Friday 18 July 2008

Moonstone: A Hard Day's Knight - Amiga / PC



Arguably the finest game released for the the Amiga. Moonstone: A Hard Day's Knight see's you take charge of a colourful knight errant. On the worldmap you move from swamp to desert, forest to mountain, soloing dungeons; garnering treasure, trinkets, weapons and spells. The game progresses in real time and the cycles of the sun and moon can change the complexion of magic and encounters (e.g some enemies are far stronger at night). The battles are played out in a Golden Axe'esque sequence of sword wielding, giblet squelching carnage. As you travel around the map you must be wary of the machinations of the other three knights who have embarked on the very same quest as you (for maximum enjoyment these may be controlled by human players), if your paths cross a vicious mano-a-mano battle ensues and the victor will have choice pick of the vanquished items. There are towns replete with usual taverns, temples and merchants. These sanctuaries provide a much needed break from the intensities of the monster wracked world outside.


The World of Moonstone


The infamous stone circle!


"Screw it. Lets go to the Tavern"


A Hard Day's Knight

The gameplay elements are simple but Moonstone is so packed with variety that every minute is a joy. When more than one human is involved the battles become intensely heated and each day must be used to its absolute fullest. Moonstone marries the strategy and playability of a classic fantasy board game (e.g Talisman, Dungeon, Heroquest etc) with the mechanics of a great computer action game.

Download from Abandonia
Moonstone Tavern: Fansite
Wikipedia Article

There are two version of Moonstone; one for MS-DOS and one for Amiga. I would say the Amiga version is superior but don't feel disheartened if you settle for DOS (its still a bona fide classic).

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