Play: 8/10 When I first started this, I wrote, "Such an obvious attempt to recreate the plato rpg feel in text adventure form" (not in a bad way, just observed that). Well turns out, I had missed an important influence too with Hunt the Wumpus, which this game explicitly references (though I can't find any info about it in the manual). Speaking of the manual, it is invaluable: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftrs80stuff.net%2Ffiles%2Fmanuals%2Fgames%2FWizards_Castle.pdf&clen=4189682&chunk=true As I played to get to know the game's mechanics, I retreated a lot, which is surprisingly reliable and highly recommended until you get enough Treasures and/or stat-up drinks or books. When I first started, and didn't realize the value of the Lamp and Flares, I would just wander and usually hit a warp to a low level before I had decent stats, so I'd always Retreat. Then again, I am not entirely sure it's true that deeper the dungeon level, harder the monster for this game. Hm. Anyway, the main feature I bemoaned back then and still now that I beat it: it's sad there's no save function, at least not the version I played. Of course, searching each Warp for the Orb (it's the right one when it only teles you one square away) is tacky, and I hadn't even learned yet the grind that would be necessary for the Staff. Fortunately, most my playthroughs that got decently far, I found the coordinates for the Orb from a Crystal Orb. Often, I would have a strong character by then, so all I really needed to do was fight monsters till I get the Staff and tele there! Ez pz! Well, I hadn't fully understood some extra steps in between for this game's gameplay: sure, fight monsters after mapping the level with Lamp so you know where a Vendor is, retreat whenever your weapon breaks and go to the nearest Vendor, avoid Books and Pools at this point -- instead just buy Potions of Strength/Dexterity from a Vendor as needed. In the early playthroughs, for instance, my weapon would break, but it was just normal text during a repetitive battle system so I missed it often. I soon learned the bolded warning that you can't just whack on an enemy sans weapon was quite clear. So, as I learned the hard way, here are some more pro tips, ha: always take advantage of when you see your status/items, etc., to make sure no broken equipment or lowered stats, since you can safely travel to a Vendor if so. Also, I complained about this for a while, but it's clearly in the manual so it's on me: better weapons simply means higher hits against enemies not more impervious to breaking. Once I had my established character that wound up beating the game, I'd buy the Sword instead of Mace, but always leave a buffer of a couple thousand in case you need stat Potions. I typically didn't upgrade the Mace or Chainmail (what I arbitrarily chose at the start, but I never experimented with starting equipment). Finally, always say Yes to the Lamp at the beginning: it's so useful at the start especially! Obviously, I got into this game, but I don't know: it had a lot of frustrating factors too. Thank goodness for the manual... When I was in the throes of struggling in the game, I wrote, "The otherwise useful manual isnt very clear about how to use the teleport staff once know the location of the orb and have the staff (if i ever get it)" and "Don't like that without a weapon you cant still fight if have high strength or dexterity or whatever." Though I found the solution to both these complaints (you just press t once you have the orb, and type in the coordinates of the Warp Room with the Orb in it once you know it), I can't deny I was complaining a lot throughout my playthrough. Oh, and to end the game after getting the Orb, head back to the Entrance (top-middle of the first level), and go North from there.

Feel: 9/10 But I think the goal wouldn’t be so bad–get the runestaff, find the orb, bring it back to the entrance--if you could save. Like in pedit5 etc where when you step out of the dungeon, some sort of save mechanic would have been priceless. Because then it would be fun to actually explore the whole dungeon, and search for that runestaff as one goal, then search for the orb as another. When I wrote the above, I also wrote, "maybe it'll grow on me when i get lucky in an early level to get a good book or treasure and just focus on one goal at a time., all 8 treasures for fun etc." As it turns out, gold and treasures get less and less important as you get an established character. The real "luckiness" imo is getting the Orb coordinates early, which had happened to me a couple times so it's not that rare. I chose only to try via Crystal Orbs and avoid Warps so I could focus on locating all the Monsters. I would only fight Monsters when I had a weapon and had 16+ Str and Dex. Don't fall for the mistake of continuing to Open Books and Gaze into Crystal Orbs after getting the Orb coordinates; gold isn't that hard to come by as long as you retreat whenever your weapon breaks [keep an eye on this!], and stat Potions are the better way to get high stats once you're established. So, after you have max Stats, stop opening Books or Chests--maintain Stats with Potions using revenue from Monster loot and Treasures and Gold squares; after you have the Orb coordinates, stop gazing into Crystal Orbs. I have such a love-hate relationship with this game: once you have the mechanics down it is fun--but getting the runestaff was succcccch a chore for me. I guess some people get lucky with that, but I had to clear out--and I mean CLEAR OUT all Monsters after having Lamped the floor--all 8 levels. Yep, literally all 8 dungeon levels. And you have to do it all in one arduous sitting, with which again a Save function would have helped considerably. Even though I solved it, the equipment being destroyed is an annoying feature--never been a fan of that in any RPG, whether Orthanc or Runescape, etc. When you have the time to commit to this, and once you have the mechanics down, it's a fun addictive dungeoneering game. The grind for the Runestaff, for me at least, was so long that I started wondering if my game was bugged ha. Obviously impressive and cool, and it was fun with the lamp mapping each direction and being able to plan my routes safely. With a Save function, and perhaps 2 or 3 enemies with the Runestaff instead of just one in the whole 8 levels..., the game maybe wouldn't have gotten old and repetitive feeling. And the only reason I was able to enjoy that playthrough was that I got the Orb coordinates and max Stats early enough (level 1) that I needn't risk Blinding or Book-hands (lol yea it's a thing), etc., and could clearly plan out my moves safely with the Lamp.

Attachment: 8/10 Another difficult score: I say I won't be replaying it soon, but I'm sitting here thinking about collecting the Treasures and the journey I went through to understand the game and its mechanics... So, while I claimed I wouldn't be replaying this, when/if I go back to text adventures and early RPGs, this likely will be on the list no matter how brutal it is. As I wrote after beating the game at last: "Omg finally! After over an hour in one session, 2nd to last monster on level 8, I finally got the runestaff… now what ha…" I quickly solved the ending as well, and voila ! 1605 turns haha https://i.gyazo.com/bb28e172adb0a31071271033df96ffc5.png Excellent, impressive--frustrating in its tackiness and definitely a chore, especially since it has to be done in one sitting. But oddly captivating, addictive, and fun at least for a while. I even skipped cardio for this, gr, ha, but I couldn't give up when I was so far. The weird mindset I got when on my successful playthrough reminds me of how my husband gets when he plays modern first person shooter games. Just like... ravenous lol.