Video games - Finders Keepers

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	Video games - Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers is a computer game written by David Jones and the first game in the Magic Knight series. It was published on the Mastertronic label for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 in 1985.

Plot

Magic Knight has been sent to the Castle of Spriteland by the King of Ibsisima in order to find a special present for Princess Germintrude. If Magic Knight is successful in his quest, he may have proved himself worthy of joining the famous "Polygon Table".

Gameplay

Finders Keepers is basically a platform game with some maze sections. Our hero starts in the King's throne room and is transported, via a teleporter, to the castle. The castle is made up of two types of playing area: flick-screen rooms in the manner of a platform game and two large scrolling mazes (the "Cold Upper Maze" and the "Slimey Lower Maze").

An additional part of the gameplay is the ability to collect objects (found in both the rooms and the mazes) scattered around the castle and sell them for money. Some of these objects can combine or react to create an object of higher value (for example, the 'bar of lead' and the 'philosophers stone' react to create a 'bar of gold'). Both the amount of money Magic Knight is carrying and the market value of his inventory are displayed on-screen. The buying and selling of objects is done with the various traders who live in the castle.

The Castle of Spriteland is full of dangerous creatures who inhabit its many rooms as well as both of its mazes and collision with these saps Magic Knight's strength. If he loses all his strength then he loses one of his four lives.

Sequels

Finders Keepers was followed-up by three more Magic Knight games. These are Spellbound
(published 1985), Knight Tyme
(published 1986) and Stormbringer
(published 1987).

Trivia

Gameplay in Finders Keepers is markedly different from that in the other Magic Knight games being essentially a platform game whilst the later games are graphic adventures with platform elements.

The graphics used for the King in his throne room were re-used in the later Knight Tyme to represent a planetary ruler.

Finder Keepers features objects that are "sticky" meaning that Magic Knight cannot drop them once collected. This type of object made further appearances in the later Magic Knight games.

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