Monsters and Combat

It would not be a dungeon adventure without monsters, and there are more than fifty different monsters you may encounter in GemQuest. Here, you are about to face off with a Firehound:

You are too far away from the Firehound to attack it with your sword, but some monsters have quite a range. The Firehound for example can breathe flame at you, but fortunately it looks like it’s going to miss, at least this time:

Move closer, and you’ll be able to attack your opponent with the [A]ttack command. Press the [A] key repeatedly to swing your weapon. (If you try to attack when you’re not close enough, “Too far!” will be displayed.) You may miss, or hit, and your opponent’s hit points will fall with every hit, until it reaches zero, which means you’ve defeated it.

It’s critical that you keep an eye on your own hit points, because if your Hits reach zero, then you are dead, and the game is over. Sometimes, running away or using a bit of magic can save the day.

Magic

When you start your adventure, you have 5 Magic points, but you only have the power to cast a single type of spell, the Heal spell. You can Heal your hit points by spending magic points. To do this, use the [M]agic command. Pressing [M] brings up the Magic Spells screen:

From this screen, press the [H] key to invoke the Heal spell. As you progress through the game, you will find the gems that fulfill your quest. Each gem increases your magic points, and equips you with an additional spell to help yourself or to attack enemies. These additional spells will appear on this screen, with their own command keys. (Press the [Enter] key if you choose not to use magic at this time.)

Resting and Recovery

After you’ve defeated a monster, or if you find the tranquility of an empty room, you can stop moving and catch your breath. While you are resting, your hit points and magic will recover, working their way back up to their maximum values. But be careful, for if you linger too long, you might encounter a wandering monster!