The Dark Tower Trivia Quiz

Answer: A magic scepter

According to the instructions for the game, a "tyrant king" stole the scepter, which is described as the "Power Staff of the Empire". A kingdom is being offered to anyone who can return it from the Brigands who guard it.

Answer: Three magic keys

While it is nice to have anything on the list, the one thing a player must have in order to storm the Tower is the three magic keys, which you earn by hunting for them in the three foreign kingdoms.

It's a bit too trivial for me to ask, but the kingdoms were given names in the instruction manual. The land with the red banner and lion was called Arisilon, the land with the blue banner and griffin was called Brynthia, the land with the yellow banner and falcon was called Durnin, and the land with the green banner and unicorn was known as Zenon. The Tower had a banner too, a deep red with a black dragon on it.

Answer: Sanctuary

The four buildings were the Bazaar, where one can purchase goods; the Tomb and the Ruin, which were places to hunt for treasure; and the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was a place you could turn to if you were low on provisions and desperate for charity. Each kingdom also had a Citadel, which was a spot on the board that did not have a building on it, and a Dark Tower space adjoining the Tower itself. You started the game from your own Citadel, and you were not allowed to enter any other kingdom's Citadel. You couldn't enter the Dark Tower space until you were ready to attack the Tower.

Answer: Sword

At the Bazaar, one could purchase more warriors, food supplies, a Beast to carry gold, a Scout to prevent you from getting lost, and a Healer that aided if you were stricken by the Plague. The Sword, the Pegasus, and the Wizard were items that could be won in battle, but not bought at the Bazaar.

It was fun to travel to the Bazaar and haggle with the shopkeeper, but you had to be wary of being too greedy, or he would close shop on you! He'd also close up on you if you tried to buy more than you could pay for. It was turn over when that happened - an unpleasant consequence!

Answer: He could curse another player for you

The Wizard could curse another player, any player of your choosing. He had to be used immediately after you won him - you couldn't keep him in inventory. After you cursed one of your rivals, you were awarded a fourth of the rival's warriors and gold, so it helped to pick on a wealthy opponent.

Answer: It slew the Dragon.

There was a Dragon in the game, that randomly attacked players as they moved about. A successful Dragon attack would cost a player warriors and gold. The only way to beat the Dragon was to have the Sword, which a player could find as treasure. Slay the Dragon, and you would get his whole stash of warriors and gold!

Anytime someone was attacked by the Dragon, they could also move the Dragon piece on the board. This was useful if you wanted to block an opponent from taking a shortcut, since no player could enter a spot with the Dragon piece on it. Placing the Dragon piece on a building, Citadel, frontier space, or the Dark Tower space was forbidden.

Answer: You would find a Map that let you skip ahead.

Players seeking the keys usually had to search for them in the kingdom's Tomb or Ruin. Inside, you might find Brigands to fight, in which case if you defeated them, you would win whatever treasure they had. Or, you might just find an unguarded treasure, which was nicer that finding Brigands! Or, the building might be empty.

But there was no such thing as a Map that let you skip ahead. The Pegasus, if you had it, could let you skip ahead, but that was it.

Answer: You were denied entry to the frontier between the kingdoms.

The Dark Tower kept track of whether or not you had found the key in the kingdom you were in. Players had to cross a Frontier space to leave a kingdom, so you had to press the "Frontier" button on the Tower before you left. If you tried to leave a kingdom without finding the key (except your home kingdom, where you would find no key), the Tower stopped you.

It showed a lighted screen saying "Key Missing", and you lost your turn.

Answer: Solve the "riddle of the keys".

In order to start the final battle, a player had to guess the sequence of the keys. There was a gold key, a silver key, and a brass key, and they had to be used in the right order. If you were right, you could start the battle. If not, you lost your turn and could try again next turn.

It would be nice to have a lot of warriors, but the game did not care how many you had, as long as it was more than one. The Sword was only used against the Dragon, not in the last battle against the Brigands.

Answer: The score for winning the game.

The Tower would award you a score based on how quickly you went around the board and how bravely you stormed the Tower (which it measured by how small a band of warriors you were willing to storm the Tower with). The score could be nothing (double zeroes) or a score from 1 to 99. The Tower wasn't easily impressed - it was hard to get any score!