Dark Tower Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Challenge And Object Of The Game
  • The Challenge
  • The Object Of The Game
• 3. How To Set Up The Game
  • 1. Battery Insertion
  • 2. Tower Test
    • Important — What To Do If The Tower Test Fails
  • 3. Assembly Of Gameboard
  • 4. Preparation Of 12 Plastic Keys
  • 5. Preparation Of 5 Plastic Flags
  • 6. Preparation Of Score Charts And Pegs
  • 7. Other Playing Pieces
  • Here's What Your Completely Assembled Game Should Look Like
• 4. Game Play: Choice Of Levels And Players
  • The 4 Game Play Levels
  • How To Choose The Number Of Players
  • The Order Of Play
  • How To End Your Turn
• Game Play: What a Turn Consists Of
  • Where To Move On The Gameboard
  • Here Are Some Specifics Of Gameboard Movement
  • How To Move. . .Pressing The Keyboard Buttons
• Game Play: Keyboard Buttons
  • The Move Button
    • 1. Safe Move
    • 2. A Battle With Brigands
    • Battle Treasures
    • 3. Lost In Uncharted Territories
    • 4. Plague Strikes
    • 5. Dragon Attacks
    • 6. Cursed By A Wizard
  • End-Of-Turn Signal
  • The Tomb/Ruin Button
  • The Sanctuary/Citadel Button
  • The Bazaar Button
    • Warriors
    • Rations Of Food
    • Beast
    • Scout
    • Healer
    • Closing The Bazaar
  • The Frontier Button
  • The Inventory Button
  • The Clear Button
  • The Repeat Button
  • The Dark Tower Button
  • The Final Battle
  • If You're Victorious!
  • Scoring
• 5. Game Level 4
  • Here Is What Has Been Preprogrammed
  • Bazaar
  • How To Haggle
  • Dark Tower
• 6. A Sample Game
  • For 1 Player
• Dark Tower Game Play – Capsule Form
  • Other Important Notes Of Interest

1. Introduction

Welcome to the world of Dark Tower. A fanciful land where you'll meet wizards and dragons, fight fierce battles and discover fabulous treasure.

Experience this fantasy adventure with the help of a unique electronic tower unit, a large gameboard with colorful, other-worldly graphics and many interesting playing pieces.

The theme is medieval and magical. The game play is exciting, ever-changing and challenging! To experience Dark Tower at its most enjoyable level, it is suggested that you read this instruction booklet carefully. And as you play, keep it close at hand. You will find its colorful illustrations and game play hints valuable references.

Have fun!

2. The Challenge And Object Of The Game

The Challenge

Retrieve the Ancient Magic Scepter that has been stolen by a tyrant king. The Scepter is the Power Staff of the Empire and a Kingdom has been offered for its return. It now lays hidden in the Dark Tower guarded by the tyrant's fierce band of Brigands. Three magic keys will open the tower to you. Find the keys in three foreign kingdoms on the gameboard and you can lay siege to the Dark Tower.

In search of the keys, leave the Citadel in your home kingdom with 10 warriors, 30 bags of gold and 25 rations of food. On your journey, you will fight battles, be attacked by dragons, lose warriors to plague and starvation and get hopelessly lost in uncharted territories.

But don't despair! Visit the Bazaars to buy warriors and other supplies. Stop at the Tombs and Ruins to discover treasures of gold, dragonswords, magic keys, helpful wizards and the Flying Horse, Pegasus. The Sanctuaries are open to you, too, ready to outfit you with warriors, gold and food.

Once you discover the three keys, begin your siege of the Dark Tower. Start out by solving the Ancient Riddle of the Keys, then fight the Brigands within!

If you have a stoutheart, quick wits and undying courage, you will retrieve the Scepter, save the Empire and win a Kingdom.

DARE TO LAY SIEGE TO THE DARK TOWER!

The Object Of The Game

The object of the game is to journey around the board, collect three magic keys and successfully attack the Dark Tower.

3. How To Set Up The Game

Preparation of Tower Unit, Gameboard and Playing Pieces

• 1 plastic tower (game unit)
• 1 cardboard gameboard in two parts
• 1 plastic interlock piece for gameboard
• 16 plastic buildings
• 4 plastic warrior pawns
• 1 plastic dragon pawn
• 12 plastic key pieces
• 5 plastic flags
• 42 plastic score pegs
• 4 plastic corner protectors
• 4 cardboard score charts
• 4 cardboard Pegasus tokens
• 1 label sheet
• 1 detailed instruction booklet

As you can see from the above listing, the Dark Tower game is made up of an electronic game unit (the plastic tower), a gameboard and many playing pieces which require some preparation and assembly. Follow the instructions, below, to set up the game and to be introduced to many of its rather unique game parts.

1. Battery Insertion

Two "D" size alkaline batteries are needed to power the Dark Tower electronic game unit. Be sure to use only alkaline batteries! Here's how to insert the batteries in the plastic tower:

A. Carefully turn the tower unit upside down so the tower bottom faces you. Slide the battery compartment door open by pressing your fingers down on the embossed "Dark Tower" lettering of the door and pushing the door in the direction of the arrow, as shown in Figure 1. Once the door is open, lift it off to expose the battery compartment.

B. When positioning the batteries in the compartment, make sure that the symbols on the batteries match the symbols molded into the compartment, as in Figure 2.

C. Replace battery compartment door by inserting it into the compartment tracks. Slide the door in the opposite direction of the arrow shown in Figure 1., to close.

2. Tower Test

To make sure that the batteries are positioned properly and that the electronics in the tower are functioning correctly, flip the power switch on (the switch is located on the tower bottom, see Figure 1., for position), stand the tower unit upright with its viewing area facing you as in Figure 3., and the following visual and audio responses should occur:

A. A red zero 0 will appear in the digital display window and quickly disappear. Two flashing red dashes – – will appear in its place.

B. Then press any button on the keyboard panel. You will hear a motor turning inside the tower and the two flashing dashes will disappear. Three lighted windows will appear, one by one from top to bottom. As each window lights up, you will hear a beep and see the number 88 appear in the digital display window.

C. After the three light-up windows appear and disappear with their accompanying beeps and digital displays, a flashing L1 symbol (indicating Level 1) will appear in the digital display window and remain there.

D. Turn tower off by flipping the power switch off.

(The tower unit has a viewing area with a digital display window, three light-up windows, and a keyboard panel at its base — see Figure 3.)

Important — What To Do If The Tower Test Fails

If your tower did not emit the above signals in the order described, it is not functioning properly. Try the test again but be sure to wait at least 10 seconds before turning the unit back on again.

ALWAYS OBEY THE FOLLOWING CAUTION – WHEN TURNING THE TOWER UNIT OFF, WAIT AT LEAST 10 SECONDS BEFORE TURNING IT BACK ON AGAIN TO AVOID MALFUNCTIONING!

If the tower still does not respond correctly, turn it off and check the following:

A. Erratic or incomplete signaling. If the tower emits erratic, incomplete or no digital and audio signals, check the batteries. Weak, defective or improperly positioned batteries can do all of the above.

B. Unlighted windows. If any of the three windows fail to light, a bulb could need replacing. The bulbs in Dark Tower are special long-life bulbs that hardly ever need replacing. A spare bulb is supplied with your tower. See the instructions for replacing bulbs packaged with the spare.

C. Additional bulbs. Replacement bulbs may be purchased from Milton Bradley Company. Write to us directly with your request and enclose $1.00 for two bulbs. The price includes the cost of bulbs, postage and handling charges.

Write us at: Milton Bradley Company, Attn: Customer Service Department, Springfield, MA 01101

3. Assembly Of Gameboard

The Dark Tower gameboard is made up of cardboard sections that must be secured together. Plastic playing pieces and the tower unit, itself, must then be attached to the gameboard. See Sections A. to E., of the following assembly instructions. It should only take you a short time to prepare the gameboard for play.

A. Securing the two gameboard pieces. Open up the two cardboard halves of the colorful gameboard and place them face-up on a flat surface. They should be placed together to form a large, circular shape.

B. Attaching the 4 corner protectors. To protect the corners of the gameboard and to keep the two gameboard halves from separating, two sets of 2 corner protectors are pressed onto the gameboard and then locked together. See Figure 4., for a look at one set of corner protectors. See Figure 5., to see a locked set properly attached to gameboard corners. Attach the other set as shown.

C. Attaching the plastic interlock piece. Attach the plastic interlock piece, shown in Figure 6., to the gameboard by inserting the center ring of the piece into the center hole of the gameboard. Be sure to line up the 8 interlock tabs to fit into the 8 small holes in the gameboard. Then press piece into place. See Figure 7., for insertion of interlock piece. The interlock piece secures the two gameboard halves together and also functions as a base for the tower.

D. Placement of the tower unit. Position tower unit in the center of the gameboard so it stands upright and its bottom rests on the interlock piece as shown in Figure 7. The interlock piece now acts as a turntable for the tower unit allowing the tower to be rotated full circle, counter-clockwise around the board. The interlock piece, itself, does not move.

E. Placement of the 16 buildings. The gameboard is divided into 4 kingdoms or quadrants. 4 buildings of the same color must be attached to each kingdom. See Figure 8., for indentification of the 4 different types of buildings: Ruin, Bazaar, Tomb, Sanctuary.

To attach the buildings to the gameboard, do the following:

(1) Carefully break off the 16 plastic buildings from their plastic runners. Discard the runners.

(2) Separate the buildings by color. 4 buildings of the same color are to be positioned in each one of the quadrants or kingdoms.

(3) Match up the buildings with their correctly labeled positions on the gameboard. Attach a building to the gameboard by pushing the building's three bottom pegs into the three small holes on its gameboard site. Do the same for all of the buildings.

IMPORTANT – WHEN DISASSEMBLING THE GAME, remove the interlock piece from the center of the gameboard. Unlock the corner protectors but do not remove them from the board. Separate the gameboard halves, keeping the buildings attached. Fold each half so its buildings are on the outside. Store one half under the cardboard platform in the box and the other half on top of the platform.

4. Preparation Of 12 Plastic Keys

The key pieces are the magic keys that are being sought after in the game. See Figure 9., for a look at a key piece. To label and position the keys for play, do the following:

A. Carefully break off the key pieces from their plastic runners.

B. To label a key piece, peel off one of the labels from the sheet that pictures a key and apply it to the top center of the key piece (see Figure 9., for placement). Notice there are 12 key labels for 4 gold keys, 4 silver keys and 4 brass keys. Label all of the keys in the same manner.

C. Put all the keys in a central playing piece location anywhere near the gameboard, accessible to all players.

5. Preparation Of 5 Plastic Flags

There are 5 flags. . .4 of them represent the 4 kingdoms of Arisilon, Brynthia, Durnin and Zenon and are placed in their matching kingdom on the gameboard. . .the 5th flag is the Dark Tower flag and is attached to the tower unit. See Figure 10., for a look at one of the flags. All of the flags should be properly labeled and positioned before game play begins. Follow the instructions, below, to do so:

A. Break off all flags from their plastic runners.

B. On the label sheet there are 10 flag labels. . .two of the same labels are applied to each flag. . .one label on each side of its banner. Peel off the labels from the sheet and apply them carefully.

C. The flags match the Citadel crests on the gameboard as follows:

• The kingdom of Arisilon's flag features a red field with a yellow lion.
• The kingdom of Brynthia's flag features a blue field with a pale yellow griffin.
• The kingdom of Durnin's flag features a yellow field with a double-headed falcon.
• The kingdom of Zenon's flag features a green field with a white unicorn.
• The Dark Tower's flag features a deep red field with a black dragon.

D. Position the 4 kingdom flags in their matching kingdoms on the gameboard by pushing their posts into the small holes located in the Citadel spaces.

E. Attach the Dark Tower flag to the tower unit by pressing its post into the top of the tower.

IMPORTANT – WHEN DISASSEMBLING THE GAME, remove the kingdom flags from the gameboard and the Dark Tower flag from the unit before storing to prevent breakage.

6. Preparation Of Score Charts And Pegs

Each player is given a score chart with peg markers to keep an inventory of the warriors and supplies won, lost or purchased during the same. Here's how to prepare the charts for play:

A. Punch out the 4 cardboard score charts and give each player one.

B. Break off the small red peg markers from their runners and give each player 10 pegs.

C. To begin the game, each player is supplied with 10 warriors, 30 bags of gold and 25 rations of food. Indicate this inventory on your score chart now with your pegs. Place the 4 extra pegs in the 4 empty holes immediately following the "Healer" hole. See Figure 11., for a look at a properly pegged score chart. As the game progresses, you will move the pegs back and forth along the chart to keep count of your ever-changing number of warriors, gold and food.

PLEASE NOTE: Other valuable items you acquire like a Scout, Beast, Healer or Sword must also be marked with a peg. The magic keys you must find are marked on your score chart with plastic key pieces rather than pegs.

(The score chart is headed WARRIORS – GOLD – FOOD, with rows numbered 0 to 9 for each; below are holes for SCOUT, BEAST, SWORD and HEALER, and positions for the 1ST KEY, 2ND KEY and 3RD KEY.)

7. Other Playing Pieces

Place the plastic dragon pawn, the 4 plastic warriors pawns and the 4 cardboard Pegasus tokens in the central playing piece location.

Here's What Your Completely Assembled Game Should Look Like

Take notice of the important features labeled, below, in Figure 12.

• DIGITAL DISPLAY WINDOW — Watch letter and number displays which signal game action and accompany color picture displays
• THREE LIGHT-UP WINDOWS — Watch full-color pictures that present exciting visual events
• 12 KEYBOARD BUTTONS — Press buttons to prompt game action
• POWER SWITCH — Turn unit off and on with Power Switch located at bottom of unit
• THE GAMEBOARD EMPIRE WITH 4 KINGDOMS — Each kingdom with 4 buildings and 1 flag

4. Game Play: Choice Of Levels And Players

1. Place assembled Dark Tower game on a sturdy, flat surface. Choose a home kingdom on the gameboard for your own and position yourself in front of it. All players do the same.

2. Select a warrior pawn to move that matches the color of the buildings in your home kingdom. Then place your pawn on the Citadel in your home kingdom. All players do the same.

3. All players place their properly pegged score charts in front of them. You each begin the game with 10 warriors, 30 bags of gold and 25 rations of food. As the game progresses, remember to keep proper inventory of all your supplies on your score chart.

4. Turn the power switch on in the tower unit. When the dashes appear in the digital display, press any key. All the signals explained in the Tower Test on pages 5 to 6 under "How To Set Up The Game" will appear. A flashing red L1 symbol remains to choose a game play level.

The 4 Game Play Levels

There are 4 levels of play programmed into the tower, each level can be played by 1 to 4 challengers. 3 of the levels differ from each other in the number of Brigands that you must fight in the tower. One of the levels is a special teaching mode that allows you to get acquainted with the different functions of the keyboard panel.

Choose your challenge by choosing a game play level:

• Level One. . .17 to 32 Brigands to fight. . .appears as L1 in window.
• Level Two. . .33 to 64 Brigands to fight. . .appear as L2 in window.
• Level Three. . .17 to 64 Brigands to fight. . .appears as L3 in window.

IMPORTANT – Level Four is expiained in detail in Chapter 5 on pages 39 to 41. On Level Four, you are challenged by 16 Brigands in the tower. Its symbol is a flashing red L4 in the digital display window. DO NOT CHOOSE L4 AT THIS POINT TO PLAY.

How to choose a game play level: To choose a game play level, you must press the YES/BUY button and the NO/END button in a certain manner.

See Figure 13., for the location of the buttons and read the following for the how to's of game play level selection:

L1 is now in the window, if you wish to play Level One, press the YES/BUY button on the keyboard. This means, YES, I WANT TO PLAY LEVEL ONE. If you wish to play a different level, press the NO/END button on your keyboard until the game play levels L2 or L3 appear in the window. When the desired level appears, press the YES/BUY button meaning YES, I WANT TO PLAY THAT PARTICULAR LEVEL.

PLEASE NOTE – once you select your game play level, the flashing symbol P1 appears in the window. This symbol signals you to tell the tower the number of people who will be playing the game.

(The 12-button keyboard panel, Figure 13., is laid out in four rows: YES/BUY – REPEAT – NO/END; HAGGLE – BAZAAR – CLEAR; TOMB/RUIN – MOVE – SANCTUARY/CITADEL; DARK TOWER – FRONTIER – INVENTORY.)

How To Choose The Number Of Players

To tell the tower how many people will be playing the game, use the same procedure as in choosing a game play level, above. For example, for solo play, you would press the YES/BUY button when the symbol P1 is flashing in the window; if more than one person is playing, press the NO/END button until the symbol appears in the window that represents the correct number of players. . .a flashing P2 for two players; a flashing P3 for 3 players; and a flashing P4 for four players. When the correct number of players appears in the window, press the YES/BUY button meaning YES, THERE ARE THAT MANY PEOPLE PLAYING THE GAME.

PLEASE NOTE – once you select the number of players, the game will begin. You will hear a short musical overture and a flashing 1 will appear in the window. This symbol says that it is Player 1's turn. . .Player 1 is the player chosen to go first. Decide amongst yourselves who will play first. Play then continues to the right of the player chosen to go first.

The Order Of Play

Your order of play is recognized by the tower. The flashing symbol 1 in the window indicates it's Player 1's turn; the flashing symbol 2 in the window indicates it's Player 2's turn; the flashing symbol 3 in the window indicates it's Player 3's turn; the flashing symbol 4 in the window indicates it's Player 4's turn. When you see your identifying number flashing in the window, you know it's your turn to play!

How To End Your Turn

WHEN YOU SEE YOUR IDENTIFYING NUMBER FLASHING IN THE WINDOW PRECEDED BY A MINUS SIGN, THE TOWER IS SIGNALING THE END OF YOUR TURN. FOR EXAMPLE, IF -2 IS FLASHING IN THE WINDOW, THIS INDICATES THAT PLAYER 2'S TURN IS OVER. IMPORTANT—WHEN YOU RECEIVE THIS END OF TURN SIGNAL, YOU MUST ALWAYS PRESS THE NO/END BUTTON TO END YOUR TURN!

IF YOU HAVE FOLLOWED THE ABOVE RULES CORRECTLY, YOU HAVE SELECTED YOUR GAME PLAY LEVEL AND TOLD THE TOWER HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE PLAYING THE GAME. YOU ALSO KNOW THE SYMBOLS THAT SIGNAL THE START AND END OF YOUR TURN. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION TO SEE WHAT A TURN CONSISTS OF.

Game Play: What a Turn Consists Of

The Use Of The Gameboard And Keyboard

The Basic Move. . .on your turn, you'll move your pawn on the gameboard and press an appropriate button on the tower keyboard.

Where To Move On The Gameboard

Take a look at the gameboard in Figure 14. It graphically displays one player's journey through 4 kingdoms. It also points out several features of the board that will be discussed now.

As you can see, the world of Dark Tower is divided into 4 kingdoms of Arisilon, Brynthia, Durnin, and Zenon. One of these kingdoms is your home kingdom, the other 3 kingdoms will be referred to as foreign kingdoms. You must travel through 3 foreign kingdoms on your journey around the gameboard and discover a key in each kingdom. . .a brass key in the first foreign kingdom; a silver key in the second foreign kingdom; and a gold key in the third foreign kingdom. YOU WILL NOT FIND A KEY IN YOUR HOME KINGDOM. Each kingdom is made up of many territories. A territory is one game play space. Some of the territories contain such buildings as Ruins, Tombs, Bazaars and Sanctuaries. The frontiers are the 4 long, narrow territories that separate the kingdoms from each other. A frontier is considered one game play space. Dark Tower Spaces are the 4 spaces that surround the base of the tower. There is one Dark Tower space per kingdom. A Dark Tower space is considered a territory and one game play space. You can only enter a Dark Tower space at the end of the game when you are ready to lay siege to the tower.

Citadels are the starting spaces for your pawns on the board. There are 4 Citadel territories. You are never allowed to move your pawn into a foreign Citadel territory.

Here Are Some Specifics Of Gameboard Movement

1. Move you warrior pawn only one territory per turn. Or you may decide not to move your pawn to another territory but rather remain in your present territory. This is also acceptable. For example, if you're in the Bazaar, you may decide to remain in the same marketplace on your next turn to purchase more supples.

2. When you move your warrior pawn to a territory make sure it is an adjacent territory. Adjacent territories have common boundary lines. See Figure 15. for a clearer example of how to move from territory to territory. IMPORTANT: two or more pawns can be on the same territory at the same time.

(In Figure 15.: A pawn could move from A to C and vice versa. Or a pawn could move from A to B and vice versa. Or a pawn could move from B to C and vice versa. These are all adjacent territories. A pawn could not move from A to D or vice versa because these territories are not adjacent.)

(STRATEGY HINT: always look for the quickest route to reach your destination. Some territories will lead you to your destination faster than others. Compare Route I to Route II. Route I is much faster, taking only 2 moves to reach a certain territory while Route II takes 4 moves to reach the same territory.)

3. Frontier spaces. Notice that the frontier spaces are extra long territories that border several territories in a kingdom. When leaving a frontier space to enter a new territory in a new kingdom, you may move your pawn to any one of the territories that borders the frontier space. . .the choice is yours!

4. The direction to move in. . .as you can see in Figure 14., you must move your pawn to 3 foreign kingdoms and discover a magic key in each kingdom. Then return back to your home kingdom to lay siege to the Dark Tower. Your movement around the board is counter-clockwise. However, within each kingdom, you may travel in any direction you wish. . .up and down, from right to left, from one adjacent territory to another. . .the choice is yours.

How To Move. . .Pressing The Keyboard Buttons

Each move of your pawn on the gameboard is accompanied by a push of a keyboard button. When it's your turn, rotate the tower on its interlock piece so that the tower's viewing area faces you. The buttons you press and the resulting events are designed for your eyes only. However, if you prefer more interaction with your opponents, your visual and audio adventure displayed by the tower may be discussed openly. . .the choice is yours! It is interesting to note, that the more you play the game the more familiar you will become with the audio signals. Therefore, you will know what is happening to an opponent from listening to the sounds emitted from the tower without even seeing the visual signals!

SEE THE FOLLOWING SECTION FOR A COMPLETE EXPLANATION OF EACH OF THE KEYBOARD BUTTONS!

Game Play: Keyboard Buttons

What They Do And When To Press Them

Take a look at the keyboard panel in Figure 16. All 12 of the buttons are explained on the following pages in a very detailed manner. Be sure to press buttons in their centers firmly and directly.

The Move Button

On your turn, press the MOVE button when you move your warrior pawn to an empty adjacent territory on the gameboard or when you keep your pawn in its present empty territory space. An empty territory is any territory that contains no buildings nor is it a frontier territory. One of the 6 random events, below, can happen to you when you press the MOVE button.

• SAFE MOVE, as explained in Rule 1., below.
• BATTLE WITH BRIGANDS, as explained in Rule 2., page 21.
• LOST IN UNCHARTED TERRITORIES, as explained in Rule 3, page 25.
• PLAGUE STRIKES, as explained in Rule 4., page 25.
• DRAGON ATTACKS, as explained in Rule 5., page 25.
• CURSED, as explained in Rule 6., page 26.

When most of these events occur, you will hear a distinctive sound from the tower accompanied by a full-color picture in the light-up window. In most cases, the picture and sound will be accompanied by a letter or number readout in the digital display window that will explain the game action more fully. Watch the viewing area of the tower to experience the event first hand. Here is a detailed explanation of the 6 events.

1. Safe Move

If the tower programs a safe move for you, you will hear a short beep sound. No picture will appear in the light-up window. Your end of turn signal will appear in the digital display window.

2. A Battle With Brigands

First, you will hear a battle horn sound. Then you will see the following two signals simultaneously. . .a flashing red number in the digital display window and a picture of the BRIGANDS in the light-up window. . .these signals tell you how many Brigands are attacking you. The first skirmish with your warriors is then fought – a new sequence of number and picture signals appears in the windows. You'll see a picture of your WARRIORS and a number in the digital display which tells you how many warriors you have left after the first skirmish. This is followed by a BRIGAND picture and a number in the digital display which tells you how many Brigands are left after the first skirmish. Then the battle continues. More skirmishes are fought. Between skirmishes you will hear battle horns sound. Note that there is a different sound for winning and losing a skirmish! You will see all the action in the tower windows. With each skirmish either the Brigands or your warriors lose a number of their forces. The battle sequence continues until the Brigands win and you lose or vice versa. Here's how you can tell when the battle is over:

Brigands lose/you win. . .in the final skirmish, the picture of the warriors and their remaining number flash on in the tower. Then the BRIGANDS picture appears with a digital display of zero 0. This means you have conquered all the Brigands and your warriors have won the battle!

Brigands win/you lose. . .in the final skirmish of a losing battle, when you have only 2 warriors left (this is shown in the windows), the Brigands winning force will flash on in the windows. You will hear a "Death March" sound and the final signal in the battle sequence will appear. . .it is a picture of your warriors with NO numeral digital display indicating that you have been totally routed by the Brigand band. Your warrior force is now cut down to one warrior!

IMPORTANT – AFTER YOU LOSE A BATTLE IN A MULTIPLE PLAYER GAME, THE TOWER IS PROGRAMMED TO ALWAYS LET YOU KEEP 1 WARRIOR, SO YOU WILL STILL HAVE ONE FIGHTING MAN LEFT IN YOUR FORCE. HOWEVER, IN A SOLO PLAYER GAME, IF THE BATTLE SEQUENCE CONTINUES TO THE END AND YOU LOSE, ALL YOUR MEN WILL BE TAKEN FROM YOU AND THE GAME WILL BE OVER!

(A graphic example of a winning battle sequence: BRIGANDS 4 — number of Brigands attacking you; WARRIORS 5 — number of warriors left after first skirmish; BRIGANDS 2 — number of Brigands left after first skirmish; WARRIORS 5 — number of warriors left after second skirmish; BRIGANDS 1 — number of Brigands left after second skirmish; WARRIORS 5 — number of warriors left after third skirmish; BRIGANDS 0 — number of Brigands left after third skirmish. The battle is over. . .you win!)

Retreating in battle. . .If you wish, you do not have to partake in the entire battle sequence. If the Brigands outnumber your warrior force and you think you may lose, press the NO/END button at any time in the sequence. Hold the NO/END button down until the battle ends. You will hear the "Death March" music and the WARRIORS picture will flash on the window with no number display. You will automatically lose at least one warrior when retreating.

Why fight a battle? Winning a battle can be very advantageous to you. Take a look at some of the treasures that could be yours if you're victorious:

• gold
• a dragonsword
• a wizard with his curse
• one magic key (always the one you need)
• a flying horse, Pegasus

Battle Treasures

GOLD. . .you will usually receive some gold after winning a battle. Gold is valuable! With it you can purchase important items at the Bazaar which you will need on your adventure. You'll know you've been awarded gold when you see the following signals. . .a number in the digital display and a picture of GOLD which will be accompanied by a beeping sound. For example, if you see a digital number 43 and the GOLD picture, you'll know that you now own 43 bags of gold.

IMPORTANT – the number displayed is always the total bags of gold you own. The tower computer will automatically add your present gold inventory to the amount you won in battle, so the number shown is your total inventory. This running total feature helps you to keep track of your supplies much easier on your score chart.

PLEASE NOTE – each warrior in your force is responsible for carrying a maximum of 6 bags of your gold. For example, if you have a total of 60 bags of gold and only 6 warriors, the most gold your force can carry is 36 bags. Because you do not have enough warriors to carry your gold, the tower will penalize you and take away all your excess gold. You can avoid being penalized if you owned a Beast. A Beast will carry 50 bags of gold. Beasts can be bought at the Bazaar. See BAZAAR button on pages 28 to 32.

THREE MAGIC KEYS OF BRASS, SILVER AND GOLD. . .you may be awarded one magic key of either brass, silver or gold after a battle (remember, each player must own all 3 types of keys in order to attempt his or her siege of the Dark Tower).

The tower signals that you have won a key by flashing one of the KEY pictures in the window accompanied by a beep. When you are awarded a particular key, peg its matching plastic key piece into your score chart in its properly labeled position. You will receive only one key per foreign kingdom. . .and the keys are always awarded as follows, first the brass, then the silver and finally the gold. YOU WILL NOT FIND A KEY IN YOUR HOME KINGDOM. The tower will never give you two of the same keys!

PLEASE NOTE – you should not leave a kingdom without owning the magic key for that kingdom. See FRONTIER button on pages 33 to 34 for more details.

PEGASUS. . .if you are awarded this flying horse after a battle, the picture of PEGASUS will appear in the window accompanied by a lilting musical tune. Immediately, take a cardboard Pegasus token and place it face-up near your score chart. Any time during the game, at the beginning of your turn, you may use your Pegasus token to fly to any other territory in the kingdom you're in or to any other territory within the kingdom to the right.

Here are 2 important Pegasus rules:

A. if you have already collected the magic key in the kingdom you presently occupy, you may fly to a territory with a building on it in another kingdom, press the FRONTIER button on the same turn and wait until your next turn to press the appropriate building button.

B. you are allowed to own only one Pegasus token at a time. After you use a Pegasus token, return it to the central playing piece pile. Please see FRONTIER button on pages 33 to 34 for more details.

DRAGONSWORD. . .if you are awarded a Dragonsword after a battle, the light-up window will flash the SWORD picture and the tower will sound a beep. Immediately place a red peg marker in the "Sword" hole of your score chart to indicate ownership. The Dragonsword is a special prize, for if the Dragon attacks you, the sword will slay the Dragon and give you all the warriors and gold that the fire-spitting beast has collected during the game. When you slay the Dragon, you lose the Dragonsword and must remove its peg marker from the sword hole in your score chart. See "Dragon" on pages 25 to 26 for more details.

THE WIZARD AND HIS CURSE. . .the wizard is a special treasure that allows you to curse another player. If you are awarded a wizard after a battle, you will see the WIZARD picture in the tower window and hear a beep. You will also see this digital display symbol. . .the letter C followed by a number which asks DO YOU WANT TO CURSE THE PLAYER IDENTIFIED BY THAT NUMBER. If you do, then press the YES/BUY button. If you do not, press the NO/END button until the identifying number of the player you wish to curse appears in the window. When the desired number appears, press the YES/BUY button.

When you curse a player, you will immediately receive 1/4 of the cursed player's warriors and gold. These treasures are then added to your present supplies and your total inventory of warriors and gold will flash in the windows. Be sure to adjust your score chart!

IMPORTANT – THESE 5 TREASURES ARE NOT ALWAYS WON AFTER A BATTLE. SOMETIMES YOU'LL BE GIVEN ONE AS A BONUS WHEN YOU ENTER A TOMB OR RUIN TERRITORY.

NOW THAT THE 5 TREASURES HAVE BEEN EXPLAINED, PROCEED ON TO THE EXPLANATION OF THE 4 OTHER EVENTS THAT CAN OCCUR WHEN YOU PRESS THE MOVE BUTTON!

3. Lost In Uncharted Territories

This is the third event that could happen to you after you press the MOVE button. When you are lost, the LOST picture will appear in the window accompanied by a rather sad-sounding musical signal. You must then move your warrior pawn back to the last territory it was in and your turn is over. However, if you own a Scout, you will see the SCOUT picture flash on in the light-up window. This means you do not have to move your pawn back and you may press another appropriate button and take another turn. As you can see, Scouts are very useful to own. They can be purchased at the Bazaar. See BAZAAR button on pages 28 to 32 for more details.

4. Plague Strikes

. . .this is the fourth event that could happen to you after you press the MOVE button. When the plague strikes, you will see the PLAGUE picture in your light-up window and hear a "Death March" musical sound. Immediately, the tower is programmed to take 2 warriors from you. These 2 warriors you've lost to the plague will be subtracted from your total number of warriors and the final total is displayed in the digital display window. However, if you own a Healer, you will see the HEALER picture flash on in the window. This means you will not lose the 2 warriors. Instead, you will be rewarded with the addition of 2 healthy warriors to your force. Your new total of warriors, will then appear in the digital display window. Healers are very useful. They can be purchased at the Bazaar. See BAZAAR button on pages 28 to 32 for details.

5. Dragon Attacks

. . .this is the fifth event that could happen to you after you press the MOVE button. When the Dragon attacks you, you will see the DRAGON picture in the light-up window and hear a high-pitched screeching sound. The Dragon is a nasty beast and when it attacks it will take 1/4 of your total gold and warriors immediately. Your new totals minus the Dragon's take will then be displayed in the tower window. Be sure to adjust your score chart accordingly. The Dragon may attack many times in a game so it usually has accumulated much gold and many warriors. If you're fortunate enough to own a Dragonsword when the Dragon attacks you, you will be awarded the total amount of gold and warriors hoarded by the Dragon. This added treasure and men is automatically added to your present inventory and the final total will then be displayed in the tower window! Adjust your score chart accordingly. Remember, your Dragonsword is good for one attack only. Once you use it to slay a Dragon, it is no longer yours. Remove its peg from the sword hole on your score chart.

IMPORTANT – after the Dragon attacks you, pick up the plastic Dragon pawn and place it on any territory except one with a building on it, a frontier territory, a Citadel or a Dark Tower space. When placing the Dragon pawn on a territory, be sure to put it in a place that will block one of your opponents, for no player may move his or her warrior pawn into a territory occupied by a Dragon pawn. The Dragon pawn is only moved again when the Dragon attacks again.

6. Cursed By A Wizard

. . .this is the sixth event that could happen to you after you press the MOVE button. If you are the unfortunate victim of a curse that another player placed on you with the help of a Wizard (see "Wizard" on page 24 for details), the tower will immediately tell you by flashing the CURSED picture in the light-up window. Accompanying the picture will be a negative musical signal indicating bad luck for you.

If you are cursed, you will discover that 1/4 of your total amount of gold and warriors has been given to the player who cursed you. Your remaining totals of gold and warriors will flash on the screen. Adjust your score chart accordingly! Being cursed negates your turn, regardless of what button you pressed. If you chose not to move your pawn on this turn, keep it where it was. If you did move your pawn, return it to the last territory it occupied.

ANY OF THE 6 EVENTS LISTED ABOVE MAY OCCUR AFTER THE MOVE BUTTON IS PRESSED. SOME OF THESE EVENTS COULD HAPPEN WHEN OTHER BUTTONS ON THE KEYBOARD ARE PRESSED. . .SEE THE FOLLOWING PAGES FOR OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS OF THE OTHER BUTTONS!

End-Of-Turn Signal

AFTER THE TOWER SIGNALS AN EVENT AND THE EVENT IS OVER, YOU WILL SEE YOUR IDENTIFYING NUMBER PRECEDED BY A MINUS SIGN IN THE DIGITAL DISPLAY. THIS IS THE END-OF-TURN SIGNAL. WHEN YOU SEE YOUR END-OF-TURN SIGNAL, REACT BY PRESSING THE NO/END BUTTON. YOUR TURN IS NOW LEGALLY OVER. THE IDENTIFYING NUMBER FOR THE NEXT PERSON TO PLAY WILL APPEAR IN THE DIGITAL DISPLAY.

The Tomb/Ruin Button

When you move your pawn into a territory that has one of the 4 Tomb buildings or the 4 Ruin buildings on it, press the TOMB/RUIN button. You will hear the eerie sound of a creaking door and one of the following events will happen:

The Tomb or Ruin will be deserted. Nothing will happen, no digital display will appear, no light-up picture will flash on. You will only hear the sound of a creaking door shut. Your turn is then over.

Or a battle with Brigands will take place. You decide whether to fight it out or retreat. The same battle sequence described under the MOVE button will happen here. If you win the battle, you could be awarded some treasure. . .gold, a key, a wizard, Pegasus or a Dragonsword.

Or you may instantly discover one of the 5 treasures as a bonus without fighting a battle.

The Sanctuary/Citadel Button

The Sanctuary: When you move your pawn into a territory that has one of the 4 Sanctuary buildings on it, press the SANCTUARY/CITADEL button. You will hear a high-pitched trill. If you are in need of men, gold or food, the Sanctuary will give you what you need and the tower windows will show you your new totals of these items. Here's how you qualify for aid: if you have 4 warriors or less, the Sanctuary will give you bonus warriors; if you have 7 bags of gold or less, the Sanctuary will give you bonus gold; if you have 5 rations of food or less, the Sanctuary will give you bonus food.

If you are not needy of any of the above items, when you press the SANCTUARY/CITADEL button nothing will happen, no picture displays will appear. Just your end of turn signal will flash on in the digital display window indicating that the Sanctuary has nothing to give you and that your turn is over.

The Citadel: the Citadel spaces are the 4 territories with the kingdom flags and crests. You cannot move your pawn into a Citadel territory in a foreign kingdom. You can only move your pawn into your own home Citadel territory. If you enter your home Citadel at the end of the game when you have collected 3 keys, crossed all 4 frontiers and are ready to lay siege to the Dark Tower, you will get a special surprise. Press the SANCTUARY/CITADEL button and if you have between 5 and 24 warriors in your force, the number of warriors in your force will be doubled. If you don't have the specific number of men (5 to 24) the Citadel will not double your men but will act as a Sanctuary and supply you with the usual bonuses of warriors, gold and food if you qualify for such aid.

IMPORTANT – The warrior-doubling can be an important strategy to take in preparation of your siege on the Brigand force in the tower.

PLEASE NOTE – You can revisit the Citadel and redouble your forces again only if you visit the Tomb, Ruin, Bazaar or Dark Tower spaces in your own kingdom in the interim.

The Bazaar Button

In the Bazaar, you can buy warriors, food rations, a Beast, a Scout and a Healer, all the things that will be useful to you in winning the game. Buying items at the Bazaar is a bit more complex than other game actions, so it is suggested that you read Chapter 5, "The Special Teaching Level", on pages 39 to 41 for the how-to's of proper button pushing.

The signals you'll hear and see. . .when you move your pawn into a territory that has one of the 4 Bazaar buildings on it, press the BAZAAR button. You will hear some exotic "snake charmer's music". Then the tower will present what's for sale with a beep, a picture of the item and a digital display. The digital display indicates how many bags of gold it will cost you to buy such an item. 5 possible items may be shown to you. As each item is displayed, you must tell the tower whether you wish to purchase that item at the price shown. Here's how you do it. . .

Selecting the item you want. . .if you are not interested in buying a particular item, press the NO/END button which means I'M NOT INTERESTED, SHOW ME MORE. The next item to be sold will then appear on the screen with its price. Continue to press the NO/END button until the desired item appears. Then you may either buy the item or haggle with the merchant about the price:

Haggling. If you desire a particular item but think the price is too high, press the HAGGLE button. You have approximately a 50/50 chance of lowering the stated price by one bag of gold. If you are successful in haggling, either buy the item or press the HAGGLE button again to try and get more of a bargain. Of course, if you haggle too much, you run the risk of angering the merchant. If you anger the merchant, you'll see his picture in the tower. This BAZAAR CLOSED picture indicates that you're turn is over and that you cannot buy anything on this turn. You may try again to buy an item on your next turn, if you wish.

Buying an item. If you wish to buy an item at a stated price, then press the YES/BUY button to tell the tower, YES, I WANT THAT PARTICULAR ITEM.

IMPORTANT – READ THE FOLLOWING TO UNDERSTAND THE SPECIFICS OF BUYING EACH ITEM.

You can buy one of the following on a turn:

• One or more warriors
• One or more rations of food
• One Beast (if you don't already own one)
• One Scout (if you don't already own one)
• One Healer (if you don't already own one)

NOTE – the 5 items will always be displayed in the above order. Beasts, Scouts and Healers are special commodities. You can own one of each, but once you purchase one, such items will never be shown to you for sale again when you visit a Bazaar.

Warriors

Warriors are valuable because they are used to fight Brigands and to carry bags of gold.

How to buy warriors. . .To buy warriors at a specific price, press the YES/BUY button when the WARRIOR picture appears in the light-up window. A 01 symbol will appear in the digital display window which indicates that you have purchased one warrior. If you wish to buy more warriors, press the YES/BUY button until the desired number of warriors appears. Then press the NO/END button to end the transaction. The tower will automatically compute the transaction and flash in the windows the picture and the total amount of gold you have left after the purchase.

Some interesting facts you should know about warriors. . .You can gain warriors with other game actions aside from buying them at the Bazaar. You add more warriors to your force when you enter a plagued territory and you own a Healer, when you slay a Dragon, when you enter a Sanctuary with 4 or less men and when you are awarded a Wizard. Remember, you can lose warriors in Battles, when entering a plagued territory without a Healer, by being attacked by the Dragon and by being cursed by a Wizard.

The maximum number of warriors you can have in your force is 99.

Each warrior can carry 6 bags of gold. If your warriors are carrying the maximum number of bags of gold and during the game, you lose warriors. . .then you will automatically lose gold too!

Rations Of Food

Food is a valuable commodity. Each player begins the game with 25 rations of food. Each turn you take, your warrior force consumes a certain amount of food whether you move your warrior pawn or not on the gameboard. 15 warriors or less will consume one ration of food per turn; 16 to 30 warriors will consume two rations of food per turn; 31 to 45 warriors will consume three rations of food per turn; 46 to 60 warriors will consume four rations of food per turn; 61 to 75 warriors will consume 5 rations of food per turn; 76 to 90 warriors will consume 6 rations of food per turn; 91 to 99 warriors will consume 7 rations of food per turn.

Low food warning. . .at the beginning of your turn, the tower will alert you with an audio signal that sounds like 3 low-pitched whoops when you run low on food. This low food warning will sound when you have only 4 or less turns of food left. You must then try to get to a Bazaar and buy food or go to the Sanctuary for a free food bonus before you lose warriors to starvation. If you do run out of food before you get to a Bazaar or Sanctuary, you will lose one warrior per turn to starvation. You'll know when a warrior dies of starvation for you'll hear a "Death March" sound at the beginning of your turn. The maximum number of food rations you can carry is 99.

How to buy food. . .Food rations are purchased like warriors, on page 30. Food rations, however, are always priced at a fixed amount. . .one bag of gold per one food ration. Therefore, you cannot haggle with the merchant about price. When the FOOD picture appears in the tower, press the YES/BUY button, a 01 symbol appears which indicates the number of food rations. Press the YES/BUY button until the desired number of food rations appears. Then press the NO/END button to close the transaction. The tower will automatically compute the transaction and flash in the windows the picture and total amount of gold you have left after the purchase.

Beast

A Beast is valuable because it can carry 50 bags of gold. Since the Beast allows you to carry such a large amount of gold, you need fewer warriors for such a task. Each player is allowed to own one Beast only. You cannot lose a Beast during play.

How to buy a Beast. When the BEAST picture appears in the light-up window with its stated price in the digital display, buy it by pressing the YES/BUY button. Immediately, the tower will compute the transaction and flash in the windows the picture of the gold and the total amount of gold you have left after having made the Beast purchase.

Scout

A Scout is valuable for he will see you safely through uncharted territories. You can never get lost, if you own a Scout. For example, when the LOST picture appears in the window and you own a Scout, instead of losing a turn and having to send your pawn back into the last territory it was in, you are automatically awarded an extra turn. Each player is allowed to own one Scout only. The Scout remains with you for the entire game.

How to buy a Scout. . .When the picture of the SCOUT appears in the window with its stated price in the digital display, buy it by pressing the YES/BUY button. Immediately, the tower will compute the transaction and flash in the windows the picture of the gold and the total amount of gold you have left after the purchase of the Scout.

Healer

The Healer is a valuable addition to your force. If you enter a plagued territory and see the PLAGUE picture in the window and you own a Healer, instead of losing two warriors to sickness, your Healer will add two extra healthy warriors to your force. Each player is allowed to own one Healer only. The Healer remains with you for the entire game.

How to buy a Healer. . .When the Healer picture appears in the window with its stated price, buy it by pressing YES/BUY button. Immediately, the tower will compute the transaction and flash in the windows the picture of the gold and the total amount of the gold you have left after the purchase of the Healer.

Closing The Bazaar

ANYTHING YOU BUY WILL COST A SPECIFIC NUMBER OF BAGS OF GOLD. WHEN PURCHASING AN ITEM, DON'T OVERESTIMATE YOUR GOLD SUPPLY. IF YOU TRY TO BUY MORE THAN YOU CAN AFFORD, THE BAZAAR WILL CLOSE. YOU WILL SEE THE BAZAAR CLOSED PICTURE IN THE WINDOW AND YOUR TURN WILL BE OVER.

VERY IMPORTANT – IF YOU ENTER A BAZAAR, PRESS BAZAAR BUTTON AND DECIDE NOT TO PURCHASE ANY ITEMS, PRESS CLEAR BUTTON TO NEGATE YOUR MOVE. YOUR TURN WILL BE OVER AND YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO BUY ANYTHING!

The Frontier Button

This is a very special button. Always press the FRONTIER button when you enter each one of the 4 long, narrow frontier territories which separate one kingdom from another. When you press the FRONTIER button, you will hear a triumphant musical sound.

The first time you press the FRONTIER button is when you leave your home kingdom to enter the first foreign kingdom to the right. You'll find your first key in this kingdom.

The next two times you press the FRONTIER button, you'll be leaving and entering other foreign kingdoms. The last time you press the FRONTIER button, you'll be leaving a foreign kingdom and entering your own home kingdom*.

PLEASE NOTE – If you do attempt to leave a foreign kingdom without discovering the key for that kingdom and you press the FRONTIER button, the tower will catch you and flash the KEY MISSING picture in the window and emit a sad-sounding musical signal. You must then return your pawn back to the last territory it was in before you crossed the frontier. Stay in that kingdom until you discover its key!

The use of the Frontier button with Pegasus. . .if you use your Pegasus token to fly to another territory in another kingdom, be sure to press the FRONTIER button to alert the tower that you are now in a new kingdom. IMPORTANT – you cannot fly out of a kingdom with a Pegasus if you have yet to find the key in that kingdom. If you attempt to do so, you'll see the KEY MISSING picture flash on the screen. You must then return your pawn back to the territory it was in, you lose your Pegasus token and must return it to the central playing piece pile and you're turn is over. . .Quite a penalty – so be sure to always use Pegasus legally!

*If you forget to press the FRONTIER button for the final time and attempt to storm the Dark Tower, you will not be able to do so. The tower will warn you of your failure by emitting a sad-sounding musical signal. On your next turn, press the FRONTIER button and continue your siege.

CAUTION: if you forget to press the FRONTIER button when crossing into a kingdom, the tower will never award you the key for that particular kingdom. PLEASE NOTE: If at any time during the game, you have forgotten whether you were awarded a key for a kingdom, press INVENTORY button, explained below, to see what keys you have discovered.

AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU MUST PRESS THE FRONTIER BUTTON TO ALERT THE TOWER THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED A NEW KINGDOM. BE SURE TO PRESS FRONTIER EACH TIME YOUR WARRIOR PAWN ENTERS A FRONTIER TERRITORY. PRESSING THE FRONTIER BUTTON IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF GAME PLAY FOR EVERY PLAYER. . .EVEN YOUR OPPONENTS. SO HELP ONE ANOTHER OUT. ALWAYS REMIND EACH OTHER TO PRESS THE FRONTIER BUTTON AT THE PROPER TIME!

The Inventory Button

Instead of moving your pawn into a territory and pressing an appropriate button on the keyboard, you have the option on your turn of taking inventory. Taking inventory means you want to verify the amounts of warriors, gold, food and other items you have marked on your score chart. To take inventory, press the INVENTORY button and the tower will display with picture and digital signals what you have and how much of it you own. You will see warriors, gold, food, keys, Dragonswords, Scouts, Beasts and Healers. The tower will not keep track of any Pegasus tokens that are won! Be sure to adjust your score chart accordingly after an inventory!

The Clear Button

Press this button after you make an illegal move or if you wish to purchase nothing in the Bazaar. The illegal move is discussed on page 35; see BAZAAR button on page 32 for the CLEAR Button reference there.

The illegal move is made if you press an incorrect keyboard button. For example, if your pawn is in the Bazaar and you move it into an empty adjacent territory and press the TOMB/RUIN button instead of the MOVE button, you have made an illegal move! To undo your mistake, wait until the tower shows you the entire event then press the CLEAR button.

CAUTION: AT NO TIME PRESS THE NO/END BUTTON! You will hear many rapid beeps which sound like a siren. This sound alerts your opponents that you have made an illegal move and you are clearing up your mistake. After you press the CLEAR button, return your pawn to the last territory it was in. Your turn is over and the next player's identifying number should be flashing in the digital display.

EXCEPTION – SHOULD AN ILLEGAL MOVE AWARD YOU THE TREASURE OF THE WIZARD AND YOU CURSE ANOTHER PLAYER, PRESSING THE CLEAR BUTTON WILL NOT UNDO YOUR MISTAKE!

The Repeat Button

If you missed a particular picture or numeral digital signal in the window, press the REPEAT button to review what slipped by you. PLEASE NOTE – the REPEAT button does not recap every event. It will show you what treasures you have lost or gained. It will not repeat the frontier audio signal, the beeps indicating a safe move or the creaking door signals of the Tombs or Ruins. Neither will the REPEAT button show you how many warriors you have left after a battle!

The Dark Tower Button

This button is pressed only at a specific point in the game. Press the DARK TOWER button when you have fulfilled all of the following requirements: you have collected all 3 magic keys; you have crossed 4 frontiers and are back in your home kingdom; your pawn is sitting in a Dark Tower space and you are ready to begin your siege of the Dark Tower. When the DARK TOWER button is pressed you will hear a few notes of the "1812 Overture" and the tower will signal you to solve The Riddle of the Keys!

The Riddle of the Keys. . .in order to gain entry into the Dark Tower and to fight the final battle with the Brigands within, you must unlock the tower by putting the keys into a special order (you must arrange the brass, silver and gold keys in proper numerical order). . .this is called solving The Riddle of the Keys.

Here's how to solve the riddle. . .The order of the keys (which key is #1, #2 and #3) changes from game to game. It's rather a complex procedure, so it's recommended that you read Chapter 5, "The Special Teaching Level" on pages 39 to 41 to practice the correct button-pressing. Read the following for a quick explanation:

After you press the DARK TOWER button and hear the musical overture, a picture of one of the keys and the digital number 1 will appear in the digital display. The tower is asking you if that particular key is Key #1. You must respond by pressing either the YES/BUY button or the NO/END button. Pressing the YES/BUY button will tell the tower, YES, I THINK THE KEY SHOWN IS KEY #1. Pressing the NO/END button will tell the tower, SHOW ME MORE, I THINK ANOTHER KEY MIGHT BE KEY #1. If you continue to press the NO/END button, all 3 keys will eventually flash on in the light-up window. When the key you think is Key #1 appears, press the YES/BUY button to tell the tower of your choice.

If your first guess is correct, a picture of one of the two remaining keys and the digital number 2 appear in the windows. The tower is asking you if this particular key is Key #2. Press YES/BUY or NO/END buttons as above to make your choice.

If your first guess is incorrect, you will hear a negative musical signal and your end of turn signal appears in the tower window indicating your turn is over. To properly end your turn, press the NO/END button. Now you must wait for your next turn to guess again. On your next turn, press the DARK TOWER button and try again to pick Key #1. As you can see, choosing the proper order of the keys is pure guess work and your correct choices are made through process of elimination.

Continue pressing YES/BUY and NO/END buttons to guess as above. Once you correctly choose Key #2, you have successfully solved the Riddle of the Keys. The tower will not ask you to make your choice of Key #3, since your answer will obviously be correct.

As soon as you correctly pick Key #2, the Final Battle begins!

IMPORTANT – if your first guess was correct but your second guess was incorrect, your turn is over. Wait until your next turn to pick Key #2. On your next turn, after having pressed the DARK TOWER button, the tower will ask you to identify Key #1 again before it presents your choices for Key #2. Press the proper YES/BUY and NO/END buttons to answer.

To avoid confusion, the best advice to follow is always watch the digital display and light-up windows carefully so you'll know exactly what key and in which order it is being presented. You may press the REPEAT key, if necessary!

The Final Battle

Once you have solved The Riddle of the Keys you must fight the Brigand force within the Dark Tower. As soon as Key #2 is properly picked, you'll hear a battle horn and the number of Brigands and their picture will appear in the windows. You now know how many Brigands are guarding the Ancient Scepter (remember, the game play level you choose determines how many Brigands you must fight). During the battle you must make a critical decision, stay and fight or retreat. If you fight, the classic Battle Sequence with its many skirmishes will take place. If you retreat, head back to the Bazaar or your own home Citadel to gain more warriors, then head back to the tower again to lay siege. PLEASE NOTE – if you do retreat, when you attack the tower again, you must solve the riddle again (the sequence does not change) before the Final Battle will take place.

CAUTION – IF YOU ARE PLAYING SOLO AND YOU LOSE THE BATTLE, YOU WILL LOSE ALL OF YOUR WARRIORS AND THE GAME WILL BE OVER. YOU LOST AND THE TOWER IS VICTORIOUS. IN MULTIPLE PLAY, IF YOU LOSE THE BATTLE, THE TOWER IS PROGRAMMED TO SAVE 1 OF YOUR WARRIORS, SO YOU WILL STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO REPLENISH YOUR WARRIORS AND LAY SIEGE AGAIN!

If You're Victorious!

If you win the battle, you will hear a triumphant musical signal and you will see the VICTORY picture of the Ancient Scepter held aloft in triumph! Congratulations, you've won the game!

Scoring

At the end of the game, you will see either double zeros 00 or numbers between 1 and 99 in the digital display. Double zeros indicate that you won the game but did not attain a score. A 1 to 99 in the window means you won the game and played extremely well. . .good enough to score between 1 and 99. 1 is the lowest score; 99 is the highest score. To attain a score, you must circle the board rapidly in as few moves as possible. Then, with all the courage you can muster, storm the Dark Tower and battle the Brigands within with a small warrior force (the smaller your force, the more courageous you are and the higher your score).

REMEMBER, your score is based both on the number of moves it took you to circle the board and the number of warriors that you lay siege to the tower with. Attaining any score at all is quite an accomplishment!

5. Game Level 4

The Special Teaching Level

Level 4 is programmed into the tower so players can experience game situations that occur towards the end of a Dark Tower game.

IMPORTANT—WE WILL USE THIS LEVEL ONLY TO TEACH YOU HOW TO BUY AT THE BAZAAR AND SOLVE THE RIDDLE OF THE KEYS. LEVEL 4 PERMITS KEYBOARD BUTTON PRACTICING AND DISPLAYS TOWER REACTION.

In the future, you may view Level 4 as a way to play a short version of Dark Tower. For all the keyboard buttons are active and when pressed will react exactly as outlined in Chapter 4 under "Game Play: Keyboard Buttons", pages 20 to 38.

Here Is What Has Been Preprogrammed

1. You own all 3 magic keys.
2. You know that there are 16 Brigands in the tower to fight.
3. You know the Riddle Of The Keys. . .gold is Key #1, silver is Key #2 and brass is Key #3.
4. Here is your present inventory: 10 warriors, 25 rations of food, 30 bags of gold, a Beast, a Scout, a Healer, a gold key, a silver key, a brass key and a Dragonsword.

SELECT GAME PLAY LEVEL 4 L4 AND A SOLO GAME P1, THE MUSICAL OVERTURE SOUNDS AND THE GAME BEGINS.

Bazaar

Press the Bazaar button. First you will be shown the current price for one warrior (in bags of gold). Press the NO/END button. Now you'll see that one food ration costs one bag of gold. Press the NO/END button again, and you're back to warriors again. Early in the game you can also buy a Scout, a Healer and a Beast, but on Level 4, you already have one each of these items – and one is all you can have. You can only buy one item (or several of one item) per turn, so let's buy two warriors. Press REPEAT to make sure the warriors are for sale. If so, press YES/BUY button once for each warrior you wish to buy. Press YES/BUY button twice. There should be an 02 flashing on the screen. Press NO/END button to end the transaction. YOU HAVE JUST PURCHASED TWO WARRIORS! You are then shown how much gold you have left. Press NO/END button again to end your turn.

How To Haggle

Press BAZAAR button again. You now see the new price for warriors (it might be the same). If you think the price is too high, press the HAGGLE button. Now one of two things could happen:

1. You might have angered the merchant and the BAZAAR CLOSED picture will be displayed. Your turn is over.

2. Or the price will be dropped by one bag of gold.

You can haggle as often as you dare. You have approximately a 50/50 chance to lower the price. Don't be too greedy or you'll insult the merchant.

You now know how to buy at the Bazaar. Press the HAGGLE button until the Bazaar closes and then press NO/END button to end your turn. Solving the Riddle of the Keys in the Dark Tower is now ready for your practice session.

Dark Tower

Now press the DARK TOWER button. After the tune is played, you will have to solve the Riddle of the Keys. You must own all three keys to enter the tower. The tower will show you a key picture and then flash a 1 in the digital display. It is asking you whether you think that key is the first key. You must hit YES/BUY or NO/END buttons. If you want to see the key again, hit REPEAT button.

If you press YES/BUY button and you are wrong then your turn is over. If you are right, then you will see a new key and the number 2 in the digital display. If you press NO/END button, the tower will show you another key. Your turn will not be over until you press the YES/BUY button incorrectly. Here's how to do it:

1. After you've hit the DARK TOWER button, press NO/END button until the Silver Key comes up. Then hit YES/BUY button. This is a wrong guess. The Silver Key is not first. Press NO/END to end your turn.

2. Press DARK TOWER button again. Press NO/END button until the Brass Key comes up. Then hit YES/BUY button. This is also a wrong guess. The Brass Key is not first. So the Gold Key must be first. Press NO/END button to end your turn.

3. Press DARK TOWER button again. Press NO/END button until Gold Key comes up. Press YES/BUY button. Congratulations, you are correct. The Gold Key is Key #1. Now press NO/END button until the Silver Key comes up. When the Silver Key appears, press YES/BUY button. A correct guess! The Silver Key is #2. The battle horn sounds and the Final Battle begins.

NOTE: At Level 4, the Riddle of the Keys is Gold Key first, Silver Key second. The color of the third key is obviously Brass by process of elimination – and it does not have to be guessed for the battle to take place. In Levels 1, 2 and 3, the riddle is different for each game.

4. Watch the Final Battle. You will either win the game or lose every warrior. However, you could retreat by pressing NO/END button and holding it down. In a multi-player game if you are losing the Final Battle, the computer will automatically retreat you and you will have one warrior left.

6. A Sample Game

Completely Illustrated Play-By-Play Approach

For 1 Player

After traveling around the entire board, the Arisilon player is ready to cross his or her final frontier. This Player #1 has an inventory of 8 warriors, 13 bags of gold, 25 food rations, a Scout, a Healer and all 3 magic keys.

Notice the numbered moves, below, are graphically displayed on the preceding illustration, Figure 17., on page 42. Match numbered moves below to these numbered territories on the illustrated gameboard section to trace Player #1's progress.

1. FRONTIER – After moving into the frontier, Player #1 pressed the FRONTIER button and then pressed the NO/END button to end turn.

2. SAFE MOVE – After moving ahead to this territory, Player #1 pressed the MOVE button. Then after hearing the short "safety sound", he or she pressed the NO/END button to end turn.

3. TOMB (deserted) – After moving to the Tomb territory, Player #1 pressed the TOMB button, and heard the sound of the creaky door swing open. . .and then swing back shut. Deserted! Player #1 pressed the NO/END button to end turn.

4. TOMB (Treasure) – Player #1 decided to stay and explore the tomb again and pressed the TOMB button, the door creaked open and 15 bags of gold were found! So the display showed a total of 28 bags of gold. Player #1 then pressed the NO/END button to end turn.

5. DRAGON! – After moving ahead toward the Citadel, Player #1 pressed the MOVE button. Then the DRAGON picture appeared in the tower and Player #1 lost one fourth of his or her warriors and gold. (If Player #1 had had a Dragonsword, he or she would have slain the Dragon and gained warriors and gold.) The tower then showed Player #1 that he or she had 6 warriors and 21 bags of gold left. Player #1 pressed the NO/END button and turn was over.

6. CITADEL – After moving into the Citadel, Player #1 pressed the SANCTUARY/CITADEL button and his or her warriors doubled to 12. Player #1 is shown this new total on the display. Then he or she pressed the NO/END button to end turn.

7. LOST! – After moving up toward the Bazaar, Player #1 pressed the MOVE button. The picture LOST appeared in the display. This would normally mean that he or she would have to move back to the last occupied territory and lose a turn. But since Player #1 had a Scout, the SCOUT picture appeared on the screen along with a flashing number 1. . .which means another turn!

8. BAZAAR – On his or her free turn, Player #1 moved into the Bazaar and pressed the BAZAAR button. After the Bazaar tune, he or she saw that warriors were selling for 5 bags of gold each. Player #1 decided to haggle and so pressed the HAGGLE button. Haggling did not offend the merchant and the price was lowered to 4 bags of gold each. . .so Player #1 bought five more warriors by hitting the YES/BUY button five times and then hit NO/END button to end the transaction. Player #1 is now shown that he or she had only one bag of gold left after the sale and hit NO/END button to end turn. (Player #1 now has 17 warriors! One bag of gold and 17 food rations.)

9. PLAGUE – After moving up one territory, Player #1 pressed the MOVE button and then saw the PLAGUE picture. Player #1 has entered a plagued territory! Now instead of losing two warriors to the plague, he or she had a Healer – and so gained two warriors, now having a total of 19 warriors. Player #1 pressed the NO/END button to end turn.

10. DARK TOWER – After moving into the Dark Tower space, Player #1 pressed the DARK TOWER button. The Dark Tower tune was heard and then a GOLD KEY picture appeared on the tower followed by a 1 in the digital display. The Riddle of the Keys must be solved! Player #1 did not think that the Gold Key was first so he or she pressed the NO/END button. The picture of the Silver Key was seen. Player #1 thought that Silver might be first and hit the YES/BUY button. WRONG GUESS!! The flashing -1 in the digital display indicated Player #1's turn was over, so he or she pressed the NO/END button to end turn.

11. DARK TOWER – Player #1 pressed the DARK TOWER button again. First he or she saw the GOLD KEY picture. This time he or she guessed that it was the first key and hit the YES/BUY button. CORRECT GUESS!! Now he or she saw the Silver Key picture and the number 2 in the digital display and hit YES/BUY button again. Another CORRECT GUESS!! Now that Player #1 got the first two keys in order, the Final Battle began! REMEMBER, TO WIN THE GAME, PLAYER 1 MUST BATTLE THE BRIGANDS WITHIN THE TOWER AND EMERGE VICTORIOUS!

Dark Tower Game Play – Capsule Form

BASIC TURN OUTLINED: follow the below, 6 easy steps. . .

1. Your identifying number appears in the digital display signaling your turn to play.

2. Move your pawn to any adjacent territory or decide to keep your pawn in its present territory on the gameboard.

3. Press an appropriate button on the tower's keyboard panel (where you move your pawn or where your pawn is on the gameboard determines which button to press).

4. An event takes place. Look at the digital display and picture display in the tower and listen to auditory signals.

5. Your identifying number with a minus sign appears in the digital display to signal the end of your turn.

6. Press NO/END button to legally end your turn.

Other Important Notes Of Interest

Your warrior pawn travels counter-clockwise from kingdom to kingdom around the gameboard.

You will discover one key in each of the 3 foreign kingdoms you visit. You will never find a key in your home kingdom. Each time you enter a Frontier territory, be sure to press the FRONTIER button.

To win the game, cross all 4 frontiers, discover 3 keys, return to your home kingdom and storm the Dark Tower successfully by solving the Riddle of The Keys and by defeating the Brigands within the tower.

Each gameboard move is always accompanied by pressing an appropriate button on the tower's keyboard panel.