''Finders Keepers'' is a video game written by David Jones and the first game in the

Magic Knight Magic Knight is a computer game character and game franchise created by freelance programmer David Jones originally for the 1985 game '' Finders Keepers'' on the Mastertronic budget label. ''Finders Keepers'' is a flip-screen platform game rele ...

series. It was published on the

Mastertronic Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved by ...

label for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the S ...

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-p ...

, Commodore 64, and

Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...

in 1985. Published in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

at the budget price of £1.99. ''Finders Keepers'' is a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action game, action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform game ...

with some maze sections. On the ZX Spectrum it sold more than 117,000 copies and across all 8-bit formats more than 330,000 copies, making it Mastertronic's second best-selling original game after ''BMX Racers''.

Plot

Magic Knight has been sent to the Castle of Spriteland by the King of Ibsisima in order to find a special present for Princess Germintrude. If Magic Knight is successful in his quest, he may have proved himself worthy of joining the famous "Polygon Table", a reference to the mythical

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying tha ...

from the legends of King Arthur.

Gameplay

The hero starts in the King's

throne room A throne room or throne hall is the room, often rather a hall, in the official residence of the crown, either a palace or a fortified castle, where the throne of a senior figure (usually a monarch) is set up with elaborate pomp—usually raised, ...

and is transported, via a teleporter, to the castle. The castle is made up of two types of playing area:

flick-screen This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 0–9 A ...

rooms in the manner of a platform game and two large scrolling mazes. On the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and MSX these are "Cold Upper Maze" and the "Slimey Lower Maze"; on the Commodore 64 they consist of "The Castle Gardens" and "The Castle Dungeons". An additional aspect of the gameplay is the ability to collect objects (found in both the rooms and the mazes) scattered around the castle and sell them for money. Some of these objects can combine or react to create an object of higher value (for example, the bar of lead and the philosopher's stone react to create a bar of gold). Both the amount of money Magic Knight is carrying and the market value of his inventory are displayed on-screen. The buying and selling of objects is done with the various

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exch ...

rs who live in the castle. The Castle of Spriteland is full of dangerous creatures who inhabit its many rooms as well as both of its mazes and collision with these saps Magic Knight's strength. If he loses all his strength then he loses one of his four lives.

Reception

''Zzap!64'' were impressed by the game which was described as a "little masterpiece" and "another quality product from Mastertronic." It was given a 90% overall rating.

Legacy

''Finders Keepers'' was followed-up by three more Magic Knight games: '' Spellbound'' (1985), ''

Knight Tyme ''Knight Tyme'' is a computer game released for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and MSX compatibles in 1986. It was published by Mastertronic as part of their Mastertronic Added Dimension label. Two versions of the ZX Spectrum release w ...

'' (1986), and ''

Stormbringer Stormbringer is a magic sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. It is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes, created by the forces of Chaos with its own will. It is wielded by the doo ...

'' (1987). They are primarily

graphic adventure An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-base ...

s with a few platform elements.

References

External links

A 1985 review
of the ZX Spectrum version of ''Finders Keepers'' from ''

CRASH Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch s ...

'' magazine. * *{{WoS game, id=0001764, name=Finders Keepers
Finders Keepers
at Plus/4 World. 1985 video games ZX Spectrum games Commodore 64 games Commodore 16 and Plus/4 games Amstrad CPC games MSX games Mastertronic games Platform games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games set in castles Single-player video games