Below the Root

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Description

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.

Screenshots

Promo Images

There are no promo images for this game

Part of the Following Groups

• Gameplay feature: Hunger / Thirst
• Genre: Explorable platformer / Metroidvania
• Inspiration: Literature

User Reviews

This is the one I wish I still had!	PC Booter	Kat_Girl (9)
A true classic ... in every sense of the word	PC Booter	Jeanne (76324)
Side Scrolling Masterpiece	PC Booter	Joe Jackson (3)
I was 7 years old when I played this... I'm 17 now and I miss it so bad!	Commodore 64	Lisa Bradley (3)
The best and most impressive adventure game ever made for Commodore 64!	Commodore 64	Daniel Gagne (4)
A Great classic that could use an update!	Commodore 64	JDonahue (3)

Critic Reviews

Lemon64	Commodore 64	Jun 16, 2004	8 out of 10	80
The Retro Spirit	PC Booter	Apr 13, 2008	3 out of 6	50

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Sold on Ebay!	1	BostonGeorge (788) Nov 11, 2011
Who is the publisher	15	BostonGeorge (788) 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

Related Web Sites

• 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.)
• Below the Root (video game) (Wikipedia page)
• Walkthrough (Below the Root Solution written in 1986 by Jeanne Harlan.)