Sword of Kadash

Last updated: January 11, 2026

Overview

Sword of Kadash is an action role-playing game originally developed for the Apple II in 1984 by Chris Cole, a teenage programmer working at The Computer Tutor store in Eugene, Oregon.¹ The game was published by Penguin Software and later ported to the Commodore 64 in 1985, with Atari ST and Macintosh versions following in 1986.² Described as “an adventure/CRPG/platformer hybrid,” the game combined real-time action combat with exploration elements that were innovative for its time.³

The game earned praise in contemporary magazines as an original action-adventure experience, though it was also notorious for its punishing difficulty.⁴ Set in the deserts of Persia, players must navigate a sprawling dungeon of 250 different rooms filled with traps, monsters, and hidden passages.⁵ The game’s design philosophy emphasized learning through repeated failures, requiring players to make extensive maps and notes to eventually plot a successful path to victory.⁶

Sword of Kadash holds historical significance as one of the earliest titles released by Dynamix, the company that would later become famous for flight simulators and adventure games before being acquired by Sierra On-Line.⁷ The game represented founder Jeff Tunnell’s strategy of signing contracts to keep his fledgling company financially afloat during its formative years.³

Game Info

Developer: Dynamix² Designer: Chris Cole¹ Publisher: Penguin Software / Polarware⁸ Engine: Custom Platforms: Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Macintosh² Release Year: 1984 (Apple II), 1985 (C64), 1986 (Atari ST, Mac)² Series: N/A Protagonist: Unnamed Hero/Heroine Sierra Lineage: Dynamix (later Sierra subsidiary)

Story Summary

The narrative of Sword of Kadash places players in the role of a fortune-seeker who has traveled from the Mediterranean to the deserts of Persia in search of wealth and adventure.⁹ However, their journey takes a dark turn when they are betrayed and captured by brigands who present an ultimatum: enter the deadly Fortress of the Dragon and retrieve the legendary Sword of Kadash, or face execution.⁹

The Sword of Kadash itself is an enchanted two-handed weapon with a dark history dating back to the Crusades.¹⁰ It is said that the sword is powered by the blood of those who were slain by it during that era, and those who wield it become susceptible to its corrupting enchantment.¹⁰ The weapon lies deep within the dungeons of the Fortress of the Dragon, guarded by a powerful Liche and other supernatural defenders.¹⁰

The fortress is home to a dragon named Aladag who serves as the ultimate guardian of the treasure.¹¹ Players must navigate through hundreds of rooms filled with skeletons, demons, bats, and other monstrous creatures to reach their goal.¹² Interestingly, the game’s setting was altered late in development—Chris Cole had originally envisioned a more traditional fantasy setting, but Penguin Software insisted on changing it to a Persian theme due to the association between “Kadash” and the ancient city of Kadesh.¹

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

Sword of Kadash features a top-down perspective with real-time combat mechanics.⁹ Players control their character using keyboard, joystick, or mouse depending on the platform, navigating through the fortress while engaging enemies.⁸ The primary method of attack involves firing darts that travel in three-round bursts, with only three darts allowed on screen at any time.¹³ A unique tactical element emerges from the darts’ ability to ricochet off walls, allowing skilled players to attack enemies around corners.⁹

The game offers the choice of playing as either a hero or heroine at the start, though character customization beyond this selection is limited.¹⁴ Players begin each session with 2000 hit points and access to a fear spell for emergency situations.¹⁴ The deterministic nature of the game means that every playthrough begins identically, with success dependent on accumulated player knowledge rather than random chance.¹⁴

Structure and Progression

The game consists of a massive interconnected dungeon featuring 256 discrete rooms spread across the fortress.⁶ Unlike linear action games of the era, Sword of Kadash emphasizes freedom to explore without following a predetermined path.¹⁴ This non-linear structure was reminiscent of the earlier Apshai games that influenced its design.¹¹

• Starting Area: Initial rooms with weaker enemies for learning combat basics
• Outer Fortress: Maze-like corridors with increasing monster density
• Inner Dungeons: More challenging areas with traps and hidden passages
• Dragon’s Lair: Final confrontation area guarded by Aladag

Progression involves collecting better equipment including daggers, morning stars, axes, and swords, with the titular Sword of Kadash being the ultimate weapon.¹⁴ Armor upgrades can improve the player’s armor class up to a maximum of 50, while experience can raise the character to level 66.⁵ The game was explicitly designed with replay in mind, expecting players to learn the dungeon layout over multiple attempts.¹¹

Puzzles and Mechanics

The gameplay emphasizes exploration and survival over traditional puzzle-solving. Many rooms contain traps and hidden passages that must be discovered through experimentation.¹⁴ Cursed items appear throughout the dungeon, adding risk to treasure collection.¹³ As one reviewer noted, “Sword of Kadash is a cruel game designed to be learnt by the player bit by bit.”¹¹

The lack of a save system within the dungeon means that death results in starting over, making careful mapping essential. As the game’s solution guide warns: “Your best chance lies in paper and pen. Map well, my fool!”¹⁵ This trial-and-error approach became a defining characteristic, with one modern critic observing that “success almost always comes through experience rather than skill alone.”⁶

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

The game received praise in contemporary magazines as an original action-adventure title that successfully blended multiple genres.⁴ Contemporary reviewers appreciated the ambitious scope of the 250-room dungeon and the strategic depth offered by the ricochet dart system, though many noted the extreme difficulty curve as a potential barrier for casual players.

Modern Assessment

Modern retrospective reviews have been more critical, with the CRPG Addict blog giving the game 18 out of 100 in 2016, criticizing its heavy reliance on trial and error while acknowledging that players are “manifestly meant to make maps, take notes, and through a long process of dying and learning, eventually plot a path through the game to the end.”⁶

User reception has been more generous, with community members on Lemon64 expressing nostalgic fondness for the title. One user called it “Fantastic game. One giant dungeon to explore. Incredibly hard due mostly to some poor gameplay quirks, but still an excellent game.”¹⁶ Another noted it was “Very dependent on trial and error, but compelling somehow. Lots of secrets so learning the dungeon is part of the strategy.”¹⁶

Aggregate Scores:

• MobyGames: 2.0/5⁹
• Atarimania: 7.8/10⁸
• Atari Legend: 5.00/5¹⁷
• MyAbandonware: 4.17/5¹⁸
• Giant Bomb User Rating: 4.0/5 stars¹²

Development

Origins

The creation of Sword of Kadash emerged from a challenge issued at The Computer Tutor, a computer store in Eugene, Oregon where teenage programmers congregated in the early 1980s.¹ Chris Cole, who was only 15 years old when he began development in 1983, grew frustrated with the quality of commercial software available at the time.⁴ As Cole recalled: “We didn’t have any money and $30 was a big deal for us. We felt burned when we got a bad one…and we seemed to get burned a lot. So I started mouthing off that I could write a better game in two weeks.”¹

Jeff Tunnell, who ran The Computer Tutor and would later found Dynamix, threw down the gauntlet: if Cole thought he could create a better game than what was available on store shelves, Tunnell would publish it.¹ This challenge led to a two-year development process that would produce one of the company’s earliest commercial releases.

Production

Development drew inspiration from multiple sources including action games like Berzerk and Robotron: 2084, as well as earlier RPGs like Caverns of Freitag and tabletop Dungeons & Dragons.¹ While Chris Cole designed and programmed the core interface, he received assistance from fellow Computer Tutor associates Paul Bowman, Damon Slye, and Bryce Morsello, who helped design most of the dungeon’s rooms.¹

Cole had initially hoped that Electronic Arts would publish the game, but Tunnell’s relationship with EA was strained at the time, leading to negotiations that ultimately fell through.⁴ Penguin Software eventually signed the title, though they requested a significant change late in development: the original fantasy setting was altered to a Persian theme due to the phonetic similarity between “Kadash” and the ancient city of Kadesh.¹

Development Credits:⁹

• Designer: Chris Cole
• Programmer (Atari ST/C64): Kenneth L. Hurley⁸
• ST Conversion: Chris Cole¹⁷
• Additional Programmer: Kevin Ryan⁹
• Cover Artwork: Stephen F. Wedemeyer⁹

Technical Achievements

The game featured a smooth-scrolling top-down view that was impressive for 8-bit computers of the era. The dart ricochet mechanic added a tactical layer unusual for action games of the time.⁹ The Atari ST conversion, completed by Kenneth Hurley, required only three months of development time according to Hurley himself: “Yes, 1985. It only took 3 months to convert it to the Atari ST.”¹⁹

Technical Specifications

Apple II Version:²⁰

• Storage Media: 5.25” Floppy Disk (2 disks)
• Emulator Compatible: apple2ee-helper

Atari ST Version:⁸

• Resolution: Low
• Controls: Keyboard, Joystick, Mouse
• Players: 1
• Memory: 0.5MB
• Disks: 1 / Single Sided
• Language: English

Commodore 64 Version:¹⁶

• Media: Disk/Tape

Cut Content

Chris Cole expressed some disappointment with the final product’s setting change from his original fantasy vision to the Persian theme imposed by Penguin Software.⁴ The late-stage alteration affected the game’s narrative framing but did not fundamentally change the gameplay mechanics.

Version History

Version	Date	Platform	Notes
1.0	1984	Apple II	Initial release6
1.0	1985	Commodore 64	Port by Kenneth Hurley2
1.0	1986	Atari ST	3-month conversion19
1.0	1986	Macintosh	Final platform port2

Technical Issues

The game’s design was intentionally unforgiving, with some players noting “poor gameplay quirks” that contributed to the extreme difficulty.¹⁶ The lack of an in-game save system combined with the trial-and-error nature of progression meant that players could lose hours of progress to a single mistake. One user on Atarimania asked: “Is there a version out there that features a trainer for inf hit points?”⁸

Easter Eggs and Trivia

• The game contains many hidden passages that reward careful exploration.¹⁴
• “Lots of secrets so learning the dungeon is part of the strategy” according to community players.¹⁶
• Kenneth Hurley, who ported the game to Atari ST, went on to work for Central Point Software after completing the conversion.¹⁹
• Chris Cole was 17 years old when the game was finally completed and published.¹

Legacy

Sales and Commercial Impact

While specific sales figures are not publicly documented, Sword of Kadash sold well enough to cover Chris Cole’s living expenses throughout five years of undergraduate studies and two years of graduate school—a remarkable achievement for a game created by a teenager.⁴ Cole was somewhat disappointed with Penguin Software’s marketing and distribution efforts, though the game found a loyal audience among action RPG enthusiasts.⁴

Collections

The game appeared as part of Dynamix’s early catalog before the company was acquired by Sierra On-Line.⁷ It represents a formative period in the company’s history when they were willing to publish diverse genres to establish themselves in the market.

Fan Projects

Community members have created level maps to help modern players navigate the extensive dungeon system, with notable contributions from AtariCrypt.¹⁷ The game is preserved and playable through various emulation platforms including Virtual Apple and Internet Archive.²⁰

Related Publications

• Game Solution/Walkthrough: Available through Atari Freenet archives, providing room-by-room navigation assistance¹⁵
• Walkthrough by Keighn: Published on GameFAQs in 2016²¹

Critical Perspective

Sword of Kadash occupies an interesting position in gaming history as an early example of the action RPG genre that would later flourish with titles like Diablo. The game’s emphasis on learning through failure, non-linear exploration, and character progression through collected equipment anticipated many elements that would become genre standards.⁶

The title also represents a fascinating snapshot of the pre-commercial indie game development scene of the early 1980s. Created by teenagers at a computer store, published by a small software company, it demonstrates how the low barriers to entry in early home computer gaming allowed young developers to create and sell their work.³ Chris Cole later returned to Dynamix in 1991, bringing his career full circle.⁴

While modern critics have been harsh on the game’s punishing difficulty and repetitive nature—with some finding it “a bit repetitious” and “kinda pointless”¹⁶—its dedicated fanbase continues to appreciate its ambitious scope and rewarding exploration. As one nostalgic player wrote: “my favorite game on the c64. i still have my disk copy, but no drive to read it from.”¹⁸

Downloads

Download / Preservation

• Internet Archive – Apple II Version
• MyAbandonware
• Virtual Apple

Manuals & Extras

• Game Solution/Walkthrough

References

Footnotes

1. Commodore Fandom Wiki – Sword of Kadash – development history, Chris Cole quotes, design influences, personnel credits ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. MobyGames – Sword of Kadash – release dates, platforms, publisher information, technical specs ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. The Digital Antiquarian – Dynamix History – company history, game description as “adventure/CRPG/platformer hybrid” ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Retro365 Blog – Dynamix Before Dynamix – development origin story, sales impact, contemporary reception ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

5. Retro Games Trove – Sword of Kadash – room count, level cap, armor class maximum ↩ ↩²

6. CRPG Addict Blog – Sword of Kadash (1984) – detailed retrospective review, gameplay analysis, rating ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

7. Sierra Fandom Wiki – Dynamix – company catalog, platform releases ↩ ↩²

8. Atarimania – Sword of Kadash – Atari ST technical specs, rating, designer credits ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

9. MobyGames – Sword of Kadash (Macintosh) – game description, credits, gameplay mechanics ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

10. Dynamix Fandom Wiki – Sword of Kadash (enchanted sword) – in-game lore, sword history ↩ ↩² ↩³

11. AtariCrypt Blog – Sword of Kadash Part One – gameplay review, design philosophy, Apshai comparison ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

12. Giant Bomb – Sword of Kadash – game description, user rating, platform information ↩ ↩²

13. UVList – Sword of Kadash – technical specifications, gameplay mechanics ↩ ↩²

14. AtariCrypt Blog – Sword of Kadash Part Three – detailed gameplay analysis, RPG elements, weapons list ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

15. Atari Freenet – Game Solution – walkthrough, mapping advice ↩ ↩²

16. Lemon64 – Sword of Kadash – user reviews and comments, technical information ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

17. Atari Legend – Sword of Kadash – rating, designer credit, ST conversion credit ↩ ↩² ↩³

18. MyAbandonware – Sword of Kadash – user rating, platform releases, user comments ↩ ↩²

19. Atari Forum – Sword of Kadash Discussion – Kenneth Hurley developer comments on conversion time ↩ ↩² ↩³

20. Internet Archive – Sword of Kadash – Apple II preservation, technical specifications ↩ ↩²

21. GameFAQs – Sword of Kadash – walkthrough availability, platform information ↩