Witchaven

Although the game is considered a first-person shooter (FPS), the game has several role-playing video game (RPG) elements, including character progression by acquiring experience points (EXP) (gained by defeating enemies and finding gold) and level advancement with an increasing number of hit points, damage modifiers and weapons proficiency, and access to more powerful spells at higher levels. The game also has a focus on close-quarters combat, requiring more tactical thinking, unlike the standard run-and-gun gameplay of most first-person shooters at the time. As a result, Computer Gaming World classified it as an action role-playing game, albeit an unconventional one, while The CRPG Book Project maintained that it "is not a full-fledged RPG - it's a first-person shooter (or rather, hack & slasher) with RPG elements." The game is similar to many FPS games of its era in that the player must look for color-coded keys to open closed doors. There are also options to adjust the game's difficulty and gore levels.

There are eleven weapons in Witchaven, each with a different attack range and other characteristics: bare fists, a dagger, a short sword, a morning star, a broadsword, a battle axe, a bow and arrows, throwing axes, a pike axe, a two-handed longsword and a halberd. With the exception of the fists, weapons will break down with repeated use and replacements must be found in order to continue fighting. The player can also find different types of armor (only one of which may be worn at a time), each with various values of starting armor points, number of armor points that are subtracted with each hit, and chance of deflecting the attack completely. There is also a shield that acts as additional armor with a chance to deflect an attack entirely, while helmets add armor points and also double the damage the player inflicts for a while.

In Witchaven, the player is cast in the role of Grondoval, a hardy knight in service of his homeland Stazhia, been chosen by his master, Lord Verkapheron, for a mission to rid the world of the threat posed by the evil Illwhyrin. In her lair, known as the realm of Witchaven and hidden in a massive subterranean maze under the forbidding Isle of Char, Illwhyrin performs sinister rituals seeking to lift a dimensional barrier, known as the Veil, that separates the game's universe from the chaotic Nether Reaches. If she succeeds, she might access unlimited dark powers to draw upon and gather a vast horde of demonic minions to use as armies for conquest. Grondoval arrives at Char by boat, armed only with a dagger. He needs to fight his way through the hordes of monsters dwelling in a labyrinth of dark caves and dungeons so he can reach Illwhyrin's inner sanctum in time and put an end to her before it is too late.

Witchaven was adapted from Wyrm Works' 1992 tabletop role-playing game supplement Witchaven created by Mike Pitts, who is credited for "original story and maps" in the video game. The concept "violent, first-person action game set in a fantasy universe ruled by a coven of evil witches who must be eradicated from their lairs" was created after the team attended Gen Con '93. The development began in 1994, following the completion of Operation Body Count. At first, the protagonist character was said to be split into two classes for the player to choose: spellcaster or warrior, and an early design called for the player to choose a class and a gender (these features were later seemingly abandoned in favor of a predefined male hero character capable of using both weapons and spells).

An early version of the game's story, which was featured in early promotional materials, involved three witches "older than time itself". One advertisement also mentions how "it is rumored that deep beneath dwells the volcano a powerful demon, giving the witches enormous power in return for human sacrifice."

Witchaven was met with a mixed critical reception. Nevertheless, the sales were satisfactory enough to create a sequel.

PC Zone gave Witchaven a score of 88/100 and recommended it as "packed with lots of spells and potions to play with, the usual network/modem options, triggers and traps, impressive graphical effects - and if you're looking for gore you've found it. Sick, twisted and violent - we like it." Lim Choon Wee of New Straits Times wrote "I love Witchaven," especially praising the game's "bewitching" graphics. Polish magazines Gambler and Top Secret gave it their overall review scores of 90% and 29/40, respectively.

In a direct sequel titled Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance, released in 1996, Grondoval's enemy is the slain witch's vindictive sister. The gameplay of Witchaven II is based on its predecessor, the only differences being in some additional weapon selection and enemy variance.

A third game in the series was briefly considered, possibly to keep with the original game's ending text premise of Grondoval eventually becoming a king, but Intracorp bankrupted and Capstone was shut down before any work on it started. The game was scheduled to be made after Corridor 8, which was never finished.