Game #221: The Tower of Druaga (1984)

The Tower of Druaga was released in arcades in June of 1984. It was developed and published by Namco Limited. It would eventually be ported to no less than 13 different home systems.

Namco is known for their worldwide arcade hits like Pac-Man, Galaga, and Dig Dug. The Tower of Druaga is one of their most interesting releases because it presented a completely different experience from anything the Japanese arcade culture had ever seen. The game would prove to be a huge influence going forward and spawned four different sequels or spin-offs.

The premise of the game is that the priestess Ki has been kidnapped by the evil monster Druaga. You control a heroic knight, who is actually prince Gilgamesh, who must attempt to rescue the maiden from Druaga. You move from floor to floor, which are constructed of mazes, searching for the key which will unlock the door to the next level.

I can see how this would seem like a very simple setup to many. This action arcade game however is subtlety wrapped in rogue-like, CRPG trappings. Yes, you navigate through the mazes, claiming each key, so that you can exit to the next floor, but what is not apparent is that there is a secret item that you can procure from each level that aids you on your quest. Some of these items are absolutely necessary to venture deeper into the game, and if you miss them, there is no going back. You are soft-locked from finishing the game. What really makes this game insane, is that the conditions for finding the hidden items are different from floor to floor.

For example, on the very first floor you can obtain a pickaxe. It will only appear for you to claim after you’ve defeated 3 slime creatures. The pickaxe allows you to break down two walls per level. As you progress from floor to floor, every item is different and unique and the conditions for getting that item are different. On the second level, you can obtain Jet Boots. These allow you to move much faster throughout the game. In order to have these appear to you, you must defeat two of the BLACK oozes which are tougher than the green slimes on that same level.

The conditions get much harder as the game progresses. A lot of the challenge is trying to figure out how to get that level’s treasure to appear while still staying alive. What makes all this even more challenging is that you are on a timer. If the timer hits zero before you exit the floor, you perish. On the sixth floor, the treasure is a magical candle that allows you to see the ghosts that roam the next few floors that are normally invisible to you. In order to get the candle to appear, you have to touch the top outer wall.

I spent hours with this game. It completely sucked me in. I was addicted to see what new item I might obtain and then pulling my hair out over how to get that item to appear. In some cases, you have to pass through something or move a particular way in order to get the treasure to appear. Sometimes you have to kill the enemies on that floor in a particular order which becomes time consuming through trial and error.

Floors 52-60 get particularly difficult. I had to resort to looking at a walk through to see how to perform the sequence of events for levels 59 and 60.

There are stories that exist about this game that tell of arcade cabinets that had little diaries where players could share their experiences and give clues to other gamers for finding the hidden items on each level and the secret technique to beating Druaga at the end. I have never heard of anything else like this before. What a fascinating phenomenon. Beating Druaga is a very difficult to do – it took me almost 3 hours to master level 59 and beat Druaga and this was using the rewind feature found in the Steam version of the game!

Early role-playing games in the 80’s seemed to be defined by how hard they were to beat and The Tower of Druaga is certainly an example this. This would be a trait of the genre that would also increase with time. Many of today’s new CRPGs now require 100+ hours of playing time. I would argue that there ARE RPG elements in The Tower of Druaga. You may not have an obvious hit point meter or life bar but the items that you find throughout the game make you stronger. If you don’t collect some of the items you’ll never be able to finish the game. There were many times while playing this game that reminded me of Sword of Kadash. Underneath the surface there is much more to this game.

I found the game to be very addictive as well. I’d complete one floor and then say to myself; ‘Just one more floor’. Then I’d find myself stuck on that particular floor and having to play it over and over again in an attempt to solve its puzzle. I’d then remind myself that I had best get to bed.

I spent several hours with this game and enjoyed every minute of it. I had always heard stories about the game and was glad that I finally got to personally experience it and spend significant time with it.

Next up on the docket is Dragonslayer.

Until next time…