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The Bard's Tale
[COVER ART]
Remaster available RPG 1985 Dungeon crawler

The Bard's Tale

Interplay's 1985 dungeon crawler: a party of six, a frozen town and a bard whose songs are as useful as any sword.

The evil wizard Mangar has trapped the town of Skara Brae in eternal winter. Build a party of adventurers, explore the streets and the dungeons beneath them, and fight your way up to his tower.

The Bard's Tale Trilogy is a 2018 remaster of the first three games, not the original 1985 release.

Screenshots

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[SCREENSHOT 2]
[SCREENSHOT 3]
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About the game

You see the world in first person, one step at a time, and fight in turn-based battles against groups of monsters. Mapping the mazes on graph paper was part of the experience.

The bard can play songs while walking and fighting, giving the whole party bonuses. It was a fresh idea that gave the game its name.

History

Designed by Michael Cranford at Interplay and published by Electronic Arts in 1985, first for the Apple II and Commodore 64. Two sequels followed in 1986 and 1988.

In 2018 inXile Entertainment and Krome Studios released The Bard's Tale Trilogy, a remaster of all three games with automapping and other modern comforts.

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Ways to play

GOG.com The Bard's Tale Trilogy remaster
Paid Open
Steam The Bard's Tale Trilogy remaster
Paid Open

Extras

Only official, legal extras. We never link to scanned manuals or unofficial downloads.

More from Interplay See every Interplay game in the library. Games by Interplay
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Reviews

What the critics said. Scores are as published; summaries are our own. Follow the links to read the full reviews.