Overview
Exile: Escape from the Pit is a shareware top-down turn-based RPG developed and published by Spiderweb Software for Windows PCs and Macintosh computers on January 1995.
Set in a fantasy world, players control a customizable group of outcasts as they are sentenced by the Empire to live the rest of their lives in a vast system of massive subterranean caverns, a world known by its inhabitants as "Exile". Banding together as adventurers, the group must explore Exile, interact with their societies, survive against demonic and hostile forces, and figure out a way to not only escape back to the surface, but also exact revenge on the Empire.
The gameplay is similar to several other '80s and '90s western RPGs (such as the Ultima series), with a top-down perspective and turn-based gameplay for both the exploration and combat segments. One of its unique features is the lack of character classes, instead fully utilizing skill points for each of the six party members (with specialized stats, including multiple options for combat proficiency, magical abilities, and general thievery).
The game was originally distributed as shareware, including a limited version of the whole game along with a process to register and unlock the full game. It later received two sequels (Exile II: Crystal Souls and Exile III: Ruined World) and a spin-off (Blades of Exile), as well as a "v2.0" re-release in January 1997 (revamping the graphics to match Exile III). The series was released in a compilation disc in 1998 (Exile Trilogy CD), and was made freeware sometime in 2013. The game also received two remakes under the Avernum series: the 2000 Avernum and the 2011 Avernum: Escape from the Pit.
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