Telengard

Game review

No one knows why, how and when the underground labyrinth called Telengard was created. Stepping in, however, represents a chance for every adventurer to break free once and for all from the uncertainty of daily putting their lives on the line for others, rewarded not infrequently only in kind, other times with pats on the back and words that cost nothing. However, most newcomers turn the chance to get rich in Telengard into their nemesis. Each treasure found only creates a desire for more, and with each subsequent quest the adventurers dive deeper and deeper into the maze until it becomes their grave. Will your destiny be a success story?

First released in 1982 for the TRS-80 microcomputer, Telengard introduced the subgenre of rogue-like RPG games. This early dungeon-crawler features a respectable fifty floors with two million rooms, populated by twenty types of monsters against which up to 36 types of spells can be cast. You have to create the story yourself. The only goal of the game, which may never end, is to kill monsters, find treasures, and with the experience gained, improve your character's attributes such as strength, intelligence, wisdom, constitution, intelligence and charisma. Fortunately, progress can be saved, but the eventual death of a character is permanent.

You can play either turn-based or in real-team mode, but you can be surprised by monsters even if you are not moving. There are cold weapons to choose from, the aforementioned magic, and you can always try to escape. In the case of high charisma, some monsters will want to be friends, which can bring you interesting items. With the help of the appropriate scrolls, you can shorten the time of the journey through the dungeon floors by teleportation. Found fountains, altars and thrones can affect your stats positively or negatively. The entire game was programmed in the BASIC language, which means practically unlimited potential for further modifications by the player.