Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle

IBM PC version of Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle

Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle is an adventure game initially published by Adventure International in 1984. Versions were released for numerous computer systems including the IBM PC, TRS-80, TI-99/4A, Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari 8-bit Computers, and many others. It is Adventure #13 in the Scott Adams Adventure series and features a similar interface and text parser as other games in the series.

Long ago, Solon the Master Wizard lost the 13 stars of power which were then hidden throughout Claymorgue Castle by the evil wizard Vileroth. Following Vileroth's destruction, players take on the role of an apprentice to Solon with the goal of finding all 13 stars and returning them. At the start of the game players begin at the front entrance to the castle and have at their disposal a handfull of spells that can be cast (additional spells can also be found throughout the castle). Casting spells will be necessary to get past several of the games puzzles and players will need to figure the best way to use them; spells typically can only be cast once and only last for a limited number of turns, so timing is important. There is no time limit to complete the overall goal, so players can explore Claymorgue Castle for as long as necessary to locate all the stars.

Like other Scott Adams adventure games, players interact with Claymorgue Castle by typing in simple commands to move about and examine the environment, pick up or use items, cast spells, and so on. On most systems the game was released for there are graphics depicting each location, although they are not necessary to complete the game as all the clues and information needed are provided in the text descriptions. In some versions of the game, displaying graphics is optional and on some platforms the game is text only. The game allows progress to be saved so players can continue at a later time or restore to a previous saved game if they become stuck in an unwinnable situation or they find one of the many ways for their character to die.