Monster’s Lair was written by Allen G. Mehr and Jimmy D. Jones and published by Soft Sector Marketing. It was released for the TRS-80 in 1980. I played Monster’s Lair on a TRS-80 emulator.
Monster’s Lair features an overhead view and it plays very much like one of the Microquests from the Dunjonquest line. I’m specifically reminded of Morloc’s Tower.
What I found to be surprising was the speed of play and execution. The Microquests from the Dunjonquest line have not aged well where movement and speed are concerned. The games can be a bit slow and waiting for the graphical environment to refresh can become tiresome. However moving about the map in Monster’s Lair was a relatively simple affair and I was amazed at the speed of the game. You can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move around to quicky explore the rooms.
The dungeon consists of 28 rooms and is a fixed map. The game is real-time and not turn based. The goal here is to explore the 28 rooms and the monsters that are located within each room. Once you’ve defeated the monster in it’s lair you are then awarded treasure which affects your overall score. Once you have explored the dungeon level you make your way back to the entrance and you are then awarded an overall score and asked if you want to play again.
The game begins by asking you whether you want to enter a character by hand or have it generated for you. This is also reminiscent of the Dunjonquest games which offer you the same option. If you choose automatic generation the character begins with an armor class of 5 and 10 hit points. The character’s attributes will be given random values between 10 and 18. If you choose to enter the character by hand then you can enter the attribute values yourself up to a maximum of 18. The six character attributes are strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution, and charisma.
The armor class score can be a range from 0 -9. The lower the score the harder it is for monster’s to hit you. The game sports a magic armor bonus ranging from 0-5 as well based on magic items and armor which affect your armor class. Your character’s experience level can range from 1 to 5. The higher your experience point level the greater your proficiency in combat. Your health or stamina is measured in hit points which can range from 1 to 99. Each of these hit points are then converted into 4 vitality points. So if you have 50 hit points your vitality score would be 200. Each time a monster strikes you the damage is subtracted from your vitality. If your vitality score reaches 0 you die.
Your character icon is represented by a square on the overland map. As you move about the map and enter a room the graphical interface changes from the overhead dungeon view to depict the room that you are in. Each of the room locations are decorated with items scattered about the room. These items may consist of a table, chair, bed, chest, desk, or trash. Some of the rooms have closets as well. Each room you enter contains a monster that you’ll have to fight. The monster is also represented by a square item and when you enter the room the monster will begin to move towards you quickly in real-time. When the two icons converge then combat ensues.
The different monsters that I encountered included beetles, bugbears, stocky dwarfs, a strange cat-like creature, a large black jelly-like mass, a pointy eared elf, and a demon.
Combat is done for you and is automatic. You do not have much control over combat and in combat you and your opponent keep exchanging blows until one of you perishes. There are text descriptions which accompany each round of combat and some of the descriptions are rather humorous like the one above: “so close you felt the breeze” to describe an opponent barely missing you. Other description examples are: “you clobbered him” or “you gave him a glancing blow.”
One unique feature which involves combat is that your character begins the game with a wand. The wand contains three charges and is activated by hitting the Space key on the keyboard. If your character’s vitality is dangerously low and the battle is not going well, hitting the spacebar automatically kills the creature. One of the rooms contains a powerful demon that is head and shoulders tougher than the other dungeon denizens encountered so be sure to save a charge for the dastardly demon.
Once you’ve cleared out the 28 rooms on the dungeon level you make your way back to the starting room and then you’ll get the following message up above. Your experience points will be generated and you’ll be asked if you want to play again. Again I am reminded of the Dunjonquest series because the game does not keep track of your attributes and experience between sessions. You’ll want to write them down and then type them in by hand in order to see character progression.
It took me roughly two hours to clear out the entire dungeon level and make my way back to the starting room. I did choose to play again just to see if there were any significant divergences from my original play through and it merely seemed like I was repeating the initial dungeon exploration experience. There doesn’t seem to be much of a “replayability” factor here but you have to remember that there were not a lot of role-playing game offerings to choose from in 1980 either so I could see those that were hungry for this kind of stuff continuing with the game and building their characters.
Next up on the docket is Sword & Sorcery II.
Until next time…