Rate top gamesdnd
About
dnd (also known as The Game of Dungeons) was one of the first dungeon crawling RPGs for PLATO system, loosely based on tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons.
Nowadays dnd can be played with help of PLATO emulator Cyber1.
dnd reviews and comments
This was the second game I played on the PLATO system after pedit5. I didn't find this game as addicting as pedit5 since it takes a bit longer to make a new character after dying. You can read the dndnotes in the game's menu to see players around the world interacting with the current maintainer of the game in an email-like system. Some people also provide hints about how to beat the game. It's really cool to see this system still operating to this day.
This game is much richer than pedit5. It's got item shops, multiple levels, nonlinear progression, teleporters, more interesting monster and item types, bosses (allegedly the very first videogame to have this), and a vaguely more appealing goal of obtaining the "Orb" (compared to pedit5, where the only goal was to acquire experience points).
Though technically not a roguelike, in terms of the actual experience and what it takes to get good at it, there's little practical difference. The game is well-documented, but you would probably still have to spend many hours grinding, learning its intricacies, and finding out exactly what spells you need for each enemy, what kind of stats you need for each level of the dungeon, what levels to go to for an optimal playthrough, what items to avoid due to how dangerous they can be (unless your stats are above a particular and obscure formula), ...
There's still far too much luck and grinding involved for my tastes, but it's worth taking a look for those with an interest in the early history of dungeon crawlers. That said, I do not suggest attempting to beat it. Given how long it would take, and what else is available today, there are better ways to spend your time.
This game is much richer than pedit5. It's got item shops, multiple levels, nonlinear progression, teleporters, more interesting monster and item types, bosses (allegedly the very first videogame to have this), and a vaguely more appealing goal of obtaining the "Orb" (compared to pedit5, where the only goal was to acquire experience points).
Though technically not a roguelike, in terms of the actual experience and what it takes to get good at it, there's little practical difference. The game is well-documented, but you would probably still have to spend many hours grinding, learning its intricacies, and finding out exactly what spells you need for each enemy, what kind of stats you need for each level of the dungeon, what levels to go to for an optimal playthrough, what items to avoid due to how dangerous they can be (unless your stats are above a particular and obscure formula), ...
There's still far too much luck and grinding involved for my tastes, but it's worth taking a look for those with an interest in the early history of dungeon crawlers. That said, I do not suggest attempting to beat it. Given how long it would take, and what else is available today, there are better ways to spend your time.