'Best Model Animation' British Animation Awards (1988)

 

 
TheTrapDoor.org - Stay away from The Trap Door!
Developer Don Priestley
Publisher Piranha Games
Release Date 1986
Genre Arcade Adventure
Number Of Players One
Platform(s) ZX Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC
Media Cassette
Input(s) Keyboard, Joystick

Published by Piranha Games a year after the second television series in 1986. It was designed to work on a number of 8-bit formats including the Amstrad and Commodore 64. Written by Don Prestley it looked to emulate the best features from the television shows. Obviously including the key characters Berk, Boni, and Drutt, the aim of the game was to successfully perform tasks for The Thing Upstairs. As with the show Berk's master is never seen, while controlling the little blue blobs movements with a combination of keyboard and joystick actions. To assist Berk he is able to use any objects lying around the castle and even some of the monsters that happen to appear from The Trap Door. As for Boni and Drutt, the tiresome white skull provides hints when picked up, while Drutt seems to be content with providing mischief as always. One notable difference in the game, however, is that Drutt is bright yellow in colour and proceeds to move around by bouncing everywhere.

'Best Model Animation' British Animation Awards (1988)

 

 
Developer Don Priestley
Publisher Piranha Games
Release Date 1986
Genre Arcade Adventure
Number Of Players One
Platform(s) ZX Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC
Media Cassette
Input(s) Keyboard, Joystick

Published by Piranha Games a year after the second television series in 1986. It was designed to work on a number of 8-bit formats including the Amstrad and Commodore 64. Written by Don Prestley it looked to emulate the best features from the television shows. Obviously including the key characters Berk, Boni, and Drutt, the aim of the game was to successfully perform tasks for The Thing Upstairs. As with the show Berk's master is never seen, while controlling the little blue blobs movements with a combination of keyboard and joystick actions. To assist Berk he is able to use any objects lying around the castle and even some of the monsters that happen to appear from The Trap Door. As for Boni and Drutt, the tiresome white skull provides hints when picked up, while Drutt seems to be content with providing mischief as always. One notable difference in the game, however, is that Drutt is bright yellow in colour and proceeds to move around by bouncing everywhere.

A short clip of game in action on the Amstrad CPC 6128 (Provided by Yaume)

As mentioned previously Berk uses what he can find around the castle and the game is largely considered to be based around puzzle-solving. However, the creatures that lurk beneath The Trap Door often need Berk's help, but more often than not they can become more of a hindrance and often are quite dangerous. This is usually because after using them to help him complete a task, he then has to find a way of sending them back down from where they originally came. As you may also notice from the above clip once the came has begun you must choose one of two difficulty levels. "Learner Berk" for the slightly more novice player, and "Super Berk" for something slightly more challenging. This is quite refreshing and clever since most games tend to stick to either Easy, Medium, or Hard when selecting a skill level.

 

   

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