Golden Flutes and Great Escapes

Golden Flutes and Great Escapes is a series of 4 adventure strategy games with RPG elements designed to teach programming skills.

Package originally came with 200+ page manual designed to teach adventure game design as well as programming skills using BASIC. Four separate games were included with the package to demonstrate how to use these skills and explain the programming involved.

The Golden Flute - The player controls a fleet of magical creatures of the woodlands, as they try to recover the Golden Flute of Love from the clutches of the evil gremlin Terak, and return it to the woodlands. The player explores a 10 x 10 grid aboard a magical chariot with their crew of 9. If the player is lost, it's game over. If the chariot flies off the screen, it is game over. The player's goal is to locate the square with the magical flute in the minimal number of turns and return it to the starting point. The player will encounter combats during their exploration which can kill party members.

The Great Escape - The player is lost in a large 10 x 10 maze, and must seek to escape to the north. Each room connects to adjacent rooms, and the player must move between rooms. If the player encounters a villain, they will be randomly transported to a different dungeon location. If the player encounters a witch, some of the passageways in the maze are rearranged. The player can become poisoned, and must find the first aid kit within 25 moves, or will expire. The player can randomly teleport in the maze at a cost of 10 turns if they become stuck.

The Treasure Hunt - You are captain of the SS Leaky Tub, seeking the treasure buried by the crew of the Jolly Roger in 1643. The player has 6 crew members, and it is game over when all are lost. There are a total of 10 islands to explore and a coral reef to visit. One of the 10 islands has the treasure, and each island is a 5 x 5 grid to explore. Visiting the coral reef will cause the player to encounter a mermaid, who will tell the player one random island where the treasure is not located, but there is a high risk a crew member will be lost on the shoals. One crew member is sent to an island to explore, and they must avoid rocks, trees, and quicksand, and walking into the ocean. If they come across the buried treasure, the game is won.

Mars - The player has just landed on the Martian surface, represented by a 10 x 10 grid, and must collect as many Martian artifacts as possible prior to returning to their vessel and Earth. The player acquires a number of items from their spaceship at the start of each game. As they player explores, they encounter random monsters, which each only respond to a specific weapon. Failure to win combat causes health loss leading to player death.