Play Wizardry I - Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord Online

Wizardry I is one of those old-school dungeon crawlers where you feel every step forward—literally. You start by rolling up a party of six adventurers, picking races and classes like you're filling out a D&D character sheet. Humans are safe, elves are fragile but magic-friendly, and hobbits make sneaky little thieves. The real fun begins when you unlock the hybrid classes later—turning your fighter into a samurai who can sling spells feels like cheating (in the best way).

The dungeon itself is a brutal, maze-like beast with 10 levels, each more punishing than the last. No automap means you’ll be sketching grids on graph paper like some kind of medieval cartographer, praying you don’t blunder into a teleport trap or a square cursed with permanent darkness. Combat’s straightforward—you bump into monsters, the screen swaps to a crude drawing of them, and you pray your priest’s healing spells hold out.

Spells have weird names (why is teleport called "Malor"?), and some backfire hilariously. One wrong move—like teleporting into solid rock—wipes your party, forcing you to start over from level one. No mid-dungeon saves either, so every trip downward is a gamble. It’s unforgiving, slow, and kind of glorious if you’ve got the patience. Finishing it feels like an actual achievement, not just a credits roll.

Oh, and you’ll need your surviving party to even play the sequels. No pressure.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".