Valley of the Minotaur
A text adventure inspired by Zork and Greek myth.
In 1983, Softalk's Zeuss Scientific label released Valley of the Minotaur, an interactive fiction game for the Apple II, Commodore PET, VIC-20, and Commodore 64. Inspired by Greek myth, players must gather a collection of treasures.
Quick Facts
- Publisher
- Zeuss Scientific
- Designer
- Nicolas van Dyk; Chris M. Evans
- Released
- 1983
- Genre
- Interactive fiction
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Apple II
- Commodore 64
- PET
- VIC-20
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The game uses a simple verb-noun parser and is inspired by the first Zork game, with the goal of collecting treasures and depositing them in a telephone booth, analogous to Zork I's trophy case. A giant bat can pick up the player without consent and carry them to other locations, similar to a bat in Zork I, and travel by boat is also featured. Unique aspects for its time include an encounter with cannibalistic headhunters. In addition to treasure collection, slaying the Minotaur is a secondary goal necessary to solve the game. The game may contain bugs, though this is uncertain without confirmation from the designer; what appear to be bugs could be the game's off-beat nature.
Development
The game's writing, descriptions, characters, and plot came from Nick's classmate Christopher M Evans, who also drew the map. Evans and Van Dyke later completed a sequel, Return to the Valley of the Minotaur, though it was never released. The project drew from Microsoft's Adventure, Zork I and II, Wizardry's maps, Dungeons & Dragons, and a Doctor Who telephone booth referencing the TARDIS.
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