Video game:Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

Developer and publisher Sir-Tech Software Inc. released the ground-breaking game Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord in 1981. One of the first role-playing games (RPG) written for computer play, Wizardry is considered a pioneer of the genre. Wizardry featured a variety of elements that became standard in RPGs. In Wizardry, the player created a party of up to six characters and guided them on a quest to defeat the evil wizard Werdna who was hidden in the lowest level of his dungeon lair. To find Werdna the player navigated the mazelike dungeon, battling monsters as they made the ten level descent. Wizardry represents one of the first examples of the style of play known as the dungeon crawl. This style defined classic RPGs and remains popular in games today.
Although it contained all of the fantasy elements common in modern RPGs, Wizardry was strikingly original at the time of release and offered multiple innovative features. Wizardry was the first RPG to feature color graphics and was one of the first party-based computer RPGs in which players traveled with a group of characters. Emulating the popular paper and pencil RPG Dungeons and Dragons, Wizardry allowed players to choose their character from a variety of races including humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes and hobbits. Character statistics such as strength, I.Q., and vitality were displayed on the bottom of the screen. Players leveled up by gaining combat experience and regained strength and power by visiting an Inn located in the first level. After gaining a certain level of statistical requirements players advanced from a base to an elite class. These elements became staples of the RPG genre.
Released when Dungeons and Dragons was at its peak in popularity, Wizardry offered gamers access to an RPG that could be played solo with no need for die rolling or lengthy rule books. The game was a challenge to complete and often took hundreds of hours to beat. Automaps were not created at the time of release, making it necessary for players to draw their own map on a sheet of paper in order to navigate the mazelike dungeon. The amount of time players spent within Werdna's dungeon undoubtedly contributes to the strong nostalgia Wizardry evokes. One of the best-selling computer RPGs of the early 1980s, Wizardry inspired eight sequels, the most recent released in 2001. As one of the archetypes of the electronic RPG genre, Wizardry holds a unique place in the history of electronic games.