Author: professor6153

Baldor’s Castle was developed and published by Daedalus Digital for the VIC-20 in 1983.

I searched high and low and I could not find any box art or commercial packaging for this name. I did find an advertisement for the game:

Baldor’s Castle is an early roleplaying game for the VIC-20. Play is from a top-down perspective as the player explores the halls and rooms of the castle.

There is no main quest or objective in the game other than to try and stay alive, battle monsters, and collect gold. You can choose to fight with a sword or arrows.

You can also find potions to aid you in your pursuit of riches. In my tenure with this game, I found two different types of potions. One of the potions was a healing potion that increased my life and the other potion sped up the regeneration of my Power. The game was extremely basic, and you can see the different keyboard commands for the game listed above.

The game uses a fog of war to hide the castle’s level from you which is exposed as you move about and explore. One of the things that you can obtain after defeating a monster is a map which will not only show you the entire level but also where monsters and treasures are located.

The Power score is used to perform attacks. Each time you swing your sword or fire an arrow it depletes this score. The Power score replenishes as you move about the castle. Your Skill points are much like experience points and these increase as you defeat monsters. Once a monster is defeated you usually are rewarded with gold and potions. The potions are usually of the healing variety.

There is not a lot here. The only impetus to continue to play is to see if you can keep increasing your overall score. I knew what I was getting into before I even began the game because of the system it was created for.

I managed after playing for a couple of hours to get my Skill score up to 65 and this was accomplished by exploring much of the castle level. I suspect there is another level to be found because the screen goes out of it’s way to let you know that you are on the First Floor.

I played Baldur’s Castle on an emulator and spent about 2.5 hours with the game. It DOES check the RPG boxes and WAS on my list from 1983 and so the completist in me felt compelled to play the title and to report on it. I was surprised that I was able to find a one-page advertisement for the game but that I was unsuccessful in finding the game’s packaging.

Next upon the docket – we leave the 1983 list behind now after having worked through it – and move on to the RPGs that were developed and published in 1984. The first game from the list I’m choosing to tackle is Questron. I’m excited to play this one. I remember being attracted to the box art and I had always wanted to play the game but never did. Now I get the opportunity to do so.

Until next time…

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin was released in 1983 for the Intellivision. It was developed by APh Consulting and published by Mattel Electronics. It was Mattel’s second game under the Dungeons & Dragons license; the first being their Cloudy Mountain game. Mattel would go on to lose the license after the release of this game and we would not see another game use the license until 1988 with the release of the Pool of Radiance.

The object of the game is simple in scope. You’re to make your way into a deep web of endless rooms and corridors to defeat the dreaded Minotaur and recover the Treasure of Tarmin. Now remember that in 1983 we were graced with the likes of Wizardry III: The Legacy of Llylgamyn and Exodus: Ultima III however the Treasure of Tarmin offers a depth and complexity of gameplay that I did not think was possible for a home console of that period.

Graphically Treasure of Tarmin looks much different than it’s Cloudy Mountain predecessor. The action is a first-person point of view as the character traverses a maze of tunnels underneath the Island of Tarmin.

There are two different levels of play to choose from. There is an Easy mode and a Hard mode.

The Easy mode consists of 4 levels. You’re likely to find both the minotaur and treasure on the 4th level.

The Hard mode consists of 12 levels and they remove the option of retreating back to a prior level – so all of the UP ladders are now gone. Teleportation gates have also been added to the mix which sap your spiritual strength score. It is my understanding that you can continue lower after you defeat the minotaur and that the game supports 256 levels however I never tested this. Once you pick up the Treasure of Tarmin the game immediately ends so if you want to continue with a deeper foray into the labyrinth then you want to delay picking up the Treasure.

Movement through the dungeon is smooth and quite impressive on this early home console.

There is a lot of information on your map screen. In the lower left-hand corner is your compass which tells you the direction you’re traveling in. Rotating around your compass are the objects that are in your pack. Manipulating objects in the game took some getting used to so bear with me a moment as I walk you through it. The number in the bottom center of the screen shown above is the current dungeon level that you are on. You can see that I am on the 12th dungeon level. The icon to the left of that number shows what is in my left hand and the icon to the right of the number depicts what I’m carrying in my right hand. When you PICK UP or DROP objects it relates to your right hand only. Your right hand must be empty in order to pick an object up. To swap objects from one hand to another you can press SWAP HANDS. To swap an object in your pack with an object in your right hand you press SWAP PACK. Whichever object is in the 3 o’clock position will suddenly appear in your right hand. Your pack can hold objects in the 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 o’clock positions.

Obviously figuring all of this out took a little getting used but once you have the nuance of managing inventory down the game is actually quite fun.

In this screenshot I have a bow in my right hand. The numbers in the lower right-hand corner represent your character statistics. The top numbers represent your hit points or health. The second set of numbers represent your armor and defenses. The last set of numbers represent war weapon and spiritual weapon scores.

The minotaur itself is extremely hard to beat and you may find that when you first encounter it you’re not able to defeat it. It is best to retreat and look to face it another time.

There are numerous foes to face within the dungeon complex such as giants, skeletons, giant ants, giant snakes, alligators, giant scorpions, dragons (difficult encounters), ghouls, and wraiths. Monsters straight out of the AD&D Monster Manual.

There are two different types of damage: War and Spiritual and the different foes you encounter will deal different types of damage. The undead foes will sap your spiritual strength as will magic spells hurled at you. When either one of your War or Spiritual scores falls to 0 you perish. Characters can be reincarnated. You appear in a different part of the dungeon and lose most of your gear. Damage can be healed by consuming food and by drinking health potions. Both of these items can be found by exploring the different dungeon levels.

Some of the doors in the game that you go through will teleport you to a different part of the maze which adds even more depth and complexity to this home console offering. Most of the time an enemy or foe can be found behind a door and in rare instances going through a door can increase or decrease your health. So going through any doorway is a precarious affair. There are also many secret doors in the game that you can only discover by “bumping” into the walls to see how solid they really are.

The various weapons that you find throughout the game sport different colors which is representative of their power level. A tan axe or spear represents a normal weapon whereas an orange or blue axe or spear are more powerful. If you should find a white weapon it represents the highest possible power ranking.

There are scrolls to find which contain magical spells that you can hurl at your opponents. Fireballs and Lightning Bolts are the weapons of choice. Much like the physical weapons there are different colored scrolls as well which represent different power levels for these offensive spells. There are magical rings you can find which will increase your Spiritual score or spell casting power. You can find multi-colored keys to unlock chests and doors as well.

There are treasures to find such as coins, necklaces, gold ingots, lamps, chalices and crowns which award you points for finding them.

I was very surprised to discover that this console game had so much depth to it and was equally surprised that I found myself having such a fun time with the game. The game took me about six hours to beat and probably a good 45 minutes of that was me trying to acclimate myself to the inventory management system and numerous action buttons. Luckily combat is turn-based and so you can rotate through your pack and clumsily swap items without pressure of being attacked while you’re doing so.

You’ll notice that in the beginning of the game when you’re choosing your difficulty level that the castle is displayed against a starry background with a moon high in the sky.

Once you defeat the Minotaur you’ll find that the Treasure of Tarmin is directly behind him. When you pick up the Treasure it immediately ends the game and you are shown a screenshot of the castle with the sun shining in the background.

This juxtaposition of light vs dark has obvious good vs evil connotations.

I played the game using an emulator and if you’re wanting to experience this game for yourself it’s rather easy to install an emulator and then find the game rom and install that as well.

Next up on the docket is Baldor’s Castle.

Until next time…

Bokosuka Wars was published by ASCII and released in 1983 for the Sharp XI then released in 1984 for the MSX and PC-88, 1985 for the FM-7, PC-6001, PC-98, and NES.

This also marks the first game that we’ve played on the NES system. Nintendo infiltrated households on July 15, 1983 when it’s first major home console was born. Dubbed the Famicon, it was released in the east with its three launch games – Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr and Popeye.

It was time to take the Famicon to the west and in October of 1985 the Nintendo system was released in New York. It would go on to sell 35 million units in the United States and become a smash hit – releasing iconic series such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Metroid.

Bokosuka Wars was never released in the west but it could be easily played by someone who doesn’t speak Japanese because the game is in English.

Bokosuka Wars is billed as a strategy game. You control a king who is fighting to reclaim his kingdom from the control of an invading army. Throughout the game you rescue and recruit subjects to your cause. You have the ability to move them all at once or pick and choose which soldiers to command.

You can choose to control yourself (the king), the normal soldiers, or the knights. Knights can destroy prison walls that soldiers are held captive in. Soldiers and knights who successfully survive three fights get upgraded to more powerful soldiers.

The game is lost if the king is killed in battle, and to win the game you have to reach the leader of the ogres and defeat him.

It took me awhile to get used to the data that was presented in the game. The number in the upper left corner represents the number of enemy forces remaining on the battlefield. The number to the right of that represents the remaining number of allied forces hidden in rocks, trees, or P.O.W. camps. The number on the bottom left is the remaining distance in meters to the location of King Ogreth. The number to the right of that, in the middle of the screen on the bottom, represents the attack strength of King Suren. It begins at 220 and get as high as 320. The number at the far right on the bottom depicts the power of the two units that are in battle. The number on the left is the allied unit’s power, the number on the right is the enemy’s power.

Your allied forces are hidden within rock formations and trees and so, as the King, you have to come into contact with these areas on the off chance that you may find and free one of your allies from these objects.

There is a strategy to the game in deciding who is going to fight particular enemies. Combat involves hidden calculations and probabilities. Once you have made your choice of combatant it’s a simple matter to sit back and see if the die rolls end up in your favor. If you win your unit receives a bump in power. Each enemy or unit has a specific number of points attached. There are fan sites that detail all of this information or you can simply read the NES documentation that comes with the game.

It took me a few games to get used to the gameplay. The game comes off as extremely hard at first blush but then once you get used to the gameplay it is not very hard to beat. I played on an NES emulator and the game took me about an hour to beat. You can take the path of patience and play strategically or you can choose to “bull rush” your way through to the end. I tried both strategies successfully.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. It’s not really an RPG and I wouldn’t call it a grand strategy game either. It’s somewhere between lite-strategy and arcade in my humble opinion. This will certainly not be the only game that we review on the NES but it gets the distinction of being the first. I have actually been busy in the background adding NES games to the site’s database each day. There were some sites in my research that claim that this was the worst game ever made for the NES. There seems to be a lot of hate out there for the title. I don’t quite see what that is all about as I did enjoy my time with the game. Perhaps it was comparing the game to one of the computer ports but again I enjoyed my time with the game.

Next up on the docket will be yet another console game however this one is an Intellivision offering: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin.

Until next time…

Cells and Serpents was written by G. Lovel for the Nascom computer and published as a type in piece in December 1980’s Computing Today. It was ported in 1982 for the Atari 8-bit, BBC/Electron, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

The artwork is amazing and also the only artwork you’re going to see because Cells & Serpents is completely text based.

The game is reminiscent of The Devil’s Dungeon.

The game always begins with your character given a choice of three possible paths.

You make your choice by merely pressing the first letter of each word. For example if you want to take the left door you press (L)eft on the keyboard.

You can see, depicted above, that your character starts with 100 hit points, 10 spells, and that you’re on level 1. The character is always presented with three choices or three path to take much like a pick your path to adventure book.

Anyone remember these?

Many of the rooms contain a monster within. If you press G for (G)o In then combat will ensue. You want to monitor your hit points closely. Once they reach zero then you’re dead and will have to start all over. Combat is resolved automatically behind the scenes.

The goal of the game is to descend down into the depths of the dungeon in search of an exit. The exit allows you to leave the dungeon. Once you accomplish this task it is the equivalent of winning the game. It also allows you the option to start the game again with the same character, keeping all of the statistics and items that you’ve found. Hence the question on the start screen; ‘Do you want to load a saved character?’

When you defeat an enemy in combat your reward is usually gold pieces but sometimes you find more than that as shown below:

Many of the monsters seem pulled from the dungeons & dragons game setting. I played Cells & Serpents on an emulator and it took me roughly two hours to beat.

Your path choices are usually doors, rooms corridors and stairs going up or down. You never really want to reverse your steps and go back up unless you’re having a very difficult time with the encounters on the current level. You want to keep moving forward which means making your way lower and lower into the bowels of the dungeon. The exit you’re looking for can be found on one of the lower levels. One of your path choices can also be a Wall though when I chose that option the wall fell on me and I suffered damage so I learned early on to always avoid that option.

I finally found my exit on the 11th level of the dungeon. I killed 28 monsters and finished with 39 spells. The best item I found was a luckstone which improved my randomization odds by 62.5%. I had to kill a Pit Fiend to get it and that almost did not end well.

Cells & Serpents was a nice diversion but certainly not comparable to some of the giants that were published in 1983 such as Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn or Exodus: Ultima III.

Next up on the docket is Bokosuka Wars.

Until next time…

I temporarily placed my 1983 list on hold and went back in time to take care of another item I discovered from 1980.

The Wizard’s City was published by Aurora Software in 1980 for the Ohio Scientific and for the TRS-80 in 1981 by BAP$ Software.

The Wizard’s City is a turn-based role-playing game predominantly using a text-based format. There are some graphics that present a side view of your surroundings as you move about. I believe the original name of the game may have been Dungeons & Dragons and that the name change may have been done to avoid legal issues. TSR was known to be quite litigious over copyright back in the day.

The game begins by asking if you want to create a new character. If you answer YES then the computer will randomly generate your attributes for you between the values of 1 and 18. The four attributes are Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, and Constitution ripped right from Dungeons & Dragons. You’re then asked to choose a character class as shown above and your choice will modify your previous attribute and hit point scores.

If you answer NO to the game’s beginning question then you are allowed to type in the attribute scores manually. Most of the early Dunjonquest games allowed you to do the same thing. Once I had played the game a few times I went back and manually typed in 18s and game myself a “super” character. A strength of 18 was preferable to me over a strength score of 5.

The Warrior and Dwarf character class choices seem synonymous with each other. You receive higher hit points and strength and you lose intelligence.

Elf and Medium seem equal to one another as well as far as choices go. Your hit point total is in the median range and these characters can use spells.

The mage has low hit points and low strength but gains extra intelligence and full use of spells.

Each character begins at 1st level. The Warrior, Dwarf, Elf, and Medium need 2000 experience points to attain a level and the Mage needs 2,500 experience points. You gain experience points by slaying monsters. You acquire gold pieces through defeat of your opponents which you can use to later boost your armor class while in the city.

You begin the game in the city which is depicted above. The first thing you’re asked is if you want more armor. If you answer yes you can pay gold to increase your armor class by 1. The cost is steep so you’ll find that you’ll need to go down into the dungeon, slay creatures, then make your way back.

Pressing the 1 key from anywhere in the city takes you down a passage to the first level of the dungeon. No matter what dungeon level you are on, each time you press the 1 key it will take you down another level. The lower you go the opponents become progressively tougher and your rewards (gold and experience) greater.

Pressing 2 on the keyboard moves your character to the left and pressing 3 moves your character to the right. Your character’s movement is depicted graphically in a side-scrolling fashion which is a bit different for 1980. You’ll see buildings moving by you when in the city and when in the dungeon you’ll see stalagtites hanging from the dungeon ceiling above you.

Pressing the 4 key anywhere in the dungeon will take you UP a dungeon level. So there is no need for any kind of mapping with this game. Pressing 1 always takes you down another level from wherever you are in the dungeon and pressing 4 from anywhere will always take you up a level. In this fashion it is relatively easy to grind your character to higher levels by surviving an encounter or two and then returning to the city to rest. There is no economy of food or anything else to keep track of.

If you press the 5 key you pause a turn without moving. If you press this key when in the city then it is the equivalent of resting overnight and you get all of your hit points back and any level progression you may have made while in the dungeon.

When exploring a dungeon level sometimes you can trigger a trapdoor which will drop you down a random number of levels.

When you encounter a wandering monster you have the choice to fight, cast a spell, or run. When you choose to fight combat is automatically generated for you and you then find out whether or not you emerged victorious. The different creatures you encounter are very diverse and pulled straight from the Dungeons & Dragons game.

There is no quest to perform in this game nor any kind of plot. It is a simple matter of going down into the dungeon beneath the city and battling wandering monsters for experience and gold.

I kept playing for quite some time until I attained 9th level with the super character that I created. You could keep playing this way indefinitely. The lower you go in the dungeon the more powerful the enemies. I guess if I’m a young kid and President of the Dungeons & Dragons club at school, I would have really liked this for my home computer in 1980.

Next up on the docket we return to my 1983 list for Cells & Serpents.

Until next time..

Dragon Quest was written by 17-year old Matt Pritchard and published by Midwest Computing for the Atari 800.

Dragon Quest is a dungeon crawler that has you exploring 90+ rooms in search of treasure. There is supposedly supposed to be a princess to rescue but alas I was unable to find the princess after much exploration. I probably spent more time with this game than I should have but the completist in me would not let it go.

Character generation involves rolling for your attributes, creating a name for the character and then choosing between dwarf, elf, and human for race.

I chose Fitz as the name of my character in honor of Robin Hobb’s outstanding Farseer Trilogy.

The game is very reminiscent of Super Quest however it adds a couple of very unique features. The most unique aspect of Dragon Quest is how it handles secret doors and their unique nature. Intelligence is the statistic that determines how successful you are in your search. The higher your intelligence the more likely you’re going to find a secret door if one exists. My character had a high intelligence of 17 but searching for secret doors was still a difficult task. You search for secret doors by hitting the (L)ook on the keyboard. Even if a secret door exists in the area it doesn’t automatically appear. You’ll find that you may have to hit the L key several times before one appears. A wandering monster was more likely to appear, much to my dismay, much faster than a secret door.

The secret doors are more like teleportation areas or warp zones that appear. They don’t necessarily have to be embedded in a wall. You may find that they appear in the middle of a room. When you go through a secret door most of them transport you to an area that is disconnected from the rest of the dungeon and only accessible by secret door or teleportation. These areas usually contain greater treasures or magical scrolls. You have to find another secret door to exit the area or leave via the way you came in. Other secret doors may take you to special areas within the dungeon that normally can’t be accessed. Like the room depicted above. There appears to be no way into the center of the room which contains a monster guarding a treasure. Later you’ll find a secret door that teleports you within the square where you’ll then be able to defeat the monster and take the treasure. Looking for a secret door within that square will allow you to escape its confines and return to the dungeon. There are two different areas like this in the dungeon. I spent a good 2-3 hours slamming the L key and going over every inch of the dungeon looking for the princess. I suspect I still missed something because I never did find the princess nor magical scroll #5.

Amad’s market is where you can purchase equipment which includes: regular arrows, magical arrows, healing potions, and holy water. The holy water acts much like an arrow or missile weapon. You press (T)hrow on the keyboard to hurl the holy water at an opponent. It is devastating to even the most powerful of undead creatures. A vampire that might take several magical arrows to slay can be bested by one or two vials of holy water. Amad’s market can be found at the beginning of the game however to access the market you have to (L)ook for a secret door and access it. If your character has a low intelligence score you may never find MANY of these secret doors. A high intelligence is an imperative.

The other unique feature of this game is its spell system. There are five magical scrolls that you can find numbered #1 through #5. Once you use the spell on the scroll it disappears so each spell is a one and done affair. I only found magical scrolls #1 through #4 and never did find the last scroll. The magical scrolls have the following properties:

Magical Scroll #1 – this is a kill spell. It immediately eliminates an enemy

Magical Scroll #2 – teleports you to your starting location in the dungeon

Magical Scroll #3 – an imprisonment spell that forms a block around your enemy

Magical Scroll #4 – this is an interesting spell. It creates a magical square around you that blasts a hole through a wall in four different compass directions. The dungeon location I teleported to and retrieved this scroll from had no exits nor secret doors I could find. I had to use this magic scroll to escape that area. When I blasted a hole in the wall and walked through it I wound up in Amad’s Market. My working theory is that if I were to restart the game over entirely; find the Magic Scroll #2 first (which teleports me back to the starting spot in the dungeon) and then obtain Magic Scroll #4, I would not have to use it to escape that area but would use the #2 instead. I have a hunch if I then took the time to wander all about that dungeon casting Magical Scroll #4 that it might take me to an area where I can find the princess. Or perhaps it leads me to Magical Scroll #5 which then leads me directly to the princess. I am relatively sure I did not miss any other secret doors or obvious solutions. What it boiled down to was choice. I had already spent probably way more time than I should have to this game; but I was enjoying myself. It didn’t seem practical to take the time to test my theory with such a daunting list ahead of me still. I am hoping that perhaps someone else will find the princess where I failed and then get back to us here with the solution. I definitely want to know the answer.

Now let’s get to the real star of this game. The map itself.

I’ll try to explain the map depicted above as best I can. Each numbered S is a secret door that teleports you to it’s match. For example S1 teleports you to the S1 location and so forth. You can see that most of these secret doors teleport you to isolated locations. These locations contain the greater treasures to find and the tougher monsters. The M on the map stands for monster and the T for treasure and these are at fixed locations on the map. You also have wandering monsters to deal with.

The graphics and movement through the game were quite smooth and seemed more fluid than many of the Dunjonquest games. I make that comparison because the gameplay and graphics are comparative to those previous games.

The game is one of economy because you’ll have to amass enough gold to purchase arrows, magical arrows, healing potions, and holy water. When I decided to end my search for the princess and move on, I was at a point where money no longer mattered as much. I had about 1200 gold pieces on me and was well stocked with all market items.

Combat involves melee with creatures that seem pulled from the Dungeons & Dragons game. There were giant rats, orcs, goblins, vampires, mummies, and others. Dragon Quest is a game in which you do not want to stand toe to toe with your opponent and hit the (F)ight key. You will end up getting decimated by even the weakest of creatures because you have no armor and there is none to find in the game. You want to stay as far away from your opponent as you can and rely on missile weapons to dispatch them. It will take MORE normal arrows to dispatch an opponent than what would be required of magical arrows but magical arrows are also 5x more expensive. There does not seem to be any experience or levels to be gained in the game. The goal here is one of exploration and to survive doing so.

I really enjoyed this game much more than I would have imagined and I probably have a good 8-10 hours invested in into it. I am very annoyed that I was not able to find the princess but felt that it was time to move on. There was no evidence anywhere of any kind of solution nor did I find evidence of anyone who was successful in finding the princess so I had to wonder and worry if this was not an emulation or “bug” issue.

Next up on the docket is Wizard’s City.

Until next time…

We’ve hit a bit of a milestone here with coverage of our 200th game on this journey. While I’m proud to have come this far the finish line is still nowhere in sight. To put things in perspective, if we were to compare what I’m doing here to hiking the Appalachian Trail, which spans 14 states and covers 2,200 miles, we’d be only about 20 miles into our hike at this point. However, I have greatly enjoyed the journey thus far and I am happy to report that my zest for this remains strong. Let’s take a look at our next entry.

Dragonsbane was written by Preston, Hunt, Rose, and More and published by Quicksila for the ZX Spectrum in 1983.

Dragonsbane is a 172 room dungeon packed with 40 different kinds of monsters and you are tasked with finding the princess and rescuing her. She is chained somewhere in the dungeon complex and you’re going to need to find two keys to free her.

What immediately struck me in a positive way were the game’s graphics. There was something about the black background, the layout of the screen, and the depiction of the creatures that really resonated with me. I really like the graphical layout as depicted above. I believe the layout is self-explanatory and I fell in love with the appearance and vibe.

There really are only 20 different types of monsters but they are represented by two different colors. So there are two variations of twenty different types of monsters and I enjoyed the graphical rendering of each of them. The game’s graphics evoke an atmosphere or charm that channels Darkest Dungeon vibes that wouldn’t appear for another 34 years.

This game oozes a uniqueness that I found charming. The dungeon layout is fixed but the monsters and items with each new game are distributed randomly.

Movement through the dungeon takes just a little bit of getting used to. You move using the number keys on your keyboard. 5 = left, 6 = back, 7 = forward and 8= right. The compass points are not fixed so when you move you’re moving in the direction you’re facing.

Each of the rooms are numbered and the map is fixed that way so it is a simple matter of writing the number of the room down and then linking them together to make your map.

There are also teleports that move you from one area of the dungeon labyrinth to the other. There were roughly five of these and mastering them is essential to a winning strategy.

It was obvious after playing the game for awhile that each of the dungeon denizens had a particular weakness or vulnerability. For example the skeleton succumbs easily to a bludgeoning weapon, the rat to a dagger, and the basilisk to a mirror. I thought perhaps then it was necessary to juggle your inventory and obliterate each monster obstacle with their appropriate weakness. I found that this strategy was greatly affected by the randomization of the objects and monsters in the dungeon with each new game. You also can only carry 7 objects at a time. Let’s step back from that line of thought and talk about food in the game.

When you begin each game you start with 16 meals. The game teases that consuming food increases your strength and endurance but NOT to gorge yourself; that you need to find the right balance of how much food to eat to rejuvenate yourself. I found that once your strength and endurance starts to wane, eating 3 meals will dramatically increase both of those meters. When your strength and endurance meters are relatively high, there is no monster in the game that can stand against you; defeating them is relatively easy. This places the economy of food in the game on center stage. Not all of the monsters are hostile. A few of them you can speak to rather than attack and your benevolence will allow you to trade with the creature. You can give it an inventory item in exchange for food. There are a couple of spots in the dungeon where you can find food and skill potions. All of this combines to create a strategy whereby your goal is to make your way through the entire dungeon while keeping your strength and endurance meters high. It is just combat that depletes your meters. Each step you take through the dungeon depletes your strength and endurance and running with this strategy can be a balancing act but it serves to ratchet up the tension which made the game even more enjoyable to me. The more combats that you win serves to increase your skill meter as well which means that measuring opponents against your strength and endurance meters falls more in your favor.

One of the two keys that you need to rescue the princess is guarded by a dragon lord. He looks impressive but again if your strength and endurance meters are high he is easily dispatched regardless of what weapon type you use.

You’ll need to find one of the hidden chutes in order to reach the area where the second key and princess are found.

I know these games are completely subjective but I really liked this offering. I liked having to create the map and work my way through the puzzle of it while dealing with the denizens. The graphics and the overall display really resonated with me. The battles too are highly entertaining in their descriptions as evidenced below:

I found this game to be extremely fun despite its simplicity.

Next up on the docket is Dragon Quest.

Until next time…

Labyrinth of Fear was written by Paul Barsby and published by Algray Software for the Colour Genie in 1983. This is the first game that I’ve covered for the Colour Genie which was a computer produced by Hong Kong-based manufacturer EACA and introduced in Germany in 1982. The BASIC was compatible with the TRS-80 and programs were provided to load TRS-80 programs into the Colour Genie. The operating system was a 16kb ROM containing LEVEL II BASIC.

The only other game created by Paul Barsby was Terry’s Travels which is a Frogger variant.

Labyrinth of Fear at first blush appears to be an obscure dungeon crawler. Your view is a first-person perspective featuring grid-based dungeon levels. You can turn 90 degrees and the wire-frame graphics are redrawn with every step that you take. I thought the main view of the maze was well done and movement through the maze seemed quick and fluid. Note that in the upper left corner next to the main view you are shown a layout of the maze as well as where the guards are located. The game is not really a role-playing game but falls more into the action category.

The documentation that comes with the game is rather sparse. The background information that you’re given is short and sweet:

You are about to return to the dawn of time when chaos and law battled for the souls of the infant human race, when all that stood between man and slavery were a few heroes. 

Deep in the forest of Kraaw lies the Labyrinth of Jarwon where, in the time before time began, those that came before kept the five secrets that can unlock the chains that bind man.

This same background information appears in a loading screen at the beginning of the game.

Your task in this game is to enter the maze and recover five blue boxes. The boxes are referred to as secrets. When you discover a box and pick it up you are told that you obtained Secret #1 for example.

You have an information panel to the left of your main view and it will display the number of secrets there that you’ve uncovered.

The five blue boxes are your ultimate goal but there are also many green boxes scattered throughout the dungeon level. The green boxes contain gold pieces. Some of these boxes contain guardians instead of gold that appear when you attempt to open the box. You can choose to simply walk by the box or you can stop and hit O on the keyboard that represents (O)pen. These guardians for some obscure reason are referred to as elementals.

The full gamut of your game controls are listed below:

Movement = 4 arrow keys

O = Open Box

P = Pay for passage (if you meet a guard or want to bribe the elementals)

F = Fight

Spacebar = Swing Sword

If a green box has a guardian attached then there is the possibility of combat. This is where the game becomes even more eccentric. You have two choices: 1) the elemental will allow you to move on if you pay a bribe – they will dictate to you how much – however be aware that you can bargain with them too. Thus gold is a very important commodity in the game. If you have a decent supply of gold coins you can bribe both guards and elementals and carry on in your search of blue boxes. If you have NO gold and open a green box that has a guardian attached you are not even given the choice of combat, the guardian deducts a random percentage from your strength score – sometimes as much as 10%. This is equivalent to a grievous wound. Allow me to explain.

Combat is a bizarre affair. The combat in this game reminds me of the Crown of Arthain.

When combat ensues the main view changes to display two characters facing one another. You then find yourself slamming your spacebar over and over again in order to defeat your opponent. I have found that even when you get very good at defeating your opponent that you lose about 15% of your strength score doing so. This means that you have to learn to economize your strength.

The addition of a timer further complicates the game. You are given a set amount of time to find the five blue boxes and the timer runs down as you move about.

Once I spent some time with the game the following strategy seemed to work the best. I would ignore most of the green boxes. I would take my chances with a select few in the hope that I could amass SOME gold. I would use my time to quickly navigate the maze, searching every inch while avoiding the four guards. Once I realized I had to deal with the guards in order to continue my search I used my gold to bribe the guards that I could and then resorted to combat to dispatch the rest. If you try and open all the green boxes that you find you’ll discover that the elementals deplete your strength score so much that you are unable to complete your quest.

There are also hidden pits within the maze that can drop you to a lower level. Each new level also presents the problem of four new guards.

I was finally able to obtain five of the blue boxes and once you accomplish this task the game quickly begins again.

This was another obscure title I had never heard of. I suspect that the game made my list of games to play because the cover and screen shots pass it off as a role-playing game.

I played Labyrinth of Fear on the Genieous emulator and it took me about two hours to beat the game. I want to give a shout out to @Bennett from our discord room who helped me get the game started. If you’re going to use the emulator to play this game you’ll need to attach Labyrinth_Of_Fear_A.cas and enter the following instructions:

Loading

SYSTEM (RETURN) 

At the *? prompt, type: 

L (RETURN) 

After a successful load, type: 

/ (RETURN) 

to start.

Wait about five seconds after the title screen has displayed, then Attach CAS and locate Labyrinth_Of_Fear_B.cas and then the game should run properly for you.

Next up on the docket is Dragonsbane.

Until next time…

The Dungeon Master was written by Graham Stafford and published by Crystal Computing in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum. Graham Stafford would go on years later to design the wildly popular Lemmings.

This is the second game I’ve played on the ZX Spectrum; the first being Ring of Darkness published in 1982. Despite the machine’s technical limitations I have to say I’ve greatly enjoyed both of these offerings for the machine.

The Dungeon Master is an interactive fiction RPG where you are tasked with finding 10 turquoise rings. The 10 rings are scattered throughout the dungeon complex and you’ll have to carefully map your progress as finding all 10 rings is a puzzle onto itself.

Your character’s skills are generated beforehand and you can increase these skills by finding various potions scattered throughout the dungeon. Survival in the game can be difficult and it took me multiple characters and several hours before I was able to complete my quest.

Strength increases your chances of opening doors in the dungeon and successfully attacking monsters.

Intelligence helps you in operating the magical artifacts that you’ll find during your exploration of the dungeon.

Wisdom helps you locate secret doors which plays a key role in the game.

Agility improves your armor class and an 18 Agility gives you a 4 point armor class bonus. It is also useful for picking locks. One interesting aspect of the game is that you can UNLOCK a door, this is nothing we haven’t seen before. However, after a door has been unlocked you can choose to LOCK the door again to minimize the risk of a wondering monster entering the room. This makes a lot of sense and it is the first time I’ve been given the option to do this in a role-playing game up to this point.

A high Health attribute gives you bonus hit points as you go up in levels.

Charisma is useful in dealing with traders you may meet on your journey.

There are two types of encounters in this game. There are fixed encounters and then there are random encounters. Encounters with wandering monsters can be quite deadly. When you encounter a dungeon denizen here are your options: FIGHT, MAGIC, RUN, WEAPON.

Fight launches you right into combat.

Magic allows you to attempt to use a magic item against your opponent.

Weapon transfers a weapon from your pack to your hand for active use. It will stay there until you drop it or choose to use a different weapon.

Run is the only way to break out of combat with a monster without killing it.

Once you enter combat the action is resolved for you in the background. Your opponent and you exchange blow after blow until only one of you is left standing.

You gain experience points for slaying these different monsters and gain different levels which serve to increase your hit points. Each new level has a moniker attached to it as well and I found the experience of “leveling up” rather enjoyable.

Navigating the dungeon is one of the puzzles of the game. Collecting 10 turqoise rings sounds like an easy affair but they are strategically placed about the dungeon and a couple of them are hard to navigate to.

I enjoyed using this graphic representation of the dungeon created by Chris Walsh. The dungeon is made up of corridors, archways, stairways, and secret passages.

There are three types of doors. Some are made of wood and can be broken down or need their locks picked while others are made of stone and even steel.

Archways can be very tricky. Some of the archways can be harmful for you to pass through serving to deplete your hit points while others can be beneficial.

Secret passages have to be actively looked for to find and some require a more difficult skill check than others. This can serve to be very frustrating and confusing as you may need to build up your attribute score before you can successfully find certain secret passages.

Magical items can be found in the different rooms scattered throughout the dungeon. Many different potions play a significant role in the game and consumption of the right kind is necessary in order to win the game. The effect of potions are as follows:

STRAWBERRY Potion – heals 1-10 hit points

RASPBERRY Potion – heals ALL hit points

GARLIC Potion – reduces Charisma by 1-4 points

CHOCOLATE Potion – inflicts 1-30 hit points of damage

LIME Potion – attracts wandering monsters

EGG Potion – Sets all attributes to 3 and hit points to 1

BLACKBERRY Potion – for the next 1 2 combat rounds after drinking you regenerate 20 hit points per round and gives a 4 point armor class bonus

CINAMMON Potion – increases Intelligence by 1-3 points

PINEAPPLE Potion – increases Agility by 1-3 points

BANANA Potion – increases Strength by 1-3 points

GRAPE Potion – increases Health by 1-3 points

LEMON Potion – regenerates 2 hit points per round

ORANGE Potion – strength is reduced by one every time you attempt to open a door

FIG Potion – reduces Strength, Intelligence, and Agility by 1-4 points

RICE Potion – gives 7 extra hit points but acts as a slow poison eventually causing death

GRITTY Potion – degrades armor class by 1-4 points

CHERRY Potion – gives 10 extra hit points increasing your maximum

Experimenting with these potions proved the death of me a couple of times and forced me to begin the game all over again. I had consumed a RICE potion with one character and could not figure out how I kept losing hit points. It eventually caused my death. In another game I consumed the LEMON potion and kept attracting a wandering monster with each step I took in the dungeon. This ended up being the death of me as well. I ended up winning with the character of Fitz whom I named after Robin Hobb’s most excellent Farseer Trilogy (my favorite series ever)

You can also find various magic items in the dungeon such as a Rod of Blasting, a Rod of Annihilation, and an Amulet of Finding.

The Rod of Blasting inflicts 1-10 points of damage on your opponent.

The Rod of Annihilation inflicts 1-50 points of damage on your opponent but rarely works.

The Amulet of Finding finds one hidden door per use.

I found that I was most successful resorting to physical combat rather than using magic. You can find magical weapons too throughout the game. I was lucky in that early on I was able to find an Axe of Destruction and then later I found a longsword which is exceedingly rare. Below is a picture of the character that I finished the game with.

I played The Dungeon Master on an emulator and it took me roughly 8 hours and three different characters to beat.

Another interesting addition to this offering is that you have the ability to design your own dungeons and then play through them. Existing dungeons can also be edited and the results printed for perusal.

I really enjoyed my time with this obscure title. This is another title that I had never heard of.

Next up on the docket is the Labyrinth of Fear.

Until next time…

The Wizard’s Castle was published as code in the July 1980 Recreational Computing magazine. It was written by Joseph R. Power and appears to be the only game ever created by this developer.

Matt Barton talks about The Wizard’s Castle in his Dungeons & Desktops book. Calling it an impressive feat that all of the game’s features are crammed into some five thousand lines of code. The full article on Wizard’s Castle can be found here at Matt Barton’s blog: The Story of the Wizard’s Castle.

In an interview Joe Power stated that he got the idea for Wizard’s Castle from an early game called the Hobbit. Here is the source code for the Hobbit released in 1979 for in CLOAD for the TRS-80.

1 ‘COPYRIGHT (C) CLOAD 1979
2 ‘K. WILLIAMS, 3250 VERMONT SW, GRANDVILLE, MI 49418
5 RANDOMIZE(348)
8 DEFINT A-Z
10 DIM H(9,9),M(9,9),A(7),D(14),AC(7),Z(4)
20 A$=”RUBY RED NORN STONEPALE PEARLOPAL EYE BLUE FLAMEPALANTIR SILMARILL “
30 D$=”SCHLOCK YNGVI GOLLUM MARDUK LOKI AZATOTH DAGON FENRIS ABRACAX SAURON CTHULHU SATAN “
40 CLS:PRINT”H O B B I T”
45 FOR Q=1 TO 3000:NEXT Q
50 CLS
100 INPUT”DO YOU WANT INSTRUCTIONS”;O$
110 IF O$=”YES” OR O$=”Y” THEN 2220
120 INPUT”WHAT RATING (1-NOVICE 9-EXPERT)”;N
130 N=INT(ABS(N)):IF N<1 OR N>9 THEN 120
140 FOR X=1 TO 9:FOR Y=1 TO 9:H(X,Y)=5:M(X,Y)=1:NEXT Y:NEXT X
190 REM PUT WARPS
200 B=20+RND*N
210 FOR Q=1 TO B
220 X=RND*9 :Y=RND*9 :R=RND*9 :S=RND*9
230 IF X=SANDY=R THEN 220
240 H(X,Y)=R*10+S:NEXT Q
260 REM PUT DEMONS
270 B=N+3
280 FOR Q=1 TO B
290 GOSUB 2440:H(X,Y)=-Q:D(Q)=1
300 NEXT Q
310 REM PUT AMULETS
320 FOR Q=1 TO 7
330 GOSUB 2440:H(X,Y)=Q*100:A(Q)=1
340 AC(Q)=3:NEXT Q
350 REM PUT RUNESTAFF
360 GOSUB 2440:H(X,Y)=-1*(RND*(N+3)):D(13)=1:Z(3)=X:Z(4)=Y
370 REM PUT ORB
380 GOSUB 2440:H(X,Y)=10*(RND*9)+(RND*9):Z(1)=X:Z(2)=Y:D(14)=1
390 REM PUT CURSES
400 FOR Q=1 TO 3:C(Q,1)=1:C(Q,2)=10:C(Q,3)=10:NEXT Q
430 IF N<7 THEN 470
440 FOR Q=1 TO N-6:GOSUB 2440:C(Q,2)=X:C(Q,3)=Y:NEXT Q
470 REM PUT FLARES AND ORACLE
480 GOSUB 2440:H(X,Y)=4:GOSUB 2440:H(X,Y)=2
490 REM PUT HOBBIT
500 GOSUB 2440:K=X:L=Y:PRINT”ALL RIGHT FUR-FOOT “
510 P=125+RND(12-N)
511 T=1:G=0:W=0:F=10:GOTO 1530
520 IF T>P THEN 2120
530 T=T+1
540 IF N<7 OR D(14)=0 THEN 650
550 IF C(1,1)=1 THEN 570
560 T=T+1
570 IF C(2,1)=1 THEN 590
580 G=G-(RND*5)
590 IF C(3,1)=1 OR A(5)=0 OR D(14)=0 THEN 610
595 PRINT:PRINT”‘YOU ARE UNDER MY POWER NOW…'”:FOR Q=1 TO 500:NEXT C
600 ON (RND*4) GOTO 810,830,850,870
610 FOR Q=1 TO 3
620 IF C(Q,2)<>K OR C(Q,3)<>L THEN 640
630 C(Q,1)=0
640 NEXT Q
650 PRINT:INPUT”YOUR MOVE”;O$
651 CLS
660 IF O$=”WAIT” OR O$=”WT” THEN 1530
670 IF O$=”NORTH” OR O$=”N” THEN 810
680 IF O$=”SOUTH” OR O$=”S” THEN 830
690 IF O$=”EAST” OR O$=”E” THEN 850
700 IF O$=”WEST” OR O$=”W” THEN 870
710 IF O$=”MAP” OR O$=”M” THEN 890
720 IF O$=”FLARE” OR O$=”F” THEN 1110
730 IF O$=”KILL” OR O$=”K” THEN 2030
740 IF O$=”LAMP” OR O$=”L” THEN 1200
750 IF O$=”QUIT” OR O$=”Q” THEN 1460
760 IF O$=”TELEPORT” OR O$=”T” THEN 1420
770 PRINT”EVEN A STUPID HOBBIT LIKE YOU”
780 PRINT”CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT”
790 GOTO 520
800 REM NORTH
810 K=K-1
811 GOSUB 2460
812 GOTO 1530
820 REM SOUTH
830 K=K+1
831 GOTO 811
840 REM EAST
850 L=L+1
851 GOTO 811
860 REM WEST
870 L=L-1
871 GOTO 811
880 REM MAP
890 CLS:PRINT ” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9″
891 PRINT ” +—+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+”
892 FOR X=1 TO 9
893 PRINT X;”-| “;
900 FOR Y=1 TO 9
910 IF M(X,Y)>99 THEN 930
920 PRINT ” “;
930 PRINT M(X,Y);” “;
940 IF M(X,Y)>9 OR M(X,Y)<-9 THEN 960
950 PRINT” “;
960 NEXT Y
970 PRINT
980 NEXT X:PRINT
985 PRINT”YOU ARE AT (“;L;”,”;K;”)”:GOSUB 986:GOTO 520
986 IF G>-1 THEN 990
987 G=0
990 PRINT”YOU HAVE”;G;”GEMS”
1000 PRINT”AND THESE AMULETS:”
1010 FOR Q=1 TO 7
1020 IF A(Q)=1 THEN 1040
1030 PRINT” “;MID$(A$,Q*10-9,10),
1040 NEXT Q
1050 IF D(13)=1 THEN 1070
1060 PRINT” RUNESTAFF”,
1070 IF D(14)=1 THEN 1090
1080 PRINT” ORB OF ZOT”;
1090 RETURN
1100 REM FLARE
1110 IF F>0 THEN 1140
1120 PRINT”EVEN A SCATTER-BRAINED HOBBIT LIKE YOU”
1130 PRINT”SHOULD KNOW WHEN HE IS OUT OF FLARES”:GOTO 520
1140 F=F-1:X=K:Y=L
1150 FOR Q=-1 TO 1:FOR QQ=-1 TO 1:K=Q+X:L=QQ+Y
1151 GOSUB 2460
1159 M(K,L)=H(K,L)
1160 IF M(K,L)>99 THEN 1170:PRINT” “;
1170 PRINT M(K,L);” “;:IF M(K,L)>9 OR M(K,L)<0 THEN 1180:PRINT ” “;
1180 NEXT QQ:PRINT:NEXT Q:K=X:L=Y:GOTO 520
1190 REM LAMP
1200 INPUT”WHICH DIRECTION DO YOU SHINE THE LAMP”;O$:X=K:Y=L
1210 IF O$<>”NORTH” AND O$<>”N” THEN 1220
1211 Q=1:GOTO 1250
1220 IF O$<>”SOUTH” AND O$<>”S” THEN 1230
1221 Q=2:GOTO 1250
1230 IF O$<>”EAST” AND O$<>”E” THEN 1240
1231 Q=3:GOTO 1250
1240 IF O$<>”WEST” AND O$<>”W” THEN 770
1241 Q=4
1250 PRINT”THE MAGIC LAMP SHINES AND AT “;
1251 ON Q GOTO 1260,1270,1280,1290
1260 K=K-1:GOTO 1300
1270 K=K+1:GOTO 1300
1280 L=L+1:GOTO 1300
1290 L=L-1
1300 GOSUB 2460
1301 PRINT”(“;L;”,”;K;”) YOU SEE “;:M(K,L)=H(K,L)
1310 IF M(K,L)<0 THEN 1380
1320 IF M(K,L)>0 THEN 1330
1321 PRINT”AN EMPTY ROOM”:GOTO 1365
1330 IF M(K,L)>2 THEN 1340
1331 PRINT”THE ORACLE”:GOTO 1365
1340 IF M(K,L)>4 THEN 1350
1341 PRINT”THE SPARE FLARES”:GOTO 1365
1350 IF M(K,L)>5 THEN 1360
1351 PRINT”GEMS”:GOTO 1365
1360 IF M(K,L)>99 THEN 1370
1361 PRINT”A WARP”
1365 K=X:L=Y:GOTO 520
1370 PRINT”THE “;MID$(A$,(M(K,L)/100)*10-9,10):GOTO 1365
1380 PRINT MID$(D$,-M(K,L)*10-9,10)
1385 IF K=Z(3) AND L=Z(4) THEN 1365
1390 PRINT”AND HE IS SO ANGRY HE COMES AFTER YOU”
1400 H(X,Y)=H(K,L):M(X,Y)=M(K,L):M(K,L)=0:H(K,L)=0:K=X:L=Y:GOTO 1530
1410 REM TELEPORT
1420 IF D(13)=0 THEN 1440
1421 PRINT”LAME-BRAIN HOBBIT MUST BE SUICIDAL”
1430 PRINT”TO TRY AND TELEPORT WITHOUT THE RUNESTAFF”:GOTO 520
1440 INPUT”X-COORD “;L:IF L<0 OR L>9 THEN 1440
1441 INPUT”Y-COORD “;K:IF K<0 OR K>9 THEN 1441
1450 FOR Q=1 TO 7:A(Q)=1:NEXT Q:G=0:M(K,L)=H(K,L):GOTO 1530
1460 REM QUIT
1470 INPUT “DID YOU REALLY WANT TO QUIT”;O$:IF O$=”YES” OR O$=”Y” THEN W=1:GOTO 1481
1480 PRINT”THEN DON’T SAY YOU DO”:GOTO 520
1481 PRINT:IF D(14)=0 AND W=1 THEN PRINT”WELL, LITTLE HOBBIT, YOU WON THIS ONE” ELSE PRINT “TOO BAD YOU DIDN’T WIN, HOBBIT”
1482 PRINT:GOSUB 986
1483 PRINT:PRINT”AND YOU KILLED THESE DEMONS:”:Q=0
1484 Q=Q+1:IF D(Q)=0 THEN PRINT MID$(D$,Q*10-9,10),
1485 IF Q”YES” AND O$<>”Y” THEN 1510
1500 PRINT”SOME HOBBITS NEVER LEARN”:GOTO 100
1510 PRINT”MAYBE DUMB HOBBIT NOT SO DUMB AFTER ALL”
1520 GOTO 9999
1530 PRINT”YOU ARE AT (“;L;”,”;K;”)”:M(K,L)=H(K,L)
1540 IF M(K,L)<0 THEN 1850
1550 IF M(K,L)=0 THEN 1650
1560 IF M(K,L)=2 THEN 1660
1570 IF M(K,L)=4 THEN 1630
1580 IF M(K,L)=5 THEN 1620
1590 IF M(K,L)<100 THEN 1790
1600 PRINT”WHERE YOU FIND “;MID$(A$,M(K,L)/10-9,10):A(M(K,L)/100)=0:GOTO 1640
1620 Q=(RND*5):H(K,L)=0:M(K,L)=0:G=G+Q:IF G>=0 THEN 1622
1621 G=Q
1622 PRINT”HERE YOU FIND”;Q;”GEMS”
1623 PRINT”YOU NOW HAVE”;G;”GEMS”:GOTO 520
1630 F=F+10:PRINT”HERE YOU FIND THE SPARE FLARES”
1640 H(K,L)=0:M(K,L)=0:GOTO 520
1650 PRINT”LOTS OF HOBBIT TRACKS IN THE DUST”:GOTO 520
1660 PRINT”YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ORACLE”
1670 IF A(4)=1 THEN 1690
1680 PRINT”THE OPAL EYE COMPELS IT TO ANSWER A QUESTION”:GOTO 1720
1690 IF G>19 THEN 1700
1691 PRINT”BUT YOU ARE TOO POOR TO ASK ANYTHING”:GOTO 520
1700 INPUT”WILL YOU SPEND 20 GEMS FOR 1 QUESTION”;O$
1710 IF O$<>”YES” AND O$<>”Y” THEN 550 ELSE G=G-20
1720 PRINT”WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW THE LOCATION OF”:X=0:Y=0
1730 INPUT”(EX: TO FIND THE OPAL EYE TYPE 400)”;Q
1740 FOR R=1 TO 9:FOR S=1 TO 9:PRINT”MUMBLE “;:IF H(R,S)<>Q THEN 1760
1750 IF Q<>0 THEN M(R,S)=H(R,S):X=R:Y=S:Q=0
1760 NEXT S:NEXT R:PRINT:PRINT
1770 IF X<>0 THEN 1780 ELSE PRINT”EVEN THE ORACLE DOES NOT KNOW WHERE THAT IS”:GOTO 550
1780 PRINT”THAT WHICH YOU DESIRE WILL BE FOUND AT (“;Y;”,”;X;”)”:GOTO 550
1790 IF K<>Z(1) OR L<>Z(2) THEN 1830
1800 IF O$<>”TELEPORT” AND O$<>”T” THEN 670
1810 PRINT”OH WOW!!”:PRINT”LUCKY HOBBIT NOW HAS THE MIGHTY ORB OF ZOT!”
1820 H(K,L)=0:M(K,L)=0:D(14)=0:GOTO 520
1830 Q=INT(M(K,L)/10):K=M(K,L)-(Q*10):L=Q
1831 G=G-(RND*5):IF G>-1 THEN 1530 ELSE G=0:GOTO 1530
1840 REM DEMON
1850 IF K<>Z(3) OR L<>Z(4) THEN 1870
1860 PRINT”BOLD HOBBIT THIEF NOW HAS THE RUNESTAFF”:H(K,L)=0:M(K,L)=0:D(13)=0:GOTO 520
1870 M(K,L)=H(K,L):IF M(K,L)>-1 THEN 1530
1871 PRINT”UH OH – YOU JUST RAN INTO “;MID$(D$,ABS(M(K,L))*10-9,10):Q=0
1880 Q=Q+1:IF A(Q)=0 THEN 2010
1881 IF Q<7 THEN 1880
1890 INPUT”HOW MUCH OF A BRIBE DO YOU OFFER HIM”;B:PRINT
1900 IF B>0 THEN 1930
1901 PRINT”NORMALLY “;MID$(D$,-M(K,L)*10-9,10);” WOULD EAT YOU,”
1910 PRINT”BUT HE IS AFRAID THAT YOU ARE SICK OR SOMETHING”
1920 PRINT”SO TEARS YOU INTO SHREDS INSTEAD”:GOTO 1481
1930 IF B=INT(B) THEN 1960
1940 PRINT MID$(D$,-M(K,L)*10-9,10);” DOESN’T UNDERSTAND DECIMALS,”
1950 PRINT”SO HE EATS CONFUSING LITTLE FUR-FOOT”:GOTO 1481
1960 IF B<=G THEN 1990
1970 PRINT MID$(D$,-M(K,L)*10-9,10);” DOESN’T LIKE HOBBITS WHO OFFER MORE GEMS”
1980 PRINT”THAN THEY HAVE, SO HE EATS YOU”:GOTO 1481
1990 G=G-B:IF B>(RND*(-M(K,L))) THEN PRINT”HE TAKES YOUR BRIBE”:GOTO 550
1991 PRINT”THAT WASN’T ENOUGH, SO HE EATS YOU”:GOTO 1481
2010 PRINT”BUT THE “;MID$(A$,Q*10-9,10);” PROTECTS YOU”:GOTO 520
2020 REM KILL
2030 IF M(K,L)<0 THEN 2040
2031 PRINT”YOU HAVE TO FIND A DEMON TO KILL IT”:GOTO 520
2040 PRINT”WHICH AMULET DO YOU ATTACK WITH”
2050 INPUT”(EX: OPAL EYE = 400)”;Q:IF Q>700 THEN 2050
2051 Q=Q/100:IF A(Q)=0 THEN 2053
2052 PRINT”YOU DON’T POSSESS THAT ONE, STUPID!”:GOTO 520
2053 IF AC(Q)>0 THEN 2055
2054 PRINT “THE “;MID$(A$,Q*10-9,10);” IS RECHARGING”:GOTO 520
2055 AC(Q)=AC(Q)-1
2060 REM
2070 PRINT”THE “;MID$(A$,Q*10-9,10);” ATTACKS AND “;MID$(D$,-M(K,L)*10-9,10);
2080 IF (RND*Q)+3>(RND*-M(K,L)) THEN 2090
2081 PRINT” IS STAGGERED BUT NOT DEAD”:GOTO 520
2090 PRINT” DIES”:B=(RND*50):D(-M(K,L))=0:G=G+B:M(K,L)=0:H(K,L)=0
2100 PRINT”AND HERE IS HIS HOARD OF”;B;”GEMS”:GOTO 520
2110 REM WIZBACK
2120 IF W>0 THEN 2150
2121 PRINT”OH NO!!!”
2130 PRINT”THE WIZARD HAS RETURNED”: IF D(14)=1 THEN 2170
2140 PRINT”BUT THE ORB OF ZOT PROTECTS YOU – FOR NOW”:W=RND(9):GOTO 650
2150 W=W-1:IF W<>0 THEN 650 ELSE PRINT “SOME HOBBITS KNOW WHEN TO QUIT”
2160 PRINT “YOU DIDN’T.”
2170 PRINT “WHAT A DELICIOUS LOOKING TOAD YOU MAKE”:Q=0
2180 Q=Q+1
2181 IF D(Q)=1 THEN 2190
2182 IF Q=12 THEN 2200
2183 GOTO 2180
2190 PRINT”AND YOU GET FED TO “;MID$(D$,Q*10-9,10):GOTO 1481
2200 PRINT”AND YOU GET STEPPED ON BY THE WIZARD”
2210 PRINT” S Q U I S H ! !”:GOTO1481
2220 PRINT”IN THIS GAME YOU BECOME A HOBBIT THIEF”
2222 PRINT”TRYING TO STEAL THE ORB OF ZOT FROM”
2224 PRINT”THE CASTLE OF THE EVIL WIZARD.”
2226 INPUT”HIT ENTER TO CONTINUE”;O$:CLS
2228 PRINT”THE CASTLE IS A (9 X 9) MATRIX FILLED”
2230 PRINT”WITH MANY THINGS. AMONG THESE”
2232 PRINT”THINGS (FOLLOWED BY THEIR NUMERIC REPRESENTATION”
2234 PRINT”ON THE MAP) ARE:”
2236 PRINT”GEMS (5), WARPS (11 THRU 99), SPARE FLARES (4)”
2238 PRINT”DEMONS (-1 THRU -12), AN ORACLE (2), AND”
2240 PRINT”AMULETS (100 THRU 700).”
2242 INPUT”HIT ENTER TO CONTINUE”;O$:CLS
2244 PRINT”ALSO HIDDEN IN THE CASTLE ARE THE RUNESTAFF”
2246 PRINT”AND THE ORB OF ZOT. THE ORB IS DISGUISED “
2248 PRINT”AS A WARP AND THE ONLY WAY TO GET IT IS”
2250 PRINT”TO TELEPORT INTO ITS ROOM DIRECTLY.”
2252 PRINT”IF YOU TRY TO MOVE INTO ITS ROOM YOU WILL”
2254 PRINT”GO PAST IT IN THE SAME DIRECTION.”
2256 PRINT”TO TELEPORT YOU MUST USE THE RUNESTAFF”
2258 PRINT”WHICH IS DISGUISED AS A DEMON. BE CAREFUL”
2260 PRINT”WHEN YOU TELEPORT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE YOU LOSE”
2262 PRINT”ALL YOUR AMULETS AND GEMS (NOTE: YOU MAY ALSO”
2263 PRINT”DROP SOME GEMS EACH TIME YOU MOVE).”
2264 INPUT”HIT ENTER TO CONTINUE “;O$:CLS
2266 PRINT”FIND THE ORB AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN BECAUSE”
2268 PRINT”THE WIZARD WILL RETURN SHORTLY AND ONLY THE”
2270 PRINT”ORB CAN PREVENT HIM FROM DOING TERRIBLE THINGS”
2272 PRINT”TO YOU.”
2280 REM
2290 INPUT”HIT ENTER TO CONTINUE”;O$:CLS
2291 PRINT”THE LEGAL MOVES ARE:”
2300 PRINT”NORTH OR N”
2310 PRINT”SOUTH OR S”
2320 PRINT”EAST OR E”
2330 PRINT”WEST OR W”
2340 PRINT”WAIT OR WT”
2350 PRINT”MAP OR M”
2360 PRINT”FLARE OR F”
2370 PRINT”LAMP OR L”
2380 PRINT”TELEPORT OR T”
2390 PRINT”KILL OR K”
2400 PRINT”QUIT OR Q”
2410 INPUT”HIT ENTER TO CONTINUE”;O$:CLS
2420 GOTO 120
2430 REM A
2440 X=(RND*9):Y=(RND*9):IF H(X,Y)<>5 THEN 2440:RETURN
2450 REM B
2460 IF K>0 THEN 2470
2461 K=9
2470 IF K<10 THEN 2480
2471 K=1
2480 IF L>0 THEN 2490
2481 L=9
2490 IF L<10 THEN 2500
2491 L=1
2500 RETURN
9999 END
65399 ‘** DONE – PRESS ENTER TO RETURN TO MENU **

Powell may state that he derived the idea from the Hobbit but the 8 x 8 grid-based game actually traces it’s origins back to the mainframe Star Trek game released in 1971.

The Star Trek game (which I actually played on Plato when I first began this blog and covered the early 1975 CRPGs) consisted of 8 x 8 quadrants and each quadrant was in turn made up of 8 x 8 sectors. Each sector could contain a Klingon warship, a Federation starbase, a star, etc. The Wizard’s Castle is a similar grid-based game but with an RPG setting.

Note the name of the kingdom in the game’s background: N’dic. There is a bit of a story behind that name. Joseph Power did not have a computer of his own to program on and he ended up getting permission from the owner of an East Lansing Michigan store called New Dimensions in Computing. He wrote the lines of the program on the Exidy Sorcerer on display at the store. The kingdom title, N’dic, pays homage to the store owner’s generosity.

When the game begins you choose your race from the following: elf, dwarf, man, or hobbit. You then choose between male and female and are then given base statistics for strength, intelligence, and dexterity based on your prior choices. You then have 8 points to distribute among the three attributes. I chose an elf and also allocated all 8 of my points into strength. You are then given a starting gold total of 60 gold pieces to buy starting equipment.

You can see by the picture depicted above that you begin play on an 8 x 8 grid. I was able to get the version working that was cracked by IPCO and an unfortunate by-product of this is that you can SEE every single portion of the map. In the regular version all of the map points are hidden by a fog of war. You only uncover what they are by moving into the area. One of the pieces of equipment you can purchase are flares. When you light a flare it reveals your immediate surroundings or in gaming aspects it would allow you to see adjacent grid spaces. This makes the flares an extremely valuable commodity. One of the treasures that you can find in the game is a lamp and the lamp serves to show you your surroundings on a grander scale. Even with the entire map exposed I found the game to be fun and challenging.

Each room or spot on the grid can has as contents one of the following:

E – the entrance / exit of the Castle

U – stairs going up

D – stairs going down

P – a magic pool you can drink from

C – a chest which may be opened

B – a book which may be opened

G – from 1 to 10 gold pieces

F – from 1 to 3 flares

W – a warp which transports you to a different level or different spot on the map

M – a monster (there are 12 different monster types)

V – a vendor where you can purchase more supplies

. – a blank spot on map

The game is text-based and as you move around the consequences of your actions are displayed to you.

When in combat you have three options that are available to you. You can choose to (A)ttack, (B)ribe, or (R)etreat. You do not gain any benefits from defeating these dungeon denizens. There is no experience to be gained and thus no level increases.

Whenever your intelligence becomes higher than 15 you gain the ability to cast spells as well. There are 3 to cast:

Web – traps the monster in a sticky web

Fireball – hits the monster with a ball of flame doing 2 – 1 4 points of damage

Deathspell – a contest of wills, whoever has the lower IQ dies

There are 8 major treasures that you can find throughout the castle aside from the Orb of Zot. They are listed below:

The Ruby Red – wards off the curse of Lethargy

The Norn Stone – has no special power

The Pale Pearl – wards off the curse of the Leech

The Opal Eye – cures blindness

The Green Gem – wards off the cures of Forgetfulness

The Blue Flame – dissolves books stuck to your hands

The Palantir – has no special power

The Silmaril – has no special power

Below are the 12 different types of monsters that you can encounter in the castle:

The game can prove to be somewhat difficult but the following strategy should get you to the finish line. I took a chance in the beginning with magic pools and books and used them to raise my attributes to 18 or higher. You HAVE to combat monsters because one of the creatures is guarding the fabled Runestaff. When you use the Runestaff you are teleported to a random Warp spot within the castle. Why would you want to teleport to a random Warp spot? Because one of the Warp spots…is not really a Warp spot..it is the secret location to the Orb of Zot. So once you have your attributes high enough that you can risk combat encounters, you battle all the dungeon denizens you can find until you obtain the Runestaff. Once you have the Runestaff in hand you keep teleporting UNTIL one of the Warps does not actually act like a Warp. Instead of teleporting you’ll find yourself kicked out adjacent to a Warp. Once this happens THAT particular Warp is the secret location spot for the Orb of Zot. You then go and get it. Once obtained you then make your way back to the 1st castle level to the (E)xit. Instead of pressing (U)p you want to go (N)orth from the exit and you’ll get the following screen:

It took me about 3 hours to win the game and though some might construe the game as simple this is highly entertaining for a game from 1980.

In the 90s there was a Windows conversion created of the game. I have not played the game myself but I hear that it is quite buggy. You can find the Windows conversion HERE

I was glad to come back in time and complete another offering from 1980.

Next up on the docket is The Dungeon Master.

Until next time…