Dark Tower is a 1981 electronic board game, by Milton Bradley Company, for one to four players. The object of the game is to amass an army, collect the three keys to the Tower, and defeat the evil within. Advertising for the game included a television commercial featuring Orson Welles.
A sequel, Return to Dark Tower, was developed by Restoration Games and released in 2022.
Components The game includes:
1 electronic center unit (the eponymous Dark Tower, powered by two "D"-size (LR20) batteries) 1 circular cardboard game board, divided into four "kingdom" quadrants 16 plastic buildings for the game board (bazaar, ruin, sanctuary, tomb) Plastic structural pieces to hold the game board together 4 plastic warrior pawns 1 plastic dragon pawn 4 cardboard Pegasus tokens Additional game items, including 12 plastic key pieces (gold, silver, brass) 5 plastic flags (Arisilon, Brynthia, Durnin, Zenon, and the Dark Tower) 4 cardboard peg boards used to keep track of a player's number of troops, gold and food 42 red plastic Battleship-type score pegs
Dark Tower The Tower itself consists of a small membrane keyboard beneath a "display" (a piece of tinted plastic). Behind the display cover is a carousel containing a number of film cels, which, when backlit by one of three lights mounted underneath, display the appropriate picture on the display cover. The display cover also conceals a digital LED display for representing numbers up to 99. As the Tower rotates and illuminates the appropriate cels during gameplay, it also emits sounds for the events represented by each cel.
Game board and pieces +Dark Tower kingdoms Name Heraldry Arisilon Yellow lion on red field Brynthia Pale yellow griffin on blue field Durnin Double-headed falcon on yellow field Zenon White unicorn on green field Dark Tower Black dragon on deep red field The artwork for the game, including the cels in the Tower, was drawn by Bob Pepper.
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 +Dark Tower keypad YesBuy Repeat NoEnd Haggle Bazaar Clear TombRuin Move SanctuaryCitadel DarkTower Frontier Inventory 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. Each player selects a pawn and places it in the citadel of their "home" kingdom. There are four different levels selectable on the Tower, which changes the number of Brigands defending it. With L1 the computer selects 17 to 32 Brigands to defend the Tower, L2 selects 33 to 64, and L3 selects 17 to 64. L4 is a special single-player tutorial mode which has 16 Brigands in the Tower and skips directly to the end game, granting the player all three keys immediately.
Turns The basic structure of each turn is: The digital display shows a flashing number, indicating that player's turn. For example, a blinking "2" indicates it is Player 2's turn. The player moves their token one space, or leaves it in the space from which they started. Press the appropriate blue button on the Tower panel to indicate the type of space they currently occupy. The Tower presents an event by audible signal, accompanied in many instances by rotating the internal carousel and illuminating the appropriate cel for a visual signal, along with a number on the digital display, if appropriate. The Tower then resolves the event. The digital display shows a flashing negative number (e.g., "-2"), indicating that player should press the No / End button to end their turn.
Each player takes turns rotating the Tower to face them and then moving their chosen hero about the board anticlockwise, moving up to one space per turn, as a player may choose to remain in the same space during their turn. More than one player may occupy the same space simultaneously. 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.
+Potential events and signals according to the type of space colspan=2 Safe Battle Harms Treasure Move Possible (when player wins battle) Sound short beep battle horn Refer to harmful events table beeping Cel BrigandsWarriors Refer to treasure table TombRuin Possible (when empty) Sound creaking door shuts battle horn rowspan=2 beeping Cel BrigandsWarriors Instant award, refer to treasure table SanctuaryCitadel Possible Sound high-pitched trill when need identified rowspan=2 rowspan=2 rowspan=2 Cel Bazaar Possible Sound snake-charmer's music rowspan=2 rowspan=2 rowspan=2 Cel Refer to Bazaar table Frontier Possible Sound triumphant (or sad) music rowspan=2 rowspan=2 rowspan=2 Cel Key missing
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): +Potential harmful events Harm Sound Cel Description Lost sad music Lost The player has become lost; they lose a turn and move their token back to the space they last occupied. Scout However, when the player has a scout, the scout cel is illuminated instead and the player remains in the space. Plague death march Plague The player loses two warriors to the plague, unless they have a healer. Healer If the player has a healer, the healer cel is illuminated and the player gains two warriors instead. Dragon high-pitched screech Dragon The player loses of their gold and warriors to the attacking dragon, unless they possess the dragonsword. In that case, the player slays a dragon and is awarded the gold and warriors which that dragon has taken since the last dragon was slain. The dragonslayer then moves the dragon token to any standard space, which prevents all players from entering that space until the next dragon attack. Cursed negative music Cursed The player loses a turn, moving back to the last occupied space, and loses of their gold and warriors to the player who used a wizard to curse them.
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. +Potential treasures Treasure Sound Cel Description Gold beeping Gold The number displayed is the total number of bags of gold the player now has. However, the player may not carry more gold than 6× the number of warriors, unless the player owns a beast, which can carry 50 bags of gold by itself. Key beep Brass KeySilver KeyGold Key Keys are always awarded in the order brass, silver, and gold. Only one key can be found in each foreign kingdom, so each player must journey through all four quadrants of the board before attempting the Dark Tower. Pegasus lilting music Pegasus The Pegasus token can be used to fly to any space within the current kingdom, or from one kingdom to the next, and is surrendered upon use. When flying to another kingdom, the player must already have the key from the originating kingdom. Dragonsword beep Sword When the player possesses the dragonsword, they will slay the dragon if it attacks. Wizard beep Wizard The player chooses another player and applies a curse, taking of the targeted player's gold and warriors.
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. +Bazaar items and signals Name / Cel Description Warrior Digital display indicates the number of warrior(s) being purchased. Food Digital display indicates the number of food ration(s) being purchased. Food prices cannot be haggled. Beast One beast may be purchased per player per game. The beast carries 50 bags of gold. Scout One scout may be purchased per player per game. The scout prevents the player from being lost and is not surrendered if the player becomes lost. Healer One healer may be purchased per player per game. The healer prevents the player from losing warriors to plague and is not surrendered if the player's party becomes stricken with plague. Bazaar Closed Each press of the Haggle button gives approximately even chance (50/50) of lowering the price by one bag of gold. However, pressing the Haggle button repeatedly may result in the merchant becoming angry and refusing to sell any goods, indicated by a Bazaar Closed cel.
The Bazaar will also close if the player attempts to buy more food (or more of anything else) than they can afford, even by accident.
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