Castle Adventure
Castle Adventure is a freeware adventure game designed by Kevin Bales and released in 1984. It was also illegally included in Keypunch's Swords and Sorcery under the title Golden Wombat. It uses ASCII characters to display a castle map and moving creatures.
Castle Adventure
- Date
- 1984
- Language
- English
- Genre
- adventure video game
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Documentary summary
Castle Adventure is a freeware adventure game designed by Kevin Bales and released in 1984. It was also illegally included in Keypunch's Swords and Sorcery under the title Golden Wombat. It uses ASCII characters to display a castle map and moving creatures.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3281433 · wikipedia · Castle Adventure
In this article
The object
The object
It is compiled from Microsoft BASIC. The source code has never been released.
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Castle Adventure • Developer — Kevin Bales • Publisher — Freeware • Released — 1984 • Genre — Adventure • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — MS-DOS
Plot
Plot
Castle Adventure is a dungeon crawl with little backstory. The second screen of the game displays: "You are trapped in a deserted castle and you must escape. It is rumored that the castle is full of treasures. Can you find them all?"
Gameplay
Gameplay
• Illustration — In the castle courtyard The player interacts with the environment through a mix of keyboard controls and a text parser. Items visible on the screen can be picked up by guiding the adventurer over them. For items not on the screen, the player needs to type commands such as: get diamond. In order to defeat and defend against monsters, the adventurer must possess a sword. Fighting in Castle Adventure consists of directing the adventurer into a monster. Though it is not visibly recorded, combatants can sustain only a finite amount of damage, after which either the monster or the adventurer dies (as appropriate). To complete the game, the adventurer must open a gate in the room from which the game begins, freeing themselves from the castle.
Development
Development
• Illustration — Characters of code page 437 The game uses the text mode of IBM PC compatibles. It uses special characters from code page 437 to represent monsters, treasures, weapons, props, castle walls, etc. It could be played on even the earliest IBM PC display equipment, such as the IBM Monochrome Display Adapter and the IBM 5151 monitor.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Named but not plotted · 1
Castle Adventure is associated with United States.
Country
Reception
Home of the Underdogs called the game as "one of the most memorable ASCII games of the bygone BBS era". DOSGames.com noted that the game "is nostalgically remembered by gamers who played it in the DOS era" while giving it 2.5 stars out of five and concluding that "the game itself is rather average, but it does include action and adventure elements, although there is very little plot".
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Castle Adventure”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3281433: Castle Adventure
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
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References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 19 August 2026.
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