Twin Kingdom Valley (1983)

It’s not your world. You arrive there and you’re a person, a creature, just like all the others. You see something shiny and think maybe you could go get it, so off you wander. You’re not controlling the game – you’re part of it. — Trevor Hall, interviewed in 2006 With this, we reach one of the most well-remembered games of 1983. Your Computer, December 1983 issue. It is often mentioned in the same context as The Hobbit, and this includes advertising from the time (“EAT YOUR HEART OUT BILBO!”) The setting is a “mythical place where two kings reside” who “hate each other”; you are an “adventurous, bounty hunting, greedy human” and your goal is to “finish the game with as much wealth as possible”. This is a standard treasure hunt, in other words, but it has illustrations for all the rooms, and it has dynamic NPCs (the latter point being why it gets compared to The Hobbit). The author, Trevor Hall, has an unfortunate namespace clash with a more famous musician, but fortunately he’s done…