The Castles of Dr. Creep

Last updated
The Castles of Dr. Creep
The Castles of Dr. Creep Commodore 64 Cover art.jpg
Developer(s) Ed Hobbs
Publisher(s)
Strobs Canardly (2016)
Platform(s) Commodore 64
Re-releases
Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux
ReleaseCommodore 64

Windows, OS X, Linux

Xbox

Genre(s) Puzzle-platform
Mode(s) Single-player, cooperative

The Castles of Dr. Creep is a puzzle-platform game for the Commodore 64 written by Ed Hobbs and published by Broderbund in 1984. It takes place in thirteen medieval castles owned by the eponymous doctor, and the player's task is to escape from each castle. One- or two-player games are possible, allowing collaborative gaming for solving the puzzles. It was re-released via Steam on September 2, 2016. [1]

Contents

Gameplay

When the game starts, the player can select from any of the thirteen castles, which have horror-movie-style names such as Sylvania, Carpathia, Callanwolde, or Lovecraft, or a tutorial castle (which, if counted, brings the total to fourteen). The player then starts from a specific room inside the castle, and must use his wits and skill to traverse through a vast network of interconnected rooms to find the exit.

The rooms consist of platforms on various levels, connected by ladders and sliding poles. Doors lead from one room to another. Some doors are locked, and the player must find a key to be able to go through them. Most doors are not locked, but may be opened by a doorbell. However, in some cases, the doorbell is only on one "side" of the door (i.e. in one connecting room but not the other), and sometimes the doorbell is difficult to reach.

A central aspect of the game is the imaginative use of various contraptions and devices in the rooms. Conveyor belts, force fields, and laser guns hinder the player's progress. In some places, the player must avoid, trap, or kill mummies and Frankenstein monsters. Teleport devices are often required to navigate through a room.

The player has an unlimited number of lives. After a death, the player re-enters the castle at the "start" door. The game constantly keeps track of how much time has passed, and when the player manages to escape the castle, the time taken is recorded into the Hall of Fame, but only if the unlimited lives option is turned off (in this case there are three lives). In the original Commodore 64 platform, saving and re-loading a game disqualifies the player from the Hall of Fame.

Reviews

Legacy

A game enthusiast worked on a remake for the game starting in 2010 by reverse engineering the original. The source code is on GitHub under the GPLv3 license. [4] The remake was released on Steam by the original author and the remake author in September 2016 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Castle Wolfenstein</i> 1981 video game

Castle Wolfenstein is a 1981 action-adventure game that was developed by Muse Software for the Apple II home computer. It is one of the earliest games to be based on stealth mechanics. An Atari 8-bit family port was released in 1982 and was followed by versions for Commodore 64 (1983) and MS-DOS (1984).

<i>Jet Set Willy</i> 1984 platform video game

Jet Set Willy is a platform video game originally written by Matthew Smith for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published in 1984 by Software Projects and ported to most home computers of the time.

<i>Knight Lore</i> 1984 video game

Knight Lore is a 1984 action-adventure game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, and written by company founders Chris and Tim Stamper. The game is known for its use of isometric graphics, which it further popularized in video games. In Knight Lore, the player character Sabreman has forty days to collect objects throughout a castle and brew a cure to his werewolf curse. Each castle room is depicted in monochrome on its own screen and consists of blocks to climb, obstacles to avoid, and puzzles to solve.

<i>Paradroid</i> 1985 video game

Paradroid is a Commodore 64 computer game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a shoot 'em up with puzzle elements and was critically praised at release. The objective is to clear a fleet of spaceships of hostile robots by destroying them or taking them over via a mini-game. It was later remade as Paradroid 90 for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST home computers and as Paradroid 2000 for the Acorn Archimedes. There exist several fan-made remakes for modern PCs. In 2004 the Commodore 64 version was re-released as a built-in game on the C64 Direct-to-TV, and in 2008 for the Wii Virtual Console in Europe.

<i>Mystic Towers</i> 1994 video game

Mystic Towers is an isometric platform game developed by Animation F/X, and published in 1994 by Manaccom domestically and Apogee Software internationally. Originally exclusive to MS-DOS compatible operating systems, it was re-released on Steam in 2015 with Microsoft Windows and Mac OS support. It stars Baron Baldric, an old wizard with a magic staff and an array of amusing mannerisms, who must quest through twelve towers and rid them of monsters. Mystic Towers is a sequel to Baron Baldric: A Grave Adventure, a platform game in which Baron Baldric battled an evil sorcerer ancestor.

<i>MOTAS</i> 2001 video game

The Mystery of Time and Space is a popular online graphic adventure game created by Jan Albartus (LOGAN). The game was produced using Macromedia Flash and was an early influential example of the escape the room genre. There are 20 levels of varying length, some consisting of a single room and others consisting of a large network of rooms. Though advertised as a constant work-in-progress with "new levels coming soon," MOTAS has not been updated since May 2008.

<i>Infiltrator</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Infiltrator is a combat flight simulation game published in North America in 1986 by Mindscape and in Europe by U.S. Gold. It was developed for the Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Apple II, and Atari 8-bit family by Chris Gray Enterprises. Paragon Programming ported it to the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Impossible Mission</i> 1984 video game

Impossible Mission is a video game originally written for the Commodore 64 by Dennis Caswell and published by Epyx in 1984. The game features a variety of gameplay mechanics from platform and adventure games, and includes digitized speech. Impossible Mission, which casts the player in the role of a secret agent infiltrating an enemy stronghold, is widely considered one of the best games for several platforms.

<i>Milons Secret Castle</i> 1986 video game

Milon's Secret Castle, known in Japan as Meikyū Kumikyoku: Milon no Daibōken, is a 1986 action-adventure game released by Hudson Soft for the NES. A Game Boy version was released in 1993. A sequel, DoReMi Fantasy, was released in 1996 for the Super Famicom.

<i>Monty on the Run</i> 1985 video game

Monty on the Run is a computer game created by the software house Gremlin Graphics and released in 1985 for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 16, written by Peter Harrap for the ZX Spectrum with the iconic in-game music on the Commodore 64 provided by Rob Hubbard. It is the third game in the Monty Mole series.

<i>Back to the Future Part II & III</i> 1990 video game

Back to the Future Part II & III is a 1990 video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System based on the second and third films in the Back to the Future trilogy. The game was produced by Beam Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment under their LJN label.

<i>Slightly Magic</i> 1991 video game

Slightly Magic is an action-adventure game published in 1991 by Codemasters for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. It was written by Colin Jones, author of Rock Star Ate My Hamster.

<i>D/Generation</i> 1991 video game

D/Generation is an action-adventure game with puzzle elements developed for the 8-bit Apple II during the late 1980s, but instead published and released for MS-DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST by Mindscape in 1991. The game takes place in a slightly cyberpunk futuristic setting in 2021.

<i>Impossible Mission II</i> 1988 video game

Impossible Mission II is a video game developed by Novotrade and published by Epyx in 1988. It was released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Enterprise 128, Nintendo Entertainment System, DOS, Atari ST, Apple II with at least 128K, Apple IIGS, and Amiga.

<i>The Castle</i> (video game) 1985 video game

The Castle is a video game released by ASCII Corporation in 1986 for the FM-7 and X1 computers. It was later ported to the MSX and NEC branded personal computers, and got a single console port for the SG-1000. The game is set within a castle containing 100 rooms, most of which contain one or more puzzles.

<i>Castle Master</i> 1990 video game

Castle Master is a 1990 video game by developer Teque Software Development and published by Incentive Software. It was released for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST and IBM PC. A compilation was released also in 1990 that contained the original and the sequel, Castle Master II: The Crypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escape room video game</span> Point-and-click adventure sub-genre

An escape room video game, also known as escape the room, room escape, or escape game, is a subgenre of point-and-click adventure game which requires a player to escape from imprisonment by exploiting their surroundings. The room usually consists of a locked door, objects to manipulate, and hidden clues or secret compartments. The player must use the objects to interact with other items in the room to reveal a way to escape. Escape the room games were born out of freeware browser games created in Adobe Flash, but have since become most popular as mobile games for iOS and Android. Some examples include Crimson Room, Viridian Room, MOTAS, and Droom. The popularity of these online games has led to the development of real-life escape rooms all around the world.

<i>Deactivators</i> 1986 action-puzzle video game

Deactivators is a 1986 puzzle video game designed by David Bishop and Chris Palmer, developed by Tigress Marketing and System Software, and published by Ariolasoft's action game imprint Reaktor. The player controls bomb disposal robots known as deactivators and must use them to deactivate bombs planted by terrorists in five research complexes. The concept for the game came from a brainstorming session between Bishop and Palmer; its design and development took five to six months to complete. It was released for the Amstrad CPC 464, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum platforms in October 1986.

<i>Seymour Goes to Hollywood</i> 1991 platform and adventure video game

Seymour Goes to Hollywood, also known as Seymour at the Movies, is a platform and adventure game developed by Big Red Software and originally published in Europe by Codemasters in 1991. Players control Seymour, a small potato-like creature who wishes to be a film star. The film's script has been locked in a safe, meaning Seymour must solve puzzles by collecting and using objects scattered throughout the game in order to progress, ultimately retrieving the script and allowing filming to start.

<i>Total Eclipse</i> (1988 video game) 1988 video game

Total Eclipse is a first person adventure game released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS and ZX Spectrum computers in 1988. It can also be considered an early example of a first-person shooter.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.