Dandy (video game)
Four-player cooperative dungeon crawl for Atari 8-bit computers.
Dandy, also known as Dandy Dungeon, is a 1983 dungeon crawl maze game for Atari 8-bit computers from the Atari Program Exchange. It was one of the first games to allow four players to cooperate simultaneously. Players use bows and unlimited arrows to navigate mazes, and the game includes a built-in dungeon editor.
Quick Facts
- Designer
- John Howard Palevich; Joel Gluck
- Programmer
- John Howard Palevich
- Publisher
- Atari Program Exchange
- Antic Software
- Electric Dreams
- Released
- 1983: Atari 8-bit
- APX, 1985: Atari 8-bit
- Antic, 1986: C64, Amstrad, Spectrum
- Genre
- Dungeon crawl, maze
- Platforms
- Atari 8-bit
- Amstrad CPC
- Commodore 64
- ZX Spectrum
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The game takes place in a maze-like dungeon viewed from overhead. Players must reach the exit in each dungeon to warp to the next, with dungeons labeled A through Z. Locked doors can be opened with keys found throughout the level. Each player uses a bow and arrow that shoots in eight directions. Monsters come in several graphical varieties; when hit they devolve to a less powerful state before dying. Some monsters are placed during level creation, while others emerge from skull-shaped generators. Player health is reduced by monster contact and replenished by food. Potions destroy all on-screen monsters when activated. A heart of gold revives dead party members. Players move and shoot with the joystick, and use keypresses to eat food and activate bombs. With multiple players, the screen scrolls based on the group's average location.
Development
The game began as Thesis of Terror, written in fall 1982 as Jack Palevich's MIT bachelor's thesis. The original concept was for five players: four using an Atari as a graphical terminal and a fifth acting as dungeon master from a separate computer communicating via serial ports. Time constraints prevented the dungeon master role, and the second machine, a Hewlett-Packard Pascal Workstation, served as a file server sending new maps on demand. Gameplay was heavily influenced by Dungeons & Dragons, though Palevich had never played it; he had read the manuals and watched campaigns. Defender contributed the smart bomb idea (potions), and maze-exploration arcade games contributed the key-and-lock mechanic. Dandy was not influenced by roguelike games, as Palevich was unaware of Rogue. MIT freshman Joel Gluck helped design several levels and invented idioms such as the funnel trap. Early versions allowed players to shoot each other, but this was removed after testing showed it degenerated into a free-for-all. Dead players originally sat out the rest of the game, but playtesters restarted when one died, so the revival heart was added. After graduating, Palevich worked at Atari Research, helping design the operating system for the unreleased Atari Sierra and working on the Atari AMY sound chip. From February to May 1983, the original was cleaned up for release under the new name Dandy, a play on D&D. The file server was removed.
Release
Atari Program Exchange pitched Dandy as a cooperative four-player dungeon crawl. After APX shut down, Antic Software rereleased it in 1985 as Dandy Dungeon. Later that year, Atari Games launched Gauntlet, which shared Dandy's core mechanics. John Palevich sued and settled out of court. Ed Logg later acknowledged Dandy as Gauntlet's direct inspiration.
Ports
In 1986, Electric Dreams Software acquired the rights to produce home computer ports of Dandy after failing to secure the Gauntlet license. Their intended title Dauntless led to a dispute with U.S. Gold. Electric Dreams published the game as Dandy for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC, where it received a Your Sinclair Megagame award. In 1988, Atari Corporation released Dark Chambers, a Dandy-like game for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, and Atari 8-bit computers, with the manual crediting Palevich. It supports one or two players and has fewer on-screen enemies.
More in Atari Games of the 1980s
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced