Ludography
Zyll cover

1984 · IBM · Role-playing · Text adventure

Zyll

Zyll is a text adventure game from IBM.

Released
1984
Platforms
MS-DOS
Genres
Role-playingText adventure
Developers
IBM
Publishers
—
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Text
Country
United States

About

Zyll is a text-based role-playing video game published by IBM for the IBM PCjr in 1984. It was written by Marshal Linder and Scott Edwards, two IBM employees, and marketed as an adventure game.

Keywords

  • interactive fiction
  • text adventure

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The objective of the game is to find the Black Orb — which the evil sorcerer Zyll used to turn the Land of Magic and Enchantment into a wasteland — to restore the realm. During the course of the game, various monsters appear to do battle.

Players can choose the role of a warrior, thief, or wizard. Each role has different attributes, skills, and weaknesses. Players can also choose between three types of armor, three different weapons, and two types of shields. Players choosing the role of wizard are able to choose between five different spells.

Story

The story begins in the "Land of Magic and Enchantment" where a young man named Zyll was unsuccessfully attempting to become a master of black magic. His ultimate goal was to become "Ruler of the Realm", an ambition for which he was eventually banished.

After banishment, Zyll accidentally discovered the magical "Black Orb" upon throwing a failed potion to the ground. The ancient texts said that anyone possessing the Black Orb would become more powerful than all of the other sorcerers.

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Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.