Real games for nerdy gamers

There are many games like this (captive, hired guns, ishar, might and magic, wizardry, most of the gold box games, and so on), but these are the games all capture a certain common theme and feeling in a way that hasn’t really been done before or since.

Dungeon Master (1987)
A fairly straight forward first person dungeon crawler where going deeper means getting closer to your goal. Gameplay consists of pushing buttons, sidestepping monsters and drinking potions.

Eye of the Beholder (1991)
A fairly straight forward first person dungeon crawler where going deeper means getting closer to your goal. Gameplay consists of pushing buttons, sidestepping monsters and drinking potions.

Eye of the Beholder II  - The Legend of Darkmoon (1992)
An evolved version of the original. This time you have to explore different branches and return to the central hub. The boss fight is epic, and the graphics are much better this time around.

Dungeon Master II - The Legend of Skullkeep (1993)
An evolved version of the original. This time you have to explore different branches and return to the central hub. The boss fight is epic, and the graphics are much better this time around.

Eye of the Beholder III - Assault on Myth Drannor (1993)
More of the same, except this time it isn’t fun. The charm is gone. Where is the charm?

Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos (1993)
Oh, there it is!

And then the genre died. Sure, there were more dungeon crawlers, but they were all too complex. Dungeon Master II is one of the best games ever made. With every new game release, I hope to experience something like it again, but it’s never the same.

But now, something wonderful is happening. A small Finnish studio  is making a game called Legend of Grimrock (http://www.grimrock.net/), and it’s looking amazing. I realize it’s a niche game that might not fit everyone, but to me it is one of the most exciting games in development.

I am very excited!

(.. but why do they have the free look camera? :-/)

posted 12 years ago