Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail

Overview

Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail was a graphical adventure game developed and published by Sierra for the PC in 1989.

Conquests of Camelot was designed by Christy Marx and her husband Peter Ledger. In addition to also designing the followup to Conquests of Camelot (the Robin Hood themed Conquests of the Longbow), Marx also wrote for various TV series including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, Conan the Adventurer and Jem.

Story

Conquests of Camelot is based on the Arthurian legends of Camelot and the quest for the Holy Grail. The player takes on the role of King Arthur, who must journey to find the Grail after Camelot (and the kingdom) are cursed. Along the way, he must find out what happened to Lancelot, Gawain and Galahad, each who ventured out previously to find the Grail, and each of whom had since disappeared.

Throughout the game, Arthur travels across the kingdom where he faces numerous challenges, including the Lady of the Lake and the Black Knight. Eventually Arthur makes his way to the Middle East and eventually Jerusalem, where he must find the Grail’s resting place.

Gameplay

Conquests of Camelot features a combined mouse and text parser interface. The game was notorious for being exceedingly difficult. Like many Sierra adventure games, the player could die in a variety of unexpected and sudden ways. Movement from place to place is speeded up considerable by the use of ‘click-on’ maps, one of the castle, and one of the south of England.

Moreover, the game featured a unique points system based on three categories: Skill, Soul and Wisdom. Performing certain actions, or making certain choices added points to one or more of these categories.

The game also featured multiple arcade style action sequences, such as combat with enemies.