The Missing Ring

The Missing Ring
Title screen
Developer(s)	Terry Romine
Publisher(s)	Datamost
Platform(s)	Apple II
Release date(s)	1982
Genre(s)	Adventure / RPG
Mode(s)	1 to 5 players
Rating(s)	N/A

The Missing Ring is a 1982 computer game for the Apple II family of computers, published by Datamost.

Premise

The Missing Ring is a fantasy adventure game with a similar premise to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game series—a band of adventurers, which may include humans, elves, dwarves or wizards, enters an enchanted palace to seek treasure and slay enemies. The ultimate objective is to find a wizard's ancient ring.

Gameplay

Before play begins, the player selects an adventuring party to send into the map. The party may include up to five characters drawn from the following nine classes:

1. Fighter with Sword
2. Wizard
3. Elf with Bow
4. Dwarf with Ax
5. Fighter with Ax
6. Elf with Sword
7. Dwarf with Hammer
8. Fighter with Bow
9. Cleric

The player may also visit the "merchant" and spend gold to equip the characters with such things as healing potions. Once the party is assembled, the player selects one of ten different maps to explore and play begins. Though one player can control all the characters, the game can also be played with multiple players, each controlling a single character in the party.

Characters appear as small, white silhouettes, and move through rooms rendered as perspective line drawings. A header at the top of the screen indicates the room being shown, and a footer gives details about the active character, including his level, health and experience.

The game is controlled by pressing keys on the computer's keyboard. Two complete sets of controls are arranged at either end of the keyboard, allowing two people to play simultaneously without having to trade off. The key assignments are:

A screenshot from The Missing Ring showing (from left) a fighter with sword, an elf with bow, a wizard and a treasure chest.

Action	Left	Right
Move forward	R	O
Move back	D	L
Move right	F	P
Move left	E	K
Attack	Space bar
Healing potion	H
Search for secret doors	S	;
Get treasure	T	U
Magic item/spell	B	M
Pass/end player's turn	Y
Pause	Esc
Quit/save game	Q
Open door with key	X	.