Software:Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight

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Short description: 1991 video game
Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight
Developer(s)Rob Anderson
Publisher(s)Mindscape
Programmer(s)Rob Anderson
Kevin Hoare
Artist(s)Rob Anderson
Dennis Turner
Composer(s)Richard Joseph
Platform(s)Amiga, DOS
Release
  • EU: 1991 (Amiga)
  • EU: 1992 (DOS)
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight is an action role-playing video game by Canadian[1] independent developer Rob Anderson and published by Mindscape for the Amiga in 1991 and one year later converted to DOS with different sound and music. The title is a play on A Hard Day's Night.

Moonstone's gameplay blends several different genres, allowing up to four players to participate in a basic turn based game with real time combat for any encounters. It is also notable as one of the goriest games of its time, with some particularly bloody fight and death scenes.

Magazine advertisements for Moonstone purported 'nearly' a thousand frames of animation for two megabytes of monsters, and over 60 different painted backdrops.[2]

Development

In interview Todd Prescott discussed game's concept he stated the game was "a combination of Dungeons & Dragons and the board games, Talisman and Dark Tower." The game's combat was heavily influenced by the action game Barbarian.[3]

Gameplay

The player takes on the role of a chosen knight who is sent by druids to return the mystical 'moonstone' to Stonehenge. The game supports between one and four players at once, with the computer controlling any knights not controlled by human players as rival NPCs. Gameplay consists of two distinct modes: turn-based exploration and real-time combat.

In turn-based mode each player can move a limited distance on the game's world map and visit various locations. Players will mostly visit the many dolmens that are scattered across the map. These places represent areas guarded by monsters. Visiting these dolmens will trigger the second main gameplay mode: real-time combat. Players take control of their chosen knights and attempt to defeat the monsters using sword combat similar to Software:Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior or Sword of Sodan.

Defeating the monsters rewards the player with treasures from that location. Success will also result in gaining one experience point (XP). These then can be distributed in one of the three abilities: Strength, Constitution and Endurance. The required amount of XP needed to advance varies according to the number of human-controlled characters. This, combined with some powerful weapons that can be discovered or bought, can boost the player's combat abilities. However, the difficulty of the game increases to compensate.

The game's objective is to find the lair that holds one of the four keys. The player who gathers together all four keys (either by finding them or by stealing them from rivals) will have access to the Valley of the Gods at the center of the map. The knight will have to fight against the Guardian in order to win a 'moonstone'. The moonstone corresponds randomly to a lunar phase, and grants the knight more power during that phase. The moonstone must be returned to Stonehenge for the game to be completed.

After some days, a dragon will appear and make regular sweeps across the land. In the event that an unskilled player is unfortunate enough to encounter the dragon early on in the game, defeat is almost inevitable.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Amiga Action90%[4]
Amiga Computing89%[5]
Amiga Force80%[6]
Amiga Format59%[7]
Amiga Format72%[8]
Amiga Power73%[9]
Amiga Power74%[10]
CU Amiga81%[11]
CU Amiga86%[12]
The One Amiga52%[13]
The One for Amiga Games82%[14]

When the game was released, it got quite positive reviews from some magazines while some reviewers did not like it at all. Moonstone was banned in Germany due to gameplay being conceived as extremely violent at the time and failed to find a distributor for the US market as well. These days the game has a large cult following among vintage gamers.[15] The game is highly sought after as a collectible. The game was put on the German index by the BPjS.[16]

The One gave the Amiga version of Moonstone an overall score of 82%, praising its graphics and sound effects, calling the introduction "wonderfully animated" and the game's sprites "beautifully animated", furthermore stating that Moonstone is "pleasing to the eye and the ear". The One criticises the hack-and-slash gameplay as somewhat repetitive, but praises the special combat moves, expressing "they open up a good deal more options than the slash 'em up fan is usually presented with".[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Moonstone: A Hard Day's Knight Remake in the Works". http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/119140-moonstone-a-hard-day-s-knight-remake-in-the-works.html. 
  2. ↑ "Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight Advertisement". The One (emap Images) (40): 29. January 1992. https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-40/page/n27. 
  3. ↑ "The Moonstone Tavern: A Proud Member of the Classicamiga Network". http://www.moonstonetavern.co.uk/legends.htm. 
  4. ↑ "Review". Amiga Action (29). Feb 1992. 
  5. ↑ "Review". Amiga Computing (46). Mar 1992. 
  6. ↑ "Review". Amiga Force (5). May 1993. 
  7. ↑ "Review". Amiga Format (32). Mar 1992. 
  8. ↑ "Review". Amiga Format (46). May 1993. 
  9. ↑ "Review". Amiga Power (9). Jan 1992. 
  10. ↑ "Review". Amiga Power (26). Jun 1993. 
  11. ↑ "Review". CU Amiga. Oct 1991. 
  12. ↑ "Review". CU Amiga. May 1993. 
  13. ↑ "Review". The One (56). May 1993. 
  14. ↑ "Review". The One (40). Jan 1992. 
  15. ↑ Appears on Top 100 list on LemonAmiga.com website where users rate games
  16. ↑ BPjS / BPjM indexed games. http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/bpjs-bpjm-indexed-games/offset,300/so,1d/. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 
  17. ↑ "Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight Review". The One (emap Images) (40): 65–66. January 1992. https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-40/page/n63. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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