Lords of Chaos

Lords Of Chaos is a computer game of the turn-based strategy genre, written in the 1980s by Jullian Gollop. Versions exist for the ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and Amiga. It is an ancestor of the popular X-COM series of games. The game can be played against a computer-controlled opponent or by up to four human players. Each player controls a wizard. A wizard can cast spells to summon other creatures, which the player also controls. Before a game starts, the players can pick which spells their respective wizards will be able use during the game.

Related Topics:
ZX Spectrum - Atari ST - Amiga - X-COM

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During the game, the players' creatures move around a map comprising square tiles of various terrain. During a player's turn, only the parts of the map that player has previously seen are shown. Thus, during a multiplayer game, the players should stay where they can't see the computer screen during other players' turns, if they want to enforce the rules strictly. The aim of the game is for your wizard to reach the portal which appears somewhere on the map after a certain number of turns. Extra points are awarded for holding items of treasure when you reach the portal, or for killing enemy creatures during the game. The game ends when every wizard has reached the portal or been killed, or when the portal disappears after a fixed number of turns (in which case all remaining wizards lose).

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The game is played with particular preset scenarios; three were included with the original game, and an expansion pack was also available with an additional two scenarios. However, only two of the original and one of the extra scenarios could be played with multiple players.

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Each turn, a player can move all of his or her creatures. A system of "action points" is used to limit movement; each creature has a limited supply of action points each turn, which are required to perform any action, including moving. Creatures can attack each other in hand-to-hand combat or with ranged weapons. A variety of objects are scattered around each map and may be useful in combat. Also, wizards are able to cast various spells to help their own creatures or hurt those of other players. Some of these are quite unpredictable, such as Magic Fire or the Gooey Blob, both of which spread around the map at random and destroy anything in their paths. There are also a number of independent creatures in each scenario who are not affiliated with any of the players (either human or computer-controlled) and who sometimes attack players' creatures.

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The game can be played as a single-player game, against computer-controlled wizards, in which the objective is to complete each scenario in turn with as many points as possible. Points are used to improve your wizard's stats and spell roster between scenarios. All of the scenarios can be played as single-player games, although the two which cannot also be used in multiplayer games have deeper strategic and puzzle-solving elements.

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