King's Quest

aka: KQ1, King's Quest 1, King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
Moby ID: 122
PC Booter Specs

Description official descriptions

Sir Graham is a brave knight who is sent on a quest to retrieve three treasures that were stolen by deception and stealth: a shield that protects its bearer from invaders, a mirror that foretells the future, and a treasure chest that is forever filled with gold. If Graham takes these treasures back to the royal castle, then the ailing King Edward the Benevolent of Daventry will hand over the crown. During his travels, Graham will meet characters that will either help or hinder him.

King's Quest is commonly considered the progenitor of third-person-perspective adventure games. As opposed to earlier graphic adventures, the player is able to navigate the protagonist on screen in eight directions, creating an effect of three-dimensional exploration. The player character can also be obscured from view when hiding behind an object, is subjected to gravity, and has different animations for actions such as picking up an item, falling, swimming, etc. Graham can be moved around with arrow keys and perform various actions when the player types commands, normally consisting of noun and verb combinations (e.g. "Take flower", "Talk man", etc.).

The game world consists of a cyclic outdoor area with places of interest (houses, characters, etc.) that must be found through exploration. Much of the kingdom is accessible to Graham from the beginning, and there are only a few restrictions imposed on traveling. In order to complete the game, the player has to procure certain items and use them in correct situations or with specific characters. Some of the puzzles rely on fairy tales, and a good knowledge of those makes them easier to solve.

The game awards the player points for most of the actions he makes Graham perform. Since some of those are not crucial to completion, it is quite possible to finish the game without having attained the full score. Some of the tasks in the game have multiple solutions, though the game may grant the player less points if he chooses the simpler one. Many hazards await Graham on his journey, and death is frequent if the player is not careful. The game can also be rendered unwinnable by failing to collect a specific item or wasting it.

Groups +

Screenshots

Credits (PC Booter version)

11 People (8 developers, 3 thanks)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 68% (based on 19 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 186 ratings with 12 reviews)

King's Quest 1: The first of a series that started it all

The Good
As Sir Graham, help King Edward recover the three lost treasures of Daventry - a magic mirror, a treasure chest of gold, and an enchanted shield, while meeting Rumplestiltskin, the Leprechaun Kingdom, Goliath, and the witch from Hansel and Gretel.

This game like Police Quest, used the "text to action" format. That works so well, but also had the point and click of such adventure games like "Monkey Island" and "The Flight of The Amazon Queen" (Both great games/game series check them out).

The Bad
This game was a bit repetitive and had a mediocre point scoring system, but that's understandable for the time this was designed and coded. It was the first adventure game to feature object blocking to allow a moving character on screen to go behind and in front of objects, thus creating Sierra's "3-D Animated Adventure".

The Bottom Line
This game, has great graphics for the time and it has rich sounds. This game will fill you with the same feeling as when you first play Zelda64 Ocarina of Time (I'm reffering to the lush deep graphics and bright forestry atmosphere)

Amiga · by phil buckley (19) · 2006

Original classic adventure game that started the best adventure series of all time!

The Good
This game was very entertaining to me because at the time, I never had played anything quite like it. The way you could just wander around and explore the country-side gave you a very "free as a bird" kind of feeling when playing. There really was no strict linear path you must follow (except the king's items you must retrieve) but as far as wandering, you can basically go anywhere. I loved this game, even though it was rather short and simple.... it is a classic and the predecessor for many many games to follow.

The Bad
There wasn't really anything about this game I didn't like. It was the first of its kind and one thing this game didn't offer and didn't offer until about KQ3 was characters. There wasn't any personality to any of the characters in the game but it didn't harm the game at all. This game was written perfectly in my opinion.

The Bottom Line
A timeless classic that should be played to the finish by anyone who is a classic PC game fan. This is the game that really started it all (of all the Sierra Quest series). A great title from Roberta Williams!!

DOS · by OlSkool_Gamer (88) · 2004

The daddy of all adventure games.

The Good
The one that started it all. If you want to play the original Sierra adventure game this is it. If you want to experience some nostalgia from your childhood or something you and your family can play together and have fun. This is a good game for you.

The Bad
Quite dated by today's standards. If your computer doesn't have the ability to run an old DOS program you probably won't be able to enjoy this game. Also if you are looking for good graphics, sound, and a nice mouse interface you are looking at the wrong game.

The Bottom Line
This was the grand daddy of all adventure games. The one that started it all. Before Kings Quest these type of games didn't exist. A couple of weeks ago I played this game for the first time in about 15 years and I must say it brought back a lot of memories. Sure it's quite dated by today's standards. But even now its still fun and challenging to play.

DOS · by Scott Bergstrom (1) · 2005

[ View all 12 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Year PCjr? Edwin Drost (9295) Mar 21, 2017
Any other adventure games like KQ1&3? Lain Crowley (6630) Mar 30, 2012

Trivia

Code Decryption

The developers used encryption to hide code from prying eyes. The encryption key was Avis Durgan. However, according to PC Gamer (July 2000), nobody can remember why this key was chosen or who Avis Durgen is -- not even Ken Williams!

.. but Al Lowe does remember:

Avis was Jeff Stephenson's wife's maiden name. I guess he was in love!

Development

Originally developed by Sierra On Line and produced by IBM as a show piece for the IBM PCjr. The game was later produced by Sierra and was the foundation of the best-selling King's Quest series.

Graham

Sir Graham was so named because of designer Roberta Williams' fondness for graham crackers.

IBM Front Cover

Check out the IBM box's front cover--it has a completely wrong description and picture of King's Quest; this is because the box ad copy was written before the game was completed.

Novels

From 1995 through 1996 Boulevard Books published a trilogy of novels inspired by the King's Quest game setting of Daventry and featuring members of its royal family as the main protagonists:

  • The Floating Castle (1995), by Craig Mills, dealing with adventures Prince Alexander experiences between the events of King's Quests V and VI;
  • The Kingdom of Sorrow (1996), by Kenyon Morr, filling in some blanks regarding King Graham's activities between King's Quests II and III; and
  • See No Weevil (1996), also by Kenyon Morr, taking place seven years after the Kingdom of Sorrow and giving Graham's daughter, Princess Rosella, a chance to rule as regent during a crisis.

References

The flag of Daventry, as seen in the throne room, is in fact the flag of Sierra Leone. This is actually a pun referring to the development company, Sierra On-Line.

References to the Game

The website Homestarrunner.com created a game named Peasent's Quest quite similar to King's Quest. It has EGA graphics, text based typing, and the main character Rather Dashing is designed a little like Sir Graham.

Re-release

A complete version of King's Quest is available on Classic Games Collection CD featured with the July 2000 issue of PC Gamer Magazine.

Rumpelstilskin Puzzle

One puzzle, naming the gnome's real name must have been deemed too hard (or obscure) in the original version of King's Quest. I believe the clue was "Think back-wards" or something along those lines. The answer? The player had to write out the alphabet as follows:

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
Substitute the letters from Rumplestiltskin with the letter below on the line. Of course most people entered Rumplestiltskin spelled backwards (logical) and this didn't work. In the SCI (1987) re-release of the game, the puzzle was made simpler with Rumplestiltskin backwards being the correct answer.

Technology

King's Quest was the first Sierra game to use the AGI game engine, which was used in Sierra's later games throughout the '80's. The way the engine was setup made it easy to port a game written with AGI to other computer platforms.

Awards

  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 01/2007 - One of the "Ten Most Influential PC-Games". It managed to link texts and graphics and caused the rise of Graphic Adventures.
  • The Strong National Museum of Play
    • 2020 – Introduced into the World Video Game Hall of Fame

Information also contributed by Andrew Shepard; Indra, Joakim Möller, Pseudo_Intellectual, Ricky Derocher, rstevenson, Shai Greenberg, Tibes80, and Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe.

Analytics

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Related Games

King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
Released 2001 on Linux, DOS, Windows
King's Quest: Collector's Edition
Released 1994 on DOS, Windows 3.x
King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones
Released 2002 on Linux, Windows, 2010 on Macintosh
King's Quest I+II+III
Released 2010 on Windows
King's Quest: Mask of Eternity
Released 1998 on Windows
King's Quest 7+8
Released 2010 on Windows
King's Quest III: To Heir is Human
Released 1986 on DOS, 1987 on Atari ST, Amiga...
King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human
Released 2006 on Windows
King's Quest 4+5+6
Released 2010 on Windows

Related Sites +

  • AGD Interactive
    Download King's Quest 1 remake for free
  • Game Map (Sega Master System)
    Images with maps of all locations and their position to each other.
  • King's Quest Realm
    An interesting sight devoted to the entire King's Quest series. It offers hints, a message board and a superb section devoted to the history of these popular games.
  • King's Quest at Wikipedia
    Includes an entire history and list of creatures, games in the series and more.
  • ScummVM
    supports the DOS, Macintosh, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIgs versions of King's Quest under Windows, Linux, Macintosh and other platforms.
  • Sierra Gamers
    The Official Website of Ken Williams and King's Quest creator, Roberta Williams.
  • The King's Quest series at Game Nostalgia
    An illustrated overview of King’s Quest 1984 up to King's Quest: Mask of Eternity (including various fan games).

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 122
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Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Andy Roark.

Amiga added by POMAH. Apple II added by KnockStump. Macintosh added by Martin Smith. SEGA Master System added by Katakis | カタキス. Apple IIgs added by Garcia. Atari ST added by Belboz.

Additional contributors: Trixter, Paul Budd, Indra was here, Katakis | カタキス, Jeanne, Guy Chapman, Andrew Shepard, game nostalgia, Macs Black, Picard, Patrick Bregger, Jo ST, SoMuchChaotix.

Game added May 18, 1999. Last modified February 13, 2024.