Atmosfear (series)

Atmosfear (series)

"Nightmare" is a video board game released in 1991 by Australian company A Couple 'A Cowboys PTY LTD. It was written and directed by Brett Clements and produced by Phillip Tanner. Packaged with a sixty minute video cassette, the game required 3-6 players (often referred to as 'maggots' or 'harbingers') to attempt to collect keys while trying to beat the clock included on the video. At random intervals the game would stop and The Gatekeeper (portrayed by Wenanty Nosul in the English language version) would appear to either taunt, reward, or punish the players in a variety of ways.

Prior to beginning the game the players are required to write their "greatest fear" on individual slips of paper. The game is won by collecting six special keys before making it to the center of the game board where the player would draw a 'fear'. If that player draws someone else's fear, the tape was stopped and that player declared the winner (in later versions of the game, one must draw their own fear to win). If no one is able to accomplish this within a set amount of time (45-60 minutes), the Gatekeeper is declared the winner.

Due to issues with overseas production, the game's name was later changed to Atmosfear for its release outside of the United States, Canada and Australia; in the UK, this was also to avoid confusion with the board game version of Knightmare. After the release of the original game the title has spawned a number of sequels, add-ons, and spin offs under both the Nightmare and Atmosfear titles. This includes a card game, a CD-ROM version, and most recently a new series of DVD TV Games by Forest Interactive. In the later DVD games, the games adapt from the host persona. For example, Khufu's game is an Egyptian twist of the traditional Atmosfear/Nightmare series.

Characters

In the world of Nightmare/Atmosfear there are several characters, some of which host the video tapes (and DVDs), others of which players adopt the persona of. The central cast remain The Gatekeeper, and the six playable characters introduced in the original "Nightmare" (known as "Harbingers"), these six returning in each game with the exception of "Atmosfear: The Soul Rangers".

A new Harbinger was revealed in mid-July 2006 -- Medusa, the Gorgon, who first appeared in "Atmosfear: Khufu the Mummy". She replaced Khufu as a playable character while he was hosting the game. It is assumed she will remain as the "spare" Harbinger from now on, and may earn her own boardgame if sales are high after all of the original Harbingers have hosted in the DVD series.

;Main Characters:

Atmosfear Television Series

The "Atmosfear" television series was first announced in November 2007, and is currently in development stages. [http://www.flyingbark.com.au/flyingBark/film-tv/fm_AGK.html] According to sources, the show will revolve around students who are sucked through their television by The Gatekeeper, and will have to avoid creatures such as vampires, werewolves and zombies to escape. Presumably, said creatures will be Elizabeth Bathory, Gevaudan and Baron Samedi, respectively, along with the other Harbingers.

External links

* [http://xsorbit26.com/users5/marr0wproductions/index.php The Well of Fears]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/il/Atmosfear The Nightmare/Atmosfear Team]
* [http://www.atmosfear.com.au/ Official Atmosfear Website]
* bgg par
section1=game|id1=5641|name1=Nightmare/Atmosfear
section2=search|id2=atmosfear|name2=the Nightmare/Atmosfear series
* [http://www.mobygames.com/game/win3x/atmosfear-the-third-dimension Atmosfear: The Third Dimension at MobyGames]

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