Matt Jensen
United States
Bountiful
Utah
-
Growing up I liked to game… That’s probably not very unique for members of this site. I had my epic games of Monopoly and Risk that would last for hours if not days. But between those standard ‘traditional’ games, my good parents sprinkled in a couple of gems as Christmas and birthday presents that generated more memories than I could even start to catalog. Two of these gems were fantasy-based games with a little electronic ingenuity thrown in. The first was the electronic maze Dungeons and Dragons Computer Labyrinth Game. While a fun foray in stumbling through the maze hoping to avoid the dragon, that game didn’t quite measure up to the second. That other game was the Holy Grail of Nostalgic games – The Dark Tower.
To say I played my copy of The Dark Tower to death is an understatement. Of course the flags were the first to go – along with the red pegs for keeping inventory but those could be pilfered from a readily available set of Battleship! After a few years, the key and Pegasus tokens started to migrate to better places as well. I still played though. I kept at it even after several of the buildings got ran over by the vacuum and mangled into a lump that wasn’t even worthy to be used as a ‘ruin’. The board finally had a bad experience with a spilled drink and started o warp then split. That didn’t stop my enjoyment of it though. While friends couldn’t be asked to play without the board, I had ‘memorized’ the board to the point where me and the tower could sit and play an advanced level solo game to much enjoyment. Finally, after a good seven or eight year run, the dreaded leaking battery issue did the old venerable tower in better than I could ever have assaulted it with 99 warriors. The Dark Tower had finally gone dark for good and the gears would turn no more.
While that was a sad day, I was then in high school and had bigger things to keep me occupied. Even then, The Dark Tower had a soft spot still reserved. I still had one of the player tokens, the sturdy one with shield ready with sword drawn across. After college and marriage, I again started to get back in to board gaming and naturally was curious about my old game friend. The beauty of the internet suddenly surprised me that my old friend was now a highly sought after collectible that could fetch upwards to $300 for a working copy. Even with a loving wife, I couldn’t justify breaking down for such a purchase. So, with hushed voice, I’d tell the stories of The Dark Tower to my kids as they started to grow in to little gamers as well.
The reverence of storytelling was broken when an old high school friend dropped a bomb on me while playing a game together. “Remember that old game with the Tower we used to play?” he said, “We were cleaning out my in-law’s house and I found a copy buried in a closet that they gave me.” Slack jawed, I asked him what kind of condition it was in. “Pretty much complete. The box is pretty thrashed but everything is there except one of the flags is broken,” was his reply. So, I told him that next time we were down to visit we would have to break it out.
That visit came this last Veteran’s Day holiday. My good friend brought it over. We didn’t end up playing it at the time but he said he was going to loan it to me to let my kids (who were old enough to enjoy it compared to his kids) play it a couple hundred times. Yes, the box was thrashed. Yes, one of the flags was broken. And yes, I might even have to raid a Battleship game for a couple of red markers. But now the kids could really see the legend in real life.
So, how did the kids take to it you ask? I pulled it out on Thanksgiving Day and played it with them twice. My 13-year old son loved it of course. I was a little concerned about my 11-year old daughter because she ended up getting lost three turns in a row, then suffered plague twice and was then hit by the dragon two turns after that. She was frustrated by her luck but determined to beat the game. My 6-year old was determined. She didn’t keep inventory very well but she was all over getting the keys and the Pegasus tokens. I ended up winning both those games but they were ready to go again. The next day, they gently played through twice more with a friend invited along. I was downstairs this time as I heard echoes of triumphant shouts intermixed with agonizing moans while pushing of the buttons to try to escape a bad battle. My son ended up winning both the games but the two daughters are already asking for a rematch. So the legend lives on.
So how was it for me after a two decade hiatus? It was all that it ever was. No, it isn’t the forerunner to Caylus or some beefy strategy game. It’s more or less a race adventure game with some minor resource management questions to be answered. It’s more than a little chaotic as you could walk through a kingdom untouched while the other player can’t take a step for ten turns without being barbequed in one way or another. But there is something there. Something about pushing move and hearing the tower gears start to turn as something is going to happen. Something about trying to haggle the bazaar down another gold or two on that Scout just to see them close shop on you and have you waste a turn for nothing. Something about hearing that tone of a safe move and feeling a bit let down that you didn’t get to battle or encounter some other nasty bit of adventure. Something about moving to a tomb and hearing the door creak open and then keep creaking to an empty room. There’s something about it.
Now I’m getting in contact with antique bookstores trying to figure out good ways to repair/restore the box. I’m going to build an insert that will actually support the tower being in the box (probably the single most common complaint about this game). I’m going to take the batteries out every time I put the game away. And I’m going to enjoy it quite a few more times with my kids before I return it lovingly back to my good friend who has entrusted it to me for a time. Nostalgic? Maybe. Having fun? Definitely.
One last thing…. My 6-year old asked me mid-game, “Dad, was this game the PSP when you were a kid?”
-
Andreas E. Gebhardt
Germany
Birkenwerder
-
TrekkerMJ wrote:
I’m going to take the batteries out every time I put the game away. And I’m going to enjoy it quite a few more times with my kids before I return it lovingly back to my good friend who has entrusted it to me for a time. Nostalgic? Maybe. Having fun? Definitely.
Matt,
what a sensational memory you just let us share!
YEAH, it was a legend in its way!! I bought it back in the early 80s and took it over to Germany, had my young daughter play it with us (the playing parents!), even scratched some figures on a sheet of paper, cause she couldn't read and had to make her decisions on comparing figures!!
A really wonderful piece of game, a real gem!!!
Might be that I will take it out of the case the next days to feel like Xmas already...
Andy (521tiger)
-
-
Talking about this game with a friend recently brought me to this page. Indeed, your story is a great trip down memory lane.
Funny story about this game: while I was in law school about 8 years ago, I read a Trade Secret case that involved this game. I don't remember all the details of the case, but I think I remember that the original designer of the game presented the concept to Milton Bradley, who claimed to be uninterested in developing it, but then subsequently developed it without his involvement. So, of course, he filed suit (and I think he prevailed). How this affected me was that I immediately remembered the game as I was reading the case, with a surprised "no way! I loved that game!" type of reaction. So I bought it on Ebay the very next day and ended up playing it with my brother (who also played it with me back when we were both kids). We had a blast!
It's great to hear that your children are enjoying it so much!
-
Francis Cermak
United States
Naperville
Illinois
-
I remember playing this game with my sister as well. I can't help but notice how similar in design the new game "Castle Panic" is to Dark Tower. The board, divided into sections, with the central tower...
-
Linquel Isswell
United States
Chicago
Illinois
-
I just dug my copy out of my parents' attic. It's only missing the brown sanctuary, 1 silver key, 1 gold key, and 3 of the red pegs. But worse, like you batteries had been left in and one corroded away one of the springy contacts. I'm going to try taking some steel wool to it and clean it up. I'm hoping the actual internal workings are still ok.
I brought Dark Tower and Stop Thief home with me and hope to get them both working again.
-
|
|
