''Pharaoh's Tomb'' is an

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platform game created by

George Broussard George Broussard is an American video game producer and designer, one of the creators of the '' Duke Nukem'' series ( Todd Replogle, Allen Blum, and Scott Miller being the others). Broussard released his early games under the name Micro F/X. In ...

(misspelled as "Broussad") and published by

Apogee Software 3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game '' Kingdom of Kroz''. In the ...

. The game uses CGA graphics based on the FAST (Fluid Animation Software Technology) engine. Notoriously, objects' positions are determined by their

bounding volume In computer graphics and computational geometry, a bounding volume for a set of objects is a closed volume that completely contains the union of the objects in the set. Bounding volumes are used to improve the efficiency of geometrical operatio ...

s, not their pixel-precise positions on screen. The game was re-released in 2015 on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

with support for

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and

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Plot

The protagonist, Nevada Smith (a play on

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...

), is an archaeologist and adventurer who is exploring an Egyptian

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

, hoping to find the Pharaoh's Tomb and get evidence of his findings.

Gameplay

In each level, the player navigates and avoids obstacles by jumping or falling, evading or killing enemies, and find keys to exit each level. Nevada Smith has no

life bar ''Life Bar'' () is a South Korean Talk show distributed by tvN every Thursday night at 11:00. Season 1 broadcast its final episode on April 13, 2017. Season 2 premiered on May 18, 2017. Format It is a unique talk show where celebrity guests and ...

, and is killed instantly when he touches enemies or traps. Nevada Smith can collect coins and masks for extra points. Lethal obstacles include pyramid-themed traps, such as blocks that fire projectiles when Smith passes in front of them, wall spikes, ceiling spikes, floor spikes, moving spikes, and wind. Navigational challenges include moving platforms and elevators. Bonus points are randomly concealed in some bricks, which are awarded when hit from below. Occasionally, Smith will become invisible, where only his hat will be visible. The game contains many dead ends as 'traps' where Smith can become permanently stuck, forcing the player to either quit or reload a saved game. Collecting manuscripts will cause blocks to appear (though they are occasionally traps), and invisible triggers will cause blocks to disappear (usually activated around masks). Collecting an 'F' will temporarily freeze all enemies and traps. Collecting 5 masks earns the player 11,000 points and collecting 100 coins earns the player an extra life.

Release

Pharaoh's Tomb is a four-episode game, with the first episode being released as

shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...

. Each episode contains 20 levels, and each level consisting of a single room. The episodes are: *"Raiders of the Lost Tomb" (a reference to ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...

'') *"Pharaoh's Curse" *"Temple of Terror" *"Nevada's Revenge" The game was later released as an 80-level commercial game called ''Pharaoh's Pursuit'' published by Lone Star Micro. The game was discontinued on March 2, 2000, and was released as

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...

on March 20, 2009. A sequel, '' Arctic Adventure'', based on the same engine, features Nevada Smith as the protagonist and has similar gameplay.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' called ''Pharaoh's Tomb'' "lively and imaginative", praising the FAST engine's animation and level design. The magazine said that the low price of the full game made it an "outstanding value".

References

External links