Riddler's Den
Riddler's Den is a 1985 action video game, made for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was authored by David W. Harper as the debut title from Electric Dreams Software.
Riddler's Den
- Date
- 1985
- Genre
- maze video game
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q40889150 · wikipedia · Riddler's Den
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Developer — David W. Harper • Publisher — Electric Dreams Software • Released — 1985
Plot
Plot
The game's protagonist is Trunky the Manelephant, who has embarked on a quest to find the Great Golden God Gregogo.
Gameplay
Gameplay
The game is half a maze and half a puzzle solver, with elements of a role-playing game (RPG). It is similar to titles such as Atic Atac. It came packaged with a poem filled with clues that the player had to decipher to progress through the game. The player could only carry a limited number of items. A flask displayed on the top right of the screen indicated the player's energy level. If this ran out the game ended. If holding the correct object, it was possible to sleep and regain energy. This would move the timer on to the next day. The game had to be completed within a certain number of days.
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 Kingdom
Named but not plotted · 1
Riddler's Den is associated with United Kingdom.
Country
Reception
Sinclair User magazine asserted that the game was easy to play, but difficult to master. Your Spectrum magazine deemed the program both absorbing and frustrating due to its blending of two disparate genres: arcade and adventure.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Riddler's Den, revision 1177390116 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Your Spectrum 20 - Frontlines & Hacking Away. www.users.globalnet.co.uk. November 1985.
- 2.Newsfield. Crash ZX Spectrum. 22. 147. November 1985.
- 3.Gilbert, John. Sinclair User 45 - Spectrum Software Scene. Sinclair User Classic. 2013-11-01.
- 4.EMAP Publishing. Computer & Video Games. 50. 29. December 1985.
- 5.Your Spectrum - Joystick Duty - Issue 21. www.users.globalnet.co.uk. December 1985.
- 6.Riddler's Den - Manual. worldofspectrum.org. 1985.
- 7.Gilbert, John. Sinclair User Magazine Issue 045. 25. December 1985.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
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 20 August 2026.
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