Atic Atac

Atic Atac is an action, fantasy puzzle game published by Ultimate Play the Game in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro. At the start of the game, the player chooses to play as either a Wizard, a Knight or a Surf, who then falls through a trapdoor leading to an evil castle with only one way out; find all the pieces of the ACG key to unlock the main door. Which of the three characters the player chooses affects the gameplay greatly, for not only does each character have their own unique skills at their disposal, but each one also has access to different secret passages within the castle. Enemies appear in each room, and colliding with them will kill most of them but also deal damage to the main character. Some enemies cannot be defeated by conventional means, so the player will either have to find special items to deal with them, or avoid them altogether. There are also poisonous mushrooms that will damage the hero, and some rooms will have a boss that'll drain health as long as they maintain close proximity to the hero. All throughout the player's exploration of the castle, their health meter gradually depletes. While food can be collected to restore health nothing can stop the countdown, so if the player takes too long to find the pieces of the main key, it will be a game over.