Wanderer's Quest I: The Sunless Sea

A heavily retro adventure game built in a custom 16-color, low-res engine, in the style and spirit of the “Age of Enlightenment” Ultima games (Ultima IV, V, and VI) of the ’80s and ‘90s.

Arrow keys to move.
M - move an object (push or pull).
Space - Wait five minutes of game time.
H - raise/lower sails.
L - Look or search
E - Enter/board
X - Exit (a vehicle)
Z - zoom into local map (try this on a frigate ... they have two decks).
G - Get.
D - Drop.
Tab - Toggle inventory mode.
W - Wear/equip.
1 - Toggle character profile.

Flying carpets (drop it on the ground, stand on it and hit 'E'), skiffs, and frigates are working.
Day & Night cycle.
You can leave the lighthouse for the world map.
Walk into doors and chests to open them.

There's probably more. Have at it.

The Story So Far . . .

You are haunted by a dark past . . . 

Once the mighty leader of a distant kingdom, you were corrupted by otherworldly evils that drove you to commit terrible acts against your own people. Given the choice of exile or facing the judgment of your subjects, you left your home to seek repentance in faraway lands.

After years of wandering, you found yourself with the humble monks of a quiet abbey where you resolved to spend the remainder of your life in meditation, seeking humility and some semblance of peace.

But fate had other plans for you.

Long in the grips of a devastating war that has only recently ended, the Kingdom of the Isles has slowly begun to rebuild itself. As open sea travel cautiously resumes, the ancient lighthouses, abandoned in the long years since the war began, must be lit again to guide the ships of the Isles safely across the more remote and treacherous regions of the Great Sea.

The abbot, a wise man in whom you have confided about the past many times, presents you with an offer: a post to become the keeper of Stormbane lighthouse, the most isolated of the Great Sea Beacons.

You accept the abbot’s offer without hesitation. This is a chance for you to serve a noble cause, and perhaps escape the memories that still haunt you after so many years within the abbey walls. You pack your meager belongings and board a ship that takes you on the long, arduous journey to Stormbane Island.

But as soon as you set foot on the rocky shore you know something is wrong here, something dark. You hear whispers in your mind, calling your name with an eerie familiarity and promises of redemption and forgiveness for your sins . . . whispers from your “friend and guardian" of long ago.

What secrets lie hidden within, and below, Stormbane lighthouse? What is the real reason that the abbot, the only soul in the Kingdom of the Isles who knows of your dark history, has sent you to Stormbane? And . . . what is this sinister voice whispering inside your head? . . . has your shame finally driven you mad?

Find out in Wanderer's Quest I: The Sunless Sea, an epic retro adventure game!

About This Game . . .

Wanderer's Quest pays homage to the old Ultima games of the “Age of Enlightenment” trilogy: Ultima IV, V, and VI. It also fills in some of the story of one of my favorite characters from that series. Although none of the names of people or places from Ultima are used in Wanderer's Quest, Ultima fans may be able to identify who and where they are.

Technologically, Wanderer's Quest is a pastiche of the Ultimas of that trilogy. All the essential elements of the old Ultimas (as I see them) are there, and I have tried to faithfully recreate the controls and general feel of those games. 

How to Play . . .

Coming soon ... see key map at the top of the page ...