Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai

About

Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai is a retro dungeon-crawling RPG where you play as Brian Hammerhand, a scrappy hero navigating traps, monsters, and shifting mazes. The focus is on managing limited resources like hit points and spells while exploring procedurally generated levels. Combat is turn-based and tactical, with your character earning experience and gear to survive deeper challenges. The story unfolds through sparse text logs, hinting at the ancient ruins of Apshai and their deadly secrets. What sticks is how ahead of its time this 1979 title felt. It popularized permadeath and character progression mechanics that later defined the genre. With its minimalist graphics and punishing difficulty, it rewards careful planning over button-mashing. While modern by today's standards, its influence is clear, players still cite it as a key ancestor of roguelikes and classic dungeon crawlers.

Storyline

You are Brian Hammerhand having just a arrived by ship in a small, nameless coastal town. After a quick brawl in the Wallowing Whale Tavern, nearly pennieless, you set out to go exploring the small town. A boy you meet leads you to the house of Meris the Mage. There you learn about the legend of Apshai. Apshai is the ancient god of insects and it is said that its priests, though very knowledgable, were muddling in dark rites. The followers of the earth god Geb drove the Apshaians away who eventually found a new home in an underground cave which over time they relentlessley expanded. They build a huge temple in tribute to the God Apshai and prospered immensely in the time that followed. Then, one day, there was a huge roar, the earth shook and the temple and the village of the Apshaians were utterly destroyed. They fled their home never to return. In the years following, every now and then expeditions sought to find the riches and secrets buried in the underworld settlement of the Apshaians. But hardly anyone of those who ventured there ever rerturned. Can you, Brian Hammerhand, solve the mysteries of the Temple of Apshai and return safely with riches beyond imagination?