Might and Magic: Book One - Secret of the Inner Sanctum

Might and Magic, 1-6 is available on GOG for $2.50 on sale, $10.00 regular. These first 6 M&M game were outstanding! I just wish I had access to versions other than DOS for the earlier games. Stand out series!

I had this game on an Apple II GS back in the late 80s. My brother and I loved it.

A funny and 100% true story --

If you recall, you had to switch floppy disks go between certain areas in the game. One day, I was playing and I accidentally pulled a disk out before it was ready. I quickly realized my mistake and stuck it back in and locked it in. The disk reader fluttered a bit and I think I ended up having to restart the game, or maybe it told me to put in the other disk. I don't recall. In any event, I was getting ready to continue my quest when I noticed that, all of a sudden, I had the absolute maximum amount of gold. I don't recall how many digits there were, but I had millions in gold. Somehow when I pulled the disk out something happened with the memory for how much gold I had. I was insanely rich. And nothing else in the game was affected.

If you played the game alot, you know there was a place where you could turn gold into experience. So what did I do? I basically maxed out a whole group of characters and equipped them with the best of everything, and still had millions in gold to boot. Nothing in the game could touch me. One guy in my party could defeat the biggest and baddest horde. It was fun but I suppose it in a certain respect it ruined the game for me. I tried playing a "normal" game but if I was having trouble I'd go back to my "Superman" mode.

So that was my original "cheat code", completely by accident.

The absolute greatest video game series ever. I've been playing M&M since yhe mid 80's. Nothing in the industry (besides D&D thru NVW 1) is more consistent on rules and history. The games are so deep and engaging. Nothing made after 2001 can compare. Todays games are like McDonalds food compared to this franchise and the old school games from last century.

I started playing M&M6 (again) on in November of 2013 and am now just finishing up M&M8 with M&M9 in wait. Then I plan on playing M&M 1 thru 5 after 9. I played 10 but when it first came out and that game was very buggy, also finished it in a week... too short. It seems that todays devs just put stuff out there and fix it along the way. The classic games had to work direct from the factory. (See E.T. 1982 to explain why) Play this series!

These were indeed classics. My brother and I had a full color 9-square of graph paper mapping out the entire outdoor space in our room. The awesomeness of actual variation in monster difficulty across different lands created an immersiveness that is completely lose by modern game "Balance". If only someone would combine the glory of today's graphics with the fun of these old principles.

ive played the later 2000+ games but never these thank you for giving us these

The game that started it all....

Even the most veteran gamers have trouble experiencing the magic of this game, or games like it. The graphics are poor, but amazing for their time. The sound is almost non-existent. The reliance on books over in-game text makes playing this a research challenge, and there are elements of the game that are so cryptic, you'll cure cancer before you figure them out.

This game was something special though. It has a depth of detail that, if you can look past its withered, aged face to become immersed enough, is something no modern game can compare too. Imagination is a requirement, as is some graph paper and a pencil for mapping.

Don't be shocked if you encounter a group of insanely powerful monsters who wipe out your party within the first few minutes of play...these were the days before game balance.

I recommend Might and Magic II for newcomers to the series over MM1 however, since that game offers an auto-mapper, better graphics (you know what you are looking at) and SLIGHTLY less cryptic puzzles.