Top Down View Games: 1980 (Mystery House and Mission Asteroid are released)
1979|1980|1981|1982|1983|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988|1989
Adventure (Atari 2600, 1980)
Subgenre: Action Adventure
Perspective: TD view
Other: Flip screen
-Arcade-like/real-time interpretation of earlier text adventure games
-Object interaction and some ability/tool gating (can carry only one at a time, can drop an item anywhere and pick it up later; a magnet that pulls items towards the player (through walls), a magic bridge that the player can use to cross certain obstacles (water tiles),
-Keys that open the castles and a sword which can be used to defeat the dragons
-Dark rooms w/ limited field of view (no lamp/torch)
-Can re-lock opened doors (lets you trap some enemies - can carry the bat into a castle and lock it)
-The bat enemy can steal items, from where they were placed or while carried. It can also carry the player, the dragons or an item around (random behavior). It can also accidentally kill the dragon by carrying the sword into it - systemic/consistency element
-Some dragon enemies are also afraid of things - the yellow one is afraid of the yellow key, and it can be used to chase him off
-Difficulty options (3 levels)
-Randomizer feature (switches around the locations of items and enemies, level 3/hard mode)
-No player character upgrades (armor, stats, new moves, etc)
-Influenced by Colossal Cave Adventure (Wikipedia, Wired)
Playthrough - Mini Review
Beneath the Pyramids (AII, 1980/Atari 8-bit, 1981)
Subgenre: Quest Adventure/Action Adventure (goal is to find a cat, answer a riddle and then get out before you run out of energy - which is your actual health despite there being a Health stat which works more like Stamina or AP)
Perspective: TD View
Other: TB on Apple II/Semi-TB on Atari (player and enemies move simultaneously)
-Shop before beginning a game (The Apple II version allows the player to barter with the shopkeeper to save several coins; you’re limited by wealth and weight so you can't buy everything - you’ll probably want a rifle with about 20 bullets, a crowbar, a duffel bag (which increases carrying capacity), a grapple, a lantern, a gas mask, and at least one pick-axe)
-Multiple floors (4 in total) which become smaller as you go further up
-Randomly placed treasure and monsters but not layouts
-Minor ability gating which mostly works like key gating (lantern to see in dark rooms, gas mask for gas traps, crowbar for getting statues that have fallen on you off of you, grappling hook for ascending to the next floor) - the one exception is the pick-axe which digs through walls but also deteriorates with each use (need to save one for the last floor)
-Ankh symbols in the named rooms (touching one either activates a trap, grants you a treasure or gives you a clue - random? The clues are mostly useless)
-No map system
-Can save in the Atari version only (the game is very short though)
Gameplay w/ commentary (AII)(French)
Rogue/Rogue: Exploring the Dungeons of Doom (PCs, 1980)
Subgenre: Rogue (spawned the Rogue-like genre)/RPG
Perspective: Top down view
-Save feature
-Randomly generated maze levels
-Map reveal scroll+potions that reveal enemies and magic items
-Various RPG elements (stats, exp points, unidentified items, limited item inventory)
-Enemies move at the same time as the player
-Explored areas stay visible to the player
-Teleportation scrolls (random), Teleportation rods vs enemies (random or next to the player)
-Can drop items on the ground (one per tile) and pick them up later (can't backtrack to a previous floor though?)
-No saving
-Scrolls that freeze, confuse and scare enemies, Aggro/alert enemies scroll
-Gear deterioration and items that remove it
-Levitation potion
-Transform enemy rod (random?)
-No locked doors or keys
Playthrough
House of Usher (PCs, 1980)
Subgenre: AA/Proto-Survival Horror/Collectathon
Perspective: TD view
Other: Time limit, Tile-based movement
-Limited ammo and inventory (weight mechanic)
Video Retrospective
StarQuest: Rescue at Rigel (Multi, 1980)
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG, Rescue mission
Perspective: TD view
Other: Time limit, Real-time or TB with a timer
Difficulty options
Gameplay (PC, 1983)
StarQuest: Star Warrior (Multi, 1980)
Subgenre: ARPG/Tactics?, Minor stealth element
Perspective: TD view
Other: Turn-based with a timer?, NPCs?
Difficulty options
Customizable equipment
Gameplay (AII)
Hellfire Warrior/Dunjonquest: Hellfire Warrior (TRS-80/PET/Apple, 1980)
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG (See Temple of Apshai), Optional rescue mission
Perspective: TD View
New strengthening/buff potions, some of which can give the player character an addiction
Gameplay w/ commentary (AII)(French)
The Prisoner (AII, 1980)
Subgenre: Adventure/Puzzle
Perspective: TD view
Unusual premise
Breaks the fourth wall
Gameplay w/ commentary
Adventure (Atari 2600, 1980)
Subgenre: Action Adventure
Perspective: TD view
Other: Flip screen
-Arcade-like/real-time interpretation of earlier text adventure games
-Object interaction and some ability/tool gating (can carry only one at a time, can drop an item anywhere and pick it up later; a magnet that pulls items towards the player (through walls), a magic bridge that the player can use to cross certain obstacles (water tiles),
-Keys that open the castles and a sword which can be used to defeat the dragons
-Dark rooms w/ limited field of view (no lamp/torch)
-Can re-lock opened doors (lets you trap some enemies - can carry the bat into a castle and lock it)
-The bat enemy can steal items, from where they were placed or while carried. It can also carry the player, the dragons or an item around (random behavior). It can also accidentally kill the dragon by carrying the sword into it - systemic/consistency element
-Some dragon enemies are also afraid of things - the yellow one is afraid of the yellow key, and it can be used to chase him off
-Difficulty options (3 levels)
-Randomizer feature (switches around the locations of items and enemies, level 3/hard mode)
-No player character upgrades (armor, stats, new moves, etc)
-Influenced by Colossal Cave Adventure (Wikipedia, Wired)
Playthrough - Mini Review
Beneath the Pyramids (AII, 1980/Atari 8-bit, 1981)
Subgenre: Quest Adventure/Action Adventure (goal is to find a cat, answer a riddle and then get out before you run out of energy - which is your actual health despite there being a Health stat which works more like Stamina or AP)
Perspective: TD View
Other: TB on Apple II/Semi-TB on Atari (player and enemies move simultaneously)
-Shop before beginning a game (The Apple II version allows the player to barter with the shopkeeper to save several coins; you’re limited by wealth and weight so you can't buy everything - you’ll probably want a rifle with about 20 bullets, a crowbar, a duffel bag (which increases carrying capacity), a grapple, a lantern, a gas mask, and at least one pick-axe)
-Multiple floors (4 in total) which become smaller as you go further up
-Randomly placed treasure and monsters but not layouts
-Minor ability gating which mostly works like key gating (lantern to see in dark rooms, gas mask for gas traps, crowbar for getting statues that have fallen on you off of you, grappling hook for ascending to the next floor) - the one exception is the pick-axe which digs through walls but also deteriorates with each use (need to save one for the last floor)
-Ankh symbols in the named rooms (touching one either activates a trap, grants you a treasure or gives you a clue - random? The clues are mostly useless)
-No map system
-Can save in the Atari version only (the game is very short though)
Gameplay w/ commentary (AII)(French)
Rogue/Rogue: Exploring the Dungeons of Doom (PCs, 1980)
Subgenre: Rogue (spawned the Rogue-like genre)/RPG
Perspective: Top down view
-Save feature
-Randomly generated maze levels
-Map reveal scroll+potions that reveal enemies and magic items
-Various RPG elements (stats, exp points, unidentified items, limited item inventory)
-Enemies move at the same time as the player
-Explored areas stay visible to the player
-Teleportation scrolls (random), Teleportation rods vs enemies (random or next to the player)
-Can drop items on the ground (one per tile) and pick them up later (can't backtrack to a previous floor though?)
-No saving
-Scrolls that freeze, confuse and scare enemies, Aggro/alert enemies scroll
-Gear deterioration and items that remove it
-Levitation potion
-Transform enemy rod (random?)
-No locked doors or keys
Playthrough
House of Usher (PCs, 1980)
Subgenre: AA/Proto-Survival Horror/Collectathon
Perspective: TD view
Other: Time limit, Tile-based movement
-Limited ammo and inventory (weight mechanic)
Video Retrospective
StarQuest: Rescue at Rigel (Multi, 1980)
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG, Rescue mission
Perspective: TD view
Other: Time limit, Real-time or TB with a timer
Difficulty options
Gameplay (PC, 1983)
StarQuest: Star Warrior (Multi, 1980)
Subgenre: ARPG/Tactics?, Minor stealth element
Perspective: TD view
Other: Turn-based with a timer?, NPCs?
Difficulty options
Customizable equipment
Gameplay (AII)
Hellfire Warrior/Dunjonquest: Hellfire Warrior (TRS-80/PET/Apple, 1980)
Subgenre: Dungeon Crawler RPG (See Temple of Apshai), Optional rescue mission
Perspective: TD View
New strengthening/buff potions, some of which can give the player character an addiction
Gameplay w/ commentary (AII)(French)
The Prisoner (AII, 1980)
Subgenre: Adventure/Puzzle
Perspective: TD view
Unusual premise
Breaks the fourth wall
Gameplay w/ commentary