Dunjonquest: Curse of Ra

Adventure 1990 Dos Rainbow Arts Puzzle based

Let's explore and slay beasts

This is one of the later entries in a long running and rather groundbreaking series of fantasy RPGs that began way back in 1979. All of the games are obviously looking a little primitive now but it's testament to their design that they remain playable today. This one isn't quite up to the standards of its immediate predecessor, Upper Reaches of Apshai, but remains an enjoyable bit of retro dungeon crawling. Like Upper Reaches, this is actually an add-on for the original Temple of Apshai, so the gameplay builds on the basic framework by adding in some new dungeons to explore. In essence, the game is a mix of rogue-like and early D&D adventures, with players generating characters then venturing into a set of dungeons, exploring, looking for treasure and engaging in turn-based combat with the various denizens which are encountered. You have access to a variety of commands, such as examine, while you also have to worry about your fatigue level, so you can't just go running around willy nilly. This expansion pack adds in a new set of dungeons which are Egyptian-themed and which require you to track down four treasures from four 'great constructs.' If you enjoyed the original Dunjonquest, then this makes for an entertaining time and should be checked out. It's fairly simple stuff on the surface but there's a deceptive amount of depth when you start to get into it and exploring and slaying beasts is surprisingly compelling. The visuals are of course nothing to write home about but remain a sort of charm so if you like proper old-school adventures, then start with the original and work up to this.

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