Dark Tower (game)

The game includes: The circular game board is divided into four quadrants, each corresponding to one of the four kingdoms, with the Dark Tower in the center. Each kingdom quadrant is divided into spaces, four of which are labeled for a building; the innermost (closest to the center) space is labeled as the Dark Tower, and the outermost ring of spaces includes a space for the citadel for that kingdom, which is where the kingdom's flag is placed and where the player pawn starts. The sixteen buildings are divided into four sets (distinguished by color) of four buildings each: ruin, bazaar, tomb, and sanctuary. The twelve keys are divided by color into four gold keys, four silver keys, and four brass keys. Each flag corresponds to one of the four kingdoms (Arisilon, Brynthia, Durnin, and Zenon) and the Dark Tower itself. During the initial assembly of the game, the buildings are placed into the labeled spaces on the board, and stickers are peeled off a sheet and placed on the keys and flags. ==Gameplay==

Starting items To start, each player receives a cardboard score chart and ten pegs; six pegs are used to track the player's party, starting with 10 warriors, 30 gold, and 25 food rations. The remaining four pegs keep track of the extra items (scout, beast, healer, or sword) once acquired; keys are placed directly in the appropriate score chart slots as they are acquired. The quarter of the board in front of a player is their kingdom. Each kingdom quadrant is separated by a "frontier" space; when moving into a new kingdom from the frontier, players may choose to move into any space adjacent to the frontier. Events After the player moves their token one space, they press a button on the Tower corresponding to the type of space (e.g., Sanctuary, Tomb, Bazaar, Frontier, free/unoccupied space and ultimately onto the Dark Tower space). Depending on the space the player entered (or remained upon), there are several possible events. The Tower resolves what happens to the player by showing the appropriate cel and reporting whatever occurs. For instance, if the Tower decides the player encountered Brigands, it will illuminate the Brigands cel and display the number of brigands encountered. The Tower resolves the battle by alternately counting off the remaining numbers of friendly troops and Brigands down to a win or loss. Once all events have resolved, the Tower is rotated to the next player and their turn begins. In addition to the common safe entry and battle events, there are several potential harmful events that could occur to a player entering one of the standard spaces (i.e., when pressing the "Move" button): Battle rewards When the player wins a battle, they may be awarded one or more treasures. Treasure(s) also can be awarded without battle when entering a ruin or tomb. Supplies from the Bazaar In the Bazaar, players may purchase items, including warriors, consumable food, and durable bonuses. Warriors are needed for battle and to carry the player's gold, up to six gold per warrior. One food ration will feed up to 15 warriors per turn regardless of movement, so when the player has 16–30 warriors, for instance, they will consume two food rations per turn. If the player runs out of food, one warrior will die per turn from starvation. Objective Each kingdom besides a player's own contains one of three keys—bronze, silver and gold, acquired in that order—needed to unlock the Tower. The location of the key within a kingdom is randomly determined by the Tower. Each player therefore must travel around the board through each other kingdom until the player has all three keys; players are free to move through spaces in other kingdoms except for the foreign citadel. At this point, the player returns to their kingdom, buys reinforcements for a maximum complement of warriors, and then attempts to unlock the Tower by entering a code which requires them to confirm a sequence of keys (bronze, silver, and gold) displayed in the correct order, randomized for each game. Once cracked, this brings them to the final battle to defeat the Tower, which contains a predetermined number of defenders inside, depending on the level selected at the start of the game. The first player to beat the Tower wins the game; losing the battle requires building up another army. ==Development and litigation==

Milton Bradley launched the game in September 1981 at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles. As part of the publicity campaign, Milton Bradley stated the development of Dark Tower started in January 1979 and cost the company more than ; the name was finalized in November 1980 Vince Erato, who previously created the Big Trak toy (1979), was credited with designing the game, inspired by the computer game Wilderness Campaign (1979). George Ditomassi, the M-B vice president of sales, said it was aimed at "people who had heard about D and D but who didn't want to be Dungeons and Dragons freaks." Shortly after launch, although the game's retail price was between US$55 and , Ditomassi noted "it shouldn't be selling yet because it's too high-priced and there hasn't been any advertising", but added that nevertheless, each Toys "R" Us store was selling an average of one and a half units per week. Marketing for the game included a television commercial featuring Orson Welles. Despite favorable reviews and reportedly strong sales, production of the game stopped after a single holiday season, and it was targeted by a lawsuit. Erato was present for the demonstration. Internally, M-B used a three-tiered review structure, with only 5% of game ideas receiving the scrutiny of top-level executives during a "Presidential Review"; according to internal records, Triumph received a Presidential Review on March 20, 1980. According to Erato, he independently conceived the central tower around Christmas 1979, two months before Burten and Coleman met with M-B, but his combative attitude at trial hindered the believability of his testimony and because he did not keep good records, he could not prove this assertion. The First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in May 1985, finding evidence that Milton Bradley entered an implied agreement to keep the game confidential and reinstated the damage award. ==Reception==

Games magazine included Dark Tower in their "Top 100 Games of 1981", noting especially how the "tower itself swivels so that each player alone views what happens to his own band of warriors". In a retrospective review of Dark Tower in Black Gate, Scott Taylor said "as I remembered Dark Tower, and its card game predecessor Dragonmaster, I couldn't help but get incredibly nostalgic. There was something truly unique about those games, something almost spiritual, and I can credit this most certainly with the artist who brought them to us, Bob Pepper." Reviews • Family Games: The 100 Best Legacy Several web-based versions of the game have been developed over the years; an app called Droid Tower developed by Muse of Water was available for Android; and a similar app by MacCrafters is available for iOS. Sequel Return to Dark Tower was launched on Kickstarter on January 14, 2020, by Restoration Games as a cooperative game for 1–4 players. Designed by Isaac Childres and Rob Daviau, the creators of Gloomhaven and Pandemic Legacy respectively, the game features a motorized rotating tower guided by an app. ==See also==