Play Dragons Lair Online

Game Overview

Dragons Lair on NES is one of those games that feels like you're playing an interactive cartoon. You control Dirk the Daring—this hilariously awkward knight who screams at everything—as he stumbles through a castle full of weird monsters to rescue the princess. The whole thing plays out in these cool animated cutscenes where you basically just press the right button at the right moment to keep him alive. Mess up, and you'll see some of the funniest death animations ever—Dirk gets turned into toast, falls into pits, gets zapped by wizards... it's brutal but in a way that makes you laugh.

What's weird is you don't actually move Dirk around like a normal game. Instead, you're just reacting to quick-time events before he walks into some new ridiculous trap. The timing can be brutal at first, but once you get the rhythm, it feels like you're directing your own cheesy fantasy movie. Just don't expect to beat it in one sitting—this game loves to punish you.