Dark Castle

Dark Castle (1986)

by Silicon Beach Software
Genres:Adventure, Platform, Puzzle
Themes:Action, Fantasy
Game modes:Single player
Story:Dark Castle looms over the landscape like a plague. Its evil ruler, the Black Knight, must be defeated. And you're the only candidate to do it... First you'll have to make your way through chambers of nasty hazards. The castle guards are hunting you, plague-infested rats and bats attack, the Dragon breathes scorching fire, the Torturer wants to get you, and the Wizard may or may not aid you with a spell. Award-winning Dark Castle is a fast-paced action game with full digital sound, amazingly rich resolution and well-crafted animation. As the hero, you will bound throughout the castle, surmounting hair-raising obstacles, eluding death and -ultimately- becoming the victor!Show more
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Stories about this game (2)
What’s your memory of Dark Castle?Share your favorite moments and see what others remember about this game.
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user avatar@kenholstuser avatar@kenholst
February 19, 2025
This game is very dear to me, and I have many memories of playing this with my friend after high-school got out. We played together through the game and its sequel on his Dad's Mac Classic if I remember correctly. Amazingly, I still have my "Beyond Dark Castle" tshirt which I ordered from the back of the game manual waaaaaay back in 1988 or '89. This game definitely deserves to be experienced again!
dark castle was my introduction to pc gaming, and even in black and white it had beautiful, flowing graphics i would never see on any 8 bit console. i never owned this myself, it was a friend's, and when we moved it faded from my memory, until sony released ico. the almost sepia-tinted castle and unique brickwork unlocked my core memories of dark castle, though it would be years more before i would relearn the name of my first and beloved pc game. the game itself is brilliant and so well crafted, its difficulty puts me in mind of the "play, fail, learn, play again, succeed" loop associated with modern soulslike games. dark castle's platforming and puzzle solving is sometimes frustrating, but fair, and always with a great feeling of accomplishment when you clear a room. everyone should get the chance to play this game on modern rigs.
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