A Month of Milestones: Dark Tower

It has been a month os milestones for my blog.  First, my 600th blog post.  Then, my 10,000th page view.  Now It seems that my Dark Tower board game video on youtube has hit 20,000 views.  All of these are of course modest numbers in the grand scheme of gaming blogs, but I'm still rather pleased to see people taking an interest in something that I created essentially for my own amusement.  Once more thanks to all who have, read, watched, or commented!  And for those who may still be unfamiliar with the wonders that was Milton Bradley's Dark Tower, enjoy the video, and check out this link for even more information on this wonderful game.

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How to Play Dark Tower - Vintage Board Game 1981 (Mini Review)

Wow, I can't believe that my Dark Tower board game review/play example has almost 19,000 views! I realize that in the grand scale of youtube, that's still close to zero, but hey I'm impressed. :-)  Thanks to everyone who has watched!

It's that time of year again (Dark Tower Time!)

It's the time of year where I find myself reflecting on Christmases long past, and it's also time to break out Dark Tower and give it a play.  No other game from my childhood evokes such fond memories as this little gem from 1981.  That was a good Christmas!  :-)

Dark Tower Tutorial Video - Vintage Board Game (1981)

As, it's been cold and snowy, I've really felt like breaking out Dark Tower and having a go at claiming the magic scepter.  I've been toying with trying to make a video of an entire game to post.  In the mean time here is my tutorial video from last year.

So I've posted a lot about Avalon Hill's Magic Realm, but now I'm going to talk a a bit about one of the games that I actually played in the early 1980s, Milton bradley's Dark Tower. I played this probably more than any other game between 1981 and 1986 and loved every minute of it. If you aren't familiar with the game, here is a video of the game in actual play. It doesn't show the full game, just the demo for learning how to play, but it gives a decent feel of the game.

I got this game for Christmas in 1981, and at the time I'd never even heard of it, but my parents must have figured that since it had all of the things that I was into (wizards, dragons, etc.), I was bound to like it.  In fact, I loved it.

The goal of the game was to circle the board, searching for the three magical keys and gathering an army so that you could lay siege to the Dark Tower and recover the magical scepter from the Tyrant King.  All the while you had to contend with getting lost in the trackless wastes, fighting marauding brigands, deadly plagues, a capricious warlock, and of course, a fire breathing dragon.

You could visit the bazaar to buy warriors and food.  You could visit ruins and tombs in search of treasure.  You could even visit the sanctuary for assistance if things went wrong for your expedition.   All the while, the tower in the center controlled what happens through the magic of 1980s computer technology.  The game truly did live up to its billing as "A FANTASY ADVENTURE BORN OF ELECTRONIC WIZARDRY".  Here are a few other pictures of the game.

The Dark Tower in all its glory

A closeup of the kingdom of Brynthia

For anyone who is interested, there is an Android version of the game available as well as an online flash version.  Enjoy!

UPDATE:  James Merrill provided a link to another flash version of Dark Tower with very fancy visuals.