I’ve been playing Dungeon Keeper sporadically over the last few weeks. I have the Gold Edition from GOG, which includes the original 1997 game as well as the Deeper Dungeons expansion. In the game, you build a dungeon and protect it against invaders. Your minions are typical evil creatures while the invaders are the usual good hero types. It is a normal dungeon crawl turned upside down. Although the game plays out in real time, it progresses at a somewhat leisurely pace. You certainly don’t need twitch reflexes to succeed. I was progressing well through the ten levels (aka realms) in the base game. However, I faced defeat in the eighth realm, Tickle. Things were going well early on but I eventually encountered the first enemy before my troops were ready. Although our numbers were evenly matched, my opponents’ creatures averaged higher levels. They beat my minions back and I never recovered.


Things looked good early on (my territory is in red)

After finishing the latest NALB season in Out of the Park Baseball, I decided to re-play a couple of my all-time favorite computer games. The two games were Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgment Rites. I bought them when they first came out in the early 1990s and enjoyed them immensely. They captured the feel of original series Star Trek episodes better than any other game. Interplay later released enhanced editions on CD-ROM with the voices of the actual TV cast members. I always wished I had played those versions instead. GOG has these editions so I finally got the opportunity to revisit the games after more than twenty years.

I’m not a big fan of point and click adventure games. However, these two Star Trek games are among a handful of my all-time favorites. Both games contained adventures presented in episodic fashion. Judgment Rites also had an underlying plot thread connecting the overall story together. There are familiar characters who appear in each game, such as Harry Mudd and Trelane. Originally, I remember being totally blown away by 25th Anniversary and liking Judgment Rites a bit less. This time around, however, I think I appreciated Judgment Rites more than I did the first time. They are both very fine games.