''Towdie'' is a

platform Platform may refer to: Arts * Platform, an arts centre at The Bridge, Easterhouse, Glasgow * ''Platform'' (1993 film), a 1993 Bollywood action film * ''Platform'' (2000 film), a 2000 film by Jia Zhangke * '' The Platform'' (2019 film) * Pla ...

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

published in Europe in 1994 by Ultrasoft for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

. The game, similar in style to

Dizzy series ''Dizzy'' is a series of video games, created by the Oliver Twins and published by Codemasters. It was one of the most successful British video game franchises of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Originally created for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad ...

, is set in a fantasy land called Alkria and follows adventures of a little restless creature called Towdie. The player controls Towdie, the titular character, who is on the mission to save the kingdom of Alkria from the evil dragon Quido. The game was developed by Balara brothers (DSA Computer Graphix), where Dušan Balara created all the graphics & animation and Ladislav Balara programmed the game engine. On May 2, 2013, Ultrasoft launched a crowdfunding campaign on

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

to fund an HD remake of this game for Android,

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

, and PC with a funding goal of $50,000. Unfortunately, this campaign failed to reach its target.

Plot

The inhabitants of the kingdom of Alkria were living their happy and carefree lives, until one day the evil dragon Quido descended on the land, burning everything and everyone with his fire breath. The only hope now rests on an unlikely hero - little Towdie, who must overcome all the obstacles which get into his way on a mission to unite the remaining citizens of the kingdom and, with their help, defeat the dragon Quido. Throughout the game Towdie meets and interacts with many of Alkria's inhabitants, including a prince and princess, a cook, a smith, an executioner, an evil sorceress, along with various other creatures who can help or hinder Towdie's progress towards his goal.

Gameplay

The player guides Towdie, a juvenile-troll-like character, through an interior and exterior of a castle in an attempt to save the kingdom of Alkria from the evil dragon Quido. The locations are all situated in or around the castle and are fantastical in nature, many loosely inspired by

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

s. Movement from one room (screen) to the next is through

flip-screen Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 A ...

such that when Towdie touches the outer edge of one room (screen) he appears at the beginning of the adjacent room. The individual rooms consist of platforms, stairs and ropes with Towdie able to both walk and jump to navigate the castle and its obstacles. Towdie can hold up to four items at once which are then used at specific locations to solve puzzles and advance through the game. At the start of the game the player has a full health bar, which goes down in dangerous situations and once depleted the game is over. The health bar can be replenished by finding and eating

Amanita The genus ''Amanita'' contains about 600 species of agarics, including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide, as well as some well-regarded Edible mushroom, edible species (and many species of unknown edibility). The genus is re ...

mushrooms scattered throughout the castle.

References

External links

''Towdie''
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714120211/http://www.zxspectrumreviews.co.uk/Details.aspx?gid=5940 , date=2014-07-14 at ZX Spectrum Reviews
''Towdie''
at World of Spectrum
''Towdie''
at ZX Art
''Towdie - the Map''
at ZX Magazin 1994 video games Action-adventure games Europe-exclusive video games Fantasy video games Platformers Single-player video games Ultrasoft games Video games about dragons Video games developed in Slovakia Video games set in castles ZX Spectrum games ZX Spectrum-only games