Troll's Gold

created and published by Softside in 1980-01, running on Apple II E

type: action/reflex, maze
genre: Fantasy
perspective: bird's-eye fixed camera
player options: single player

languages: eng

Personal review

In Troll's Gold, you enter a 6x6 dungeon. You are in the upper left corner, the gold is in the lower right corner, and the troll is somewhere near the right. You try to get to the gold and get back out before the troll gets you. The catch is that not all rooms have doors out of them, and the doors are randomly opened and closed after each move. You move by deciding in which direction you want to move (often there's just one choice), and you can keep moving through as many rooms as you like until you reach a dead end. Once there's nowhere left to move, or once you're happy where you are, you signal the end of your turn. Then the walls are redrawn with new doors, and the troll moves.
Troll's Gold uses the lo-res screen for display, but not to great effect. You are a small green dot. The troll is a small red dot. The gold is represented by four yellow dots. You will perceive that the implementation is by no means fancy. The user interface is of a similar caliber: you type U for up, L for left, and so on. (Using A/Z and/or the arrow keys would be easier to deal with.) The game is terribly easy for an adult to win, and even children will find its frustration level low. This is a daft little game, but it has a certain charm.