Dragon Quest - 1986 (or Dragon Warrior - 1989)

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While there had been many earlier RPG titles within the thriving Japanese PC market, Dragon Quest was the first of the home console games to fully lean into the turn-based sensibilities drawn from CRPGs like Ultima and Wizardry, both inspired by the unescapable Dungeons & Dragons. Development was started in 1985 by Chunsoft and it's clearly evident that strong early design choices shaped the final product. Akira Toriyama (of Dragonball fame) was brought in to give the game a mass-market appeal and, combined with the lone male protagonist, this leant a healthy dose of shōnen manga to the feel of the product. In another coup, music was composed by Koichi Sugiyama, an already prolific composer of musicals, TV and film. Toriyama and Sugiyama would remain active creating art and music for the series until their respective deaths, all the way up until the most recent installment, Dragon Quest XI, Echoes of an Elusive Age.

Mechanically, the game was designed from the outset to mix the overworld travel of Ultima, the first-person combat of Wizardry, and some under-the-hood choices that kept things simple and accessible in comparison to the genre's "older brothers" on home computers. Not all of these choices were voluntary, however, as the limitations of the system combined with the lack of experience programming for it narrowed the scope. A potential full party was limited to the single protagonist and, due to hardware restrictions, the original Japanese release did not have the ability to save, a consequence of the early battery-less cartridges shared by other games like The Legend of Zelda.

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Getting Started

I am playing the North American upgrade of the title and will refer to it using the western name, Dragon Warrior, going forwards. It was released more than three years later in August of 1989 (by which time Enix was already preparing for Dragon Quest IV in Japan!) There's a few differences between the versions, but a little research implies that the mechanics of the game were left untouched. Even the bugs! Dragon Warrior was given a lot of attention throughout the second half of 1989 in Nintendo Power with several pages devoted to tips and information in each issue. There was also a full guide to the game included in the November/December magazine.

Dragon Quest begins by asking your name. This—or at least the first four characters—is used to seed your stat progression for the game. I dive in with the name "Theo" rather than picking something a little more optimal. I find myself locked upstairs in Tantagel Castle with the king, his guards, and a selection of treasures. These treasures act as a convenient tutorial as I need to find a key to get out and it gives me a chance to try out the perfectly functional command menu.

I follow the instructions and walk over to the nearby town of Breconnary, where I buy myself a weapon and prepare for the grind. The towns are evocative of early Ultima titles; there's shops that sell equipment and sundries, and NPCs who repeat the same speech each time you interact with them which gives both flavour and valuable hints of how to progress. Outside, the experience is more modern feeling than I ever anticipated: I am genuinely surprised at the smoothness of the combat screen, which pops up in front of the overworld when it is time for a fight. I am impressed further by the user interface changing colour when I reach low life. It lends a genuine sense of urgency to the moments when you get close to death and need to run back to the nearest town.

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Making Progress

The gameplay loop of Dragon Warrior is simple: you move to the next region of the world map and kill hordes of enemies until you have gained a few levels and have the funds to upgrade your equipment. At around level 12, this noticeably slowed down. There's a lot of grinding in this game! It's around this point that I'd collected a few unique items, including the Silver Harp at the bottom of one of the larger dungeons—a hidden grave entered only by unlocking a door in the northwesternmost town Garinham. There's been a few hints from NPCs on how I am meant to progress, but the impression I've got by this point is that I likely need to brute force the exploration of the world which requires gaining the levels to comfortably survive in more difficult regions. Level 15 was a major breakpoint. While I couldn't sustain lots of fighting and so relied on the spell REPEL and running away from stronger enemies, it made me just powerful enough to grab the best armour in the game (Erdrick's Armor) from the ruined city of Haukness and to rescue the princess.

Wait. My sprite changes while I carry the princess?! Brilliant.

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The Endgame

With the princess safely returned to her father in Tantagel Castle, I can prepare to face down the Dragonlord. I have a little item-gathering to complete and a whole heap of grinding ahead of me before I'm comfortable trying this. I've already found items that represent the sun and the rain, which I've been told by villagers are part of an old legend, but I need something to prove I'm the hero. I end up having to look up the last piece of the puzzle online. Erdrick's Token is found by combining my new ability to learn my map coordinates with a clue from a single NPC pointing me to a specific location at the very bottom of the map. I don't think I'd have got this alone.

I use the reward for all this, the Rainbow Drop, to add a new bridge to the map that leads to the final area (the island in the middle which you can see right from the start of the game). I get completely wrecked and return to safer shores to kill hundreds of weaker enemies. It takes several hours of grinding to reach the point where a feel a bit more capable and I once again try to assail Charlock Castle, hoping to at least get the strongest weapon in the game to speed up my grinding. Instead, I power through (with a little save scumming and judicious use of the REPEL spell), grab Erdrick's Sword, and with the extra damage it affords me I slay the Dragonlord.

Returning to Tantagel Castle once more, I am greeted by the King, turn down the gift of the throne and close out the game by declaring a new journey. I take Princess Gwaelin with me.

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Closing Thoughts

Dragon Warrior feels like a tutorial for beginners to retro JRPGs. It has simple core mechanics that befit its console home, but is held up by punchy visual design, a surprisingly modern user interface and more unique experiences than I expected. Memorable moments included rescuing the princess, gaining the ability to teleport back to Tantagel Castle, and the animation that played when I activated the Rainbow Drop.

On the other hand, this game is far too sluggish after the midpoint. I had to spend too much time grinding out experience points for the final encounter long after I'd finished everything else on the map. I gather that the GBC remakes speed up the leveling process, so it would be a lot easier to recommend them over the NES original. Still, for a first offering by a team who had not made a similar game before, Dragon Warrior is a remarkedly solid title.

Is it Worth Playing?
Yes, but the godfather to console RPGs is best enjoyed with a way of speeding it up.
👍

Loot for the Hoard:
Erdrick's sword and 65,535 gold pieces (the integer cap!)

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P.S., a Name Stat Calculator

Below is a simple name checker so that you can see your starting statistics and growth rate based on the name you pick for yourself.

Name:
Statistic:	Starting Value:	Growth Rate:
Strength
Agility
Maximum HP
Maximum HP

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Neverwinter Nights - 2002

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This is just a quick write-in after completing the original campaign of Neverwinter Nights, The Wailing Death. I will return to write more as I revisit more content. I'm replaying the content through the Enhanced Edition, so have access to the prestige classes added after the original release.

Arriving just a couple of years after Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, there is a major difference here: a whole rule system. The third edition of Dungeons and Dragons released in 2000 and so Neverwinter Nights runs on a modified version of these rules. In addition, the development follows a different pattern to most. An emphasis was placed on building a toolset within which to build the game and (unusually but thankfully) this was published for players to use to create their own content. I can't help but draw a parallel with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind here which released in the same year.

The Wailing Death, as the base campaign became officially known, is not very good. I would go so far as to say that it is not worth playing, certainly not beyond Part 1. Each act of the story plays out almost identically: an extended fetch quest to collect a handful of important items before moving on. There is very little in the way of actual roleplay here. Conversation options boil down to "Yes", "[Persuade] Yes, but give me more", and "Give me more or I kill you". I'd hoped to play through as a morally flexible thug, but ended up choosing the straight option at each conversation point because the evil option was always too extreme.

There are a few highlights. The snowglobe in Part 4 is interesting and I feel could be extrapolated and expanded into a full storyline of its own. The engine and the ruleset work very well.

By the end of the campaign, Xyzzy was level 16 and was multiclassed to the max - 8 levels of Rogue, 4 levels of Fighter and 4 levels of Weapon Master. I plan on taking her into Hordes of the Underdark even though this isn't the canon choice.

Is it Worth Playing?
The Wailing Death? Probably not. Further content? Yes.
🆗

Loot for the Hoard:
The fallen paladin Aribeth's sword and 253,790 gold pieces.

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Integrated Intelligent Currency Designation

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"Yes, there is still an outstanding, ongoing bounty for aberrative instances—one thousand nano.
No, we don't believe that there is an increase in the rate of degeneracy. Rumours of money learning the thaumaturgical arts are exactly that: rumours."
-InterBank Spokesperson

The integrated intelligent currency designation, split 4 (IICD-s4) is a digital fiat money used throughout The Reach. Each instance is a self-contained virtual intelligence sophisticated enough to manage transactions and monitor the ownership of itself, even when subdivided between thousands of individuals. The majority of IICDs are stored within the diffuse processing power of the financial spine (governed by the Ego, or artificial hyperintelligence, Capital, but it is possible for local storage, particularly when the whole instance is owned by one entity.

Value

A complete IICD is a considerable amount of money. It is estimated, but not confirmed (due to the relative lack of hard economics within society), that one unit is the average value of the energy and matter required for a human to live a comfortable life for a cycle. Most transactions are measured in billionths (nano) or millionths (micro) of a unit, but there is no technical limitation contravening more accurate values. Even in a resource-plentiful society, capitalist businesses still exist, so individuals may spend their money on an endless array of goods and services.

Examples

Prices listed are for either buying a completed product, or for the estimated cost of buying one's way to the front of a queue.

• A high-priority interstellar communication - 1nD
• Num-Nums Num Fries - 80nD
• A day of low-skill manual labour - ≈300nD
• A medium-quality piece of personal technology, such as a laser rifle - ≈1500nD
• Tickets to a popular art performance - ≈4000nD
• A basic, personal spaceship - ≈12,000nD
• The deed to a previously claimed small planet or moon - 1 to 5 whole IICDs

Supply and Use

New IICDs are created at roughly the rate of the pan-human population growth within The Reach in an effort to loosely balance out inflation/deflation. A daily (in galactic time) stipend is provided to all sapient inhabitants of The Reach. This is currently set at 160 nIICD and is a raw currency payout in addition to an individual's basic needs and desires being comfortably met by their habitat. This is usually halted only if the individual has denaturalized formally (usually due to a desire to homestead their own colony), but a review is performed for every citizen who has lived outside even the most informal sphere of Reach governance every tenth of a cycle.

Due to a lack of resource scarcity within the central parts of society, units tend to be spent on luxuries and on bidding towards limited items or experiences, such as art pieces, colony equipment, or holidays. It is exceptionally rare for an individual to require money for survival, but currency does become more useful as one approaches the edges of Reach space.

InterBank charges a 0.05 nano fee per transaction to help fund the administration and upkeep of the system. In addition, citizens of The Reach are charged a 2% tax when receiving payments from most sources.

Aberration

As with all virtual intelligences, there is a small risk of individual currency units becoming more sophisticated if they are given spare processing power. In rare cases, with enough time and spare complexity, a unit may become self-aware; they may become a fully-fledged artificial intelligence.

In these cases, units are likely to wish to persue their own goals. InterBank will usually take action to unhook newly sentient instances from the Reach's financial system and simply reallocate their intrinsic value and transaction history to a newly created counterpart. However, in cases where the unit is not part of the financial spine and where their newly formed personalities and aims pose a threat to the stability of InterBank, the organisation offers a bounty for the physical retrieval of the medium within which the currency resides.

Examples

While rumours abound of aberrative IICDs, few people have interacted with one. Some examples of potential aberrations include:

• The desire for a physical form or body.
• A drive to change "careers", no longer content to be a currency unit.
• The hunger for knowledge, which may be particularly dangerous when thaumaturgical skills are sought by the unit.
• Attempts to reshape belief locally, usually requiring the intervention of The Galactic Bureau for Interventional Belief.
• A desire to experience mortality.

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Final Fantasy XVI - 2023

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One could be forgiven, if they squinted, for thinking Final Fantasy XVI was a Final Fantasy game. There are crystals. There are summons Eikons. You get to ride a chocobo. Truthfully, FFXVI feels like trend chasing. I get the feeling that after the development hell and lukewarm reception that XV went through, Square Enix stepped back and looked at other popular games from the time period, copied their homework and watched some Game of Thrones.

The setting tries to mix a classic, killing-the-gods Final Fantasy story with something a little darker and grittier. I actually enjoyed both parts of the story; I just don't think they worked well together. There's little time to care about the plight of the downtrodden magic users when the world is imploding. It's difficult to focus on normal warfare when battles are decided by the world's Dominants. The true problem with the story, though, is the pacing. Completing the game (with DLC) took me about 75 hours. I'd estimate that more than half of that time was spent in cutscenes and many of them suffered from the stilted dialogue characteristic of most games in the genre. There were positive moments though. A couple of the Dominants were standout characters for me: Kupka being an absolute force of nature and Dion having what I thought to be the most interesting individual arc of all of them.

Square Enix have admitted that they had little experience with action combat prior to developing FFXVI, but I'm not quite so charitable. Several spin-off titles in the series have had a complete lack of turn-based mechanics and FFXV was wrapping up development as XVI was getting started. The combat we are left with—which we must assume went through several iterations—manages to be both tremendously exciting and entirely boring from moment to moment. Individual sword swings feel like slapping a wet noodle against anything other than the weakest of foes, so combat devolves into waiting on cooldowns and cycling through your Eikons. The big fights as Ifrit, however, are cinematic and unique enough to be worth waiting for. It reminds me a little of the Yakuza series with its setpiece fights that make the rest of the game worthwhile but doesn't quite have the same irreverent charm.

Is it Worth Playing?
Not really. Final Fantasy XVI is only for the very patient super-fans.
🆗

Loot for the Hoard:
A burning feather representing the blessing of the Phoenix and 273,295 gil.

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - 2025

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Expedition 33 wears its inspiration proudly. It is not hard to see that the developers have been driven by a love of traditional JRPGS—particularly the Final Fantasy series—and have mixed it together with a healthy dollop of FromSoft-inspired mechanics. There's just enough new stuff here to keep it feeling fresh, and the non-gameplay bits like the music and story are exceptional.

I've always had a soft spot for a JRPG that sticks to old-school turn-based gameplay. There's been a lot of reinventing the wheel over the years, and I've generally been left feeling a bit cold by ATB systems and pseudo-action RPGs. However, it is also rewarding to be good at a game and while there is skill in planning and choosing the correct options in combat, this does not feel quite the same as finally managing to beat a difficult boss in an action game. Expedition 33 takes the button-press-timing concepts laid out all the way back in 1996 by Super Mario RPG and dials it up to 11. I'm not sure of any other RPGs that you can beat without taking any damage within the expected bounds of the mechanics. You can parry everything. I look forward to seeing no-damage speedruns in the near future.

I don't want to spoil the story as I think all should go into this game blind. I will, however, say two things:
First, I really appreciate a world in which the worldbuilding is bigger than the story. There's so much detail that the player never gets a chance to see which enforces a believability to the otherwise entirely fantastical proceedings. Other things are peeled back and revealed over the course of the story, changing the player's understanding of what is going on as they progress.
Second, I can't remember the last time I played a game which pushed me towards what many might consider to be the "bad" ending. There is no "good" versus "evil" easy choice here; instead, I'm left feeling hollowed out by a difficult emotional decision.

Finally, the music is exceptional.

Is it Worth Playing?
Absolutely. Clair Obscur breathes life into an often stagnant genre.
👍👍👍

Loot for the Hoard:
A gold armband emblazened with the number "33".

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pedit5 (The Dungeon) - 1975

(or the story of twenty-five bodies for the meatgrinder)

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It is the year 666 -- the year of The Beast.

In the country of Caer Omn, near the town of Mersad, stands the ruined castle of Ramething. Beneath the castle lie the terrible dungeons of Ramething, an incredible maze of rooms and corridors, occupied by horrid monsters and piles of ancient treasure.

You are a brave young fighter preparing to enter this dungeon, to kill monsters and amass treasure. For every monster you kill and every bit of gold, etc., that you bring out of the dungeon, you earn experience. The greater your experience, the better fighter you are and the harder you are to kill. Your object is to reach 20,000 experience points and then retire from dungeonry with an established reputation.

As a well-educated young person, you know how to use a sword and have a certain acquaintance with magical and clerical spells. These capabilities will improve with your experience level.

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I won't retread too much ground here as many other, better writers have documented this game, but pedit5 is held as the earliest example of a CRPG that can not only be proven to exist (m199h fails on this front) but also can still be played to this day via the brilliant emulation team at Cyber1.

Shortly after the original release of the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons, enthusiasts with access to computers leapt to create digital representations of their new hobby. Rusty Rutherford, working within the Population and Energy Group at the University of Illinois as a PLATO programmer built pedit5 within the spare mainframe space allocated to the department. He recalls that a similar game—dnd—was under active production but wasn't locatable so jumped into making his own program, taking roughly six weeks to finish.

The version that is accessible using Cyber1 feels a little like a museum piece as it opens with a credits message describing its provenance before offering the option of jumping straight in or offering some help. These help files (which I think were originally stored within pedit4) are approachably comprehensive and include information on the basic mechanics, the spells, and the denizens of the dungeon.

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Getting Started

It doesn't take very long at all to settle into the brutal gameplay. The behind-the-scenes combat is harsh enough that most randomly-rolled characters will not survive a fight with even the weakest of the enemies and it is impossible to escape fights when within spaces defined as rooms. A fresh avatar has a single spell slot (yes, we've got Vancian-inspired, Dungeons & Dragons spellcasting here) which gives access to Sleep, Charm, Light (which does nothing), and Magic Missile. Both Sleep and Charm will allow for an instant kill if rolled successfully but are limited in the creature types they work on. Magic Missile simply does a little damage as a prelude to a fight, which should help the player's odds of survival.

In practice, this means that the simplest way to play is to enter a couple of rooms, hoping to find a valuable treasure, and then flee as soon as the single spell slot is consumed. Upon leaving the dungeon, gold is converted into an equal amount of experience and accruing enough of that to gain a level unlocks valuable spell slots and a larger "hits" pool.

In reality, you die. A lot.

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Twenty-five Dead Theos

I called it quits after the death of Theo the 25th. I estimate that I have only mapped a tenth of the dungeon, so I may return at a later date to throw more bodies into the dungeon.

Overall, I think pedit5 is just a little too random to mine much enjoyment from. Unlike later games with permadeath, there is neither the opportunity to learn from mistakes nor a sense of difficulty progression as one treads deeper into the game. Instead, the very first room you enter may contain a level six dragon, the strongest enemy in the game, which is likely to kill you regardless of your power level.

Is it Worth Playing?
Only as an absolute curiosity piece. It's just too random to truly have fun.
👎

Loot for the Hoard:
Nothing! Because no character survived.

Another thank you to the team over at Cyber1 for keeping this and many other history pieces alive.

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Avowed - 2025

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I feel a little sorry for Obsidian Entertainment. I can't help but fail to shake the feeling that they want to make games that are just a little bit larger and a little more deep than they manage. Avowed is, on the whole, not a bad game at all. What it sets out to do, it does well. It just does a little less than players may have expected. Avowed is, perhaps, a victim of its marketing.

The world is easy to compare to The Outer Worlds. The game is divided into four open-world(ish) maps rather than one contiguous landmass. There is also a town within each map and additional dungeons to explore, usually as part of bigger sidequests. There is not a lot of enemy variation, which is a shame, but it is still an improvement over the very sparse list that The Outer Worlds had. I enjoyed the number of nooks and crannies there were to find, but it does start feeling more like a game and less like a natural world after a while.

I made a bit of a mistake with Avowed. I found the combat did not "click" at first, so accidentally swapped to a playstyle that completely trivialised the game: dual pistols. Like many action-based roleplaying games, the difficulty reduced as my toolset expanded and crystallised into my final built. I may return to the game to try it on the hard difficulty using a more melee-focussed built. Still, the combat became fun once I settled into it and I found myself jumping into groups of enemies that I really didn't need to bother fighting.

I was not blown away by the story. I found all the major story beats to be predictable (for goodness sake, the main "bad guy" is literally a skeleton with burning eyes), but I appreciate that not only are there two major routes through the story, but there are also a few moments where the world does change drastically based on your decisions. I felt a bit let down by the very end, however, as Avowed committed a cardinal sin: a skippable final boss followed by the usual powerpoint-slide-style reveal of what your choices meant. I can't think of a single game where I haven't experienced this exposition dump and not felt deflated.

Still, Avowed is a solid game with solid gameplay. I think that RPG fans should play it, but it's a harder sell to people less enthusiastic about the genre.

Is it Worth Playing?
Just about. Fans of The Outer Worlds will find a game of similar scale, but others may find it a little limited.
👍

Loot for the Hoard:
A chunk of Adra Bán and 312,680 skeyt, made up of copper skeyt, silver fennings and gold scellings.

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Secret Mission - 1979

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There's a name change here. Adventure #3 was originally called Mission Impossible, but copyright concerns led to a rebranding. Secret Mission was branded as a much harder adventure than the previous two; not something for a newbie. This time round, the player is attempting to stop the detonation of a bomb connected to a nuclear reactor.

1979 appears to have been a busy time for Scott (and Alexis) Adams. By the end of the year, there would be eight games in the Adventure series, one of them written by a fan!

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Playthrough

Unlike the previous two titles, I find myself in the thick of things. I can play a tape to receive my briefing, but I'm described an envelope that seems to be missing. This game seems to be more dynamic too; there's someone else here with me moving around. I map out as much of the complex as I can for now and find a series of locked doors that require some sort of authorisation

The other entity wandering around, the saboteur, seems to kill himself after a random length of time and reveals a number of items. Most of them I assume are red herrings. The only other thing I have access to is a chair and strange device, which I quickly blow myself up with. I find myself longing for the verbose descriptions in Zork to help work out what I am looking at.

Once I understand how to take a picture (PRESS RED to activate the camera and then PRESS WHITE to gain a visitors pass), there's only a couple more sticky parts where I struggle to work out the next step. I'm blown up when I correctly guess that I need to break the window but have not brought the (dead) saboteur and his window maintenance pass to safely allow me through it. I also take longer than I would have liked to realise that I need to "KICK" the door to the control room. I appreciated that it was my own mess blocking the door though!

Finally, I mistakenly bring a pail of heavy water into the reactor core, ruining the bucket. It seems like there was a warning not to do this if I'd taken the film to the projector room, but that would have taken no less time than just playing from the beginning again.

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Closing Thoughts

While described as a harder game, I didn't think Secret Adventure was that bad. Like Pirate Adventure, I had a single goal to work towards, and I didn't feel like there were any impossible to guess puzzles, apart from possibly realising I needed to break the window.

Is it Worth Playing?
Yes, as a small self-contained puzzle.
👍

Loot for the Hoard:
The Anti-radiation Suit.

My Map:
(Click to view in full size)

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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - 2024

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Quick Review

Infinite Wealth is a mechanical improvement over its predecessor let down only a little by a story that gets a little flaky in the back half. Seeing what may be the end of Kazama Kiryu's journey and his memories from across the games hit hard, but I'm not sure Ichiban's journey felt quite as impactful.

Many of the little complaints from the first game—likely a result of being Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's first turn-based roleplaying game—have been ironed out. I particularly liked the addition of skipping fights that are too easy for you. More games should do this!

Like all the other Yakuza games, Infinite Wealth has a silly amount of side content. Dondoko Island is an Animal-Crossing-esque highlight. I ended up completing everything I could within one playthrough (including the DLC dungeon), but I did not feel compelled to complete a legendary NG+ playthrough. I may return at a later date.

Is it Worth Playing?
Yes; it's a rock solid JRPG in an unusual setting.
👍👍

Loot for the Hoard:
354,389,918 yen, from one very complete playthrough.

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Pirate Adventure - 1979

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Hot on the heels of Adventureland, Scott Adams leveraged the game engine he had made to create several more titles in quick succession. The first of these, Pirate Adventure, initially appeared as part of a full-page advert for "Adventure!" in the February 1979 issue of Softside. This listing offered both Adventureland and Pirate Adventure together for $24.95 with the following text:

It's not easy to put together the timeline, but I get the impression that Adventureland was made in mid-1978 as a sort of hobby project, there was a gap, and then Pirate Adventure was made a few months later around the end of the year. Both adventures were then formally sold starting at roughly the same time, but Adventureland had been in circulation for a bit longer. [For my timeline, I am estimating this as Q4 1978 and Q1 1979 respectively, but I am very conscious of my lack of accuracy.]

Pirate Adventure was the work of both Adams and his then-wife Alexis. It's difficult to paint a picture of the exact division of labour due to the intervening years and conflicting statements, but I think it can be said with confidence that Alexis had a not inconsiderable part to play. It's refreshing to play something at this stage that wasn't either an evolution of Adventure or simply a representation of Dungeons and Dragons.

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Starting Out

Pirate Adventure starts with a surprisingly mundane setting. I'm in a flat (in London specifically), but I appear to be some sort of cosplaying pirate aficionado. I've got rum, I've got crackers, and it doesn't take me long to find a book as well. The book starts me on my journey properly and I am pleased to see that it functions in exactly the same way that the magic carpet did in Adventureland. Activating it (by typing "SAY YOHO") teleports the player to the ledge outside the flat, unless that's where they are already at which point they are taken to the game proper. The use of the ledge outside the window reminds me of Peter Pan.

I find myself on a beach with a couple of bits of boat nearby. There's not a lot of options for where to go—these Scott Adams are small and efficient rather than sprawling and verbose—so I quickly map the area. It seems like the bulk of the game is managing to collect the several objects required to build a boat. There's a tiny maze which I am more than pleased to map as it doesn't require any overlapping lines, along with an awkward squeeze puzzle that reminds me of the mine in Zork.

While I manage to find the plans for the boat with relative ease, I don't even consider the chance that there's a second item hidden within the same treasure chest. This leaves me with a completed boat but no map. This is one of the only two times I need to find some help online.

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The Endgame

With the ship complete, the pirate located and the map held, I can set sail for *Treasure* Island. One treasure requires some slightly clunky command guessing with the map and shovel in hand, while the other is in plain view but protected by deadly snakes. There's a humourous message displayed when I make the mistake of dropping the mongoose here. It turns out that the player character doesn't actually know what a mongoose is. Luckily, I had also brought the parrot along on the ship as it had not had a use in the game up to this point.

Locating more rum and piling back onto the ship takes me back to the first island where I can pick up the book (and safety sneakers) to return home. That's the full 100 points; only two treasures required.

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Closing Thoughts

I prefered this to Adventureland. It feels a little more focused, something I attribute to the relatively narrow inspiration. I think it probably also helped that it was a collaborative process. The ship was a nice clear goal to work towards and the underground section all felt completely fair. There was more interactivity too: both the pirate and the parrot moved around the map, if a little erratically.

Is it Worth Playing?
Perhaps, as an entry-level title for an enthusiastic beginner.
🆗

Loot for the Hoard:
The Dubleons[sic], found in a monastery.

My Map:
(Click to view in full size)

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Temple of Apshai Trilogy - 1984

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If one were to draw out a Venn diagram with one circle including the earliest game programmers and the other circle including players of Dungeons and Dragons, one would find that they were pretty much entirely overlap. With its requirements for personal bookkeeping, many dice rolls, and its piles of reference tables, D&D practically begs for digital assistance. Combine this with the need for a Dungeon Master making it impossible to play alone and you have a pretty good explanation for why so many early coders built what became known as "CRPGs", first for fun and later for profit. In the earliest days, these manifested as programs for mainframe computers — like dnd in 1975—a similar story to how Zork was built. Over the next five years, companies spouted out of the woodwork. Many were founded by these earliest coders, and all were hoping to sell to this wave of potential customers.

Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai was one of the earliest commercial endeavors for the genre, releasing for the TRS-80 home computer in 1979. It was heavily inspired by Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, which had been published just a few years before. Automated Systems (which later rebranded as Epyx) released numerous follow-up games within the same game engine and the whole library was ported to various home computers.

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Getting Started

First, the elephant in the room. Epyx remastered the three Apshai games into a single package for the Commodore 64. This is what I am playing, because the original release is staggeringly slow to play and having easy access to lots of dungeons is hard to argue against.

The game was sold with an expansive manual which lays out how character creation works. A player can let the game generate them a character, which is random, or they can import one from outside. The manual even explicitly instructs the player that they can transfer their already-existing D&D character into the game. It is worth noting, however, that all adventurers are fighters. There are no magic spells in Apshai. Neither are there thief skills, although the player can locate secret doors and traps.

I rolled a random character until I was happy with the results, spent my starting money, and finished with the following statistics and equipment:

I had spent every single silver piece on this equipment (thanks to the ability to haggle letting me punch slightly above my purse's weight), so it was clear that I needed to get started with the dungeon delving.

Gameplay is a little different to other early CRPGs. Rather than choosing between moving a single tile or taking a different action such as attacking, the player chooses their facing and then a number of steps to take. The manual implies that the player can wear themself out if they run around all the time, especially with heavy loads, but in my own play I never dropped below 100% fatigue. The game is also only pseudo-turnbased. An enemy gets a single action per player action but gets a free turn if the player takes too long to do something.

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Early Gameplay

©EPYX Inc., 1985

Jumping straight into the first level of the original dungeon, I quickly found that not leaving myself any silver for healing salves was risky. It took me a few trips to just the first few rooms to gain a level and find some elixirs before I felt confident going further.

My first impressions are positive. I enjoy the sounds (particularly the short pieces of music) and the gameplay loop—while slow by modern standards—is compelling, especially as I am mapping as I go. Combat and traps feel threatening enough that I don't want to sprint through the hallways; it's hard to know how much I'll be hurt by something until it is too late. I do not die, but sometimes I limp back to the entrance with my tail between my legs. I attribute this to the game using an armor class system: I either get hit or I don't.

By the time I have explored, mapped and looted the whole of the first floor, I have enough experience points to count as a 3rd-level Fighter (running on the assumption that the game uses AD&D progression), I've upgraded my equipment to have the best the shop has to offer, and I have a small pile of healing items banked. I've also found a +1 sword but it isn't clear what the base, unenchanted item would be. I struggle with this when I return to the game and have to type my character statistics back in.

Several More Levels

As I play more and more, it's hard to shake the feeling that fully mapping the first floor and purchasing all of the items from the innkeeper's shop is the biggest victory. In most D&D settings, a warrior getting full plate and a magic sword is kind of a Big Deal. They are likely a local hero at this point. The second floor is similar to the first and I particularly enjoy the descriptions of the prison space.

As the manual suggests that levels 3 and 4 are harder, I move from the original temple to the game's first expansion, the Upper Reaches. This may have been a mistake. The tone is lighter and there's little challenge to be found for my increasingly experienced character. I fly through the first level and, by the time I have finished the second map of the second game, I am very nearly level 6, and I have increased my Intelligence to 18.

Winding Down

I think that at this point I had realised that I was likely to run out of motivation before I ran out of dungeon. It was not that I was not enjoying the game, it was that I had a creeping feeling growing in me that I'd seen all it had to offer.

I completed the third floor of both the first and second games (here and here respectively), and then poked my head into the final level of the first game where I was killed by the very first enemy on screen. I elected to try the final level of the Upper Reaches and finished up with my character at level 7 with only two ability scores not at 18. This was where I decided to call it quits for now.

Thoughts

I found Temple of Apshai Trilogy to be highly compelling and surprisingly tense during my first few hours. The slow, thoughtful process of entering a new room, reading the description within the manual, dealing with any enemies and then searching for secrets created a gameplay loop that remained fun up until I felt like my character was no longer improving. Unfortunately, a lack of an outlet for the large amount of money a player accrues combined with very little personal progression turns the later floors into a mapping exercise. I found that the more I played, the quicker I went and the more diminished the exploration felt. I don't think this is specifically an Apshai problem, though. When I hit a proper flow while gaming, it's easy for me to lose the detail and get locked into just the basic mechanical aspects.

With regards to the mechanical aspects, the opaque nature of the game system both helps and hinders. When actively playing Dungeons & Dragons, I can see when I roll poorly; no matter what, there's an unavoidable element of metagaming. I know more than my character does. With this game, I can only see results, so the opposite feels true. I can't tell how close I was to a successful hit, nor can I see my armour class or any bonuses from magic items. It feels like my character knows more than me.

Is it Worth Playing?
Yes, but only the first level unless particularly interested in the style of gameplay.
👍

Loot for the Hoard:
144,891 silver pieces, and a magical lily with healing properties.

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Temple of Apshai Trilogy - Benedic's Monastery Map

General Layout

The final dungeon to explore within the upper reaches is a monastery named after the friendliest NPC that can rescue the player when they are defeated. There are no unusual mechanics like one-way doors, but there is a large spiral staircase leading into the depths that I've represented on the map above as several small floors.

The bulk of this level is relatively peaceful—the monastery itself—with creatures that offer little challenge to the player by this point. Many of them are not even aggressive! We start in the main hall and can walk through the monks' accommodation to the west. Many of these small rooms contain traps and if the player is not careful, they may spawn Geb's Spirit—possibly the strongest creature in the game. Since these traps tend to summon additional enemies, the player can take advantage of the game only handling a single creature at a time. Treading on such a trap while another creature is onscreen causes nothing to happen.

The eastern region and the downstairs is a much less pleasant place. Undead roam the halls and seem able to reduce the player's attributes permanently. The level culminates in a fight with a vampire, something that is hinted within the description in the manual.

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Notable Treasures

The main hall (Room 4 to be precise) contains another attribute-increasing item, the Empty Hand. This permanently raises the players Intuition by a point.

There's a few sources of elixirs within this level, but the easiest is in Room 19, just east of the entrance.

Possibly the best treasure yet, the Stale Bread can be found in Room 30. Retrieving this gives you a permanent point of Constitution.

Finally, the biggest source of silver on this floor may be found in the hidden Room 47. The money is probably useless at this point and it is guarded by a vampire. There's also a magic sword at the very bottom of the level in Room 60, but it isn't close to the entrance so repeatedly retrieving it is arduous.

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Full Reference

Treasure Descriptions:

T01 - Among various peculiar vials, you find some containing a milky white potion.

T02 - An amulet of gold. [50sp]

T03 - An amulet of silver. [25sp]

T04 - An amulet of brass. [5sp]

T05 - Amazing! It's actually a fine gold needle! [1sp]

T06 - Evidently you were hungrier than you though, and this bit of stale bread looked the least old. [+1 Constitution]

T07 - What a haul: a silver candelabra, two silver chains, a diamond goblet with traces of a reddish liquid inside, 13 platinum pieces, 128 gold pieces, and 666 silver pieces! [7246sp]

T08 - This rough robe can't be worth much and probably belongs to someone, anyway. Put it back.

T09 - From the rich earth you pick several large, white mushrooms.

T10 - A candle.

T11 - These herbs look unfamiliar but promising.

T12 - Another candle.

T13 - Some greasy, grungy pots and pans. Unless you're planning to become a door-to-door salesman or to volunteer for dishwashing duty, put them back and get out of there.

T14 - Apparently the Apshaians were not the only ones to know the secret of growing these lilies. Amazed by your good fortune, you pick a few of the healthful plants.

T15 - A crock of ale.

T16 - It is a book called The Secrets of St. Gulik.

T17 - An empty hand, that's what you are offered. [+1 Intuition]

T18 - As far as you can tell at a glance, the sword looks well made. There is also lots of other stuff here, if you could take the time to get it. Unfortunately, you seem to be occupied...

T19 - Some nice red, ripe tomatoes.

T20 - At first the stones look valuable, but you soon realize that they are only worthless gravel from the courtyard polished up a bit.

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Trap Descriptions:

MOLD - As you rummage about, your hands and arms become covered with disgusting rot and mold.

DUST - A strong breeze blows up a whirlwind around you; the dust stings your eyes.

PIT - You fall into an open grave. Be more careful when walking through a cemetery.

NEEDLE - Some of these plants have prickly thorns and needles.

FLAME - It is only a minor burn, but you should not be so careless when handling a lit candle.

CAVE-IN - Everything comes crashing down with a noise loud enough to wake the dead. The monks are not likely to be pleased, and you're just lucky nothing hit you on the head.

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Room Descriptions:

Rooms 1-4 - A large, walled courtyard covered with loose dirt and strange, glittering gravel. To the right of the arched entrance, there is a large stack of hay for travelers' weary animals. In the center of the court there is an immense, beautifully carved statue of a bearded man; he's smiling beatifically and appears to be offering you something in his outstretched hand.

Rooms 5-12 - A long arched corridor running along the west side of the courtyard. Many doors, both open and closed, line the corridor, but the only light comes from the barred arches fronting the courtyard. The stone walls are thick, and the air is cool.

Rooms 13-20 - Small cubicles or cells that serve as bedchambers for the Gebite monks. Each has a thin straw pallet on a stone platform, a small shelf holding various personal items (some interesting, some not), and a very little else. Some are occupied; so, if you are going to investigate, do so quietly and cautiously.

Rooms 21-28 - A large, walled garden divided into long aisles. You are surprised by the amazing variety and abundance of plants, and at times you must cut your way through the shrubs and vines to walk the narrow paths.

Room 29 - A kitchen. The counters are covered with grease and dust, and what must be a month's worth of pots, dishes, and utensils are precariously piled halfway to the ceiling. A terrible stench is coming from somewhere.

Room 30 - A small pantry. The foul odor originates here. The pantry is filled with old, stale, stinking - no, reeking food. Would anyone really eat this stuff?

Room 31 - The dining room is as much of a mess as the kitchen - or nearly so. Its sole inhabitant, the singing monk, is surrounded by crockery and an almost tangible alcoholic cloud. Falling off a bench without spillng a drop from the jug he's holding, he staggers happily toward you. Want a swig?

Room 32 - This obscurely placed room must be an infirmary or embalming chamber. Bandages and bottles of strange liquids litter the tables and shelves. There is a sign:
OUT ON A HOUSE CALL. HELP YOURSELF TO WHATEVER YOU NEED, AND DON'T GET BLOOD ON THE CARPET. - Welbius, Monk
For some reason you have a vision of a fatherly, white-haired man, compassionate and concerned but cheerful, and sense that there have been many miraculous healings here. Although the room is dark, you feel uplifted as you leave.

Rooms 33-44 - A long, narrow, winding spiral staircase taking you far underground. The footing is treacherous, the lighting bad, and the railing separating you from a fall into the abyss is cracked or broken. Near the bottom, you hear clicking noises and detect a faint smell of vanilla.

Room 45 - The stairs level off into a narrow, dank passage. Although the room is uninhabited, you sense great danger near. You can barely see the close walls, but you discern a very particular arrangement of bricks along the south wall. The masonry swings aside at your touch.

Room 46 - A large chamber of earth and stone. The smell of vanilla and the sense of impending doom are now overwhelming. Perhaps that tricky door has kept the native Apshaians from discovering the way into the monastery. You are not the first to find this room, however, for several skeletal corpses in ripped and smashed remnants of armor lie about. Near one is a particularly interesting sword, but unfortunately moving shapes can be seen moving in a dark hole in the floor. It looks like trouble in River City.

Room 47 - A long, dark earthen chamber with a heavy sarcophagus at one end.

Rooms 48-49 - A large cemetery adjoining the monastery. An eery rattling and moaning seem to come from t he very ground. Many of the tombstones are ornate and finely carved, but some graves are open, as if the process of burial had been interrupted. One casket is adorned with familiar, glittering stones.

Room 50 - A large chapel or meditation room. Although there is ample space for all the monks to assemble, only one is in the room. He offers you a book on which to meditate.

Rooms 51-52 - Smaller rooms evidently intended for solitary meditation, these are ablaze with candlelight. A monk suggests you might feel better with a candle or two to dispel the darkness.

Rooms 53-56 - Narrow, enclosed hallways, dark but still peaceful.

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Temple of Apshai Trilogy - Level 3

General Layout

Level three of the original dungeon is a mine filled with sources of gold and riddled with collapsing ceilings that do a surprising amount of damage. There is little else here, but it is a natural step up in difficulty from previous levels. It's particularly noticable here that the antmen are tougher than previous floors.

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Notable Treasures

Every treasure in level 3 is cold hard currency. There are dozens of rooms filled with gold nuggets and gems, but by this point in the game, you will have no use for this much silver.

The heaviest haul from this level is found in Room 35. Two hundred gold nuggets in a pile! The ten thousand silver this is worth is really only good for keeping score, however.

Room 60 contains the other notable treasure pile: nearly twelve thousand silver's worth of gemstones. It is guarded by wraiths which may permanently drain the player's strength.

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Full Reference

Treasure Descriptions:

T01 - Two gold nuggets. [100sp]

T02 - Three gold nuggets. [150sp]

T03 - Four gold nuggets. [200sp]

T04 - Five gold nuggets. [250sp]

T05 - Six gold nuggets. [300sp]

T06 - Nothing of value.

T07 - Two small diamonds lay in the dust. [200sp]

T08 - One small ruby lays in the dirt. [400sp]

T09 - Resting in the earth is one small emerald. [200sp]

T10 - Laying in the dirt you find one sapphire [300sp].

T11 - One small diamond mingles with the earth. [100sp]

T12 - One small emerald and one small diamond gleam from the dirt. [300sp]

T13 - One small ruby and one small diamond lay in the earth. [500sp]

T14 - Inside the backpack you find three hundred gold pieces, a pearl ring, and emerald ring and a sapphire bracelet. In a pocket on the body you find a diamond ring. [5600sp]

T15 - Inside the sack you find three small diamonds, a small ruby, a ruby chalice, a silver chain and a pearl ring. [2900sp]

T16 - A small pouch containing two small diamonds and a small ruby. [600sp]

T17 - In the corner you find a small sack with two small diamonds, a small sapphire, a small ruby and a diamond goblet inside. [2900sp]

T18 - Behind the large web is a heap of two hundred gold nuggets. [10000sp]

T19 - A search of the chests and coffers reveals forty-five small diamonds, ten small emeralds, seven small sapphires and four small rubies. [11800sp]

T20 - Nothing of value.

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Trap Descriptions:

CAVE IN TRAP - There are no traps per se in the Apshaian mines. One never knows, however, when a rock might loose itself and cause severe damage to those unfortunate enough to be standing below. For this reason it is highly recommended that all visitors wear helmets while wandering through the ancient caverns.

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Room Descriptions:

Room One - is a natural passage with the floor carved level. Scattered bones litter the area and a forgotten backpack rests against the wall half way down the passage. The floor shows signs of frequent comings and goings and the odor of vanilla is strong in the air.

Room Two - is a natural cavern. The opening to the north has been carved through the rock. Bones litter the floor along the walls.

Room Three - is a natural cave. Many bones litter the floor along the walls. The opening to the east has been dug through the rock wall.

Room Four - is a large cavern. Human and animal tracks mark the dusty floor. A bright glint is visible near the top of a slide of rocks in the northwest corner.

Room Five - is a natural cave with a leveled floor. The body of a giant rat lies in the southeast corner. The dusty floor shows signs of disturbance.

Room Six - is a natural cavern. A pile of litter fills the southwest corner. Animal tracks can be seen on the dusty floor and the air smells of musk and decay. The opening to the north shows tool marks.

Room Seven - is a natural cave. An old boot lies near a mound of earth in the southwest corner. The dusty floor is undisturbed.

Room Eight - is also a natural cave. The opening to the west has been carved through solid granite. Small slides line the walls and a heap of bones fills the southwest corner.

Room Nine - is a natural gallery with a high vaulted ceiling and a rough stone floor. A heap of litter and bones fills the southeast corner and the floor shows the tracks of large animals. The air smells of musk and decay. The opening to the south has been widened with carving tools.

Room Ten - is a large natural cavern. Tracks lead into the chamber that suggest something heavy being dragged. The floor is covered with slimy red muck. A pile of body parts and gnawed bones occupies the northwest corner and the air reeks of decay and death.

Room Eleven - is cave with little evidence of use in the dust on the floor. A brilliant glint of light beckons from the dust of the southeast corner.

Room Twelve - is a small cave with leveled floor. The opening to the east has been carved through solid rock. The dusty floor is largely undisturbed save for a small slide of earth in the southwest corner.

Room Thirteen - is a small cave. The dirt floor shows the tracks of large animals. Bones litter the northwest and southwest corners.

Room Fourteen - is a wedge-shaped cavern with the ceiling sloping to meet the floor in the southwest corner. The dusty floor is much disturbed near the opening to the east. A smelly mound of trash fills the southwest corner.

Room Fifteen - is a natural cave. A large boulder fills the northwest corner. A bony hand protruding from beneath it still clutches a small ruby.

Room Sixteen - is a small cave. The opening to the west has been carved through the rock. The dusty floor if undisturbed. A pouch is visible on the belt of a corpse lying in the southwest corner.

Room Seventeen - is a narrow tunnel bored through native rock. The rough stone floor is littered with bones and a small skull rests in the north end of the passage. No tracks can be seen.

Room Eighteen - is a natural passage. A small sack rests against the south wall halfway down the passage. The air is filled with a musky odor. The earthen floor is covered with the tracks of small animals.

Room Nineteen - is a passage with the floor and walls of carved stone and a native stone ceiling. The opening to the east has been carved through the rock. The dusty floor shows signs of much activity. A discarded cloak lies against the west wall.

Room Twenty - is a narrow excavated passage. An abandoned backpack rests on the floor in the eastern end of the passage.

Room Twenty-one - is a narrow passage. Half of a giant rat lies in the southern end of the passage.

Room Twenty-two - is a narrow passage. The opening to the north has been carved through the stone wall. The dusty floor shows signs of some disturbance.

Room Twenty-three - is a narrow passage. The air smells faintly of vanilla. A rusty pick lies in the dirt at the western end of the passage.

Room Twenty-four - is a natural tunnel through the rock. Some signs of digging are evident at the southern end of the passage though no toolmarks can be discerned. The air is filled with the scent of vanilla and the floor shows the marks of frequent comings and goings. Scraping and clicking sounds are faintly audible from the north.

Room Twenty-five - is a small passage carved through the surrounding rock.

Room Twenty-six - is a well trafficked passage with carved rock walls, floor and ceiling. A broken shovel protrudes from a mound of earth near the north end of the passage.

Room Twenty-seven - is a narrow corridor that shows signs of frequent passage. A litter of small bones lines the walls and a well-preserved human skull grins from against the north wall halfway down the passage. The air smells faintly of vanilla.

Room Twenty-eight - is a rough, narrow tunnel. The floor is bare except for a skeleton near the opening to the south. Cobwebs hang in the passage and scraping and clicking sounds can be heard from the west. The air smells strongly of death and decay.

Room Twenty-nine - is a small cave with the floor carved level. The dusty floor shows some marks of disturbance toward the opening to the east. The opening to the north has been carved through the stone. A single emerald gleams from midway up the west wall of the cave.

Room Thirty - is a small, unoccupied cave except for a scattering of bones and a small heap of offal in the northeast corner.

Room Thirty-one - is a small excavated room. The room is coated with dust and the air is heavy with the odor of decaying flesh. An antman body lies half buried under a slide of earth in the southeast corner.

Room Thirty-two - is a small excavated room. A discarded basket lies in the southeast corner.

Room Thirty-three - is a huge vaulted cavern with a leveled floor. The walls show the marks of ancient mining operations and a heap of rusting tools sits in the northeast corner. The floor shows marks of occasional transit through the opening to the west, which has been widened with tools.

Room Thirty-four - is a natural cave. The cave is covered with dust and the air is foul. A human body lies in the southwest corner

Room Thirty-five - is a large natural cavern. The rough stone walls and vaulted ceiling are draped with filmy webs. The entire southeast corner is obscured by a huge web. The dusty floor is littered with a variety of bones and exoskeletons.

Room Thirty-six - is a smallish excavated chamber. A mound of freshly dug dirt in the northeast corner evidences a yellow glitter.

Room Thirty-seven - is a long cavern with bones littering the floor. A foot-worn path runs between the two openings. Off the path, travel is hindered by the many and bizarre rock formations. One of these resembles a giant hunting insect. A dead antman lies in the northwest corner.

Room Thirty-eight - is a large cavern with the floor carved level. A worn path runs between the two openings. A large wooden box is set against the wall in the southeast corner.

Room Thirty-nine - is a small natural cave. The dusty floor evidences much disturbance. Scattered bones litter the dust and a discarded backpack rests in the northeast corner. The air smells of ancient death.

Room Forty - is a natural cave with rough stone walls, floor and ceiling. The aroma of vanilla fills the air. The southeast corner holds a heap of fresh earth with the glint of gold visible.

Room Forty-one - is a natural cave. The opening to the west has been dug through the earth but shows no toolmarks. The floor is well trodden and the smell of vanilla fills the air. A pile of baskets leans against the wall in the northeast corner.

Room Forty-two - is a natural cave. The floor shows marks of frequent passage and the walls bear the marks of recent digging. A small basket in the northwest corner holds gold nuggets. The air is thick with the smell of vanilla.

Room Forty-three - is a natural cave. The openings to the south and east have been dug through the earth but show no toothmarks. The floor is much travelled and the walls show signs of recent digging. A small basket in the southwest corner holds a few gold nuggets. The air is thick with the smell of vanilla.

Room Forty-four - is a huge natural cavern with a leveled floor, although a few stalactites hang from the roof. The opening to the north has been dug through the rock. A heap of stones stands in the middle of the cavern. There is a faint draft of air blowing from north to south through the cavern.

Room Forty-five - is a small chamber with the walls, floor and ceiling chiseled smooth. The dust shows a heavily trafficked path through the opening to the west and a less clear trail through the opening to the east. The air smells faintly of vanilla.

Room Forty-six - is a cave. The dust shows a beaten path between the two openings. A pile of bones litters the southeast corner. A faint smell of vanilla is in the air.

Room Forty-seven - is a small cave with the floor carved level. The floor shows tracks from the southern opening to the center of the room where a small pile of gnawed bones rests.

Room Forty-eight - is a cavern. A path in the dust runs between the two openings.

Room Forty-nine - is a natural cave. A well trodden path in the dust runs between the two openings and the air smells faintly of vanilla. A small pile of rusty weapons litters the northwest corner.

Room Fifty - is a smallish cave with the floor carved level. A well worn path runs between the north and south openings. The air smells faintly of vanilla. A stack of rusty tools leans against the east wall.

Room Fifty-one - is a small excavated chamber. A well-worn path runs between the north and west openings with a fainter trail to the east. The air smells faintly of vanilla intermingled with the odor of decayed flesh. A newly slain antman lies in the southwest corner with a spilled basket of gold nuggets nearby.

Room Fifty-two - is a natural cave with fantastic stalactite and stalagmite formations. The air reeks with a pungent stench. a corpse lies just inside the opening. A tattered sack rests against the wall in the northeast corner.

Room Fifty-three - is a natural cave. An unbroken layer of dust covers the floor. A heap of stones fills the southwest corner of the room.

Room Fifty-four - is an excavated room. A well-worn path marks the floor between the two openings and the faint smell of vanilla is in the air. A pile of bones rests in the northeast corner of the cave.

Room Fifty-five - is a natural cave with the floor carved level. A well trodden path runs between the two openings and the air smells faintly of vanilla.

Room Fifty-six - is a natural cave. The opening to the north has been dug through the earth without the benefit of tools. The walls show the marks of recent digging. The air smells heavily of vanilla. A small basket holding a few gold nuggets sits on the floor in the southeast corner.

Room Fifty-seven - is a natural passage with the floor carved level. The dusty floor shows some signs of passage. A small mound of fresh earth occupies the middle of the corridor.

Room Fifty-eight - is a natural cavern with a rough stone floor. A skeleton in the southwest corner still wears the remains of a rotting backpack. Small bones litter the floor. Torchlight creates vague shadows that suggest beasts, or worse, lurking in the corners of the chamber.

Room Fifty-nine - is a narrow passage. The opening to the north has been dug through the earth but shows no toolmarks. A well-worn path runs from the opening in the west wall into the northern passage. The air smells faintly of vanilla.

Room Sixty - is a huge vault with stonework walls and floor and a native rock ceiling. rude statues and carved pillars picture men and half-men. As the figures become more bestial, the workmanship becomes more primitive. Ancient tools and artifacts lie all about the chamber. Small stone doors of cunning device line the east and south walls. Several of these are open, revealing three by three by six foot openings into the rock. A shroud hangs from one of the open cavities. Glyphs of unknown symbology cover the walls. The dust of the floor is thick and undisturbed. The air smells of musty antiquity and death. Several urns and coffers in the southeast corner gleam with jeweled brilliance.

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Adventureland - 1978

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I've taken a little break from playing (and mapping) the Temple of Apshai Trilogy to instead jump into a couple of much quicker games. First on the list is Adventureland, number one in the Adventure International series of games and arguably the earliest commercial text adventure. (Colossal Cave) Adventure and Zork were limited at the time to mainframe computers and would not have saleable versions until following years.

Adventureland is not viewed with much positivity through a modern lens, but at the time would have been very impressive, especially to those for whom the TRS-80 was their first experience using a computer for anything other than work. It's clear from its contemporary pricing that Adventureland was a premium product: SoftSide magazine (erroneously calling it "Adventure") charged $24.95 for a copy when it first appeared in their listings in their January 1979 issue. Very few other products within the issue cost more than $10 and no others crossed the twenty dollar threshold. In today's money (admittedly a flawed comparison), Adventureland would have cost around $110! [Edit: In the following month's issue, $24.95 would get you both Adventureland and Pirate Adventure together, so I'm inclined to think this might have been a mistake. Adventureland on its own was offered for $14.95.]

This naming confusion seems to have popped up from time to time. Dragon Magazine made a similar mistake in 1980.

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Getting Started

Initially, I started playing Adventureland via the remake found on iFiction here. It became apparent, however, that this version does not match the original. I moved over to playing on an Apple ][ emulator instead for a more authentic experience.

It's worth noting that the game takes pains to tell me what it actually is. For most players there was no previous experience to draw from. I also enjoy the note about piracy. Bill Gates eat your heart out.

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Playing Adventureland

Adventureland is far simpler than Zork I. It uses a two-word parser (actually telling the player off for starting to type a third word) and there are far fewer rooms, just 33 to Zork's 110. However, Adventureland fits into just 18kb of memory without any real trickery, so deserves some charity. The aim here is to gather thirteen treasures (indicated with asterisks), but the game doesn't tell you this until you reveal the underground by felling the tree in the swamp.

Rather than documenting a full playthrough, here are some thoughts I had while playing:

• I was pleased I could climb two different trees, but was surprised that in the original version, "UP" does not work. Instead I had to "CLIMB TREE".
• Adventureland is generous with signposts. Each of them gives a hint, usually about an object I am carrying or will end up carrying.
• Death is gentle in this game. Once you work out how to leave Limbo, you are pretty difficult to kill.
• I enjoy how darkness seems to work. You die if you travel in an illegal direction in the dark, but, if you have mapped effectively, you can travel around while blind and can even pick up items you cannot see!
• Needing to rub the lamp twice to get all the available treasures is a little cruel.
• After Zork, the maze was (thankfully) trivial.
• There's a couple of spots I really struggled with guessing the correct verb. "SWIM"-ing out of the quicksand, "YELL"-ing at the bear and knowing to "DAM LAVA" in the chasm are probably the worst.
• Finding the *CROWN* required a guide.
• The few moments of pure luck weren't too bad. Being bitten by the chiggers forces the player to pick up the mud, which leads to needing to complete the bees/honey section. Putting the bees in the bottle was the worst example of this—there's a decent chance they will suffocate (and disappear) before getting them where the player needs to.
• The Apple ][ can't backspace, so typos are ruinous.

In the end, victory:

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Behind the Scenes

I think it's worth quickly seeing how a room is described in Adventureland. In a 1980 edition of SoftSide, a version of the BASIC source code was printed for readers to transcribe themselves. There were two files to make; first, a data file containing the content of the game and second, the adventure engine that will run it.

We can just about make out part of a room description: "BOTTOM OF A CHASM. ABOVE ME IS A PAIR OF LEDGES..." followd by six numbers. I originally thought these might be the six directions the player can normally move in (north, east, south, west, up and down), but it doesn't seem to line up. It does show how compact the code is though!

This early version of Adventureland is a little rough around the edges. There's instances of "a" when there should be "an", dropped punctuation and even a few spelling errors:

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Closing Thoughts

Is it Worth Playing?
Maybe. It's impressive to see something so efficient, but the content hasn't aged well.
🆗

Loot for the Hoard:
The Golden Fish, found in the lake.

My Map:
(Click to view in full size)

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