# Dark Tower (game)

Dark Tower is a 1981 electronic board game, by Milton Bradley Company, for one to four players. The object of the game is to amass an army, collect the three keys to the Tower, and defeat the evil within. Advertising for the game included a television commercial featuring Orson Welles.
A sequel, Return to Dark Tower, was developed by Restoration Games and released in 2022.

## Components

The game includes:$^{:4}$
* 1 electronic center unit (the eponymous Dark Tower, powered by two "D"-size (LR20) batteries)
* 1 circular cardboard game board, divided into four "kingdom" quadrants
** 16 plastic buildings for the game board (bazaar, ruin, sanctuary, tomb)
** Plastic structural pieces to hold the game board together
* 4 plastic warrior pawns
* 1 plastic dragon pawn
* 4 cardboard Pegasus tokens
* Additional game items, including
** 12 plastic key pieces (gold, silver, brass)
** 5 plastic flags (Arisilon, Brynthia, Durnin, Zenon, and the Dark Tower)
* 4 cardboard peg boards used to keep track of a player's number of troops, gold and food
** 42 red plastic Battleship-type score pegs

### Dark Tower

The Tower itself consists of a small membrane keyboard beneath a "display" (a piece of tinted plastic). Behind the display cover is a carousel containing a number of film cels, which, when backlit by one of three lights mounted underneath, display the appropriate picture on the display cover. The display cover also conceals a digital LED display for representing numbers up to 99.$^{:12}$ As the Tower rotates and illuminates the appropriate cels during gameplay, it also emits sounds for the events represented by each cel.

### Game board and pieces

Dark Tower kingdoms$^{:10}$ :
| Name | Heraldry |
| Arisilon | Yellow lion on red field |
| Brynthia | Pale yellow griffin on blue field |
| Durnin | Double-headed falcon on yellow field |
| Zenon | White unicorn on green field |
| Dark Tower | Black dragon on deep red field |
The artwork for the game, including the cels in the Tower, was drawn by Bob Pepper.
The circular game board is divided into four quadrants, each corresponding to one of the four kingdoms, with the Dark Tower in the center. Each kingdom quadrant is divided into spaces, four of which are labeled for a building; the innermost (closest to the center) space is labeled as the Dark Tower, and the outermost ring of spaces includes a space for the citadel for that kingdom, which is where the kingdom's flag is placed and where the player pawn starts.
The sixteen buildings are divided into four sets (distinguished by color) of four buildings each: ruin, bazaar, tomb, and sanctuary. The twelve keys are divided by color into four gold keys, four silver keys, and four brass keys. Each flag corresponds to one of the four kingdoms (Arisilon, Brynthia, Durnin, and Zenon) and the Dark Tower itself. During the initial assembly of the game, the buildings are placed into the labeled spaces on the board, and stickers are peeled off a sheet and placed on the keys and flags.$^{:8–9}$

## Gameplay

Dark Tower keypad :
| YesBuy | Repeat | NoEnd |
| Haggle | Bazaar | Clear |
| TombRuin | Move | SanctuaryCitadel |
| Dark Tower | Frontier | Inventory |

### Starting items

To start, each player receives a cardboard score chart and ten pegs; they use six of the pegs to track their party, starting with 10 warriors, 30 gold, and 25 food rations. The four extra pegs are used to keep track of the extra items (scout, beast, healer, or sword) once they are acquired; keys are placed directly in the appropriate score chart slots as they are acquired.$^{:11}$ Each player selects a pawn and places it in the citadel of their "home" kingdom.$^{:13}$ There are four different levels that can be selected on the Tower, which changes the number of Brigands defending the Tower. With L1 the computer selects 17 to 32 Brigands to defend the Tower, L2 selects 33 to 64, and L3 selects 17 to 64.$^{:13}$ L4 is a special tutorial mode for a single player which has 16 Brigands in the Tower and skips directly to the end game, granting the player all three keys immediately.$^{:39}$

### Turns

The basic structure of each turn is:
* The digital display shows a flashing number, indicating that player's turn. For example, a blinking "2" indicates it is Player 2's turn.
* The player moves their token one space, or leaves it in the space from which they started.
* Press the appropriate blue button on the Tower panel to indicate the type of space they currently occupy.
* The Tower presents an event by audible signal, accompanied in many instances by rotating the internal carousel and illuminating the appropriate cel for a visual signal, along with a number on the digital display, if appropriate. The Tower then resolves the event.
* The digital display shows a flashing negative number (e.g., "-2"), indicating that player should press the No / End button to end their turn.
Each player takes turns rotating the Tower to face them and then moving their chosen hero about the board anticlockwise, moving up to one space per turn, as a player may choose to remain in the same space during their turn. More than one player may occupy the same space simultaneously.$^{:16,19}$ The quarter of the board in front of a player is their kingdom. Each kingdom quadrant is separated by a "frontier" space; when moving into a new kingdom from the frontier, players may choose to move into any space adjacent to the frontier.$^{:19}$

### Events

After the player moves their token one space, they then press a button on the Tower that corresponds to the type of space (e.g., Sanctuary, Tomb, Bazaar, Frontier, free/unoccupied space and ultimately onto the Dark Tower space). Depending on the space the player has entered (or where they remain), there are several different possible events. The Tower resolves what happens to the player by showing the appropriate cel and reporting whatever occurs. For instance, if the Tower decides that the player has encountered Brigands, it will illuminate the Brigands cel, simultaneously displaying the number of brigands encountered. The Tower resolves the battle by alternately counting off the remaining numbers of friendly troops and Brigands down to a win or loss. Once all events have resolved, the Tower is rotated to the next player and their turn begins.
Potential events and signals according to the type of space$^{:20,27–28,33}$ :
| EventSpace button | EventSpace button | Safe | Battle | Harms | Treasure |
| Move | Possible | Yes | Yes | Yes | Maybe (when player wins battle) |
| Move | Sound | short beep | battle horn | Refer to harmful events table | beeping |
| Move | Cel | — | BrigandsWarriors | Refer to harmful events table | Refer to treasure table |
| TombRuin | Possible | Yes (when empty) | Yes | No | Yes |
| TombRuin | Sound | creaking door shuts | battle horn | — | beeping |
| TombRuin | Cel | — | BrigandsWarriors | — | Instant award, refer to treasure table |
| SanctuaryCitadel | Possible | Yes | No | No | No |
| SanctuaryCitadel | Sound | high-pitched trill when need identified | — | — | — |
| SanctuaryCitadel | Cel | — | — | — | — |
| Bazaar | Possible | Yes | No | No | No |
| Bazaar | Sound | snake-charmer's music | — | — | — |
| Bazaar | Cel | Refer to Bazaar table | — | — | — |
| Frontier | Possible | Yes | No | No | No |
| Frontier | Sound | triumphant (or sad) music | — | — | — |
| Frontier | Cel | Key missing | — | — | — |
In addition to the common safe entry and battle events, there are several potential harmful events that could occur to a player entering one of the standard spaces (i.e., when pressing the "Move" button):
Potential harmful events$^{:25–26}$ :
| Harm | Sound | Cel | Description |
| Lost | sad music | Lost | The player has become lost; they lose a turn and move their token back to the space they last occupied. |
| Lost | sad music | Scout | However, when the player has a scout, the scout cel is illuminated instead and the player remains in the space. |
| Plague | death march | Plague | The player loses two warriors to the plague, unless they have a healer. |
| Plague | death march | Healer | If the player has a healer, the healer cel is illuminated and the player gains two warriors instead. |
| Dragon | high-pitched screech | Dragon | The player loses 1⁄4 of their gold and warriors to the attacking dragon, unless they possess the dragonsword. In that case, the player slays a dragon and is awarded the gold and warriors which that dragon has taken since the last dragon was slain. The dragonslayer then moves the dragon token to any standard space, which prevents all players from entering that space until the next dragon attack. |
| Cursed | negative music | Cursed | The player loses a turn, moving back to the last occupied space, and loses 1⁄4 of their gold and warriors to the player who used a wizard to curse them. |

### Battle rewards

When the player wins a battle, they may be awarded one or more treasures. Treasure(s) also can be awarded without battle when entering a ruin or tomb.$^{:22,26}$
Potential treasures$^{:23–24}$ :
| Treasure | Sound | Cel | Description |
| Gold | beeping | Gold | The number displayed is the total number of bags of gold the player now has. However, the player may not carry more gold than 6× the number of warriors, unless the player owns a beast, which can carry 50 bags of gold by itself. |
| Key | beep | Brass KeySilver KeyGold Key | Keys are always awarded in the order brass, silver, and gold. Only one key can be found in each foreign kingdom, so each player must journey through all four quadrants of the board before attempting the Dark Tower. |
| Pegasus | lilting music | Pegasus | The Pegasus token can be used to fly to any space within the current kingdom, or from one kingdom to the next, and is surrendered upon use. When flying to another kingdom, the player must already have the key from the originating kingdom. |
| Dragonsword | beep | Sword | When the player possesses the dragonsword, they will slay the dragon if it attacks. |
| Wizard | beep | Wizard | The player chooses another player and applies a curse, taking 1⁄4 of the targeted player's gold and warriors. |

### Supplies from the Bazaar

In the Bazaar, players may purchase items, including warriors, consumable food, and durable bonuses. Warriors are needed for battle and to carry the player's gold, up to six gold per warrior.$^{:30}$ One food ration will feed up to 15 warriors per turn regardless of movement, so when the player has 16–30 warriors, for instance, they will consume two food rations per turn. If the player runs out of food, one warrior will die per turn from starvation.$^{:30–31}$
Bazaar items and signals$^{:28–32}$ :
| Name / Cel | Description |
| Warrior | Digital display indicates the number of warrior(s) being purchased. |
| Food | Digital display indicates the number of food ration(s) being purchased. Food prices cannot be haggled. |
| Beast | One beast may be purchased per player per game. The beast carries 50 bags of gold. |
| Scout | One scout may be purchased per player per game. The scout prevents the player from being lost and is not surrendered if the player becomes lost. |
| Healer | One healer may be purchased per player per game. The healer prevents the player from losing warriors to plague and is not surrendered if the player's party becomes stricken with plague. |
| Bazaar Closed | Each press of the Haggle button gives approximately even chance (50/50) of lowering the price by one bag of gold. However, pressing the Haggle button repeatedly may result in the merchant becoming angry and refusing to sell any goods, indicated by a Bazaar Closed cel. |

### Objective

Each kingdom, besides a player's own, contains one of three keys—bronze, silver and gold, acquired in that order—needed to unlock the Tower.$^{:16}$ The location of the key within that kingdom is randomly determined by the Tower. Each player will therefore need to travel around the board, through each of the other three kingdoms, until the player has all three keys; players are free to move through spaces in other kingdoms except for the foreign citadel.$^{:16}$ At this point, the player returns to their kingdom, buys reinforcements for a maximum complement of warriors, and then attempts to unlock the Tower by entering a code which requires them to confirm a sequence of keys (bronze, silver, and gold) displayed in the correct order, randomized for each game.$^{:35–36}$ Once cracked, this brings them to the final battle to defeat the Tower, which contains a predetermined number of defenders inside, depending on the level selected at the start of the game. The first player to beat the Tower wins the game; losing the battle requires building up another army.

## Development and litigation

Milton Bradley launched the game in September 1981 at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles. As part of the publicity campaign, Milton Bradley stated the development of Dark Tower started in January 1979 and cost the company more than US$750,000 (equivalent to $2,590,000 in 2024); the name was finalized in November 1980 after preliminary names including Venture and Hostage were discarded. Vince Erato, who previously had created the Big Trak toy (1979), was credited with designing the game, inspired by the computer game Wilderness Campaign (1979). According to InfoWorld, the game uses a TMS-1400 microcontroller with 2 K of memory.
George Ditomassi, the M-B vice president of sales, said it was aimed at "people who had heard about D and D but who didn't want to be Dungeons and Dragons freaks." Shortly after launch, although the game's retail price was between US$55 and US$65 (equivalent to $220 in 2024), Ditomassi noted "it shouldn't be selling yet because it's too high-priced and there hasn't been any advertising", but added that nevertheless, each Toys "R" Us store was selling an average of one and a half units per week.
Marketing for the game included a television commercial featuring Orson Welles. Despite favorable reviews and reportedly strong sales, production of the game stopped after a single holiday season, and it was targeted by a lawsuit.
Independent inventors Robert Burten and Allen Coleman previously had met with M-B in February 1980 to demonstrate a prototype game they had developed in late 1979 named Triumph, which was an adventure game set in space with a round board and a central microprocessor-controlled game unit. Before they were allowed to show the game to M-B, Burten and Coleman were required to sign a waiver of non-disclosure. Erato was present for the demonstration, according to meeting minutes. Afterward, M-B retained the game for a few weeks for further evaluation, then returned it to the inventors, telling them it was not interested in licensing their design. Internally, M-B used a three-tiered review structure, with only 5% of game ideas receiving the scrutiny of top-level executives during a "Presidential Review"; according to internal records, Triumph received a Presidential Review on March 20, 1980. At Toy Fair New York in January 1981, Burten and Coleman saw that M-B was exhibiting Dark Tower and noted the similarities between the commercial game and their prototype, despite the changed theme: both games used a round board with raised elements and a rotating, computerized tower that provided visual and sound signals.
Burten and Coleman filed a lawsuit for misappropriation of trade secrets. Following the initial trial, a jury awarded them US$737,058.10 (equivalent to $2,155,000 in 2024) in April 1984, their estimated share of the royalties they had lost based on $22 million in sales. Erato, called as a witness, was said to have cost M-B the case, as he was reported to be "kind of cranky and [...] annoyed that they alleged that he stole the idea." According to Erato, he had independently conceived the central tower around Christmas 1979, two months before Burten and Coleman met with M-B, but his combative attitude during the trial hindered the believability of his testimony and because he did not keep good records, he was unable to prove this assertion. Michael Gray, a M-B designer who contributed to the Dark Tower manual, disputed the commercial game had copied Triumph, noting the motorized cel carousel was unique to Dark Tower.
Trial judge Bruce M. Selya, however, vacated the jury's verdict in August 1984. Despite finding that Milton Bradley had likely "plagiarized the plaintiffs' idea without so much as a by-your-leave", Judge Selya proceeded to issue a directed verdict for the defendant because Burton and Coleman had signed a contract waiving any contractual relationship (which arguably included any duty of confidentiality). The First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in May 1985, finding evidence that Milton Bradley entered an implied agreement to keep the game confidential and reinstated the damage award.

## Reception

Games magazine included Dark Tower in their "Top 100 Games of 1981", noting especially how the "tower itself swivels so that each player alone views what happens to his own band of warriors".
In a retrospective review of Dark Tower in Black Gate, Scott Taylor said "as I remembered Dark Tower, and its card game predecessor Dragonmaster, I couldn't help but get incredibly nostalgic. There was something truly unique about those games, something almost spiritual, and I can credit this most certainly with the artist who brought them to us, Bob Pepper."

### Reviews

* Family Games: The 100 Best

### Legacy

Several web-based versions of the game have been developed over the years; an app called Droid Tower developed by Muse of Water was available for Android; and a similar app by MacCrafters is available for iOS.

### Sequel

Return to Dark Tower was launched on Kickstarter on January 14, 2020, by Restoration Games as a cooperative game for 1–4 players. Designed by Isaac Childres and Rob Daviau, the creators of Gloomhaven and Pandemic Legacy respectively, the game features a motorized rotating tower guided by an app.