Dungeons in the Dark

 Well this week I'm sharing what I was going to share last week if the post office hadn't been quite so slow. May I introduce Mattel Electronics Dungeons and Dragons Computer Labyrinth Game! 

Yes, that's certainly a mouthfull. But it's also a fairly good description of this cutting edge 1980 game. You see, in the late 70s (around the time I was a hip and cool teen) Dungeons and Dragons was huge! All the cool (nerdy) kids were rolling their 20 sided dice to score hits on their imaginary foes in a world completely created by the Dungeon Master.

 Now, I may have spent an hour (or a hundred) wandering these imaginary lands searching for riches, or, better yet, creating these worlds for my friends to explore. Time was plentiful, pizza was cheap, and the world was our oyster.

However, there was another ripple starting in the gaming pool. Electronic games, an offshoot of the birth of home computers and video arcades, began to appear. They were crude and simple, but to kids who had never seen the likes of them, they were exciting! It was only a (short) matter of time before the worlds of Dungeons and Dragons and electronics collided.

The first (and most sought after) mashup was...Dark Tower! My friend Chris had it. It's really cool. This post is not about it at all.

The second, and largely forgotten game was this one! (Insert fanfair). Let's take a look, shall we?

The box is colorful and, weirdly, features an Asian dragon. Most Dungeons and Dragons worlds were based on medieval Europe. Still, it's eye catching and colorful. My box is in fairly rough shape, but it still serves it's purpose.

A father and son searching for treasure!

The back lays out the stuff you get. Plus, it lets you know a little about what to expect.

And here we have the gameboard. Each square represents a bit of a dungeon to explore (say 10' by 10' area, for example). The thing that makes this game particularly challenging is that all information is given by sound alone. There is a sound when you walk into a wall. There is a sound when you wake the dragon up. There is a sound when you discover the treasure. And there is a sound when the dragon eats you. 

Yes, eats you. 

The point of it all is to simply grab the loot and make it back to your "secret room" before becoming a dragon Hot Pocket. (Dragons breathe fire, you know).

Now, to keep up with all that information the game is giving you, you have a drawer filled with props. There are red "wall" sections, and metal tokens for the dragon, treasure, and two brave knights. (Note: my game was missing the metal tokens, so I ordered new off eBay. They are the reason this post is a week late)

By the way, you can "test listen" to all the game sounds by playing them on this row of buttons.

The bottom of the game holds a pretty good rundown of how everything works.

Here is a typical setup. You only know where the walls are by running into them. You only know where the dragon is by waking him up (and then you only know approximately). You only know where the treasure is by tripping over it. In other words, it's as if the whole game is played in the dark!

The goal...

The baddie...

Sword Guy...

Mace Guy...

So how is the game? Actually, it's pretty good! The more you move, the higher the stress and when you hear the dragon wake up, it gets really exciting! It's not an easy game, which makes it repeatable. 

Interestingly enough, Mattel Electronics released a version with a screen right after this one. I've never played it, so I don't know how it stacks up. I think that one kind of phased this one out, so this one is fairly rare. 

All in all, it's a solid game that I recommend. Oh, and how about a period commercial? Here ya go!

Commercial!

So until next time, keep searching for treasure! (And don't get eaten!)