Background[]
Dark Tower is a fully playable unreleased prototype role playing game programmed in 1983. It was inspired by the 1981 Milton Bradley board game of the same name. The game was considered only a rumor for many years until it was finally made available for download and is now available for play on most multicarts.
Gameplay[]
The player controls a band of warriors traveling through the forest in search of four keys. Once the four keys have been found, the player can then enter the Dark Tower and attempt to solve the Riddle of the Keys.
Throughout the forest, there are many chests. These chests contain either treasures, brigands, magicians, fog or death. Bags of gold are a necessity in the game and are one of the treasures available in either the chests or along the forest floor. They are also awarded as prizes for defeating brigands. If the player encounters a magician and has an appropriate amount of bags of gold, the player can purchase items, including keys.
If a chest is reopened, it will always contain brigands. If brigands are encountered, the player will have to defeat a random amount of brigands in a test of survival. The reward may be bags of gold but that is not always the case. In this battle, the player must avoid the brigands' attack while aiming their attack at the brigands. The player will lose a warrior when they are hit by the brigands' attack.
Controls[]
Main Menu[]
- Select skill level-button 2
- Begin game-button 4
In-game[]
- Move player forward, back, right and left-joystick or D-pad
- View possessions-button 1
- Fire arrow left/select riddle-button 2
- Fire arrow straight/select key-button 3
- Fire arrow right/open chest/test riddle-button 4
Scoring[]
- Gold Key-1,000 points
- Silver Key-900 points
- Bronze Key-800 points
- Brass Key-700 points
- Bag of Gold-100 points
- Warrior-100 points
- Crystal Crown-1,500 points
- Healer-300 points + a bonus warrior
- Scout-300 points + a bonus warrior
- Destroying each Brigand-125 points
- Solving Riddle of the Keys-3,000 points