About 20 years ago I visited my cousins in Canada. They had something very awesome that I had not encountered much before – a computer… I must have spent the equivalent of whole days playing old DOS games and eating blueberry muesli. One game that was an absolute stand out was Moria.
In Moria you play a 1st ed D&D character @ symbol. Seriously. You are a @. And you fight monsters f, w, c, R, e, r and s (frogs, worms, caterpillars, Rattlesnakes, floating eyes, rats and skeletons). As you go up in levels (and deeper into the dungeon, you get to fight more scary things like d and D (dragons and elder Dragons). Ultimately you fight the B (Balrog).
All the levels are randomly generated and you move about by using the arrow keys. All other commands are utilised through keyboard shortcuts. Over the years a limited GUI has been added so you can access some commands with your mouse. But honestly, the keys are easier.
The damn thing is, for all the crappy graphics and stuff, the game is profoundly addictive. Fighting a’s (ants), W’s (whites), i’s (icky things) is strangely compelling. You have to keep track of hours of light and food, and you can get lost. Really really lost. I have been made to feel almost panicked because a character that I had been playing for weeks got lost in the depths of a dungeon and couldn’t find his way out.
Quite possibly the best part of the game is the ability to edit the items files. When I got back to England after my trip to Canada, I got my friends addicted to the game as well. One of them was the creative type. Soon we were collecting Pizza’s +4 and Microwaves of Holy Avenger. Happy happy days…
You can download the game for free here.
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