Below the Root
Description official descriptions
Below the Root is based on Zilpha Keatley Snyder's fantasy book series "The Green-Sky Trilogy". Following the events in those books, The Kindar and the Erdling societies have joined together. However unrest and distrust still remains. An old woman, D'ol Falla has heard the words "The Spirit fades, in Darkness lying. A quest proclaim, the Light is dying". Choosing one of five available people (of different ages and of either Kindar or Erdling descent) either she believes can help, D'ol Falla assigns the quest of discovering what these words mean and how to quell the racial and political tensions building between the races.
Below the Root is a adventure game and a platform game. Choosing one of five characters (each very different from one another), the player explores the tree-based lands Erdling and the underground-based lands of the Kindar. As an adventure game, goals are primarily accomplished by talking to people (though each character is treated differently by others) and finding the right items to use in specific situations, but also dealing with the challenges of level design in a platform game.
Each character can obtain different items to help with their movement as well as psychic abilities such as pensing (telepathy), kiniporting (telekinesis) and grunspreking (plant manipulation). Violence is abhorred among the Kindar and the Erdling and violent actions tend to harm the player's reputation. Kindar or Erdling factions may kidnap the player's character if they wander into the wrong areas, throwing them into a local "prison house" from which they must escape. The player must eat constantly to retain their energy, however Erdling characters do not eat meat.
Groups +
Screenshots
Credits (PC Booter version)
5 People
| Programming | |
| Graphics / Artwork | |
| Writing / Dialogue / Story | |
| IBM PC/jr Version | |
| Apple II Version |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 65% (based on 2 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 30 ratings with 7 reviews)
I was 7 years old when I played this... I'm 17 now and I miss it so bad!
The Good
I liked everything. The whole game kinda entranced me. I was pretty good too. It's like one of those memories... there's no words for it. I just miss the game so much. It seems almost like a fantasy, but it's not. I struggle to remember parts of it and I would absolutely love to play it again, on the Commodore 64. There was something appealing about the graphics, mysterious almost. It would never be the same with different graphics.
The Bad
I honestly don't remember anything I didn't like about it. I guess the fact that I'm never going to play it again.
The Bottom Line
This game is like playing a dream. The graphics, sounds, movements, colors, everything is like dream. Exactly.
Commodore 64 · by Lisa Bradley (2) · 2004
This is the one I wish I still had!
The Good
Below the Root was absolutely enchanting. I played this on my Commodore 64 computer, and was totally into it. The game included a cool fold-out map where you could plot out your movement in the game environment. Like someone else, I was never able to finish it. I got to a certain part "below the root" where I couldn't progress any further.
After moving on to the IBM environment, I got rid of all my Commodore stuff. Now that I've repurchased a Commodore 64 on ebay, I would love to get a hold of this game again!
Very warm and fuzzy memories from my childhood.
The Bad
Difficult to complete the entire game.
The Bottom Line
This game really made you think your way through, while providing a great background fantasy/myth world within which to play. It was a lot of fun, as I remember it.
PC Booter · by Kat_Girl (7) · 2002
A true classic ... in every sense of the word
The Good
It's been almost 20 years since I played this game on my Tandy 1000SX computer off of floppy disk. While I can't remember everything about it, I do recall that it totally absorbed me.
The imagination on which the game was based surpassed anything I had played previously. I was enthralled with the story and thrilled with each success that carried me further into the plot.
The Bad
It was hard to understand exactly what you were supposed to do. In fact, I'm not sure I ever finished Below The Root. When I upgraded my computer, it would no longer play, and I was really sad that I could not continue the quest.
The Bottom Line
Below The Root is truly a classic fantasy adventure. One step above a text adventure, it was released at a time when the original Zork games came out. I would welcome the chance to play it again, if it could run on a Windows 98 system.
PC Booter · by Jeanne (75877) · 2001
Discussion
| Subject | By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Sold on Ebay! | BostonGeorge (751) | Nov 11, 2011 |
| Who is the publisher | BostonGeorge (751) | Feb 18, 2009 |
Trivia
Inspiration
Below the Root is adapted from the original 1978 'science fiction fantasy' novel written by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, and is the first in Green-Sky Trilogy, Followed by the books: And All Between (1979) and Until the Celebration (1980).
The game was a direct result of readers' dissatisfaction with the ending of the books. Agreeing with a lot of the criticism, author Zilpha Keatley Snyder decided that a computer game might be used to continue the story and provide a better resolution to the series' events. Much of the game focuses on discovering the hidden truths behind some of the events described in the final novel.
Information also contributed by WildKard
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Related Sites +
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Below the Root (video game)
Wikipedia page -
Below the Root .d64 Rom
Get the game ROM at Arnold's Archive (http://arnold.c64.org/) and finally finish your quest! Works with nearly all C64 Emulators. -
Walkthrough
Below the Root Solution written in 1986 by Jeanne Harlan.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Andy Roark.
Commodore 64, Apple II added by The Red King.
Additional contributors: Jeanne, The Red King, Garcia, Patrick Bregger.
Game added December 19, 1999. Last modified August 14, 2023.