The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Many old-timers will remember DarkTower. Remember the commercial with Orson Wells? Anyway, this game came out back in 1981, and I know it's been available on eBay for about $50. Since I mentioned it on a forum a few weeks ago, people keep asking me about, so here is an official review, and you can decide for yourself whether or not you want to get your hands on one.

The materials: You get a circular board in two pieces, joined together with plastic tabs. In the middle of the circle you put the big, black electronic tower. Plastic building get put in set places on the board, as well as flags. 4 plastic warriors are your pawns (in 25mm scale) and there is a plastic dragon as well. You also get four cardboard inventory cards, one for each player, to record warriors, gold, etc. and plastic pegs (ala battleship) to keep track. You also get a rulebook. Expect some of these pieces, especially flags, to be missing and/or broken. But as long as you have the gameboard and the tower works right, you'll be ok. You can improvise with the rest.

The premise: The board is split into four kingdoms (like pieces of a pie) with the tower smack in the middle. Each player takes one kingdom. The goal is to progress in a circle to each neighboring kingdom to gather keys. So in the first kingdom, you'll be looking for a bronze key, then the silver in the second kingdom, and finally the gold in the last kingdom. After that you'll be on your way home with all three keys. Use the keys to get into the tower, and defeat the evil forces within. Do that and you've won the game!

Gameplay: The electronic tower has a long vertical window, with a keypad underneath. This is all on one side of the tower, and it spins on its base, so that only the play who's turn it is sees what's going on. Of course, once you know what the cheesy sounds that come out of the tower mean, it's easy to guess at what's going on with another player. In the beginning of the game you program in how many players will be playing (1-4) and the level of difficulty (3 levels plus a training level).

You start at your own citadel with 10 warriors, 30 bags of gold, and 25 rations of food. Each kingdom has a citadel, which is your starting point, a bazaar to purchase necessities, a sanctuary to beg for necessities when you are down on your luck, and a tomb and some ruins in which to explore. As you move from space to space, you press the "move" button on the tower, and it tells you the results of your move. If you're lucky, it'll be a safe move and nothing happens. Sometimes you get lost and have to move back to your original space. Sometimes you get hit with a plague and lose warriors. Sometimes the dragon attacks and steals a portion of your warriors and gold. Sometimes you run into brigands and have to fight. Sometimes another player has cursed you and you lose warriors and gold.

If you are moving to the bazaar, you hit the "bazaar" button instead. At the bazaar you can buy more warriors and food (you lose food every turn, how much depends on how many warriors you have.) You can also buy a beast to help you carry gold (warriors can only carry a certain amount of gold, so as your warriors die in battle, you also lose the gold they carried, unless you have a beast.) You can buy a scout so that when you get lost, you actually get to move again. And you can buy a healer so that when the plague hits, you actually gain warriors, rather than lose them (yeah, that's not logical, but it fits the game.) You can pay the price asked, which varies each time, or you can try to haggle for a lower price. If you haggle though, you run the risk of insulting the shop keeper and he'll close the bazaar, ending your turn.

If you are entering the tomb or ruins you hit the "tomb/ruins" button, and you'll usually end up doing battle. Sometimes it'll be empty, and sometimes you'll find unguarded treasure.

If the game has been going badly, and you find yourself low on warriors, cash, or food, you can stop at the sanctuary and they'll give you some to keep you going.

Once you have found the key, you cross the frontier into the next kingdom. When you reach the frontier, you hit the "frontier" button (this is simple isn't it?) and essentially that just tells the tower that you are in the next kingdom, ready to find the next key.

Battles: When you enter battle, either while moving or in a tomb/ruin, you fight a certain number of brigands. The play goes round by round. The tower shows you the amount of brigands, then the amount of warriors you have. If you win a round, the brigands numbers are cut in half. If you lose a round, you lose one warrior (the odds are with you). You can hit the "retreat" button at any time. If you win, you usually get treasure. If you retreat or lose, your turn ends. You can never be reduced to zero warriors. You'll always have 1 left, so in essence, you can never die and be out of the game. Of course, then it's time to highttail it to the nearest sanctuary and beg for a handout of warriors!

Treasure: Treasures include gold (unless you can't carry anymore), the keys of course, a pegasus (which will fly you to any spot on the board, once), a dragonsword (so that if you encounter the dragon, he doesn't take your gold and warriors, but rather you kill him, and gain everything he's accumulated all game), or a wizard. A wizard allows you to choose a player to curse. You get a portion of their gold and warriors, and on their next turn that player will be unable to move, and find out how much he/she has lost.

Winning: Once you have gathered all the keys and built up a sufficient forces, it's time to attack the tower. First you'll need to guess the order of the keys. Guess wrong and your turn is over. Sooner or later you'll guess right and then you'll fight the forces of the tower. And if you win, you win the game. If you lose, well, time to go get some more gold, buy some more warriors, and try again, if someone else doesn't beat you to it!

The beauty of this game is that it keeps track of everything for you. When you find gold it doesn't tell you how much you find. It tells you how much you have total. It warns you a few turns in advance when you are running out of food. There is even an inventory button in case you really weren't paying attention. It's a slick little board game that will take anywhere from 30-90 minutes to finish (we usually average about 60) and it's easy to learn. You can even play yourself, and see how quickly you can beat it. If you've done exceptionally well, the tower will give you a score when the game is over. Most of the time though, it took you so long to finish, you don't get a score, even though you won.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

DarkTower
Author: n/a Category: Board Game Company/Publisher: Milton Bradley Line: n/a Capsule Review by Lennis on 03/09/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	Many old-timers will remember DarkTower. Remember the commercial with Orson Wells? Anyway, this game came out back in 1981, and I know it's been available on eBay for about $50. Since I mentioned it on a forum a few weeks ago, people keep asking me about, so here is an official review, and you can decide for yourself whether or not you want to get your hands on one. The materials: You get a circular board in two pieces, joined together with plastic tabs. In the middle of the circle you put the big, black electronic tower. Plastic building get put in set places on the board, as well as flags. 4 plastic warriors are your pawns (in 25mm scale) and there is a plastic dragon as well. You also get four cardboard inventory cards, one for each player, to record warriors, gold, etc. and plastic pegs (ala battleship) to keep track. You also get a rulebook. Expect some of these pieces, especially flags, to be missing and/or broken. But as long as you have the gameboard and the tower works right, you'll be ok. You can improvise with the rest. The premise: The board is split into four kingdoms (like pieces of a pie) with the tower smack in the middle. Each player takes one kingdom. The goal is to progress in a circle to each neighboring kingdom to gather keys. So in the first kingdom, you'll be looking for a bronze key, then the silver in the second kingdom, and finally the gold in the last kingdom. After that you'll be on your way home with all three keys. Use the keys to get into the tower, and defeat the evil forces within. Do that and you've won the game! Gameplay: The electronic tower has a long vertical window, with a keypad underneath. This is all on one side of the tower, and it spins on its base, so that only the play who's turn it is sees what's going on. Of course, once you know what the cheesy sounds that come out of the tower mean, it's easy to guess at what's going on with another player. In the beginning of the game you program in how many players will be playing (1-4) and the level of difficulty (3 levels plus a training level). You start at your own citadel with 10 warriors, 30 bags of gold, and 25 rations of food. Each kingdom has a citadel, which is your starting point, a bazaar to purchase necessities, a sanctuary to beg for necessities when you are down on your luck, and a tomb and some ruins in which to explore. As you move from space to space, you press the "move" button on the tower, and it tells you the results of your move. If you're lucky, it'll be a safe move and nothing happens. Sometimes you get lost and have to move back to your original space. Sometimes you get hit with a plague and lose warriors. Sometimes the dragon attacks and steals a portion of your warriors and gold. Sometimes you run into brigands and have to fight. Sometimes another player has cursed you and you lose warriors and gold. If you are moving to the bazaar, you hit the "bazaar" button instead. At the bazaar you can buy more warriors and food (you lose food every turn, how much depends on how many warriors you have.) You can also buy a beast to help you carry gold (warriors can only carry a certain amount of gold, so as your warriors die in battle, you also lose the gold they carried, unless you have a beast.) You can buy a scout so that when you get lost, you actually get to move again. And you can buy a healer so that when the plague hits, you actually gain warriors, rather than lose them (yeah, that's not logical, but it fits the game.) You can pay the price asked, which varies each time, or you can try to haggle for a lower price. If you haggle though, you run the risk of insulting the shop keeper and he'll close the bazaar, ending your turn. If you are entering the tomb or ruins you hit the "tomb/ruins" button, and you'll usually end up doing battle. Sometimes it'll be empty, and sometimes you'll find unguarded treasure. If the game has been going badly, and you find yourself low on warriors, cash, or food, you can stop at the sanctuary and they'll give you some to keep you going. Once you have found the key, you cross the frontier into the next kingdom. When you reach the frontier, you hit the "frontier" button (this is simple isn't it?) and essentially that just tells the tower that you are in the next kingdom, ready to find the next key. Battles: When you enter battle, either while moving or in a tomb/ruin, you fight a certain number of brigands. The play goes round by round. The tower shows you the amount of brigands, then the amount of warriors you have. If you win a round, the brigands numbers are cut in half. If you lose a round, you lose one warrior (the odds are with you). You can hit the "retreat" button at any time. If you win, you usually get treasure. If you retreat or lose, your turn ends. You can never be reduced to zero warriors. You'll always have 1 left, so in essence, you can never die and be out of the game. Of course, then it's time to highttail it to the nearest sanctuary and beg for a handout of warriors! Treasure: Treasures include gold (unless you can't carry anymore), the keys of course, a pegasus (which will fly you to any spot on the board, once), a dragonsword (so that if you encounter the dragon, he doesn't take your gold and warriors, but rather you kill him, and gain everything he's accumulated all game), or a wizard. A wizard allows you to choose a player to curse. You get a portion of their gold and warriors, and on their next turn that player will be unable to move, and find out how much he/she has lost. Winning: Once you have gathered all the keys and built up a sufficient forces, it's time to attack the tower. First you'll need to guess the order of the keys. Guess wrong and your turn is over. Sooner or later you'll guess right and then you'll fight the forces of the tower. And if you win, you win the game. If you lose, well, time to go get some more gold, buy some more warriors, and try again, if someone else doesn't beat you to it! The beauty of this game is that it keeps track of everything for you. When you find gold it doesn't tell you how much you find. It tells you how much you have total. It warns you a few turns in advance when you are running out of food. There is even an inventory button in case you really weren't paying attention. It's a slick little board game that will take anywhere from 30-90 minutes to finish (we usually average about 60) and it's easy to learn. You can even play yourself, and see how quickly you can beat it. If you've done exceptionally well, the tower will give you a score when the game is over. Most of the time though, it took you so long to finish, you don't get a score, even though you won. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)