Electronic game:Dark Tower Role-Playing Game

The Dark Tower electronic game required players to recover an ancient magical scepter from a tyrant king in his Dark Tower. Game play took the form of an epic quest in which players journeyed to find the three keys that unlocked the Dark Tower's gate. Each player, first, needed to raise and provide for an army. There were bazaars to visit to purchase supplies and assistants for the quest. In their search, they battled roving bands of briands, dragons, plaque, and hunger. The path to victory involved hazards of uncharted territories, abandoned tombs, and ancient ruins. The game seems dated and primitive by today's standards, but Dark Tower represented major innovations in game play when it was released in 1981. Players input their every move on a small membrane keypad at the tower's base, and the tiny computer in the tower monitored every aspect of the game--recording, for instance, the progress of battles and keeping track of how much food was left to feed a player's army. The computer could even play recognizable music at significant points during the game.