Dungeons & Dragons Computer Fantasy Game

In 1981, Mattel released the Dungeons & Dragons Computer Fantasy Game, a handheld electronic device. Designer Peter Oliphant later recalled it as one of the simpler assignments of his career. The unit runs on watch batteries and features an LCD screen. At the start, an isometric view shows a simple 3D dungeon where a small character, holding a sword up, stands at a four-way crossroads.

The character’s position is marked by a letter and number (starting at A1), and a cursor button moves a black arrow in four directions while a move button shifts the screen accordingly. The player’s character and the maze appear in the bottom-left corner, leaving room for icons that signal nearby items or monsters in any of the four directions. Among these are a bat that can randomly pick up the character and drop it elsewhere, and a pit that kills the character unless a rope is used to escape. The rope is available at the start of the game’s most accessible setting, but not in the hardest one.

Gameplay

The screen shows a dungeon junction in quasi-3D, with hints of paths to explore. Each junction has a letter and number, letting players map as they go. The dungeon is a 10x10 grid of 100 squares that wraps around—walking off one edge brings the character back on the opposite side. Gameplay resembles Hunt the Wumpus: the player moves through a maze, avoids bats and pits, and must find an arrow to shoot the dragon without entering its lair.

To win, the player locates the magical arrow, then the dragon, and fires from another room. A four-tone tune plays every few seconds, and each step makes a tapping sound. Falling into a pit triggers a descending tone followed by a death dirge. Unlike Hunt the Wumpus, this game uses a 10x10 grid where each square is a room.

The positions of a dozen pits, the arrow, rope, and dragon are randomized each game. A win gives a score based on steps taken, with one point awarded per step. The unit is roughly the size of a small calculator, with an offset LCD and white-outlined cobblestone graphics.

Oliphant noted the game was easier to code because it was turn-based and rule-driven, not real-time. He thought the layout and LCD art were excellent for a turn-based game and was happy with the result. While he worked on the prototype, another team programmed the final production version. He recalled it was a system with very limited memory, used to its fullest.