Beneath Apple Manor

Also known as: N/A

Developer: The Software Factory

Beneath Apple Manor, as crude as it is, was one of the first video games to use procedural generation and, by modern terms, would be considered to be a roguelike game…even though the term "roguelike" is in reference to the video game Rogue, which was released two years after this game. Anyway, the goal of Beneath Apple Manor is to get to the bottom floor of the dungeon and collect the golden apple found there. For an early video game, Beneath Apple Manor isn't terrible…in fact, since the dungeons are randomly generated each time that you play through, I found myself playing again and again like some sort of gambling addict, hoping that the next playthrough would be my big chance to get that golden apple. The big downside to Beneath Apple Manor, though, is that it is PAINFULLY slow to play and it's not exactly a pick-up-and-play game, either. Unless you've got a manual handy or you write down the instructions for the brief moment that they appear on screen when you start, you may not have any idea what to do. Basically, N, S, E, and W move your character north, south, east, and west. When you get to a door, you can press L to listen for monsters on the other side or I to inspect for any secret doors…then B or K to break or kick a door open. Pressing 1-9 will wait that many turns to rest and pressing 0 will have your player wait until fully rested. And, of course, if you find yourself in battle against a creature in the dungeon, A has you attack and R has you run from battle. However, when I said that this game is painfully slow earlier, I didn't just mean the dungeon exploration - there is a bit of a delay after you press a key before your action is displayed on screen. Thankfully, since this game is turn-based, that's not a huge deal, but it'll likely throw a lot of new players off. Anyway, Beneath Apple Manor isn't for everyone, but I think that if you enjoy turn-based games and don't mind the very, very basic graphics of the time and very slow gameplay, then you may find yourself searching for that dang golden apple way more often that you had initially thought you might, just like I did.

Review added: 12/06/2025

Bloody Murder

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Stoneware

While I have no evidence of this, since there isn't a whole lot about Bloody Murder on the ol' internet that I could find, I would imagine that Bloody Murder would have been one of the early, controversial computer games that made parents think that video games were evil. The "Copyright infringers will be shot survivors will be prosecuted" comment on the first screen shows that it was likely trying to be controversial, too. After that initial screen, the game will then ask you if you'd like instructions. If you say yes, the first screen of the digital instructions bluntly tells you, "The object is to kill your opponent." There are two men on the screen, a man at the top of the screen and a man at the bottom of the screen. The entire goal of the game is to have your man run back and forth, left and right, while throwing knives at your opponent. The first one to make their opponent collapse and create a pool of blood wins. And by pool of blood, I mean that - this game animates blood pouring out when you or your opponent kicks the bucket. There is some very mild strategy here - if you're just spamming the knife throwing, you will not kill your opponent in a single knife throw - you'll only wound them. If you time out your throws and are stingy with how often you throw, however, then a single hit will likely be all it takes to score a point. The game sounds a bit more fun than it is…it's pretty lame when it's in action and the fun simply does not last long. It genuinely feels like this is a game where the gore and shock value is the main purpose of the game, with gameplay a distant second place. If you're looking for a game where you and a buddy shoot at each other to see who can rack up the most points, you'll find many, many better options than Bloody Murder.

Review added: 12/15/2025