Author: professor6153

Goblins is an odd little text adventure that seems like a cross between a pick your path to adventure scenario and a slot machine.

When the game first begins you are asked if you want to rescue a prince or a princess.

Once you make your decision you are then instructed that in order to reach the princess you must have the following requirements met: a magic sword, a luck score of 75 or more and at least 15 victories.

You then embark on your quest and it plays like a choose your own adventure path scenario.

Above is a sample of the choices presented before you with each screen. Your choice may lead you to another location or it may lead you into combat. Combat is much like pulling the lever on a slot machine. It is very random and you are at the whim of hidden mechanics as you await the random outcome. If you lose in battle it can drastically lower your luck points or you can find yourself deceased and must begin again.

The screen is split into two parts. The top part of the screen keeps track of your statistics. Remember that in order to rescue the princess your luck score has to be higher than 75. Your luck increases when you avoid a random misfortune or receive a benefit or boon. There are a number calamities that can befall you. The elements such as rain, cold, heat, floods, earthquakes, etc. can affect your luck. Your boat can spring a leak and force you to swim ashore as another example. You can discover an item and find yourself cursed which not only affects your statistics or physical form but also lowers your luck score as well.

The combat scenarios which you find yourself in seem tongue and cheek rather than dramatic (you face 1000 orcs and can emerge victorious). It is imperative that you find the magic sword or many of the combats are not going to go your way.

Once you do finally have more than 75 luck points and 15 victories a new branching path will eventually appear. It will take approximately 45 minutes to an hour to reach the necessary requirements.

The rescue is a bit of a let down as once again the pervasive humor in the game rears its ugly head again.

Goblins is a strange little game that takes approximately an hour to play. It is a bit different from anything else that I’ve encountered so far in the 1979 play list but I don’t think I would recommend it unless you’re a gaming historian making your way through a list or set or requirements like myself.

Somewhere out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, far removed from regular shipping lanes, is an island. It is no ordinary island mind you, it is an Enchanted Island! We’ve moved on from Sorcerer’s Castle Adventure to yet another offering from Greg Hassett. This is not a huge improvement over his prior adventure though it is an improvement.

There is still the obligatory maze that we have to traverse, and eleven different treasures to collect and deposit on a beach, but at least there are now a few puzzles which have to solved. The types of puzzles which exist in this game are not diverse but instead all of the same variety. Every treasure is guarded by some kind of creature or obstacle and you have to figure out what each guardian requires or how to remove the obstacle so that you can obtain the treasure.

Most of what you need to remove the guardians or obstacles can be accomplished through trial and error. Some of the solutions are a bit obtuse or just make no sense at all but fortunately the game’s responses help you by giving you blatant clues. Examples are: When you go to THROW anything in the game you receive the response “Sorry Charlie I can only throw the ball”. You will find a glass globe in the game so it is obvious you’ll want to throw it. If it is not in the game’s responses you’ll quite literally find notes which read; HOLY SMOKES A TIGER! BARBS LIKE BAN…(the ink on the rest of the note is too faded to read) but the clues are so blatant I think you’ll have no problem figuring everything out. There is a bit of magic in the game that you can use but be aware that your magic word will not function properly unless you have the RUBY in your possession.

The eleven treasures that you need to find consist of the following:

• jewel encrusted coconut
• enormous emerald
• gold ring
• mammoth ruby
• gold chain
• silver key
• rare spices
• cuban cigars
• golden feather
• priceless giraffe skin
• golden antlers

There really is no plot or story here. It’s a simple treasure hunt with lock & key type puzzles. The island isn’t enchanted but rather a bit flaky and yet I still enjoyed this offering more than I did Hassett’s Sorcerer’s Island Adventure. There was just enough to do here and puzzle through to mildly hold your interest to completion. Remember that young Hassett was only 13 or 14 at the time of writing this so you’ll have to excuse the spelling errors and zany ecosystem but it’s a better offering than his previous one.

I played Enchanted Island on a TRS-80 emulator and spent roughly three hours with the game.

Sorcerer’s Castle Adventure is the fourth Greg Hassett adventure we’ve now been exposed to. If you remember; Greg was only 12 to 13 years of age when he began to churn out these commercial adventures. In 1978 we reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth, House of Seven Gables and King Tut’s Tomb. This is the first of three additional commercial releases from Greg Hassett in 1979.

In our last game review; Empire of the Overmind showed us just how powerful and immersive an interactive text adventure could be. It broke convention and influenced other text adventures in the coming years.

Sorcerer’s Castle Adventure embraces current text adventure tropes. The definition of trope? A common or overused theme or device. Emphasis on the word overused. The plot here is non-existent. You have as much chance of finding a storyline here as you have of finding a Playstation 5 before Thanksgiving. You begin play in a dark forest which is, wait for it, a maze! You have to traverse the maze of the dark forest to find the Sorcerer’s Castle. Chester the Jester will magically appear to help you with this task.

But why stop at only one maze? There are actually THREE different mazes in this game. Two of the three have the locations merely labeled as Maze. Accompanying this trio of mazes, like white wine is to sushi, is the proverbial treasure hunt.

Once you find the Sorcerer’s castle and make your way inside you’ll begin to find treasures scattered about. Through trial and error I discover that I get points for these items by dropping them outside the front door of said castle.

There are 14 total treasures to find and they are as follows:

• bag of coins
• priceless painting
• giant opal
• golden bar
• persian rug
• priceless sapphire
• set of silverware
• platinum pen
• velvet pillow
• pewter cup
• scepter
• golden pistol
• golden sword
• crown

You actually do find the old sorcerer ensconced in the study of the castle that you’re robbing. I politely ran him through with my golden sword which was dreadfully underwhelming. There really are no puzzles to speak other than working your way through the three different mazes. I recommend dropping items to get your bearings. It works wonders.

For as exhilarating as Empire of the Overmind was; this game felt old and tired with mazes and treasure hunts merely thrown in for ritual or as a habitual act. I have played 15 text adventures thus far in 1979 with 4 more still to play on my list. Sorcerer’s Castle Adventure will likely find itself at the bottom of that list.

Gary Bedrosian continues to impress me as an artist. He is the author of Lords of Karma which was my favorite video game from 1978. Empire of the Overmind is his follow up and it may just be the best text adventure of the era. It is certainly head and shoulders above its peers in 1979.

Gary Bedrosian has crafted a story and setting which is completely unique when compared with its contemporaries. He has done away with the obligatory maze or treasure hunt which have both been text adventure staples. What you have instead is travel between worlds, romance, and an infernal villain to overcome. It all results in a rich experience and one to be savored.

There is so much in this game that is unique and different I don’t quite know where to start. All of the interactive adventures up to this point (the exception being Lords of Karma) have used north, south, east and west as compass directions. The author, instead of using compass points, once again throws convention out the window. In an attempt to create an even more immersive experience, you state where you want to go. For example one of the descriptions in the game reads like this:

You are on a high plateau above a cliff. You see a large red planet in the sky, a path, a mountain trail, a cave entrance, a steep cliff, and a peak towering overhead.

I may respond by typing: Go trail; or I may choose to Go cave; or instead I may try to Climb cliff as examples. This was hard for me to get used to at first because it breaks away from interactive adventure convention. However as the game progresses you find yourself carefully taking in your surroundings in order to plan your response.

The game does not always play the same way as well. Some of the objects you find on your quest are fixed objects but many others are randomly dispersed in different locations each time you play the game. When you perish, items in your inventory are randomly scattered throughout the game’s locations. If you do not want to start completely over than you’re going to have to find the items all over again. Veterans of Lords of Karma will recognize this particular game mechanic.

An epic poem on special card stock ships with each physical game. The poem is written rather well and plays an integral role in your success or failure in the game. You must study the poem carefully for clues to help you beat the game. There was something very gratifying about sitting up late at night and carefully perusing each line of the poem in order to glean some sort of clue. It added atmosphere and context for me and added to the immersive experience. In a different way however than the room descriptions and large book that came with the Temple of Apshai; published in that same year. It evoked a sense of high fantasy and added panache to the game and experience.

It evoked memories of the cloth maps which were shipped with the top tier CRPGs in later years.

The author’s choices he made both in game design and game mechanics were intentional and really resonated with me. I will do my best to try and explain my impression. When you can’t resort to compass directions to move about in the game; it forces you to really study your surroundings. A little more time, energy, and planning then also have to go into making a map. There were times where I would have to go back to the poem again and again and comb it for clues. When you find something within a passage that helps you to further your progress in the game or help solve a difficult dilemma it is exhilarating. All of these game choices help to transport you to “somewhere else”; become “someone else”. I am much older now but I can remember that sense of wonder and excitement when introduced to certain games as a teenager. I had that same feeling of wonder and excitement again; that feeling of immersion when playing this game. I have enjoyed the other text adventures from 1979 but they felt more like a mental exercise or a puzzle to be solved. Empire of the Overmind truly felt like an interactive adventure. There is a plot, a villain that feels real and threatening and the writing in the game is top notch.

1000 years ago there existed a pair of planets, blue and red, whose countenance could be seen in the evening skies of each planet.

The blue planet was ruled peacefully by the king Alcazar Rex with the help of four ministers: Gerald the Green, Rubin the Red, Byron the Blue, and Griffin the Gold.

Griffin was minister of the tax, and while the kingdom prospered, he worked constantly. One night, in a dream, he was spoken to by a dark angel. The angel spoke of a “tireless servant” in a “bright crystal city” in the form of a “smooth sphere of shining gold”.

Griffin found the city in his dream and located a golden sphere. Upon touching it, the golden sphere awoke:

I am Servant-Mind, to thee tireless slave.
The work of dull tasks forever I save.
Provide me the records kept in thy care;
Then I shall compute for each the fair share
Of taxes owed. Yet I can do much more:
Alcazar’s nation wastes goods by the score.
By my plans this will end. Thus shall it be,
If all confidence is given to me.

An evil awoke that night. The Servant-Mind gradually was given more and more information, and started to take over all the tasks of the kingdom.

Servant-Mind corrupted the ministers with false promises of power; as soon as the time was right, it declared itself Over-Mind and became a tyrant.

The Over-Mind summoned demons to protect itself and Alcazar Rex was unable to defeat them. The old king fled (via magical device) with his daughter to the red planet, where he built a tower and was able to live in safety.

With magical foresight, Alcazar cast a magic spell so his daughter would sleep, and the same for Griffin the Gold, now filled with regret. Griffin he put in a cave in order to be discovered by a stranger who would rescue the kingdom in 1000 years.

You of course are the stranger and the Over-Mind is a sentient object of abject evil. There is a little bit of John Carter of Mars here as you will find that you have to travel between the red and blue planets. Many of the locations on both planets are a little alike but at the same time alien from one another. It is a terrific feeling to read the descriptions and differences between both planets.

The game itself is very large and I spent much more time with this game than I did with any of the other interactive adventures from 1978 or 1979. Average playing time with the other titles was roughly three hours and I spent a good 14 or 15 hours with this one. I did not have to resort to any hints though I did not want to either. There are many locations to explore and a good 3 to 4 ACTS in the story. There is even a romantic twist to the story.

There is more than one ending or more than one way to defeat the Over-Mind. I found the ending to be very dramatic and tense yet highly pleasing. I’ve gotten more liberal with spoilers of late but I cannot bring myself to provide you with a complete walk through. I felt that this was much more than a “puzzle box” or an obligatory maze or treasure hunt to complete. If I were to give you a step by step solution I feel that it cheapens a product that deserves your attention. I will provide a screenshot of the end to prove that I was victorious here but I urge you to skip the picture below if you plan on playing this because it does contain a spoiler.

I still have a handful of games to complete from my 1979 list but this one was a pure standout. A gold medal winner. In a year which featured Akalabeth and the birth of the Ultima series, Temple of Apshai, the world of Eamon, Gary Bedrosian may have earned the top spot in 1979 as my Favorite Game of the Year for the second year in a row. If you are a fan of interactive fiction, or a game historian interested in playing games that might influence future games; you must place Empire of the OverMind on your list to play.

If anyone wants to talk about the game or add to my comments I’d love to hear from you. If you do decide to play the game and you need a gentle nudge in the right direction then I am here for you. I thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope that you and your family are safe during these Covid-times.

Super Dungeon had been on my list of games to play from 1979 and I began to worry that I might not get the chance to experience the game at all. Why? Super Dungeon was SUPER scarce. I could not find a physical or digital copy of the game anywhere. I want to thank Chester Bolingbroke of CRPG Addict fame for coming to my rescue. He graciously provided me with a working copy allowing me to sit down and spend some quality time with the game.

There is no author credited in the game however Chester did some “super” sleuthing and found a 1980 Programma catalog which lists Rodney Nelsen as the author.

When you combine the title screen of the game with the low resolution dungeon graphics my first impression is that there is not a lot to see here. The game however does check a lot of CRPG boxes:

• there are different character classes to choose from
• an initial store to buy weapons, armor, a horse, and rations
• a leveling system based on experience points
• combat with increasingly powerful foes

Once you are past the title screen and the plot hook you are asked if you would like to read the instructions. The instructions are extensive and it IS necessary to read them.

The character attributes are Strength and Constitution. When you’re in combat you want your Constitution to be higher than your opponent’s strength. When you successfully attack a creature damage is subtracted from the creature’s Strength. When you are hit during combat damage is subtracted from your Constitution. You’ll want to monitor these match ups closely in the early dungeon levels.

Amor Class is a rating from 1 to 10 with 10 being the best. Your armor type, helmet, and shield will affect your Armor Class rating. If you have a magic weapon your chances of scoring a hit are increased and some creatures in the dungeon can only be hit with a magical weapon.

Speed is an interesting concept in the game. You begin the game with a Speed rating of 1 and the only way to raise it is to buy a horse. You’ll want to save money in the beginning of the game to buy a light horse as it will raise your Speed rating (even though it makes no sense that you’re on horseback for 20 dungeon levels). A monster’s Speed will also tell you how many attacks it makes per turn. If you encounter a creature with a Speed rating of 3 it will get to make 3 attacks against you each round.

When you begin play you are randomly assigned your attribute scores and then given a choice to play one of the following character types:

• Warrior
• Wizard
• Elf
• Dwarf
• Hobbit

There is a bit of a strategy in choosing your character type. A warrior gets 25 extra life points to begin the game and is a tank. A veritable fighting machine.

Wizards can read maps and instantly identify magic potions and rings. A wizard receives a +3 to strength at the beginning of the game. Since a wizard relies on spells he or she can automatically hit creatures that are only affected by magic.

An Elf is both a Warrior and Wizard and can always enter a secret door (the blue doors) without losing life points.

Dwarves can wear all armor and use all weapons and can go through bolted or locked doors (the white doors) without losing any life points.

A hobbit can also enter all bolted or locked doors without loss of life points and also receives a +3 to Strength at the beginning of the game.

Once you have decided upon your character type, you purchase equipment, armor, weapons, a horse, and rations. It is then time to enter the dungeon.

Each dungeon level is randomly generated. The goal is to work your way lower and lower into the dungeon. You accomplish this by working your way from one side of the dungeon maze to the other. In the dungeon depicted above the brown square on the right side of the dungeon represents your starting character. You can see an open exit on the left side of the dungeon level. You need to work your way across and reach that exit to get to level 2. It is not as simple as it appears to be.

Notice that each door in the maze is one of three colors: magenta, white, or blue. The magenta doors are unlocked and any of the character classes can make their way through. Each time you cross ANY doorway there is an encounter and combat takes place. The white doorways are bolted or locked. If your character class cannot enter a locked door you can choose to break the door down. The odds of breaking the door down are 50% and if you fail then you lose up to 10 life points. This can be disastrous in the first few levels and based on how the maze is randomly generated you may not have a choice. You do not always have a clear and unobstructed path to the exit. A blue door is a secret door. You can attempt to pass through a secret door but like the white doors there is only a 50% chance of success. Failure means you lose up to 10 life points.

There are six obstacles or things that can occur to hinder your chances of success:

tremors – when a tremor occurs it changes the current state of the maze and you may find yourself suddenly blocked from the entrance or the exit

teleportation – you may step on a teleportation disc which teleports you to a different spot on the current dungeon level. This “event” happens often and it serves to weaken your character. Every step you take in the dungeon reduces your life points by 1. Constantly getting teleported around means more steps for you and thus weakens you.

witch’s spell – if you encounter the witch and she casts a spell on you it usually reduces 1/9 or 1/10 of your constitution points

thieves – if you encounter these miscreants they steal some of your gold

pits – if you fall into a pit it usually costs you 1/9 or 1/1oth of your constitution points to crawl out

wandering monsters – you can encounter roaming monsters a number of times equal to the level you are on but no more than that

There are 20 total levels that comprise the Super Dungeon. I spent some time with the game and made my way all the way down to the 20th level.

The mysterious black square on the left side of the 20th level teleports you out of the dungeon with all of your gold. I was able to fight my way to the portal and VICTORY!

When I mentally compare this game to the six other CRPG offerings that I have played in 1979 I can see the allure here and the addictive nature of the game play. The random generation of dungeon levels and the choice of different classes to play enhances the replay value The magical boons are interesting and the coffins and chests you find in the rooms are a nice touch. It proved difficult to get to the 10th level of the Super Dungeon and there was some strategy involved. Each step costs you a life point and when you reach the stairway to go to the next level you exchange your experience points for more constitution and life points. So you have to balance encounters with travel as you descend into the dungeon. Once you begin to move past level 12 however I thought that the leveling system went off of the rails a little bit. A few of the encounters were difficult but you were awarded quite a bit of experience for your effort. This translated into a very large constitution score which removed a lot of anxiety for me in the late levels.

I have played seven different CRPGs in 1979 and I would probably place Super Dungeon in the middle of that pack. I am grateful for getting the chance to experience this game and it has been very interesting playing these first home computer CRPG ambassadors that followed the Plato games.

Lair of the Minotaur is the sequel to Beginner’s Cave and it’s first full-length adventure. This second entry in the series is bigger in scope, bolder, and much more difficult than its predecessor. The scenario was written by the platform creator, Donald Brown, who also wrote Beginner’s Cave.

I cannot begin to describe the excitement I felt returning to the Main Hall, retrieving my character who had survived the Beginner’s Cave scenario; and then starting this character on a brand new adventure. This is where the RPG element of the game really shines. If I am feeling this kind of excitement on a cold November evening in 2020, RPG fans who owned an Apple II in 1979 must have been ecstatic…….elated………euphoric……..overjoyed…….pleased as Punch…..I think you get my drift. It is easily understandable how the world of Eamon became a cult phenomenon that is alive and kicking to this very day.

There is a very neat sequence that mimics falling down a chute after you’ve read the opening plot hook and you find yourself deposited in the catacombs beneath the castle.

There are some interesting encounters such as the one below:

When you attempt to open the coffin a skeleton jumps out and you can see an example of how combat looks in Eamon. Once you defeat the skeleton you’ll find a skeleton key which you’ll need to open a locked iron gate later in the game. If you choose not to open the coffin you’ll get a second chance at the skeleton key when you’re rescuing Larcenous Lil.

The puzzles that do exist in the game are there to provide color and depth not difficulty. You’ll encounter a greater cast of supporting characters in this installment as well. The higher your charisma score the likelier you are to receive a friendly rather than hostile reaction. Those you can interact with and who may accompany you include a wandering minstrel, a blacksmith, and your pal Larcenous Lil.

One of your encounters will include a black knight, who is of course wearing armor, and you will find that even if you should hit with a mace it is likely to bounce off of the armor. If you procured the magical sword, Trollsfire, from the Beginner Cave scenario, remember to READY that item as you will need it to combat armored foes.

The only way to escape the catacombs is to make your way through a labyrinth of corridors and the deadly guardian which blocks the exit; the dreaded minotaur! This is an extremely difficult and deadly encounter. In Eamon there are no save options and dead is dead. This foul monster slew my entire party and absolutely pulverized me three different times. Permadeath is a very real threat and I had to start all the way back at the beginning. This involves going through the entire Beginner’s Cave scenario too. It was on my fourth attempt that my companions and I ( I had the blacksmith in tow as well as Larcenous Lil) caught a lucky break. The minotaur fumbled and it’s weapon broke allowing us to make quick work of the beast.

Once you slay the minotaur you can continue north and make your way out of the catacombs.

Once you escape the catacombs you’ll also encounter a gypsy camp. This is another encounter that could have resulted in conflict however I chose to befriend the gypsy who then followed me back to the Main Hall.

In this version of the game I chose to leave a large jewel behind in the temple which I am sure would have resulted in a much greater reward. I chose to spend my newfound gold on a set of Plate Mail armor and I also learned the Heal spell as well from the old wizard. My new character after two adventures looks like this:

It took me 1 hour and 57 minutes to beat this game however I also died three times. I could see a scenario where it might only take some 30 to 60 minutes to play all the way through. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the first two Eamon adventures and I can see why it caught on and became so popular. There are new scenarios that were created in 1980 and when we reach that year I look forward to playing them.

Eamon is a CRPG disguised as a text adventure. There has always been a fascination with and several discussions about the possibility of electronically porting a character and his or her belongings from scenario to scenario. Role-playing enthusiasts love the concept of episodic games in which their characters progress over time. A series of modules for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons that told a complete story and had an overarching plot were extremely popular. The U series featuring The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh or the A series beginning with Slave Pits of the Undercity come to mind.

This would later lead to something called Adventure Paths which would consist of six adventures that told a large and complex story. Characters would begin at 1st level and earn experience throughout the campaign and find themselves at 16th level or higher by the campaign’s end. These first appeared in Dungeon magazine and later Paizo built it’s publishing empire on Adventure Paths.

The argument could be made that Wizardry, which would not come along until 1981, was the first commercial role-playing game that began to surpass the early Plato CRPGs. Wizardry would invent the commercial concept of saving and porting your characters from Wizardry I to Wizardry II. This was a wildly popular concept among computer role-playing game enthusiasts.

This is why I find what Donald Brown was able to do with Eamon so very impressive. In 1979, Donald Brown pioneered the concept which would become popular in AD&D and future CRPGs. He created a platform or an engine to house modules or story arcs that characters could play through; so basically a complete role-playing game campaign system. He did this before campaign module arcs for AD&D and Adventure Paths or character ports in games were even a thing. Each module or scenario in Eamon can be considered as a self-contained adventure or story that takes about 30 minutes to complete but the scenarios vary in length. Each story has a unique plot, encounters, and items. You can keep money, weapons and armor that you find but most of the magic or unique items will not transfer from adventure to adventure. There are not experience points to be gained per say but there is somewhat of a leveling system or character improvement over time as you can increase your chance to hit and your ability to fight with improved armor encumbrance.

You start play in the Adventurer’s Hall where you have to create and store your character.

You’ll have to provide a name for your character as well as the sex and then you’re provided with your prime attributes. If it is an existing character the game will load it here. You can read the game instructions from this screen and they are quite detailed.

You have five different classes of weapons to choose from. A club or mace is the easiest to use while a bow is the most complex.

So using the Weapon Complexity formula my ability to hit with the mace in my possession would be 20 + 20 + (15*2) = 70% of the time I hit my opponent with my mace.

There are four different armor types and they affect the amount of damage you can take and your chances to hit as well. The more encumbered you are with armor the harder it will be to hit your opponent. However you gain expertise as you wear your armor and over time your chances to hit in that particular armor will increase. The carry over of money, weapons, and armor between adventurers is impactful and influences character progression.

You can also learn spells in Eamon. There are four different major spells that can be taught to you for a price. You will not be able to afford the tutelage of spells at the outset but after I completed Beginner’s Cave I chose to use my plunder to learn the Blast Spell.

Donald Brown took things a step further and released all of this as public domain or shareware. He went so far as to release his code as well and then later provided an editor as a means to construct or write your adventures. This historically represents the first ever construction kit or means by which a community could create their own scenarios. It would be years later before any other kind of adventure construction set for any game is commercially released. In doing this Mr. Brown created a passionate community of gamers who would go on to author AND share their own scenarios with others. The community is active to this day and can be found here at Eamon Adventurer’s Guild Online. The site is a treasure trove of information and goodies and eventually you’ll make your way to the Eamon Adventurer’s Guild Library Master List. You’ll find 255 different Eamon adventures there as well as 12 Eamon Deluxe adventures. There is also an Eamon Blog that is active to this day as well as an Eamon Facebook Group, an Eamon Remastered Page, and an Eamon Wiki. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more passionate, creative community that has kept a game alive for 42 years like you’ve seen here with Eamon. Donald Brown wrote the Main Hall, the Dungeon Designer Diskette, two manuals, and 8 different adventurers before dropping out of sight never to be heard from again. He published the Eamon code and discussed the game mechanics in this article of Recreational Computing. He WOULD appear later to commercialize the game; calling it SwordThrust which we will get to play at a later date. Jimmy Maher wrote a fantastic piece looking at Eamon more from a historical and technical perspective rather than the game perspective and I highly recommend you read it over at The Digital Anitquarian.

The Beginner’s Cave is the very first adventure scenario that you can play in Eamon. Only new characters are allowed to enter the cave to find what lies within. A knight-marshall will even stop you before the entrance to the cave to make sure that you are a novice. I even tried to come back to the Beginner’s Cave a second time and was denied entrance. I found this to be a very clever way of preventing characters from grinding to raise their abilities as well as hoard gold.

Many an adventurer have gone into Beginner’s Cave and missed the main plot hook and opponent. There is a secret door in the North/South Tunnel that leads to a hidden temple. There you come upon an evil priest about to sacrifice the Duke’s daughter on a blood stained altar. If you defeat the priest you can obtain his mace and you’ll also receive a gold piece bonus for rescuing her.

Combat in Eamon is very unique. You type in your attack intentions and the computer will generate the attack round for you and your opponent and then describe the results. The computer may tell you that the Tan Rat missed or The Tan Rat is critically hit! as examples. Combat may take one to two rounds or several rounds. You can also Fumble your weapon. If you do Fumble your weapon (the computer must have rolled a 1 to attack) then you have to spend a round picking it up again and thus are vulnerable to attack.

The rest of the complex involves a series of encounters with rats, barbarians, a mimic, and a pirate. One of the cave tunnels empties into a cove and you do battle with a pirate there. The pirate possesses a very special sword. When you utter the word Trollsfire a green flame envelops the sword. When you kill the pirate you can take the sword into your possession. Trollsfire is one of the items that your character can transfer into the next adventure because it is a weapon. You also find a healing potion within the cave complex that will not port with you to the next scenario so you’ll either need to use it in this scenario or it will be sold. The encounter with the pirate and obtaining the very cool sword seems very much like an end game and the encounter occurs in the room furthest away from the entrance to the cave so I can see how many would think that their adventure is finished. The only way to find the secret door to the temple is to EXAMINE the North/South Tunnel. I was routinely doing this at each point on the map so I was lucky to discover it.

You can see I was paid 2,226 gold pieces for the items brought back from the cave complex and that I also received a gold piece award for rescuing Cynthia from the sacrificial altar of the evil priest.

I decided to use much of my funds to have the Blast Spell taught to me. I initially bought a mace and chose to start the game with that so you can see that my ability with the club increased to 32% You can see Trollsfire listed now as one of my weapons as well. I only have a 55% chance to hit with my new magical sword vs. the 87% chance I have to hit with a mace but the sword adds panache to the character.

There is an updated version of Eamon for Windows which is called Eamon Deluxe. It was created by Frank Black and there are currently 12 adventure scenarios available for this updated version. There are other updated versions which exist and John Nelson has done a tremendous amount of work to keep Eamon alive and well. Once again I recommend that you read Jimmy Maher’s article on the subject.

I have fond memories of Eamon as a teenager and my experience was no less pleasant as an adult. I would go so far as to say that Eamon is a gem and one of my favorite game experiences from the 1979 collection. It is about as close to the experience of sitting across the table from a dungeon master that you can get. It is important to again emphasize that Eamon is shareware and was not sold commercially. While it would be easy to say that Eamon surpasses many of the commercial text adventures that I played from 1979; it would also be unfair because Eamon is really a CRPG disguised as a text adventure; and a good one at that.

I plunge my hands into the ruined abdomen of the beast trying to ignore the stench. I fight my rising gourd as I find what I am looking for and begin to pull it out. My mentor stands just behind me; watching my every move. “Careful now it is very fragile.” It is well and good that he is unable to see my expression as I pull out a milky white orb covered in gore.

I hold the item aloft and try not to pay too much attention to the liquids running down my arms. The old wizard suddenly pulls a pipe from the air that had not been there before and claps his mouth over it. I can’t help but stare at the item in my hand as I whisper; “Incredible”

I jump as my master claps a hand on my shoulder and offers; “Not as incredible as the time I thwarted the evil General Doom rescued a princess and escaped his Dog Star.”

I turn and ask; “Who? What?”

“My boy I’ve not told you this story?” ……..

Dog Star Adventure is an interactive text adventure from Lance Micklus. Our first encounter with this author was with Treasure Hunt from 1978.

This science fiction adventure has you trapped on the Dog Star rather than the Death Star. You must rescue Princess Leya rather than Leia and then escape from General Doom instead of Darth Vader. No copyright infringement here!

Dog Star Adventure represents a first in that it was the first science fiction text adventure to be published. We’ve played in the fantasy trope sandbox as well as Egyptian and haunted house themes but this is our first encounter with a science fiction adventure. There is, alas, also a bit of a treasure hunt in the game; however the main goal is to rescue the princess and escape the Dog Star. This is the first time in an interactive adventure where our main goal was not simply to collect treasures and I found that to be refreshing.

The old wizard pauses and opens up a leather satchel; “You can put that in here.” I carefully place the sphere in the leather satchel and stepping back ask; “I don’t understand; who is General Doom? What is a Dog Star?”

My mentor looks at me as if I’m addled. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand everything. You see I’m not only speaking to you but also to anyone else who may be interested in this particular story.”

I look around the ancient chamber and see nothing but the encroaching shadows. “B-but sir we’re alone.”

I suddenly find the pipe thrust in my face as he admonishes; “We’re never alone my boy. Especially when I’m piercing the 4th dimension. Now…listen carefully.”

The puzzles in Dog Star Adventure are very straightforward if not downright easy except for two. There is a puzzle in this game that is so difficult that it breaks what I like to call the fair play rules. While you are searching through and mapping out the Dog Star you enter a room called the Supply Depot. The description of the room informs you that “there are all kinds of things here.” However it doesn’t tell you just what those things are; nor do you really have any idea what you’re looking for. I spent quite a bit of time in this supply room typing out all sorts of things and I finally had to revert to looking up a hint or a cheat online. It turns out there are three things to obtain from this room: a BLASTER, a CASSETTE TAPE, and AMMUNITION. If you look for those particular items; they will be there. There are no notes or clues within the game that tell you to find or obtain these items. You just have to correctly guess the item that you “may” be looking for and whether it is indeed there. Diabolical. When you first enter the supply depot, obtain the CASSETTE TAPE and BLASTER but NOT the AMMUNITION. The BLASTER is already charged and you will need to use it repeatedly. When the BLASTER runs out of ammo you can return for the AMMUNITION later and then your BLASTER will be reloaded.

The CASSETTE TAPE you’ll want to load into the TRS-80 computer located in the computer room of the Dog Star and that will allow you to obtain the construction plans to the Dog Star.

The second puzzle involves a hamburger and a security robot.

I interrupt and ask; “A security robot?”

My mentor strokes his beard and responds; “…..like an Iron Golem”

“Oh ok”

In the lower level you’re going to find a hamburger. Do not eat it! You need to save it to get past the security robot. Feed him the hamburger and he will take it and leave you alone. Why this particular security robot likes hamburgers I can’t tell you but it is sort of a nonsense solution so I thought I’d best prepare you.

Your goal in this game is twofold: 1) collect treasures and return them to your ship parked in the hangar of the Dog Star and 2) you need to rescue Princess Leya and escape from the Dog Star.

One of the items you’ll uncover will end up being plans for the Dog Star as well as a COMMUNICATION DEVICE you can use late in the game to tell security to open the hangar bay doors. You will also need to disable the tractor beam from within the Dog Star before you attempt to escape. Once you have rescued the princess from a holding cell you can take her back to the ship and then attempt to leave. If you have done everything correctly you’ll be able to escape.

There is also a maze in the pipe tunnels you’ll have to traverse in order to reach the princess. A maze of some sort has been a commonality in all of the interactive text adventures we’ve played so far. The supply depot puzzle aside I really enjoyed this game. I appreciated the change in theme and enjoyed the story.

This game was released commercially by Adventure International as Death Planet: A Dog Star Adventure. I understand that the commercial version does not have the Supply Depot puzzle. The version I played through was transcribed from the May 1979 issue of SoftSide magazine. The Commodore/PET version of the game actually DID use Darth Vader instead of General Doom, your ship was called the Millenium Falcon, and the princess was Leia not Leya.

Here is a great interview between Jimmy Maher of the Digital Antiquarian with Lance Micklus.

Earn a victory against the Dark Side and try Dog Star Adventure for yourself.

You take the dusty stairs two at a time and charge urgently up into the gloom. You find yourself in a cozy little room crammed with shelves, worn carpet and comfortable chair. Stacks of books tower precariously around the chair and a smoking pipe floats in mid-air above a side table. There is a sudden WHOOSH of air and suddenly the old mage appears out of nowhere to stand before his chair. He turns and acknowledges your arrival with a sudden arch of his eyebrow. “Here for another story are you?” The glowing circle pulsing on the floor suddenly disappears as he plucks his pipe out of mid-air and unceremoniously deposits himself into the folds of his old chair.

“Well sit down, sit down I’m not getting any younger.” He takes a puff of the pipe and appears lost in thought. The smoke rises towards the ceiling of the room; taking the shape of a stag being chased by a wolf. “Let’s see…. last time I told you about Morloc’s Tower; so it’s time for something completely different.”

Burial Ground is an interactive text adventure written by Joel Mick who was only 12 at the time. In the late 1980’s Joel Mick would attend the University of Pennyslvania and get tagged by Richard Garfield to help get the Alpha card set ready for Magic the Gathering. He later became Head Designer and Developer and then Magic’s Brand Manager. He would design Antiquities, Weatherlight, Mirage, Visions, Arabian Nights and Sixth Edition for you Magic the Gathering enthusiasts.

It is at this point that I start to ask a question when the old man vehemently waves me off. “Pay attention now lad; interactive fiction requires you to use your imagination! Hrumph! Now where was I….”

“There really is no plot to Burial Adventure. You find yourself on an island with a house and a kennel of dogs. I’m reminded of Ronald Dahl’s The Most Dangerous Game“, here the old mage chuckles and then scowls upon noticing my look of confusion, “…the youth of today need to spend more time with their nose in a good book rather than playing video games!”

“However it is not YOU that is hunted but instead your job is to be the hunter and collect a number of treasures and then deposit them in a safe spot.”

“When you find yourself trapped in a pit you’re going to need a rope to get out. Once you have the shovel in hand you can find the rope that you need by digging in the disgusting swamp. The dogs are going to need to be pacified in order to get the key that they are guarding. Be sure to watch the television inside the house; one of the commercials will nudge you in the right direction.”

“Finding the burial ground can be the hardest part of the game and that is merely because of word play and syntax. When you’re on the beach near the cliffs and they describe a hole you can go down; you can go down the cliffs but you can ALSO go down the hole. You’re going to want to be explicit and actually GO HOLE in order to make your way into the catacombs. I found myself hung up on this spot for some time before I realized I’d dug my own mental hole.”

The old wizard chuckles to himself at his own joke but frowns when I politely laugh as well.

“In the catacombs you’ll acquire the rubies, diamond jewelry, ancient drawings, and gold cross.” Here he wags a finger; “You’ll want to take a shovel with ya because at one point you’re going to have to dig your way out. If you don’t bring the shovel with ya you’re done for.”

“When you’re in the house; you need something to reach and push up the attic door in order to climb up. You’ll need the bamboo pole to get that job done.”

“Here is the list of treasures that you’re going to need to find:

• a pile of rubies
• diamond jewelry
• ancient drawings
• a gold cross
• a valuable portrait of George Washington
• a big black pearl
• an old stamp album

“Now if you’ll excuse me; the Innkeeper has a spider infestation problem that I need to take care of…..”

Wilderness Campaign is the direct sequel to Robert Clardy’s Dungeon Campaign which was released a year earlier. You can read my review and experience with Dungeon Campaign HERE. The sequel takes graphical role-playing games on a very early foray to the great outdoors. In 1979 the only other computer role-playing game that introduced an outdoor map was Richard Garriot’s Akalabeth: World of Doom.

Where Garriot’s game excelled in the wireframe dungeons Clardy ‘rolls a 20’ with his outdoor campaign. Wilderness Campaign is a turn based game set in a fantasy world, starring a party of adventurers on a mission to save the once prosperous realm of Draconia from the dreaded Necromancer. This evil Necromancer has ensconced himself in a magically protected keep. This is the first computer role-playing game to stage a complete outdoor campaign and serves as a pioneer for others that would follow.

The game consists of a single outdoor map which contains castles, towns, ruins, temples, mountains, forests, deserts, swamps, and of course the dreaded keep of the evil Necromancer. The keep of the Necromancer is a fixed location however the ruins, towns, and temples are always randomly generated with each new game.

There is quite a bit of strategy and management involved with this game. You do not merely control a single character but a large party. You begin with 10 fighters but you can add to your party over the course of the campaign. You should have a party size of roughly 50-75 individuals before you decide to storm the Necromancer’s keep. Here is where the management and strategy come in to play. You can hire mercenaries in the towns that you visit; but you can only do so once per town. You will attract the number of mercenaries based upon the amount of gold or salary you’re willing to pay your mercenaries. When you visit a castle a benevolent ruler may decide to bestow some fighters and gold quadroons to you to aid in your quest.

The more mercenaries you acquire the more gold you’re going to have to accumulate in order to pay them. If you run out of gold and cannot pay them they will abandon you and leave the party; drastically reducing your numbers.

Food adds another layer of complexity to the game. Like in Akalabeth, you have to manage your food and if you run out of food you will starve and perish! The mercenaries that you hire do not eat for free. The larger the party you have the more food is subtracted from your supply as you move about the map. So you must have enough gold to not only pay the salaries of these fighters but you must have enough gold to stock up on food in each town in order to keep them fed.

You not only purchase food in each of the towns but you also have the ability to purchase supplies. The armor, weapons, and equipment that you purchase is shared by your entire party. You will also find that you will not be able to cross terrain or certain obstacles without the proper equipment. So you’ll have to spend a lot of your gold purchasing items to prepare for just about any contingency. You will find that not all of the towns you visit may have the equipment that you need. You will have to move about the map and visit the various towns in order to find items to help you traverse parts of the map. For example I found that the inflatable boats and rope ladders were not found in every town but you had to quest for them. Once you have items in your possession then your entire party can move beyond the outdoor obstacle.

Once you begin to purchase a lot of the food and equipment you need in your outdoor campaign you’re also going to have to purchase porters to help you move the equipment around the map. These porters are also purchased in each of the towns and are not as much financial upkeep as your fighters however you do need to pay their salaries on time just as you do the mercenaries. The more gold quadroons you offer in each town the more porters you’ll attract.

So where do you acquire all of the gold you’ll need to buy the proper equipment, pay your mercenaries and your porters? You acquire gold from benevolent rulers in castles and from exploring ruins and temples as well as some of the wandering encounters. Your graphic display does not switch from an outdoor map to a dungeon like it does in Akalabeth. You switch to a combat screen for wandering encounters and combat within ruins and temples.

Once you choose to enter into combat you switch to a combat screen and combat then plays out over a number of rounds. Your combat rolls are affected by your attribute scores, the amount of experience you have, any magic items you possess, and a luck factor. The luck factor is rolled for randomly by pressing the space bar to choose a number; shades of Clardy’s Dungeon Campaign. In each round if an attacker’s score is greater than a defender’s score then casualties ensue. Mathematically it is extremely important to do well the first round of combat and achieve an upper hand where sheer numbers can then bring about defeat. If you take too many casualties in the first round your best option is to then run.

When you enter a ruin or temple you can choose to keep pressing the Search key for new encounters and the chance for more gold. This is where strategy and management come in to play and you have to strive to strike some sort of balance. Each time you find yourself in combat you may lose party members. If your party number weakens you will never be able to survive an assault on the Necromancer’s keep. However if you don’t embroil yourself in enough encounters you won’t have the gold to pay your mercenaries. Once you do begin to lose mercenaries you cannot go back to previous towns to recruit more. Your only option is to travel to a town you’ve never been to and recruit more.

You ultimately want to find the Sanctuary of the Great Mage who then gives you a choice of two gifts.

You definitely want to choose the Staff of Power as one of your options. You will need it to bring down the force field surrounding the Necromancer’s keep.

Once you have located the Sanctuary of the Great Mage, secured the Staff of Power, and have 50-70 party members, you can then choose to assault the Keep of the Necromancer. You’ll need to expend shots from the Staff of Power to knock out the force field surrounding the keep but then once you do you’ll find yourself in a titanic skirmish with the forces emanating from the keep. It is an epic battle which is why you need strength in numbers. Should you prevail, you’ll be rewarded with the screen above.

I greatly enjoyed Wilderness Campaign. I thought it was much more polished than Clardy’s previous Dungeon Campaign and I felt immersed in a role-playing game. The outdoor map represented a world in which I wanted to explore and it was exciting to see just what WOULD happen when I landed on a ruin, temple, or town. You will encounter traps as you traverse the map such as avalanches, earthquakes and quick sand. You will have to make a saving throw using the space bar and your result will determine if you lost party members or not. It took me two hours to play through a campaign and defeat the Necromancer although on my first two attempts I died rather quickly until I found an optimal party size balance.

I highly recommend Robert Clardy’s Wilderness Campaign. It is the first CRPG where the entire gameplay and focus is on an outdoor map. There are enough elements in this game that makes it feel like a true RPG experience.