of the levels result in dead ends and you have to use your teleport spell to teleport to a different section of the level to proceed. I find myself to be a bit OCD when it comes to mapping out dungeon levels and the number of times you have to teleport to a new location was very frequent which made mapping difficult and disorienting.
I ended up devising a system to make my way safely out of the mines. I started to flee from every single encounter. I used the Jump spell to move quickly through the mines and I used the Locate Staircase spell quite often to orient myself and to insure I was moving in the right direction. When you cast the spell it lets you know how many steps away you are from the staircase. If you’re moving in the opposite direction of the staircase to the next level that number starts to become larger and you know you’re going the wrong way. Once I realized the direction of the stairs and I’d hit a dead end (which was often) I would teleport into the next section of the map towards the staircase.
I continued to economize my movements and do this until I found the exit on level 5 of the mines.
I liked the story or color that was provided for the game and I think the inclusion of seven different spells to strategically use was a great addition to the series. I did not enjoy this game however as much as I have the others in the Dunjonquest series. I think it was a combination of too much arcade style of play along with the maps and having to teleport all over the place. I am glad that I took the time however to delve into this piece of gaming history and I look forward to playing the Hellfire Warrior expansion which was also released this year.