Fantasy Software

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Fantasy Software
Company type Video game developer and publisher
PredecessorQuest Microsoftware
Founded1983
Defunct1985
Successorn/a
HeadquartersFalconberg Lodge, 27A St. Georges Road, Cheltenham, Glos, GL50 3DT, England [nb 1] [1] [2]
Key people
Paul Dyer, Bob Hamilton, Darren Hamilton, Ian Hamilton

Fantasy Software, which started out as Quest Microsoftware, was one of the smaller software companies which produced games for home computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum during the early 1980s. The company was founded in early 1983 by Bob Hamilton and Paul Dyer. [3] It had a number of reasonable successes in the early days of the computer boom but never became one of the major software production houses. Most of its releases were written by Bob Hamilton.

Contents

Released games

The Pyramid, Doomsday Castle and Backpackers Guide to the Universe all featured the character "Ziggy" and can be considered sequels to each other. Backpackers Guide to the Universe was intended to be the first part of a trilogy, and originally billed as Backpackers Guide to the Universe Part 1 but Fantasy went bankrupt before subsequent titles could be written. [8]

Backpackers Guide to the Universe was heavily influenced by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, making reference to Foord Perfect and Arthur Dont as well as the number 42. The distributed cassette includes the game itself on side 1, and the eponymous "Backpackers Guide to the Universe" on side 2, which contains useful tips on collecting - and keeping alive - all the creatures in Ziggy's quest. [9]

History

Notes

  1. ↑ Early Fantasy adverts contained a typo with the address as "Fauconberg Lodge" instead of "Falconberg Lodge".

References

  1. ↑ "Fantasy - the battle could be yours... (C&VG advert - typo address)". EMAP. October 1983. p. 136. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  2. ↑ "Fantasy - the battle could be yours... (Crash advert - correct address)". Crash . Newsfield Publications Ltd. March 1984. p. 29. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  3. ↑ "Crash Magazine Issue 02". March 1984.
  4. ↑ "World of Spectrum - the Black Hole".
  5. ↑ "World of Spectrum - Violent Universe".
  6. 1 2 "The Pyramid & Doomsday Castle review". Crash 02. Newsfield Publications Ltd. March 1984. p. 26. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  7. ↑ "Backpackers Guide to the Universe at Spectrum Computing - Sinclair ZX Spectrum games, software and hardware".
  8. ↑ "Backpackers Guide to the Universe Part 1". Crash 10. Newsfield Publications Ltd. November 1984. p. 69. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  9. ↑ "The Backpackers Guide to the Universe - the return of Ziggy". Crash 09. Newsfield Publications Ltd. October 1984. pp. 26–29. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  10. ↑ Crash issue 19, page 19
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