Akalabeth: World of Doom

Richard Garriott’s Akalabeth: World of Doom (1981) is where the modern RPG saga begins—or at least where it awkwardly shuffles out of a pixelated basement. With its top-down dungeons, tiny monsters, and numbers flying off the screen like confused pigeons, it’s rough, simple, and nostalgic. Think of it as the grandparent of Ultima, wandering through dungeons with nothing but courage and a surprisingly persistent sense of doom. The graphics might make your eyes water, but the imagination required makes it timeless. If you want the roots of RPGs served raw, Akalabeth is your ancestral feast.

“Developed in 1979, Akalabeth is the first game made by the legendary creator of the Ultima Series, Richard Garriot.Designed by the teenage Garriot in Applesoft BASIC for the Apple II, Akalabeth is one of the earliest known examples of a computer role-playing game, and is considered by many to be "Ultima 0."Featuring 10 different monsters, procedurally generated dungeon crawling, and wire frame 3D graphics, Akalabeth was highly advanced for its time and is still widely regarded as one of the most historically significant RPGs ever created.” - Richard Garriott