Tag Archives: tile-based

These are games that feature movement on a tile-based grid system. With the player moving from one tile to another as a ‘step’ in a certain direction. Examples of ’tile-based’ games would be: Dungeon Master and Legend of Grimrock.

Dungeon Master: Theron’s Quest, PC Engine

Theron’s Quest is a modified version of the incredible Dungeon Master, released for the PC Engine in Japan in 1992 and the TurboGrafx-16 in North America in 1993.

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Stonekeep, PC

Stonekeep is a strange first-person Role-Playing Game, developed and published by Interplay Productions in 1995.

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Shining the Holy Ark, Sega Saturn

A direct follow-up to the classic Megadrive game, Shining in the Darkness, and arguably the best level-grinder on the Sega Saturn, the awkwardly-titled Shining the Holy Ark is a superb first-person, party-based RPG with turn-based combat.

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Crystals of Arborea, Amiga

Trees, trees, and more trees! That’s what you get when you explore the ancient island kingdom of Arborea. And with a name like that it is no surprise.

Crystals of Arborea is a real-time, first-person, tile-based, party-driven RPG with combat, exploration, and day/night scenes where the colours cycle to give you a nice atmospheric setting.

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Crystals of Arborea, PC

Crystals of Arborea is the predecessor to the Ishar series of games. It’s a first-person, tile-based RPG, with a character-based party system and turn-based combat.

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Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity, Atari ST

The third and final instalment in the Ishar series, Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity was released by Silmarils in 1994.

It plays similarly to the previous two games (ie. first-person, real-time RPG), but with further refinement and a somewhat different setting – at least initially.

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Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom, Atari ST

The sequel to the interesting Ishar, Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom is a French, first-person RPG with atmospheric graphics and challenging party-based gameplay. It was first released in 1993.

Thankfully, Ishar 2 rights some of the wrongs of the first game. You can actually see where you are on the map now, which is a blessed relief, and the interface has been cleaned-up a bit, making movement and combat a bit easier.

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Ishar: Legend of the Fortress, Atari ST

The first in a trilogy of French Role-Playing Games published by Silmarils, Ishar: Legend of the Fortress is an atmospheric, first-person, party-based RPG with challenging gameplay, released in 1992.

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Legend of Grimrock II, PC

A brilliant sequel to the tile-based RPG of 2012, Legend of Grimrock II is more of the same atmospheric adventuring from developer Almost Human, but with 2014‘s new content and ideas.

Grimrock 2 begins after a shipwreck; on a beach, with rocky, exterior locations, which is a surprising and refreshing way to start a game like this. You can even walk in the shallow water, which is nice, and on the very first level the shallow water holds an important secret. Don’t miss it.

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Eye of the Beholder III: Assault On Myth Drannor, PC

The third episode in the classic Eye of the Beholder series was not developed by Westwood Studios – as the other two games were – but by publisher Strategic Simulations, Inc. itself, and as a result it doesn’t quite hit the same mark as parts one and two.

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