Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete
Encyclopedia
Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete is a 1992 Macintosh
computer game produced by the founders of Bungie Studios, Jason Jones
and Alex Seropian
. It is a sharply detailed dungeon crawl
er similar to many other computer role-playing games (CRPGs) and adventure game
s. The game distinguished itself from other games of its time by including a multiplayer mode that functioned over the AppleTalk
protocol or Point-to-Point Protocol
. A single-player exploration mode was also available, however this mode had no end goal and was useful only to discover how the various items found in the maze operated.
The game's tagline was "Kill your enemies. Kill your friends' enemies. Kill your friends." This tagline has reappeared as a description in the multiplayer menu screens for some of Bungie's other games, such as Myth: The Fallen Lords and Halo 3
.
Bungie later licensed Minotaur's game engine
to the studio Paranoid Productions (Richard Rouse
) who used it to create the single-player CRPG Odyssey: The Legend of Nemesis, released in 1996.
#188 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
computer game produced by the founders of Bungie Studios, Jason Jones
Jason Jones (programmer)
Jason Jones is a game developer and programmer who co-founded video game studio Bungie with Alex Seropian in 1991. Jones began programming on Apple computers in high school, assembling a multiplayer game called Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete...
and Alex Seropian
Alex Seropian
Alexander Seropian is an American video game developer, one of the initial founders and later president of Bungie Software Products Corporation, the developer of the Marathon, Myth, and Halo video game series. Seropian became interested in computer programming in college and teamed up with fellow...
. It is a sharply detailed dungeon crawl
Dungeon crawl
A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters, and looting any treasure they may find...
er similar to many other computer role-playing games (CRPGs) and adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s. The game distinguished itself from other games of its time by including a multiplayer mode that functioned over the AppleTalk
AppleTalk
AppleTalk is a proprietary suite of protocols developed by Apple Inc. for networking computers. It was included in the original Macintosh released in 1984, but is now unsupported as of the release of Mac OS X v10.6 in 2009 in favor of TCP/IP networking...
protocol or Point-to-Point Protocol
Point-to-Point Protocol
In networking, the Point-to-Point Protocol is a data link protocol commonly used in establishing a direct connection between two networking nodes...
. A single-player exploration mode was also available, however this mode had no end goal and was useful only to discover how the various items found in the maze operated.
The game's tagline was "Kill your enemies. Kill your friends' enemies. Kill your friends." This tagline has reappeared as a description in the multiplayer menu screens for some of Bungie's other games, such as Myth: The Fallen Lords and Halo 3
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
.
Bungie later licensed Minotaur's game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
to the studio Paranoid Productions (Richard Rouse
Richard Rouse III
Richard Rouse III is an American video game designer and writer best known as the designer of The Suffering games and the author of Game Design: Theory & Practice.-Life and career:...
) who used it to create the single-player CRPG Odyssey: The Legend of Nemesis, released in 1996.
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1992 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#188 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.
See also
- Pathways into DarknessPathways Into DarknessPathways into Darkness is a first-person adventure video game developed and published by Bungie Software Products Corporation in 1993, exclusively for Apple Macintosh personal computers. Players assume the role of a Special Forces soldier who must stop a powerful, godlike being from awakening and...
, originally to be a sequel to this game