Madness and the Minotaur

Computape, Dragon Data , Spectral Associates 1981

Language:: English
Authors:: Thomas Rosenbaum
Platforms:: Dragon 32/64 , TRS-80 CoCo
Genres:: Myths and legends, Real-time, Treasure hunt
Entered by:: Alastair, Gunness, Strident
Added:: 26-05-2010
Edited:: 14-01-2023

Synopsis

Plot

King Minos, one of the sons of Zeus and also the King of Crete, has erected a huge labyrinthine castle with the intention of using it as a prison. In the past, anyone confined to the Labyrinth could never escape and was either killed or went mad while trying to escape.

Rumour has it that there are treasures hidden in the vicinity of the Labyrinth. Are these treasures worth risking life or sanity?

Notes

Madness and the Minotaur is not a standard adventure game, although the layout of the maze remains unchanged almost everything else is randomised. This randomisation extends to taking treasures and killing monsters where success in these endeavours usually requires the player to possess two other objects. Fortunately an oracle wanders the labyrinth and the oracle, if asked, will tell you most of the various combinations; the remaining combinations can be learnt through careful observation.

Of the two versions created the CoCo version is the more forgiving to play. The Dragon version's save game routine does not work properly (indeed the instructions for the Dragon version do not mention that you can save a game), and some of the room exits in the multi-floor maze are missing (you can escape these unintentional dead-ends by using the BACK command, but if you are too slow you will be trapped forever).

The program code was later reworked to produce Spectral Associates' Keys of the Wizard.

Sean Murphy maintains a webpage about this game.