Game 581: Dragon Quest (1982)

Or "Seahorse Quest." Dragon Quest United KingdomBug-Byte Software (developer and publisher)Released 1982 for BBC Micro Date Started: 3 July 2026Date Ended: 3 July 2026Total Hours: 3Difficulty: Easy (2.0/5) Final Rating: (to come later) Ranking at time of posting: (to come later) It's been tough to identify the first British CRPG given that so many of the early efforts from the country are best described as "proto-RPGs." They have some RPG elements like exploration, inventory, and battle, but they tend to lack character development, whether traditional experience and leveling or some kind of skill-based system. With Dragon Quest (obviously no relation to the more famous Japanese title), we have a game drawn more solidly from Dungeons & Dragons tradition than any British game before it, or for years after it. It has attributes, experience, and the concept of levels—but you never actually level. Or, more accurately, you win the game by achieving Level 2. The dumb, slow type. The…