Akalabeth: World of Doom

Akalabeth: World of Doom is often considered the first stepping stone in the evolution of Western computer role-playing games. Developed in 1980 by Richard Garriott, who was still a high school student at the time, Akalabeth was created initially as a personal experiment in computer game design. It was written in BASIC for the Apple II and drew inspiration from Garriott’s love for Dungeons & Dragons, a game he played regularly under the nickname "Lord British," which would become his pseudonym in later game credits.

The earliest version of Akalabeth was not designed with commercial intent. Garriott developed it simply to entertain himself and his friends. The game, however, caught the attention of California Pacific Computer Company after Garriott decided to sell copies of it in Ziploc bags at a local computer store in Houston, Texas. The company offered to publish it, and Akalabeth ended up selling around 30,000 copies — a remarkable number for the time.

Gameplay-wise, Akalabeth is a dungeon crawler that features both a top-down world map and a first-person view when exploring dungeons. This visual combination was unusual in 1980, and it laid the groundwork for mechanics that would become standard in many future RPGs. The game allows players to choose between two character classes — fighter or mage — and then sends them on a series of quests issued by Lord British. These missions involve descending into randomly generated dungeons to defeat specific monsters.

One of the most innovative aspects of Akalabeth was its procedural dungeon generation. Each time a new game was started, the layout of the world and dungeons would be different, offering a level of replayability that was uncommon at the time. It also introduced permanent death as a gameplay mechanic, forcing players to make careful choices and increasing the stakes of each dungeon crawl. Though the visuals were simple wireframes and the interface rudimentary, the game created a sense of depth and adventure that was captivating for early computer gamers.

Perhaps the most important legacy of Akalabeth is that it directly led to the creation of the Ultima series. Garriott took many of the ideas he experimented with in Akalabeth — such as open-world exploration, dungeon crawling, character progression, and quest structures — and refined them in Ultima I, released in 1981. While Akalabeth is sometimes dubbed "Ultima 0" by fans, it was never officially part of the numbered Ultima series, but its DNA is undeniably present throughout.

Today, Akalabeth holds an important place in the history of video games. It represents not only the humble beginnings of Richard Garriott's career but also a defining moment in the transition from tabletop role-playing games to digital ones. Its procedural generation, dual-perspective gameplay, and early implementation of quest-driven structure were all significant contributions to the development of the RPG genre.