Catacomb of the Phantoms was written by Tom Plassman and was featured in the June 1981 issue of SoftSide. SoftSide is a defunct computer magazine, begun in October 1978 by Roger Robitaille. Dedicated to personal computer programming, SoftSide was a unique publication with articles and line-by-line program listings that users manually keyed in. Catacombs of the Phantoms was one such program. Softside ended with it’s March 1984 issue.
A young man looking for adventure opportunities in Pettieville is pointed in the direction of a doddering old wizard. The old man mentions the Catacombs of Phantoms and that deep within these catacombs lies the Golden Goddess of Power that the Sorcerer Agalinta was rumored to have hidden. So you strike out in the hopes of finding this Golden Goddess.
Catacombs of the Phantoms is a text based game. Your player character moves deeper and deeper through numbered chambers in order to find the final prize. Each player character has two ability scores: Strength and Agility. The Strength score is a measure of health or hit points while the Agility score affects combat ability. In combat, the player’s Agility is compared with that of the monster’s which determines how much Strength is lost in the fight.
The game is made to play in a single sitting however it is quite hard to beat. Part of the strategy for beating the game involves you finding and wresting control of a fountain from the creature guarding it. If you drink from the fountain it increases your Strength score based on the number of experience points you have (which you get by defeating monsters) and increases your Agility score based on the amount of gold that you’ve acquired. The Golden Goddess of Power is guarded in the deepest level of the Catacombs by a Giant with 300 Strength. In order to even have a chance of defeating this guardian, you’re going to have to stay alive long enough to accrue many more points than that. This involves carefully mapping out the entire complex because it is imperative to know where the fountains are located so that you can backtrack and visit them several times. The fountains have a random limited usage so it is important that you have control of more than one fountain.
Each time you play Catacombs of the Phantoms the rooms and their contents are randomly generated so that each game is different. Above is an example of how I mapped out the four dungeon levels in what ended up being a winning run. The game is surprisingly addictive and while it is meant to be played in one sitting it is surprisingly very difficult. I died many, many times before finally winning the game.
Each room that you find may have a monster, a treasure chest, and a fountain. The fountains are rare and you may find that there are only 2 to 3 of these throughout the four dungeon levels. It is important that each time you encounter a dungeon denizen you look closely at your opponent’s Strength and Agility and compare them to yours. I found that if the scores were equal you could prove victorious but at the cost of many Strength points. If your Strength score isn’t almost double that of your adversary’s it may be best to choose to Flee; which is an option. If you do Flee, the monsters get a free attack upon you.
The game derives it’s name because quite often a sexy phantom will appear to offering you aid or assistance. You get the choice of accepting that aid with a simple Yes or No. If the phantom does indeed aid you it can provide you with clues or special codes that do special things. Sometimes however the phantom, once you answer Yes to accept her help, pulls a knife and stabs you in the stomach doing quite a bit of damage. Late in what ended up being a winning run for me, I kept choosing No to avoid aid because I couldn’t take the chance of being wounded.
The only input allowed by you as the player character is typing in which room number you want to travel to next. The other special instruction codes are as follows:
- 77 – to fight a monster
- 88 – to search a chest for gold or items
- 99 – to drink from a fountain
- 102 – to use a worm
- 200 – to leave from the natural exit
The player begins each new game with three “worms”. What a “worm” allows you to do is drill or burrow a tunnel to the next level below from wherever you are on the current map. You get to do this three times and then lose the ability. Sometimes a “worm” is necessary because there is no exit or way to continue lower based on the random generation of the Catacombs. Other times you may choose to use it strategically to help win the game.
The final battle is extremely difficult and I barely pulled it off. It was actually a nail-biter and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this game. It reminded me a little bit of Devil’s Dungeon the way it is setup however I enjoyed Catacombs of the Phantoms MUCH MORE.
Once you defeat the Giant and obtain the Golden Goddess of Power you are granted a wish which will send you home. Some of these line-by-line type in programs are fairly amazing and quite enjoyable. If you feel comfortable using an emulator and can find a copy of the game I suggest that you give it a try.
The next game on the docket in my journey through time involves me moving from these catacombs to the depths of space. I will be tackling an interactive text adventure entitled Escape from Mars. Until then…