''SwordThrust'' is an interactive

text adventure '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...

game for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

, created by Donald Brown and published by CE Software in 1981. It consists of seven separate adventures (each sold separately) and is the commercial successor to Brown's '' Eamon'' (1980).

Premise

Players take on the role of a warrior/adventurer in the magical, feudal world of Diurla. Play begins at the Main Hall of the Guild of Free Rogues, where the player creates a character, buys equipment and learns spells before venturing out to gain wealth and experience. Each scenario has a different goal, and typically a time limit. A save option is available, allowing the player to suspend the game and pick it up later.

Adventures

Seven separate adventures were released for the ''SwordThrust'' system: # ''The King's Testing Ground'' by Donald Brown. Intended for "beginning rogues", this adventure is the equivalent of Eamon's ''Beginners Cave'' and contains relatively easy opponents. # ''The Vampyre Caves'' by Donald Brown # ''The Kidnappers Cove'' by Donald Brown # ''The Case of the Sultan's Pearl'' by Donald Brown # ''The Green Plague'' by Donald Brown # ''The Eternal Curse'' by Donald Brown # ''The Hall of Alchemie'' by Peter Wityk

Reception

Forrest Johnson reviewed ''SwordThrust'' in ''

The Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' No. 43. Johnson commented that "''SwordThrust'' is not the best game of its type; it's the only. It has flaws, but so does every milestone." Debuting in May 1981, ''Swordthrust'' #1 sold 1,000 copies by June 1982, appearing on ''

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 ...

''s list of top sellers. A 1982 review in the magazine praised the game's departure from the typical ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

'' character class system, instead allowing a character to advance in any skill, closer in style to ''

RuneQuest ''RuneQuest'' (commonly abbreviated as RQ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson (game designer), Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of ...

''. ''Computer Gaming World'' stated in 1991 and 1993 "It's a pity that ''Swordthrust'' did not survive into the graphic era, as it had great potential". Dale Archibald reviewed ''Sword Thrust #1: The King's Testing Ground'' in '' Ares Magazine'' #14 and commented that "if gothic, nurse, mystery and western writers can publish four books at a time about a character, why can't a software publisher? It's an attractive idea, if you've got a good character and good plots. Brown has the best character going: you. And his plots are interesting." Norman Banduch reviewed ''The Eternal Curse'' in ''

'' No. 58. Banduch commented that "''The Eternal Curse'' is an excellent adventure program, ideal for building up characters for other ''SwordThrust'' adventures. It is also good fun on its own."

Reviews

* ''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

'' #19 (Feb 1984)

References

{{Reflist

External links