Challenge of the Five Realms

Subtitled "Spellbound in the World of Nhagardia", this little-known Microprose title came out the same year as their classic "Darklands" but garnered none of the cult following associated with that title. Although it was a fairly standard RPG for its time graphically (256-color VGA top-down view), it had a few unique twists.

As Prince of Alonia, you control a party of up to 10(!)characters, battling the evil lord Grimnoth in a standard fantasy setting. The game features "Ultima-style" character generation, in which your answers to situational questions help determine your character type (diplomat, warrior, thief, or wizard) and attributes. An immense number of skills and attributes, akin to that of Daggerfall or the later Realms of Arkania series, add variety to the gameplay, allowing puzzles to be solved in different ways. Dawdling endlessly in side quests to build up your party is not a good idea, as the player has 100 days to stop the encroaching Plague of Darkness, whose spread is shown graphically in the interface.