Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail

Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail is an adventure game released by Sierra On-Line in 1990. It is the first game in the short lived Conquests Series and has players taking on the role of King Arthur on a quest to locate the holy grail to rescue Camelot from a curse. The game uses Sierra's SCI game engine and features gameplay similar to many other adventure games Sierra released at the time and also adds several action sequences along with a number of riddles to solve.

The story begins with Camelot being cursed due to the love triangle between King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot which has brought famine and drought to the kingdom. Is then that Arthur has a vision of the Holy Grail, and Gawain, Lancelot, and Galahad are sent on a quest to find it. However, they do not return; it is then up to King Arthur to set out himself to not only locate the grail but also to save his missing knights. It is at this point where the game begins with players controlling King Arthur on his quest. Conquests of Camelot features numerous historical references and folklore in it's story; unlike many other Sierra games which have a purely fictional story, Camelot attempts to be faithful to both history and the myths and legends surrounding King Arthur. Included with the game is a book detailing Arthurian legends along with Greek and Roman mythology (information that also proves useful in solving some of the game's riddles).

Gameplay in Conquests of Camelot is very similar to the many other adventure games Sierra released. Players can move Arthur around the 3D environment to explore and visit different locations; actions (such as picking up and using items, talking to characters, etc...) are performed by typing commands. Camelot also features several action sequences (including a joust with the Black Knight) and numerous riddles players need to solve. Scoring is somewhat different than is typical for Sierra; rather than a single score which is incremented for solving puzzles, there are three separate scores for skill (awarded for solving puzzles and for how well a player performed in an arcade sequence), wisdom (the amount of information and cultural knowledge Arthur acquires in his quest), and soul (incremented for helping others and for choosing the more moral solution to a puzzle instead of a potential alternate). There are several skill levels selectable for the arcade sequences, however fewer points are earned at easier levels.

Some puzzles in the game have alternate solutions, and it is also possible to reach the end of the game without completing all quests (such as saving all three knights). Depending on the path taken, there are multiple types of game endings, some bad and some good.