Gameplay involves exploring a series of randomly generated scrolling mazes, seeking treasures and weapons with which to defeat monsters, and recovering the two pieces of the Crown of Kings. The speed of the monsters and the quantity of available arrows are determined by the difficulty setting. The player starts in a cabin on one side of a wilderness map. On the other side is an enormous mountain containing the crown, topped by clouds and inhabited by sleeping
dragons. Smaller mountains and geographical obstacles block the way to the goal. Some mountains are impassable, while others turn different colors as the player approaches them to indicate their difficulty level. When the player enters a mountain, the screen changes to an overhead view of a maze of rooms within it. The player is represented by a black stick figure with a bow who must move from one room to another. Rooms and connecting passages initially cannot be seen, but they gradually light up as the player moves into them. The player must avoid or defeat monsters, collect items, and find an exit in order to return to the map screen. The difficulty level of the mountain determines the types of monsters and items that can be found inside. The player starts with three arrows, but can find more as the game progresses. Items include: •
Quiver: Adds arrows to the player's inventory. •
Boat: Required to move along the rivers on the map. •
Axe: Required to move through the forests on the map. •
Key: Required to pass the gates in the walls on the map. •
Crown: Found only in Cloudy Mountain; both halves must be obtained to win the game. Quivers can be found in any mountain, while each of the other three items can only be found in mountains of one specific color (blue mountains for the boat, red mountains for the axe, and purple mountains for the key). Most monsters will injure or kill the player character on contact, but evidence of their presence can be found in the form of tracks or audible cues. Spiders and bats inflict no injury, but spiders can steal arrows from the player on contact and the flapping of bats' wings will obscure any sounds made by other nearby monsters. The player begins the game with three lives, and if a life is lost, the character respawns in the same maze. The final maze, Cloudy Mountain, has no exit. Upon entering it, the player must find both halves of the Crown of Kings, each guarded by a powerful winged dragon. The game ends once the player either loses all three lives or reassembles the crown. ==Reception==