History VideoGame / CastleOfTheWinds

* ChosenOne: You, for some reason. Probably a descendant of a king or something.
** At the end of Part One, [[spoiler:your dead father comes before you after touching your [[OrphansPlotTrinket hallucinogenic family heirloom]] to tell you it is up to you to unseat the higher evils.]]
*** Specifically, you are [[spoiler:the true heir of the Castle of the Winds, your father being the last survivor of the massacre and depositing you in your [[DoomedHomeTown small village]] as he lay dying, the amulet being the key both to your identity and entrance to said castle]].

* DoomedHometown: Triggered by either deliberately reading or leaving the beginning mines with the parchment found at the bottom, which when read is discovered to be the BigBad's orders.
** Which also provides a jarring {{Gameplay and story segregation}} moment. If you drop the parchment just before the exit of the dungeon, you can exit and visit the still intact town as normal. As soon as you return to the dungeon and either read the parchment or exit with it (which triggers the autoread) the town is instantly destroyed, even if you immediately turn around and come back.

''Castle of the Winds'' ([=CotW=]) is a tile-based {{roguelike}} game for Windows 3.x., published in 1989. It was released in two parts: ''A Question of Vengeance'' (Released as shareware) and ''Lifthransir's Bane.'' The game was recently released as freeware, and while the original download was lost due to a server crash, there are many other abandonware sites and online emulators one can play the game on.

* CharacterCustomization: You can customize your stats at the beginning of the game, but since EVERY sprite in the game is saved as a ".ico" file, and Windows-3.x-era icon editor could be used to alter or replace your sprite, allowing you to add armor, change skin color, or [[FullFrontalAssault play as a naked person]], or anything else you could possibly draw.

* VendorTrash: Virtually every type of equipment has a broken or otherwise useless form -- from broken daggers and ripped cloaks to rings of adornment and dead wands. You don't need to carry around flasks of water because there's no [[WizardNeedsFoodBadly thirst meter]] to watch, and you can't write anything onto blank scrolls.

* UnwinnableByMistake: Can sometimes ''appear'' to be the case: since the dungeon levels are randomly generated, it's possible to come upon levels where there is solid rock between you and the stairs down. Whenever this happens, [[SubvertedTrope there will always be a hidden door leading to the area with the stairs - you just have to find it]]. (The Clairvoyance spell is handy for this.) Alternatively, you can avoid having to search by using the Phase Door spell, provided you have it.

* InUniverseGameClock: The game keeps track of time for you. Unfortunately, the only things it's used for [[DummiedOut in the final version]] is for when stores restock their inventory, and there's a small number of magic items that have a spell they can cast once per day.

* DummiedOut: There are a bunch of weapon and armour enchantments that are never seen in game, even though they appear to work just fine. The only way to get them is by hacking a save file.

[[caption-width-right:350:Part two: ''Lifthransir's Bane'']]

[[caption-width-right:300:Part one:''A Question of Vengeance'']]

[[quoteright:80:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragon.gif]]
[[caption-width-right:80:Cooler than the hero.]]

Castle of the Winds ([=CotW=]) is a tile-based {{roguelike}} game for Windows 3.x., published in 1989. It was released in two parts: ''A Question of Vengeance'' (Released as shareware) and ''Lifthransir's Bane.'' The game was recently released as freeware, and while the original download was lost due to a server crash, there are many other abandonware sites and online emulators one can play the game on.

* CriticalExistenceFailure

[[TechnologyMarchesOn Does not work on 64-bit versions of Windows, as it is a 16-bit application.]] However, using UsefulNotes/DosBox or Windows XP Mode, you can still enjoy this classic on modern [=PCs=].

Castle of the Winds ([=CotW=]) is a tile-based {{roguelike}} game for Windows 3.x., published in 1989. The player goes off adventuring in a monster-infested mine, only to discover after completing it that some random BigBad [[DoomedHometown ordered your village destroyed]] while you were away, in attempt to kill you (because you are the ChosenOne!). Cue the quest for vengeance.

Consists of two parts, ''A Question of Vengeance'' (released as shareware) and ''Lifthransir's Bane'', each with its own dungeon (not including the aforementioned mines). The full version is now available for free on [[http://www.exmsft.com/~ricks/ the creator's website]] (disappeared after a server meltdown, try [[http://web.archive.org/web/20110717071112/http://www.exmsft.com/~ricks/ Wayback Machine]]).

* CharacterCustomization: You can customize your stats at the beginning of the game.

[[TechnologyMarchesOn Does not work on 64-bit versions of Windows, as it is a 16-bit application.]] However, using DosBox or Windows XP Mode, you can still enjoy this classic on modern [=PCs=].

* MosesInTheBullrushes: The BigBad killed your parents in an attempt to kill you, TheChosenOne. Your parents knew it was coming, however, and left little baby Player in the hands of a elderly farmer couple in the DoomedHometown.

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Using SaveScumming, one can identify cursed items, then reload and sell those "unidentified" items to the unknowing shopkeeper for a lot of copper. But you can only do this so many times. Do it too much and the shopkeeper will refuse to buy unidentified items from you anymore, demanding you get them identified first.

** You CAN sell unidentified cursed items at the shop, but only so many times. Do it too much [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything and the shop will refuse to buy it]], telling you "You've sold us too much worthless junk already. Get it identified first!"