Castle Adventure
DOS - 1984
Description of Castle Adventure
One of the most memorable ASCII games of the bygone BSS era, Castle Adventure is a fun parser-based maze adventure designed by Kevin Bales, and later released ("stolen" in fact) by Keypunch as part of their Swords and Sorcery package.
Similar to Atari's Adventure and many other early adventure/RPGs, your objective in the game is to collect all valuables and complete all tasks. A perfect score is 1,550 points, but it is possible to finish the game with lower score.
Although the game looks like a very out of date title, with ASCII characters and simplistic gameplay, Castle Adventure is actually both more memorable and deeper than most ASCII games. For starter, room descriptions are quite detailed and well-written. Second, the game is played in real time, which means monsters will not wait for you to type something before they attack. This makes fighting appropriately exciting.
Lastly, the game is much deeper than most other maze games because it has puzzles. These require you to type the right commands into the parser, like in a typical text adventure, such as "show cross to vampire." Although most puzzles are obvious, there are some obscure ones that will stump you for some time. In a nod to RPG genre, you can only carry a limited number of items at any given time.
All in all, Castle Adventure is one of the best examples of what an all-text, freeware game coded way back in 1985 is capable of. If you miss the days of BBS, here is something that stands the test of time. Highly recommended!
Review By HOTUD
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
Claus 2022-03-14 4 points
I played this in 1986 as a nine year old German kid without any English language skills. So I sat there in front of the screen with a dictionary book and translating word by word... :) Oh, I miss these slow running times so bad.
fderp123 2020-05-24 1 point
A true classic. One of the first games I played that wasn't pure text based.
daffy 2020-05-17 1 point
Definitely a gem. I remember my step-dad first showing me this and how cool it was to defeat the vampire back in maybe 1985. It was a pretty hot family topic for some weeks. I didn't solve it until i revisited it as an adult some 15 years ago. That I went back to it to finish the game is evidence to me of how great a game it is.
blahblah 2019-01-02 1 point
One of the first games I ever got on an IBM XT clone. I felt like an MLG pro gamer when I figured out the puzzles (with the help from my dad). You had to memorize where rooms were, and what items did what (especially to kill monsters so you could get by). Beating the game felt like a real accomplishment.
demondude777 2018-07-28 1 point
I remember this game from way way back. My friend tried to foll me about the fairies that block entrances. He said there was a movie that was made about the game. In the movie, the guy had to find a chainsaw and rope. And then he tied the rope around them and chainsawed them down.
Nerdstrom 2018-01-22 1 point
My very first game and a happy memory of childhood. Love this game, but I never could solve the mystery of the chains...
Tendollarbill 2015-11-08 0 point
Played this waaay back! Very in-depth little game for it's time.
Don't forget to Wave the Wand... :)
affu 2014-03-06 0 point DOS version
ur castle of adventure game is so funny and ì love this game very very much and thanks a lot to initialasation this game thank u very much
[deleted] 2012-08-10 1 point DOS version
My sister and I used to play this on an antique PC from a 5.25 floppy. We loved it.
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DOS Version
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