Sword of Kadash

You have travelled from the Mediterranean to the deserts of Persia in search of fortune. However, you have met with betrayal and been captured by brigands, who will spare your life only if you agree to enter the Fortress of the Dragon and return with the Sword of Kadash.

The game is a top-down action/adventure game set within a maze of rooms and corridors. The player can move in any of the four directions (and diagonally), and fire darts. Only three darts can be fired at a time. These will ricochet off some walls, and be absorbed or cause holes to form in others. They are also the primary method for defeating the various monsters that are scattered about. Monsters can also be defeated by coming into contact with you, but you will in turn take damage.

The player has a number of stats. These include health (hit-points) and Armour class, which measures the player's defensive ability and is increased by collecting better armor and rings. There is also experience which is increased by defeating monsters, and will cause the player to level up (increasing hit-points) every so often. The experience levels are equally spaced, with the gap depending on the game difficulty that is selected at the start of the game. The player's dart attack effectiveness is based on the weapon they are carrying, which may be dagger, morning-star, axe and sword, each of which may be enchanted up to +3.

Many of the rooms will contain items, which can be collected by walking into them. Better armour or weapons will be equipped automatically. Some items are cursed, causing both armour and weapon to be cursed until a non-cursed holy symbol is collected. Healing boxes, keys and scrolls may also be found. Scrolls allow spells to be cast (using the return key) which temporarily cause monsters to flee from you. There are also secret passages, invisible walls, and a few alarms which cause traps to appear.