Twin Kingdom Valley
| Twin Kingdom Valley | |
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| Developer(s) | Trevor Hall |
| Publisher(s) | Bug-Byte |
| Platform(s) | Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Commodore 16, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum |
| Release date(s) | 1983 |
| Genre(s) | Text adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Twin Kingdom Valley is a text adventure game with animated pictures (on most formats) for the BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Commodore 64, Commodore 16 and ZX Spectrum. It was released in 1983 by Bug-Byte Software.
Twin Kingdom Valley is a work of interactive fiction where the player enters commands such as "take jug" at a command prompt and is told the outcome of their move ("I have it now"). Each such command takes up one unit of time, during which other non-player characters will also move and take actions.
It was one of the first text adventure games to have active non-player characters. The characters are interactive, and have their own personalities: some are friendly, and will follow and defend the player, while others are hostile. Witches and kings are complex characters, whereas gorillas and trolls are simpler. Battle sequences have additional features including weapons which can be dropped, broken, thrown or taken away by enemies.
The main character of this game, referred to as "you" by the game engine, is a treasure hunter. The player starts the game at southern edge of the forest kingdom, with few possessions. An early encounter with the innkeeper of "The Sword Inn" may persuade the player to rent a small log cabin from him. In the cabin are some very meager supplies, such as a plain jug.
To progress through the game, the player must determine which characters to regard as friends, and which as foes. Some characters, such as a gorilla who attacks the player with a wooden club, are clearly presented as foes, while others are ambiguous.
There are two kingdoms - a forest and a desert - separated by a deep canyon. Each kingdom is ruled by a king, and kings do not get along with one another. The player is told that the situation has got worse recently, and a royal from the forest kingdom is missing, the crime being attributed to the desert king. With two rich kingdoms at war, it is suggested that the player could take advantage of this and loot treasure from both sides. As the game progresses, the player finds it a challenge to transport spoils back to the log cabin, and is forced at times to choose between carrying a treasure and carrying a weapon, both types of object being at risk of theft if left unguarded.
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