First Person & Third Person Games: 1972-1983
1972-1983|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988|1989
Some turn-based games are listed as forerunners (and some real-time games considered as full-fledged RPGs as outliers for later years) since they had an influence on the genres; they are not meant to be seen as AA or ARPG games.
1972:
Hunt the Wumpus (Mainframes, 1972 or 1973)
Subgenre: Text Adventure
1974:
Spasim (1974)
Subgenre: MMO Space Flight/Combat Sim, Wireframe 3D, Trading
Perspective: FP view
1975:
moria (1975)
Subgenre: One of the first RPGs (Dungeon Crawler)
Perspective: FP view
1976:
Colossal Cave Adventure (PDP-10, 1976/PC, )
Subgenre: First Text Adventure and work of interactive fiction?
Other: Text command inputs, Score and turn counters
-Save feature (built into the PDP system like a save state)
1977:
Zork (PDP-10, 1977/PC, )
Subgenre: Early Text Adventure
Other: Inventory puzzles, Non-linear structure?
-Save feature (built into the PDP system like a save state)
1978:
MUD1 (PDP-10, 1978/PC, )
Subgenre: First Virtual World/Multi-User Dungeon, Text-based
1979:
Akalabeth (PCs, 1979)
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG
Perspective: FP view
Other: Tile-based movement, Overworld and dungeons
Hunger mechanic
Compass feature
No locked doors or keys
Video Analysis
Some turn-based games are listed as forerunners (and some real-time games considered as full-fledged RPGs as outliers for later years) since they had an influence on the genres; they are not meant to be seen as AA or ARPG games.
1972:
Hunt the Wumpus (Mainframes, 1972 or 1973)
Subgenre: Text Adventure
1974:
Spasim (1974)
Subgenre: MMO Space Flight/Combat Sim, Wireframe 3D, Trading
Perspective: FP view
1975:
moria (1975)
Subgenre: One of the first RPGs (Dungeon Crawler)
Perspective: FP view
1976:
Colossal Cave Adventure (PDP-10, 1976/PC, )
Subgenre: First Text Adventure and work of interactive fiction?
Other: Text command inputs, Score and turn counters
-Save feature (built into the PDP system like a save state)
1977:
Zork (PDP-10, 1977/PC, )
Subgenre: Early Text Adventure
Other: Inventory puzzles, Non-linear structure?
-Save feature (built into the PDP system like a save state)
1978:
MUD1 (PDP-10, 1978/PC, )
Subgenre: First Virtual World/Multi-User Dungeon, Text-based
1979:
Akalabeth (PCs, 1979)
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG
Perspective: FP view
Other: Tile-based movement, Overworld and dungeons
Hunger mechanic
Compass feature
No locked doors or keys
Video Analysis
1981:
Wizardry (Multi, 1981)
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG/Proto-WRPG
Perspective: FP view
-Locked doors and keys
-Party creation with five possible races (Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Hobbits), three alignments (Good, Neutral, Evil), and four basic classes (Fighter, Priest, Mage, Thief)
-"Woodhead and Andrew Greenberg (who, according to numerous sources, was also on PLATO) introduced a ton of material not found in Oubliette, not the least of which is an actual plot and quest, plus associated dialogue options, special encounters, and NPCs in the dungeons. Oubliette has only random encounters in its dungeon levels; Wizardry has numerous fixed encounters. Wizardry also features some different spells and slightly varying combat options, a system of item identification, and different enemies with special attacks. Perhaps most important, a single player controls multiple party members in Wizardry, which appears to be the first time this happened in any CRPG" - CRPG Addict
-Poison, disease and cursed items
-Can export characters to the sequel
-Aging characters
-Teleport spell (Malor; input the coordinates (x,y) and dungeon depth you want and you'll go there instantly. However, teleporting into stone is fatal. If you use Malor to escape during combat, you'll be randomly sent to another spot on that level of the dungeon instead - Rogue?)
Ultima/Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (AII, 1981/Multi)
Subgenre: Open World RPG/Proto-WRPG, Some Space Combat Sim segments
Perspective: TD view/FP View hybrid
Other: Tile-based movement
-Character creation (4 races and classes., 6 attributes)
-Save anywhere in the overworld (outside of dungeons)
-Mixes medieval fantasy and sci-fi elements
-Comes with maps (no map for the space segment?)
-Locked doors and keys
-Shops
-Fast travel via transports (horse, cart, raft, frigate, aircar, shuttle)
-Sector maps in the space segment
-Ladder up and ladder down spells+Blink (random teleport) for dungeon traversal
-Can open dungeon coffins with the Open and Unlock spells, Can create and destroy dungeon barriers with spells
-Steal spell (later versions)
-Context sensitive and semi-random Prayer spell (Overworld: If there is a Creature nearby, it will attempt to remove it, but you'll earn no reward. However, if either your HP or Food is below 15, it will increase one of them to 15 (HP is prioritized). Dungeons: Casts a random Spell, including Wizard-exclusive Spells even if you're not a Wizard; There are no negative Spell effects)
-Hunger mechanic
Video Analysis
1982:
Dungeons of Daggorath (PCs, 1982) - FP Dungeon Crawler ARPG-lite (no char creation, invisible leveling and attributes/stats), Tile-based movement
-Real-time combat w/ text command input (can use hotkeys)
-Enemies can be heard when nearby but not seen (early audio cues; Cloudy Mountain from the same year also had this)
-Can attack in three directions (forward, diagonally l/r)
-Heartbeat health indicator (can temporarily faint from overexertion) - was inspired by Space Invaders
-Item inventory and combat gear
-Save and reload anywhere, even in the middle of combat
-Dungeon map and enemy revealer (on the map?) spells
-Leveling up affects heart rate changes from movement and attacks, defense or attack, spell success rate. But you never find out a specific level number, experience point number or HP total.
1983:
Ultima III (Multi, 1983)
Subgenre: RPG (char creation and leveling, some interactive dialogue?, shops, party of four)
Perspective: TD view (overworld and combat)/FP view (dungeon exploration) hybrid
Other: Overworld w/ avoidable encounters, Tactical TB battles
-Multiple ways to travel (fast travel via moongates/teleporters)
-Thieving enemies
-Puzzles and hidden items
-Enemies and chars with different strengths and weaknesses
-Limited field of view in dungeons (Cloudy Mountain or Rogue?)
-NPC interaction besides dialogue
Playthrough (AII)
Shultz's Treasure (PC, 1983)
Subgenre: Maze Action/Proto-AA
Perspective: FP view
Randomly generated maze
Bats which steal your items
Some exploration tools (dynamite, night-vision goggles and a gold detector)
Map (mini-map), compass
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin (Intellivision/Mattel Aquarius, 1983) - Might be 1982?
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG
Perspective: FP view
Other: Real-time combat
Hunger and fatigue mechanics
Difficulty options
256 randomly-generated floors (including item and enemy locations)
Hidden doors
Dozens of weapons
Optional superboss
Survival Island (A2600, 1983)
Subgenre: Action (first segment)/Quest Adventure (island segment)/Maze (third segment - temple)
Perspective: TP View/Bird's Eye View/FP View Hybrid
Other: Verb commands, Shop in the first segment (trade food for life with the black squids), Locked temple in second segment
-Examine things via the search mode stance (also lets you locate traps)
-Password save
-Can bribe bridge guards with coins
-Limited item inventory
-Discarding items means they are removed
-Compass and lantern for the third segment
-Good and bad mushrooms and water sources (examine them)
-Large world for the time
-Basic ranking based on completion time
Playthrough - Video Review