Chaos (video game)
| Chaos: The Battle of Wizards | |
|---|---|
Cover art
|
|
| Developer(s) | Julian Gollop |
| Publisher(s) | Games Workshop |
| Designer(s) | Julian Gollop |
| Platform(s) | ZX Spectrum |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Genre(s) | Turn-based tactics |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Chaos: The Battle of Wizards is a turn-based tactics computer game that was released on the ZX Spectrum in 1985. It was written by Julian Gollop and originally published by Games Workshop. Based on Gollop's 1982 design for a card game, Chaos received positive reception. The game went on to influence various games, including Darwinia, and spawned sequels in 1990 and 2014.
In the game Chaos, players take the role of wizards who vie with one another to win the game. The aim of the game is to be the 'last wizard standing' by destroying all other wizards. The game allows for anything between two and eight wizards, any of whom can be human or computer controlled. The level of the computer-controlled wizards must be selected, ranging from 1 to 8. Higher levels improve the computer wizards' combat statistics, but does not improve their artificial intelligence. Computer-controlled wizards do not cooperate; they will attempt to kill each other as well as the human players. Chaos is a turn-based game. Each turn, every player in order selects and casts a spell, then moves their wizard and any summoned creatures.
Each wizard is given a random selection of spells at the start of the game with which to defeat the other wizards. Spells are either Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic, and have a difficulty value expressed as a percentage chance of success when cast. A spell can only be cast once, with the exception of the "Disbelieve" spell which is always available to every wizard. New spells can only be acquired via the "Magic Wood" spell. During the game, the type of spells cast affects the subsequent difficulty of other spells. Casting many lawful spells results in a more lawful environment, which in turn makes other lawful spells easier to cast. The same principle applies to chaotic spells. Spells of the opposite alignment are not more difficult to cast however. Neutral spells are unaffected either way, and are always cast at the same difficulty percentage. This feature has a big impact on the strategy of the game, as a viable tactic is to cast lots of easy spells of a certain alignment, in order to make it easier to cast the more powerful spells of that alignment.
...
Wikipedia