Price at release - £6.50

Developed in 1983 and released in 1984, Everest Ascent is a resource management game where you attempt to climb the highest mountain in the world. Written in BASIC, you decide which Sherpas to hire and what equipment to buy. Different Sherpas have different strength levels and cost a differing amount per day. You start the game with £1000 and must ensure you have the equipment you need to survive whilst not running out of money.

Some of the available items are oxygen, planks, heat pads, rope axe and tent. As you progress up the mountain, you can set up base camps where you can store equipment. Progressing well can result in donation of funds and supplies but these supplies must be collected which means traversing back to base.

As you ascend, you make encounter obstacles such as a crevasse. You will need the relevant item to continue such as a plank to traverse a crevasse. You make a choice of what to do twice a day and can camp, ascend or descend. When you camp, you can choose to create a base camp and leave behind some Sherpas, equipment and supplies.

The game is controlled solely via the keyboard and often needs the name of the Sherpa or equipment to be typed in to be hired or purchased. The game is primarily text based with occasional graphical representations of the mountain to show your current position although this is overlaid with text.

Review

Telematch - October 1984 - 2 out of 3

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