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Arthurian Games

Editorial Assistants: Logan Quigley, Tzu-Yu Liu, Vanessa Iacocca, Madison Gehling

 

 

Board Games and Card Games

 

Designer Last Name, Designer First Name. Board Game Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

 

 

Alsup, Trey. Pendragon. (Unpublished), 2016. Board Game.

 

Set in the 5th century players a part of the British tribes must defeat the Saxons and Picts and elect a high king, a Pendragon, to unite them all. To win one must have the largest army, secure support from the other tribes, and seize the crown from the Giant’s Dance.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 3 to 6

Arthurian symbols: Saxons, Giant's Dance

Mechanism: Auction/bidding, worker placement

Genre: City building, fighting

 

 

an Hense, David F. and Paul Reeves Nalle. Quest for the Grail. Stone Ring Games, 1995. Board Game.

 

King Arthur and his knights go on various quests to gain rewards or heroism. Once a player gains 12 valor points that can go on a quest for the grail and try to win the game.

 

Number of Players: 2

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: Mordred

Mechanism: Role/spin and move, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, adventure

 

 

Bennett, Rhys. The Holy Grail. Bennett Games, 2016. Card Game.

 

The Holy Grail is a strategic card game in which players draw and play Arthurian-themed cards until the winner is left with only one—the Holy Grail. Players can steal from others, force opponents to pick up cards, and shuffle the deck.

 

Age:  7+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Artists: Rhys Bennett

Mechanism: Hand management, set collection, luck

Genre: Card game

 

Boginski, Karen, Jody Boginski-Barbessi, and Kenneth C. Shannon III. Tournament at Camelot. WizKids, 2017. Board Game.

 

In Tournament at Camelot, players as Arthurian characters battle opponents at a tournament with weapon cards: arrows, swords, sorcery, and more. Whoever has the most health by the end of the game wins.

 

Age: 14+

Number of Players: 3 to 6

Artists: Jody Boginski-Barbessi

Mechanism: Trick-taking, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, card game

 

 

Borg, Richard. Arthurian Ghost Knights (Stonehenge: An Anthology Board Game). Titanic Games, 2007. Board Game.

 

In Arthurian Ghost Knights a conflict game a part of Stonehenge: An Anthology Board Game players represent deceased Arthurian knights, fighting evil spirits for glory at Stonehenge.

 

Number of Players: 4 to 5

Arthurian symbols: Stonehenge

Arthurian characters: Morgan Le Fay

Mechanism: Area control/area influence

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Bowers, Guy. Age of Arthur: Warfare in the British Dark Ages 400 AD – 800 AD. Warhammaer Historical Games, 2007. Board Game.

 

Age of Arthur: Warfare in the British Dark Ages 400 AD – 800 AD is a source book for Warhammer Ancient Battles. The source book contains a historical overview and chronology of the period in which it was believed Arthur led the British resistance against the Saxons. The book also contains 19 detailed army lists featuring the Romano-British Civitates, The British and Welsh Kingdoms, The Saxons, The Franks, The Pics, and more. Other resources include illustrations and maps. This book contains 15 scenarios and two full campaigns – Mount Badon and the Raiding Season—to help players recreate the atmosphere of early medieval warfare featuring King Arthur.

 

Age: 14+

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Arthurian symbols: Saxons

Arthurian characters: King Arthur

Mechanism: Variable player powers, secret unit deployment, dice rolling

Genre: Fighting, war game

 

 

Brancart, Michel, and de Wouters, Frederic. Grailnah. Imotep, 2004. Board Game.

 

The first player who has one of his Knights land on the center of the board wins the quest for the Grail over their opponents.

 

Age:  10+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Mechanism: Strategy

 

 

Buchel, Alexandre. Saga: Aetius & Arthur. Gripping Beast, Stronghold-Terrain, 2016. Board Game.

 

In the year 410 AD players create a Warband to defend themselves against the Barbarians to save the Western Roman Empire.

 

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Saxons

Artists: Fred Machu

Mechanism: Dice rolling, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, war game

 

 

Camelot. Bestworld, 1999. Board Game.

 

A classic family board game where players race around the board collecting jester tokens and money before reaching the exit. Spaces on the board can either have good or bad effects.

 

Age: 11+

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Mechanism: Roll/spin and move

Genre: Chance, family

 

 

Capelin, Colin, and Street, Nick. Knights of Camelot. Mind Games UK, 2016. Board Game.

 

Your goal is to become the ruler of Camelot. Players in a hand of 4 cards need to bluff other characters and use the Cardinal, Seer, Champion, and Poisoner to win.

 

Age: 8+

Number of Players: 3 to 4

Artists: Suzanne Van Pelt

Mechanism: Hand management, memory, set collection

Genre: Fantasy, bluffing

 

 

Cathala, Bruno and Serge Laget. Shadows Over Camelot. Days of Wonder, 2005. Board Game.

 

Player as knights of the round table must collaborate on a number of quests. Successful quests result in a white sword on the Round Table, a failed quest results in a black sword and/or siege engines around Camelot. Players must have a majority of white swords to win the game and avoid the perils of a fellow knight secretly turned traitor during game play.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 3 to 7

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail, Saxons, Round Table, Excalibur, Camelot

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Galahad, Gawain, Sir Kay, Percival, Palamedes, Tristan, Mordred, Merlin, Lady of the Lake, Morgan, Guinevere, Black Knight, Vivien

Artists: Cyrille Daujean, Julien Delval

Mechanism: Cooperative, dice rolling, hand management

Genre: Fantasy, adventure, bluffing, deduction

 

 

Cathala, Bruno and Serge Laget. Shadows over Camelot: Merlin's Company. Days of Wonder, 2008. Board Game.

 

Expansion of Shadows Over Camelot

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 3 to 8

Artists: Cyrille Daujean, Julien Delval

Mechanism: Hand management, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, adventure, deduction

 

 

Cathala, Bruno and Serge Laget. Shadows over Camelot: The Card Game. Days of Wonder, 2012. Board Game.

 

Players are the children of the original Knights of the Round Table and must work together to complete quests.

 

Number of Players: 1 to 7

Artists: Cyrille Daujean, Julien Delval

Mechanism: Cooperative, memory

Genre: Fantasy, bluffing, card game, deduction

 

 

Clarke, Richard. Dux Britanniarum. Too Fat Lardies, 2012. Board Game.

 

Dux Britanniarum is a tabletop miniatures wargame covering the period 450AD to 600AD.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2

Artists: Coral Sealey

Mechanism: Card drafting, dice rolling

Genre: Fantasy, war game

 

 

Colovini, Leo. Avalon. KOSMOS, 2003. Board Game.

 

Avalon is a card-based game featuring Arthurian landscapes and Knight and Enchantresses cards.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2

Artists: Anke Pohl, Thilo Rick, Sabine Weiss

Mechanism: Hand management

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Courtiour, Chris, et al. Excalibur. Wotan Games, Lancelot Games, Laurin Verlag, Oriflam, 1989. Board Game.

 

Grail knights over a series of seasons work to choose a religion and build churches and other religious architecture, gain honor, and secure loyalty to their troops. Remade in 1995.

 

Age: 14+

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Artists: Hubert de Lartigue, Ed Dovey, Frank Gerwin, Jürgen Pirner

Mechanism: Action, dice rolling

Genre: Fighting, war game

 

 

Derksen, Josh, Thomas M. Gofton, and Aron Murch. Super Camelot. Catalyst Game Labs, Lynnvander Studios, 2018. Board Game.

 

In Super Camelot players explore the board, flip tiles, and come across various items or fight monsters. The first player to collect 40 gems worth of points wins the game or a player can complete the quest to find the Holy Grail.

 

Age: 13+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Artists: Aron Murch

Mechanism: Modular board, tile placement

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Donnelly, Terence Peter. The Mystic Wood. Ariel (1980), Gibsons Games (1980), Avalon Hill (1982), 1990. Board Game.

 

Players as knights are given individual quests to complete in order to win the game. Randomly placed tiles bring a surprise to each knight on their quest and whether they will find aid or disaster.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Artists: Kenn Nishiuye, Polly Wilson

Mechanism: Modular board, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, adventure, fighting

 

 

Edgren, Phil. Knights of the Round Table. Little Soldier Games, 1976. Board Game.

 

An early role-playing game set in Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur”

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2 to 10

Mechanism: Dice rolling, roleplaying

Genre: Adventure, fantasy, war game

 

 

Esko, Magnus. The King Commands. Mahopac, New York: Z-Man Games and Thámova: Czech

Republic, 2010. Card Game.

 

The last remaining knights of a fallen Camelot fight for the remaining gold and work to have the best story.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Arthurian symbols: Camelot

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Merlin

Artists: Chechu Nieto

Mechanism: Hand management

Genre: Card game, fantasy

 

 

Eskridge, Don. The Resistance: Avalon. Indie Board & Cards, 2012. Board Game.

 

In Avalon, Arthurian Knights fight against Mordred and other enemies. Unlike other Resistance games, in Avalon a player by the role of Merlin knows at the beginning who the evil players are and the villains have a chance at the end of the game to guess who is Merlin and still win.

 

Age: 13+

Number of Players: 5 to 10

Arthurian characters: Mordred, Merlin, Percival, Morgana

Artists: Luis Francisco, George Patsouras, Nan Sumana, Rafał Szyma

Mechanism: Memory, traitor game, variable player powers, voting

Genre: Fantasy, bluffing, card game, deduction

 

Feld, Stefan and Michael Rieneck. Merlin. Queen Games, Calamity Games, Piatnik, 2017. Board Game.

 

The purpose of Merlin is for players to move their knights or Merlin with dice to gain victory points to defeat enemies and building manors. Whoever gains the most victory points will be the royal successor of King Arthur.

 

Age: 14+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Artists: Dennis Lohausen

Mechanism: Dice rolling, set collection, worker placement

Genre: Fantasy, dice

 

 

Gofton, Thomas M., Aron Murch, and Cameron Parkinson. Albion's Legacy. Jasco Games, 2015. Board Game.

 

Albion's Legacy is a cooperative, modular-adventure board game where players can be a number of Arthurian characters. Players attempt to defeat evil as they travel across the realm of Albion and face dangerous roaming threats, mythical beasts, and deadly encounters. Individuals can collect lore-enriched relics, artifacts, weapons and special awards.

 

Age: 14+

Number of Players: 1 to 6

Arthurian characters: Merlin, Lancelot, Lady of the Lake, King Arthur

Artists: Not Listed

Mechanism: Cooperative play, dice rolling, modular board, tile placement, variable player powers

Genre: Adventure, fantasy, novel-based

 

 

González, Enrique Dueñas. Hexcalibur. Madrid: Gen-X Games and SD Games, 2017. Board Game.

 

Hexcalibur is a game that takes place at the beginning of Arthur’s reign as he wages war before the creation of the Round Table. Players use hexagons (representing their troops) to control various territories and have men for combat.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 2

Arthurian symbols: Logres, Cumbria, Excalibur

Arthurian characters: Merlin

Artists: Francisco Rico Torres

Mechanism: Dice rolling, tile placement, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, dice, war game

 

 

Gouyon-Rety, Marc and Volko Ruhnke. Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain. GMT Games, 2017. Board Game.

 

In Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain players create a campaign to battle the Pict and Saxon raiders.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 1 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Saxons

Artists: Rodger B. MacGowan, Kurt Miller, Chechu Nieto

Mechanism: Area movement, dice rolling, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, political, war game

 

 

Gray, James Wallace. Crazier Eights: Camelot. Self-published, 2017. Board Game.

 

This game features Arthurian cards with unique features. Characters and symbols include Merlin, Morgan le Fay, Avalon, Excalibur, and more.

 

Age: 13+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Hill, Matthew, Musgrave, Julian, Russell, Chris, and Walker, Jamie. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. London: Wotan Games and Laurin Verlag, 1986. Card Game.

 

Players work to build an army and gain knights to fight in a civil war for the throne.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 1 to 6

Artists: Ed Dovey

Mechanism: Card drafting, roleplaying

Genre: Fighting, fantasy, war game

 

 

Hjelmberg, Nicholas. Knights & Damosels. Madison, Wisconsin: The Game Crafter, LLC, 2014. Card Game.

 

In this game individuals can either play as a knight or damosel with different objectives to win the game. Knights must compete with other knights in quests or battles to become noble in King Arthur’s eye. As a damosel, players work to bring arms and virtue to the knights.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 3 to 6

Artists: Nicholas Hjelmberg

Mechanism: Card drafting, deck building

Genre: Card game, fantasy

 

 

Holcomb, Jeremy, and Stephen McLaughlin. The Duke: Arthurian Legends Expansion. Catalyst Game Labs, 2013. Board Game.

 

Expansion to The Duke including Arthurian elements.

 

Age: 13+

Number of Players: 2

Arthurian symbols: Camelot

Arthurian characters: Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Guinevere, Perceval, Morgana, Mordred

Artists: Matt Heerdt

Mechanism: Grid movement, tile placement, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, strategy

 

 

Jarmusz, Victor, and Andrea Sfiligoi. Four Against Darkness: The Knight of Destiny. Ganesha Game, 2016. Board Game.

 

An Expansion for Four against Darkness, this game features Camelot in complete decay.  Lancelot is gone, Arthur is sick, knights are traitorous, and Morgana and Mordred are attempting to steal the throne. Your quest is to find the Holy Grail to heal Arthur and defeat evil.

 

Number of Players: 1

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Lancelot, Morgana, Mordred

Artists: Andrea Sfiligoi

Mechanism: Dice rolling, roleplaying

Genre: Adventure, fantasy

 

 

Jelke, Brian and Steve Johansson, David Kenzer, Adam Niepomnik, and Mark Schultz. Monty Python and the Holy Grail CCG. Kenzer and Company, 1996. Board Game.

 

Players as characters from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail must recite song verses, answer trivia, and other funny antics. Game includes the expansion “Taunt You a Second Time” (2000).

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2

Mechanism: Card drafting

Genre: Fantasy, humor, card game

 

 

Jolly, Tom. Camelot. Wingnut Games, 2005. Board Game.

 

In the board game Camelot players fight for control of the sword Excalibur. Each player controls five Arthurs and other Arthurian characters in an attempt to retrieve the sword before any other players.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 3 to 6

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur

Arthurian characters: King Arthur

Artists: Thomas Denmark, Brendon Fraim, Brian Fraim, Alvin Helms

Mechanism: Simultaneous action

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Kiesling, Michael, and Wolfgang Kramer. Artus. Ravensburger, 2011. Board Game.

 

In Artus, players are in charge of a group of knights on a quest to gain renown for King Arthur and his court. Players can maneuver their seating positions at the Round Table and completing specific tasks.

 

Age: 9+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Round Table

Arthurian characters: King Arthur

Artists: Martin Hoffman, Markus Schmuck, Claus Stephan, Mirko Suzuki

Mechanism: Hand management, tactical

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Kimball, Scott. Quest of the Round Table. Gamewright, 1995. Board Game.

 

Quest of the Round Table is a game with two decks of cards that determines what happens on a player’s turn. Cards can include a quest, tournament, or a special event and the adventure deck holds allies, foes, weapons, and other items. Players begin as squires and are meant as the game progresses to work their way to being a knight of the round table.

 

Age:

Number of Players:

Arthurian symbols:

Arthurian characters:

Artists:

Mechanism:

Genre:

 

 

Kingdom (A Game of Chivalry, Magic, and Adventure). Highbury Games & Design, 1990. Board Game.

 

Six players in Arthurian Britain fight to become the king.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Mechanism: Dice rolling

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Knizia, Reiner. King Arthur. Ravensburger Spieleverlag Global, 2003. Board Game.

 

In King Arthur, knights are questing to pull the sword Excalibur from the stone and claim Camelot’s throne. Players interact with noblemen, bridge guardians, and other characters who influence the events of the game.

 

Age: 8+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur

Artists: Franz Vohwinkel

Genre: Adventure, fantasy

 

 

Knizia, Reiner. King Arthur: The Card Game (2005). Ravensburger Spieleverlag Global, 2005. Card Game.

 

In this card game version of King Arthur, knights are questing to pull the sword Excalibur from the stone and claim Camelot’s throne. Players interact with noblemen, bridge guardians, and other characters who influence the events of the game.

 

Age: 8+

Number of Players: 2 to 5

Arthurian symbols: Knights of the Round Table, Holy Grail

Artists: Walter Pepperle, Boris Vallejo, Franz Vohwinkel

Mechanism: Hand management, set collection

Genre: Card game, fantasy

 

 

Krassner, Lloyd. Grail. Warp Spawn Games, 2000. Card Game.

 

Players in Grail take the role of Arthurian Knights on the quest for the Holy Grail. The first player to accumulate 7 'Quest' tokens is the winner.

 

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Mechanism: Card drafting

Genre: Fantsy, fighting, card game

 

 

Krassner, Lloyd. Quest for the Grail. Warp Spawn Games, 2002. Board Game.

 

Players as knights are rated by the following categories: Chivalry, Valor, Ranger, Sorcery, Seamanship, Wisdom, War, and Strength. The goal for each knight is to find the Holy Frail and defeat enemies such as Mordred, The Black Knight, Plague, and Pirates.

 

Number of Players: 2

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: Mordred

Mechanism: Role/spin and move, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, adventure

 

 

Krassner, Lloyd. Battle of Camlann. Warp Spawn Games, 2009. Board Game.

 

A card game based on the historic final battle of King Arthur, where Arthur was mortally wounded, and Mordred was slain.

 

Number of Players: 2

Mechanism: Hand management

Genre: Fatasy, card game, novel-based

 

 

Kutschke, Lorenz. Im Auftrag des Königs (In the Service of the King). Remseck, Germany: Adlung Spiele, 2004. Card Game.

 

Players strive to become the First Knight of Camelot by completing adventures and tournaments. Knights are expected to improve their bravery, strength, dexterity, and wisdom.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Artists: Alexander Jung

Mechanism: Card drafting, set collection

Genre: Card game

 

 

Kuro, Yasushi. Holy Grail. Manifest Destiny, 2016. Dice game.

 

In Holy Grail, a cooperative dice game, players direct a team of six female Knights of the Round Table to obtain the Holy Grail. Through dice-rolling players travel, gain weapons, and engage with enemies in combat all while avoiding Karma tokens. Any knight who gains too many Karma tokens is deemed too corrupt to gain the Holy Grail and cannot win the game.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 1 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Knights of the Round Table, Holy Grail

Mechanism: Dice rolling, cooperative play

Genre: Dice, fantasy

 

 

La Quête des Chevaliers (Knights' Quest). Oxybul, 2015. Board Game.

 

Knight’s Quest is primarily a memory matching game. Players need to remember the location of Excalibur, dragons, and other fantasy items on the board. It is best to avoid finding a dragon and when one finds Excalibur they win gold coins—whoever wins the most coins and reaches the other’s castle wins.

 

Age: 5+

Mechanism: Memory matching

Genre: Children’s game, fantasy

 

 

Lawson, Eleazar. Battles for Prydain: Heroic Combat in Dark Age Britain 450-650 AD. San Joaquin Valley Press, 2018. Board Game.

 

A tactical level simulation game set between the fall of post Roman Britain featuring King Arthur.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2

Arthurian symbols: Saxons

Artists: Jeff Halsey

Mechanism: Simulation

Genre: Fantasy, war game

 

 

Legend of Camelot. Hoyle Products, 1987. Board Game.

 

Players lay siege on opponent’s castles while controlling knights, ships, catapults, and even dragons.

 

Age: 8+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Mechanism: Dice rolling

Genre: Fighting, fantasy

 

 

The Legend of Merlin's Magic. Smethport Specialty Co., 1994. Board Game.

 

Players must rescue King Arthur from a dungeon and avoid monsters and the Black Knight.

 

Age: 4+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian characters: Merlin, King Arthur

Mechanism: Roll/spin and move

Genre: Children’s game, fantasy

 

 

Lobet, Annick. Merlin Zinzin. Blackrock Games, Fragames, hobbity.eu, Magellan, 2012. Board Game.

 

In Merlin Zinzin players work together to lead Arthurian characters to the village before being caught by the cat. Using spells and special dice, players will advance characters, use secret passages, or gain other traits to either help or hinder other players. If the cat catches up with a character on the board they will be eaten.

 

Age: 7+

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Arthurian characters: Merlin, Viviane, Lancelot, Guinevere, King Arthur

Artists: Stan!

Mechanism: Cooperative

Genre: Action, children’s game, fantasy

 

 

Looney, Andrew. Monty Python and the Holy Grail Fluxx. Looney Labs, Pegasus Spiele, 2008. Board Game.

 

Based on the Monty Python and the Holy Grail film this card game includes rules that are constantly changing

 

Age: 13+

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Artists: Todd Hamilton

Mechanism: Hand management, set collection

Genre: Fantasy, card game

 

 

McLimore, Guy W., Jr. Grail Quest (Melee, Wizard). Metagaming, 1980. Board Game.

 

Grail Quest is one of Metagaming’s 22 ‘micro’ role-playing games. In it, players are sent out by King Arthur with the Knights of the Round Table to seek the Holy Grail. Players create their own characters, choose their weapons and equipment, and fight monsters on the quest.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 1 to 5

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Mechanism: Roleplaying

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Mersey, Daniel. Dux Bellorum (The Dark Age of Britain). Osprey Games, 2012. Board Game.

 

Dux Bellorum is set from the middle of the 4th century to the end of the 8th century around the king of mythical hero King Arthur. Players can take on the role of warlords and command their own armies on the tabletop—usually having 6-12 units.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Artists: Angus McBride, José Daniel Cabrera Peña, Wayne Reynolds

Mechanism: Dice rolling, element based

Genre: Fantasy, war game

 

 

Mersey, Daniel and Andrea Sfiligoi. Song of Arthur and Merlin. Ganesha Games, 2008. Board Game.

 

A supplement to the game Song of Blades and Heroes.

 

Mechanism: Dice rolling, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, war game

 

 

Mersey, Daniel. Glutter of Ravens: Warfare in the Age of Arthur. Outpost Wargame Services, 1998. Board Game.

 

A series of miniature wargames inspired by Arthurian legend and Vikings.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2

Mechanism: Simulation

Genre: War game

 

 

Mosca, Rob, and Werden, David. King Arthur. Tokyo: Hobby Japan and New York: Simultations Publications, Inc., 1979. Board Game.

 

King Arthur and his knights battle against rebel knights, Saxons, Picts, and other enemies.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2

Artists: Redmond A. Simonsen

Genre: War game

 

 

Musgrave, Julian. Camelot: The Build (The Camelot Chronicles). Wotan Games, 2013. Board Game.

 

Camelot: The Build is a game focusing on medieval interior design. The game only has three rules making it easy-to-play.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 1 to 5

Artists: Ed Dovey, Dan Peterson

Mechanism: Tile placement

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Musgrave, Julian. Camelot: The Court (The Camelot Chronicles). Wotan Games, 2014. Board Game.

 

Camelot: The Court is set in Arthur and Guinevere’s court. Players need to scheme and challenge opposing knights while promoting their own through the ranks. Following the theme of The Camelot Chronicles, this game only has three rules.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 2 to 5

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Guinevere

Artists: Ed Dovey, Dan Peterson

Mechanism: Hand management, tile placement

Genre: Fantasy, humor

 

 

Musgrave, Julian. Merlin. Wotan Games, 1993. Board Game.

 

In Merlin players are Druid priests influencing Britain and deciding on a ruler for each region until King Arthur’s arrival.

 

Age: 14+

Number of Players: 1 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Saxons, Camelot

Arthurian characters: King Arthur

Artists: Ed Dovey

Mechanism: worker placement

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Nesbitt, S. William, II. Arthur's Realm (Realm of Logres). Nesbitt Hobbies, 2013. Board Game.

 

Arthur’s Realm is a character-drive game where players have a large amount of agency to perform any action they desire. The rules are only applied through a handful of reference cards that help during a particular situation. Players through competition or collaboration fight to either usurp King Arthur’s throne or defend him. The action in the game revolves around quests, treachery, character romance, combat and magic.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2 to 9

Arthurian symbols: Logres

Arthurian characters: King Arthur

Artists: S. William Nesbitt II, Howard Pyle

Mechanism: Area movement, dice rolling, hand management, partnerships, storytelling, worker placement

Genre: Adventure, fantasy

 

 

Papini, Mario. Lancelot. WizKids, Ediciones MasQueOca, and Ergo Ludo Editions, 2017. Board Game.

 

Players work to become Lancelot through gaining knightly virtues.

 

Age: 14+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur, Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: Merlin, Morgana, Lancelot, Guinevere, Lady of the Lake

Artists: Antonio De Luca

Mechanism: Set collection

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Parker, George S. Camelot. Parker Brothers (1930, 1932, 1933, 1958, 1961, 1985), The Game Crafter LLC (2011, 2014), 2014. Board Game.

 

Chivalry began as a self-published game by George S. Parker in 1888. The game was re-envisioned in 1930 and re-named Camelot and published by Parker’s company, Parker Brothers.

 

Age: 8+

Number of Players: 2

Mechanism: Grid movement

Genre: Strategy

 

 

Parks, Andrew. Camelot Legends. Z-Man Games, 2004. Board Game.

 

Camelot Legends provides three locations for players in the Arthurian narrative: Camelot, Cornwall, and the Perilous Forest. Players create factions of characters throughout the game and attempt to complete quests and defeat enemies. Whoever completes the most challenging tasks wins the game.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Camelot, Perilous Forest, Cornwall

Artists: Randy Asplund-Faith, Drew Baker, et al.

Mechanism: Allowance system, hand management

Genre: Adventure, card game, fantasy

 

 

Pauli, Thomas. König Artus Tafelrunde. AMIGO, 1993. Card Game.

 

Players as Arthurian Knights play a trick taking card game.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur

Genre: Card game

 

 

Piskorski, Krzysztof and Marcin Świerkot. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. Awaken Realms, Crowd Games, 2019. Board Game.

 

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon combines both Arthurian legend and Celtic mythology. Your character is trying to survive in a world that is sinking into the Wyrdness through traits such as Brutality, Empathy or Practicality, or Spirituality. Each trait opens up a different deck building strategy and journey for your character.

 

Age: 14+

Number of Players: 1 to 4

Artists: Piotr Foksowicz, Ewa Labak, Piotr Gacek

Mechanism: Area movement, cooperative, deck building, roleplaying

Genre: Fantasy, adventure, exploration

 

 

Prosser, Larry. Camelot Battlechess. Self-published. 1988. Board Game.

 

Age: 5+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Mechanism: Campaign, battle card driven, variable player powers

Genre: Fantasy, strategy

 

 

Pulsipher, Lewis. Britannia. Gibson Games (1986), Avalon Hill (1987), Fantasy Flight (2005), Fantasy Flight 2nd Edition (2008), 2008. Board Game.

 

Britannia is a historical board game surrounding the narrative of King Arthurs and the struggle for control of England, Scotland, and Wales. The game expands from the Roman invasion of 43 A.D. to the Norman invasion of 1066. Players learn about history, important battle, and can alter the course of history.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 3 to 5

Arthurian symbols: Rome

Mechanism: Area movement, dice rolling, variable player powers, voting

Genre: Strategy, medieval, war game

 

 

Rahman, Glen, and Rahman, Kenneth. Knights of Camelot. Hauppauge, New York: TSR, Inc., 1980. Board Game.

 

 

Players as knights of the round table work to complete quests, jousts, and armed combat that all feature random encounters.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: Merlin

Artists: Darlene, Jeff Dee, Dave LaForce, Kenneth Rahman, David C. Sutherland III

Mechanism: Dice rolling, variable player powers

Genre: Adventure, fantasy

 

 

Schaffer, Justin. Guile. Denver: Terra Nova Games, 2013. Card Game.

 

Guile is a memory card game for two players in which one plays King Arthur and the other Sir Mordred. Players need to choose Knights of the Round Table to influence Camelot for good or evil.

 

Age: 13+

Number of Players: 2

Arthurian symbols: Knights of the Round Table

Arthurian characters: Arthur, Mordred

Mechanism: Card drafting, memory

Genre: Bluffing, card game

 

 

Siegers, Roland. Lancelot. El Segundo, California: Mattel and Hexagames, 1985. Board Game.

 

A strategy game

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 2 to 5

Artists: Studio Tapiro

Genre: Strategy, fantasy

 

 

Silles, Marco. Avalon. Fun Connection, 1994. Board Game.

 

A card game determining the course of a tournament.

 

Age: 8+

Number of Players: 3 to 6

Mechanism: Set collection, trading

Genre: Fantasy, negotiation

 

 

Stafford, Greg. King Arthur’s Knights. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Chaosium, 1978. Board Game.

 

A strategy board game featuring roleplaying.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2 to 8

Artists: William Church

Mechanism: Dice rolling, roleplaying, storytelling

Genre: Adventure, fantasy

 

Steiner, Andreas and Hartmut Witt. Merlins Erben. Salagames, 1992. Board Game.

 

Players as druids fight to become the leader of all druids using magic and herbology.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Mechanism: Dice rolling

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

Stepponat, Lutz. Die Gralssuche (Return of the Heroes). Pegasus Spiele, 2006. Board Game.

 

In Die Gralssuche, an expansion to Die Rückkehr der Helden, players are seeking the Holy Grail. Players need to solve riddles, fight enemies and monsters, and game the help from Arthurian characters.

 

Age: 10+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Guinevere

Artists: Hans-Georg Schneider, Tom Thiel

Mechanism: Dice rolling, modular board, variable player powers

Genre: Adventure, fantasy

 

 

Sylvester, Peer. The King is Dead. Giochix.it and Osprey Games, 2015. Board Game.

 

Players as King Arthur’s knights may choose to be loyal, scheming, a noblewoman, or other characters trying to come into power and gain influence. Whoever gains the greatest influence over the most powerful faction is crowned the new ruler of Britain.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Artists: Peter Dennis

Mechanism: Hand management

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

The Sword in the Stone Game. Whitman, 1963. Board Game.

 

Board game based on the Disney film The Sword in the Stone.

 

Number of Players: 2 to 6

Mechanism: Dice rolling

Genre: Fantasy, children’s game

 

 

Verri, Rafael M. The Legend of King Arthur. Ludofi Creative, 2015. Board Game.

 

In this game players use knights to influence characters and gather resources to help King Arthur defeat the Saxons.

 

Age: 14+

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Saxons

Arthurian characters: Lancelot, Mordred, Guinevere, Merlin, Morgana

Artists: Daniel Bogni

Mechanism: Set collection, worker placement

Genre: Fantasy

 

 

von Rossing, Erik. Knights of Arthur: A Game of Knightly Adventure in the Age of King Arthur. Berserker Games, 2014. Board Game.

 

Players work to seek adventures and quests to receive King Arthur’s blessing to join the Knights of the Round Table.

 

Age: 8+

Number of Players: 1 to 4

Artists: Erik von Rossing

Mechanism: Card drafting, dice rolling, roleplaying

Genre: Adventure, fantasy

 

 

Wallace, Martin. Mordred. Warfrog Games, 1999. Board Game.

 

Players take on the role of a Knight of the Round Table in an attempt to prevent Mordred from conquering Wales. Rolling dice players can build towns, castles, and combat Mordred. If King Arthur’s knights have more castles than Mordred has men then they are victorious.

 

Age: 12+

Number of Players: 3 to 4

Arthurian characters: Mordred

Artists: Peter Dennis

Mechanism: Dice rolling

Genre: Fantasy, strategy, territory building

 

 

Whiting, Lisbeth. Adventures of Sir Lancelot. California National Productions, 1957. Board Game. Board Game.

 

            Game based on the NBC TV series. Players attempt to capture Camelot or Westbury Castle through a series of obstacles such as traps and dragons.

 

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Arthurian symbols: Camelot

Arthurian characters: Black Knight

Mechanism: Roll/spin and move

Genre: Adventure

 

 

 

 

Video Games

 

Author. Title of Game. Version #. Publisher, Release Year. Platform. Medium.

 

 

Arthur's Knights: Tales of Chivalry. Dream Catcher Interactive, 2000. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

Players have a choice to play two storylines in the game: that of Bradwen the Celt or that of Christian Bradwen. In either storyline the character is the illegitimate son of the dying King Cadfanan, leader of the Atrebates tribe shortly following the Roman occupation. The goal of the hero is to stop the evil attempts of his half-brother Morganor (heir to the throne and a reference to Morgan le Fey) in gaining the throne.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Rome, dragons, magic, Christain, Camelot, Celtic, fairies

Arthurian characters: Bradwen the Celt, Christian Bradwen, Morganor, Master Foulque, King Arthur, Merlin, Devil

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: Role-playing, adventure

Series: Arthur's Knights

 

Arthur's Knights II: The Secret of Merlin. 1C Company, 2002. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

The player takes the role of a knight of King Arthur.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Merlin

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: Role-playing, adventure, third-person

Series: Arthur's Knights

 

Bates, Bob. Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur. Infocom, 1989. Macintosh, PC, and Apple II. Video Game.

 

The player controls the avatar of a young Arthur before his legendary time as King of Camelot. The "sword in the stone" has been stolen by the evil King Lot. In the quest to regain the sword, the player must prove to Merlin that they have the qualities needed to be a great king: the game represents this as chivalry, experience, and wisdom. Periodically throughout the game Merlin assists and advices Arthur as well transforms him into animals. Players are warned they need to recover Excalibur within three days or Lot will usurp Arthur’s throne.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur, magic , Camelot, Sword in the Stone, chivalry

Arthurian characters: Arthur, Merlin, King Lot

Artists: Darrel Myers, Tanya Isaacson, Sophie Green

Console/Medium: Macintosh, PC, Apple II

Genre: Interactive fiction

 

Blacha, Marcin. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. CD Projekt, 2015. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One. Video Game.

 

The Witcher series focuses on the character Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter trainced since childhood in combat, alchemy, and magic. Geralt is on a quest to find his adopted daughter Ciri, an individual born with magical abilities and training to become a witcher, unaware that the Empror is her true father. Ciri has been missing since she ran away from the Wild Hunt, a group of spectral warriors from a parallel dimension. On her travels Ciri comes to Camelot and meets Sir Galahad.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Camelot, Lady of the Lake, Avalon, Holy Grail, Fisher King

Arthurian characters: Galahad

Artists: Marian Chomiak

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Genre: Action-adventure, RPG

Series: The Witcher

 

Bradbury, Simon and Rhianna Pratchett. Stronghold Legends. 2K Games, 2006. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

This game features three story lines that follow three different lords and their conquests with corresponding campaign difficulty, quests, heroes, and special units.

 

Modes: single-player, multiplayer

Arthurian symbols: Knights of the Round Table, dragons

Artists: Robert Thornley

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: Real-time strategy

Series: Stronghold

 

Bulmer, Kevin, Kate Copestake, and Dave Minto. Chronicles of the Sword. Psygnosis, 1996. MS-DOS and PlayStation. Video Game.

 

The game begins with Gawain about to be knighted when Morgana disrupts the ceremony by murdering the court priest of King Arthur’s court, Camelot. Morgana threatens to reveal Sir Lancelot Du Lac and Lady Guinevere's affair to the world, which would bring the court to chaos and thus help her overthrow Arthur and take over. The wizard Merlin, knowing of her plans, uses Gawain (a kin) to bring Morgana to court. Although Morgana is tried for treason and sentenced to be banished from the kingdom she is able to escape using her supernatural powers and kills some guards and vanishes after declaring war on the court.  Gawain is chosen by Merlin to find Morgana and stop her once and for all.

 

To defeat Morgana Gawain sets out to find various materials to make a special magical ring that will protect him from Morgana’s dark sorcery as she tries to stop Gawain from completing his quest. With the newly forged ring, Gawain journeys to rid the world of Morgana, who has hidden in a forbidding fortress on the island of Lyonesse. On the quest, Morgana shows up to kill Gawain's companion, her former servant named Helie. Once in Morgana's castle, Gawain gets captured, but manages to escape death after defeating a giant snake. Gawain then works to defeat Morgana and slay her vampire bodyguard Ragnar. At the end of the game Gawain fails his mission but is able to, with the help of Morgana’s own Faerie minions, imprison herself in Lyonesses where Morgana swears vengeance. Gawain returns to Camelot as a valiant Round Table knight.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Camelot, magic, Lyonesse, vampire, Faerie, Round Table

Arthurian characters: Morgana, Gawain, Sir Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin , Helie, Ragnar, King Arthur

Artists: Nigel Nunegar, Matthew Stott, Ben Clark

Console/Medium: MS-DOS, PlayStation

Genre: point-and-click adventure

 

Cooper, Riley, Doug Church, Eric Lindstrom, Aaron Vanian, and Toby Gard. Tomb Raider: Legend. Eidos Interactive, 2006. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Obox, Obox 360, PlayStation Portable, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, GameCube, Mobile, PlayStation 3. Video Game.

 

Tomb Raider: Legend delves into Lara’s past life-altering plane crash in the Himalayas where her and her mother survived—although her mother vanished under mysterious circumstances. Throughout the game, Lara searches for the pieces of the fabled sword, Excalibur, hoping to gain clues on her mother’s disappearance. On her journey Lara meets Amanda Evert, an old friend of Lara she had believed dead who is also seeking out the sword.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Avalon, Excalibur

Arthurian characters: Lara Craft

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Obox, Obox 360, PlayStation Portable, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, GameCube, Mobile, PlayStation 3

Genre: Action adventure

Series: Tomb Raider

 

Crawford, Chris. Excalibur. Atari Program Exchange, 1983. Atari. Video Game.

 

Gameplayers attempt to unite all of Britain under the rule of King Arthur by invading kingdoms, set tithes for their vassals, send plagues and pestilences, receive aid from Merlin, and manage the loyalty of their Round Table Knights or banish those who are not.

 

Modes: Single-player

Console/Medium: Atari

Genre: Strategy

 

Crockford, Douglas. Galahad and the Holy Grail. Atari Program Exchange, 1982. Atari. Video Game.

 

Programmed by Douglas Crockford, this simple Atari "Adventure" game puts players in the role of Sir Galahad, a knight of King Arthur's. Players move from 2-d top-down area to area collecting items and fighting bad guys, such as the Black Knight, with a sword.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: Galahad

Console/Medium: Atari 2600

Genre: Action adventure

 

D'Antonio, Anthony, Larry Herring, and David Namaksy. Arthur's Quest: Battle for the Kingdom. ValuSoft, 2002. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

There are 11 levels in this game that players, as a young Arthur, need to progress through and defeat foes when necessary. The game begins with an attack on Arthur’s village by a large group of angry dark dwarves. Shortly after Arthur meets the wizard Merlin who reveals that the sorceress Morgana was behind the dwarf attack and the monsters spreading throughout the countryside. The mission of the game is to defeat Morgana and thus bring peace to the land.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur, Lady of the Lake

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Merlin, Morgana

Artists: Dave Cash, Ronn Harbin, Mark Morgan

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: First person shooter, fantasy

 

Ellis, Kirk and Ru Weerasuriya. The Order: 1886. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2015. PlayStation 4. Video Game.

 

The Order is set in 1886 in an alternate history steampunk London. Players, a part of an Order of Knights, the legendary Knights of the Round Table, battle to save the world from a combination of animal and human half-breeds such as werewolves, vampires, and a fringe organization rebelling against the government. Humanity has been at war with these creatures since the 8th century. During this period, King Arthur is winning the war for humans although he realizes this is a losing battle. However, the Knights discover Blackwater, a mystical liquid that significantly extends their lifetimes and gives them remarkable healing abilities. Regardless, the half-breeds continue to be victorious and the Industrial Revolution happens bringing new technology and weapons to the war.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Round Table

Arthurian characters: Galahad, Percival, Lucan, Igraine, Marquis de Lafayette, Jack the Ripper, Bors Nikola Telsa

Artists: Nathan Phail-Liff

Console/Medium: PlayStation 4

Genre: Action-adventure, third-person

 

ExcaliBug. Dinamic Multimedia, 2001. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

The game is set in the world of bugs inspired by the Arthurian legend. The goal for each mission is to find a lump of sugar to bring back to the colony.

 

Modes: Single-player

Console/Medium: Windows

Genre: RPG

 

Excalibur 2555 AD. Sir-Tech, 1997. PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

In Excalibur 2555 AD gamers roam through fully 3D environments, solve puzzles, and collect items to help them accomplish their missions

 

Modes: Single-player

Console/Medium: PlayStation, Microsoft Windows

Genre: Action adventure

 

Excalibur: Morgana's Revenge. Microsoft Windows. 1997 and 2003. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

The story includes elements of the Arthurian legend and a new future organization titled the United Earth Federation (UEF). The story takes places across three time periods.  Morgana, the villain of the game, imprisons Merlin in ice at the end of Arthur’s kingdom through the Charm of Making. Merlin disappears in an electrical storm battle that proves to be a break in the space-time-continuum and Merlin is hurled from Camelot to the future. Merlin’s journey is identified as an “unusual artificial intelligence of unknown origins” to the UEF computer system. Gamers play a Marine hero who works alongside Merlin and on the Starship Kronos discovers Merlin’s true identity. Merlin reveals that Morgana has also traveled through time and is conducting raids to the marines ships. Using unstable time travel technology developed on Kronos, the Marine sets forth on a quest to strange worlds to defeat Morgana and Mordred.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Morgana, Merlin

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: First person shooter, fantasy

 

Fiske, Jeffrey, Koomey, Gregor, and Serafino, Steven. Lords of Magic. Los Angeles: Sierra On-Line, 1997. Windows 95 and Windows 98. Video Game.

 

In the land of Urak the people worship one of right religions. Each religion has an opposite in the circle of life and the people of those faiths are bitter enemies. The lord of Death, Balkoth, is on a mission to destroy all of the other religions in honor of his god Golgoth. Players can chose their religious faction and help turn the tide of battle—the ultimate goal is to defeat Death.

 

Modes: single-player, multiplayer

Arthurian characters: Balkoth

Console/Medium: Windows 95, Window 98

Genre: Turn-based strategy, high fantasy

 

Ghosts ‘n Goblins. Osaka: Capcom, and Chicago: Taito America, 1985. Arcade, Game Boy Color, Atari ST, and NES. Video Game.

 

The platform game Ghosts ‘n Goblins has players control a knight named Sir Arthur who must defeat zombies, demons, dragons, and other monsters to rescue Princess Prin Prin (also known as Princess Guinevere). Players must save the princess from Satan, king of Demon World, and along the way can pick up weapon and armor upgrades.

 

Modes: Single-player, multiplayer

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Guinevere

Artists: Masayoshi Kurokawa

Console/Medium: Arcade, Game Boy Color, Atari ST, NES

Genre: Action-adventure, platform

Series: Ghosts 'n Goblins

 

Godager, Gaute, and Ragnar Tørnquist. Anarchy Online. Funcom, 2001. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

This MMORPG features different factions in the world Rubi-Ka, or the Shadowlands, to join such as the Omni-Tek corporation, the Separatist Clans, Terrorist groups, extraterrestrial life, and ancient civilizations. The Arthurian legend is featured in the game when the character Efen Christe, after the second civil war on Rubi-Ka, started his own clan called The Knights of Avalon who claim they are reviving the old Earth traditions of chivalry. The knights call the land Avalon, crate a new Camelot, and take on Arthurian figure names such as Efen becoming Lord Galahad. Other Arthurian characters also feature in the Shadowlands.

 

Modes: Multiplayer

Arthurian symbols: Avalon, Camelot, Fisher King

Arthurian characters: Galahad, Merlin, King Arthur, Mordred

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: MMORPG

 

Golden Logres. Toyama, Japan: LittleWing Co. Ltd., 1993. Dreamcast, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems. Video Game.

 

Golden Logres is a pinball interpretation of the Quest of the Holy Grail where players are King Arthur and must assemble the Knights of the Round Table. Players on their “quest” can attain objects such as a Magic Shield, Spear, and Excalibur and face various enemies.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail, Excalibur

Arthurian characters: King Arthur

Console/Medium: Dreamcast, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems

Genre: Fantasy, arcade

 

Gollop, Julian and Ian Terry. Magic and Mayhem (Duel: The Mage Wars). Virgin Interactive, Bethesda, 1998. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

Cornelius, a young magician, is training to become his uncle Lucan’s apprentice. However, after returning home from his graduation from the Hermetic Academy he finds that his uncle is gone and his home has been destroyed.

 

Modes: single-player, multiplayer

Arthurian symbols: Magic, Avalon, Celtic, Holy Grail, Joyous Garde

Arthurian characters: Cornelius, Lucan, Twigkindle, Percival, Ariadne, Lancelot, Merlin

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: Action, real-time strategy, role-playing

 

Guillaume, Florent. Vampyr. Focus Home Interactive, 2018. Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Xbob One, Nintendo Switch. Video Game.

 

Players are Doctor Jonathan Reid who begin the game waking up in a mass grave and discovering they are a vampire and murdering their sister Mary in a fit of bloodlust. Set in London after the Great War in 1918, Reid resumes his role as a doctor to atone for his actions and investigates the dealings of other vampires and his own origin. Reid discovers that his sire, Myrddin, created him to defeat his mother Morrigan or the “Red Queen”. Myrddin reveals that King Arthur had once also been a vampire sire of his.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: Myrddin/Merlin, Morrigan, King Arthur

Artists: Gregory Szucs

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Xbob One, Nintendo Switch

Genre: Action-adventure, role playing

 

Huxley, Phillip, and Rebecca Haigh. Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death. Salix Games, 2019. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

Game players can be either Sir Lancelot Du Lac (an immortal knight) or Morgana le Fey (a cursed sorceress) as investigators in the smog-shrouded streets of Victorian London during the infamous Whitechapel Murders of 1888. The duo become involved in the gruesome mystery due to the occult nature of the killings. During their investigation they are led to Mary Kelly: a Whitechapel local with a magical secret that could be the key to stopping the murders. The three characters join forces to explore the depths of the capital, find and decipher clues, hunt down the Ripper, and leaving the “shocking truth” behind the bloody murders.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: Lancelot, Morgan le Fay, Mary Jane Kelly, Jack the Ripper

Artists: Jessica Ambron, Olly Lawson

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: point-and-click adventure

 

Ince, Stece, and Charles Cecil. Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon. The Adventure Company, 2003. Microsoft Windows, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. Video Game.

 

In this new Broken Swords game, players continue to be the lawyer George Stobbart on a new adventure to discover a scientist who has created a machine that makes limitless energy. George and his pilot crash their plane in a storm and make it to the lab to witness the scientist be murdered. This prompts George to investigate the scientist’s killer and discover the mysteries surrounding the limitless energy machine. The game features many different references to legends and myths. Towards the end of the game George accidently finds King Arthur’s tomb and retrieves Excalibur to slay a dragon and save the world. At the end of the game George throws the sword into a nearby lake and watches the sword be pulled under.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur

Artists: Sucha Singh

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 2

Genre: Action-adventure

Series: Broken Sword

 

Jacobs, Mark, Matt Firor, and Rob Denton. Dark Age of Camelot. Vivendi Universal Games, 2001. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

Dark Age of Camelot has three realms, allowing a unique dynamic of realm vs realm gameplay. Each of the three realms are inspired by actual historical folklore and mythology.

 

Albion is the Realm of knights and damsels, based on King Arthur mythology. Notable classes include the Wizard, the Paladin and the Infiltrator. Areas of interest in Albion include Avalon Marsh and Stonehenge, which is Located in the Salisbury Plains. Camelot is Albion's capital.

 

Hibernia is the land of forest and magic, based on Celtic folklore. Notable classes include the Enchanter, the Champion and the Ranger. Areas of interest include the Valley of Bri Leith, Lough Gur and Connacht. Tir Na Nog is Hibernia's capital.

 

Midgard is the land of the trolls and giants, based on Norse mythology. Notable classes include the Runemaster, the Berserker, and the Hunter. Areas of interest include Myrkwood forest, The Danern Swamp and Muspelheim. Jordheim is Midgard's capital. ach realm has a unique but parallel storyline, which is expanded with retail expansions. The European distributors occasionally add their own writings and quests about the realms and their inhabitants

 

In the original Realm zones, smaller cities in the realm need protection against monsters common to many other RPGs. Albion is menaced by undead raised by Morgana, Hibernia is torn apart by the Unseelie Court and Siabra, and Midgard by the treacherous Blodfelag.

 

Modes: Multiplayer

Arthurian symbols: Avalon, Stonehenge, Camelot

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: MMORPG

Series: Dark Age of Camelot

 

Kaku-San-Sei Million Arthur. Square Enix, 2012. iOS and Android. Video Game.

 

Kaku-San-Sei Million Arthur is an online card game based in the world of King Arthur. Players battle other players with Arthurian cards that can be used to gain allies and defeat enemies. One can gain more cards by exploring dungeons and defeating foes.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, Merlin, Guinevere, Nimue, Morgause, Elaine, Morgan, Mordred, King Lot, Fay

Console/Medium: iOS, Android

Genre: RPG

Series: Million Arthur

 

King Arthur. Konami and Walt Disney Internet Group, 2004. Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and mobile. Video Game.

 

Players control Arthur or others characters including Bors, Tristan and Lancelot. Individuals can play alone, with a friend, or with the computer.

 

Modes: Single-player, multiplayer

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Bors, Tristan, Lancelot

Console/Medium: Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, mobile

Genre: Action-adventure

 

King Arthur & the Knights of Justice. Enix, 1995. Super NES. Video Game.

 

King Arthur & the Knights of Justice the game was exclusively released in North America receiving mediocre to extremely poor reviews. Individuals take on the role of an American football team (12 knights) who are transported to Medieval England to save King Arthur and destroy the evil sorceress Morgana and her army by the wizard Merlin. The evil sorceress Morgana has magically imprisoned King Arthur and the original Knights of the Round Table in the Cave of Glass beneath her castle, past Hardian’s Wall. The football players are transformed into the “Knights of Justice” by the Lady of the Table and they are entrusted by Merlin to break the seal on Arthur and the Knights by gathering the twelve Keys of Truth. Each knight has their own weapon, personality and statistics. Additionally, each boss of the game has a specific weakness against one of the knights.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Hardian’s Wall, Excalibur, Lady of the Lake, Tintagel Castle, Stonehenge

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Morgana, Merlin, Erek

Artists: Kevin Pun, John Baron, Hans Piwenitzky

Console/Medium: Super NES

Genre: Action-adventure, platform

 

King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame. Paradox Interactive, Ubisoft, and E-Frontier, 2009.

Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

King Arthur gameplay is played on a campaign map of Britannia for a mixture of real-time strategy, role-playing, and strategy. The heroic characters of the game contain magical and non-magical abilities. The battlefield itself, not just characters, can also change and influence gameplay. King Arthur features aspects of the Arthurian legend as players can play King Arthur and command knights and armies to expand their kingdom. The backstory includes how Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, failed to draw the sword Excalibur from the stone. However, years later Arthur pulls the sword and unleashes ancient evil forces upon Britannia.

 

Modes: single-player, multiplayer

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Uther Pendragon

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: Real-time tactics, turn-based strategy, role-playing

Series: King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame

 

King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame. Paradox Interactive and CyberFront, 2011. Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

The sequel to King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame does not feature multiplayer. The game begins with a prologue to the main plot featuring the character Septimus Sulla, the heir to one of the Roman families that rules in Britannia south of Hardian’s Wall, who rises to power and eventually descents into madness. In the main plot players not take over the role of William Pendragon, son of King Arthur. Arthur is under a magical curse that has left him mortally stricken while William steps up (with other figures of the Arthurian legend) to defend Arthur’s kingdom (and find a way to heal him) against the Formorians who have been unleashed by the Witch Queen Morgawse from the Orkney Islands.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, William Pendragon, Septimus Sulla, Morgawse, Morgana le Fay, Nimue, Merlin.

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows

Genre: Real-time tactics, turn-based strategy, role-playing

Series: King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame

 

King Arthur’s Gold. Transhuman Design, 2013. Linux, Windows, and OS X. Video Game.

 

King Arthur's Gold is a side-scrolling 2D pixelated action online multiplayer (offline single player) game where individuals mine for resources, build castles, and fight enemies. There are three playable classes: Knight, Archer, and Builder. Modes of the game include Capture the Flag, Team Death Match, Take the Halls, and Challenges. In single-player, individuals can also play a Save the Princess campaign to defeat the evil sorcerer Sedwick.

 

Modes: single-player, multiplayer

Arthurian characters: Sedwick

Artists: Max Cahill

Console/Medium: Linux, Windows, OS X

Genre: 2D pixelated action

 

King Arthur’s Quest. Hill MacGibbon, 1984. ZX Spectrum. Video Game.

 

In King Arthur’s Quest individuals play as King Arthur who has refused to accept Mordred, Morgana Le Fey’s son, as one of the Knights of the Round Table. As a result, Morgana has put Camelot under an icy spell. Furthermore, Lancelot has mysteriously vanished, leaving Arthur to find and ask Merlin for his help. Players find that Merlin is not home which leaves his talking cat to accompany Arthur on his quest. The game world contains eight areas: Merlin's Tower, the Wilderness, the Enchanted Forest, the Keep, the Chapel, the Crypt, the Cavern, and Morgana's Keep.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Morgana le Fey, Mordred, Merlin, Lancelot

Console/Medium: ZX Spectrum

Genre: first-person, graphic adventure interactive fiction

 

King Arthur’s World. Jaleco, 1993. Super NES. Video Game.

 

At the start of each level in King Arthur’s World players control King Arthur and command their troops. Players need to defeat enemies and avoid traps and obstacles. If King Arthur dies during the campaign the player has failed and has to spend in-game 100 coins to rescue him.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: King Arthur

Artists: Nigel Brownjohn

Console/Medium: Super NES

Genre: Real-time strategy , side scrolling

 

Kishimoto, Morio and Shiro Maekawa. Sonic and the Black Knight. Sega, 2009. Nintendo Wii. Video Game.

 

The granddaughter of Merlin, the wizard Merlina, fleeing the black knight and his forces performs a magic spell to call force a champion to save her, who happens to be Sonic the Hedgehog. Merlina explains to Sonic that the black knight is actually King Arthur, who has been corrupted by the immortality granted by Excalibur's scabbard. Sonic is tasked with defeating Arthur and restoring peace to the kingdom using his speed skills and the talking sword Calilburn. With the guidance of Caliburn, Sonic meets up with the Lady of the Lake, Nimue (who looks like the Sonic character Amy Rose), who tests Sonic to prove he is a worthy Knight. Nimue reveals that Sonic must collect the sacred swords wielded by Lancelot, Gawain and Percival of the Round Table (this world's versions of Shadow, Knuckles and Blaze) in order to cease Excalibur’s scabbard granting Arthur immortality. Once Sonic has defeated the knights, gained the swords, and defeats Arthur it is revealed that Merlina and Merlin created this whole illusion, so she could get the scabbard herself and create an underworld kingdom guarded by Dark Hallows. Sonic attempts to fight Merlina, the Dark Queen, and the sword Caliburn is destroyed. However, Sonic’s friends/knights and Nimue work together to restore Caliburn—revealed to actually be Excalibur—and Sonic transforms into an armored super form called Excalibur Sonic. Sonic is able to defeat Merlina, destroy the Dark Hollow, and is revealed by the sword to be the true king of the land.

 

Modes: single-player, multiplayer

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur, magic, Caliburn, Lady of the Lake, Round Table

Arthurian characters: Merlina, Merlin, Sonic, King Arthur, Nimue, Lancelot, Gawain, Percival, Amy Rose, Knuckles, Tails, Blaze

Artists: Yoshitaka Miura

Console/Medium: Nintendo Wii

Genre: Platformer, action adventure, hack and slash

Series: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Storybook series

 

Knights of the Round Table. Osaka: Capcom, 1991. Arcade, Super NES, CPS Changer. Video Game.

 

As a knight Arthur pulls out the sacred sword Excalibur from the rock and comes to understand his destiny was to become the first King of the Britons. Merlin then sends Arthur and his two closest companions, Lancelot and Perceval, to overthrow the evil king Garibaldi and to unite Britain

 

Modes: Single-player, multiplayer

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Perceval

Console/Medium: Arcade, Super NES, CPS Changer

Genre: Beat 'em up, hack and slash, side scrolling, RPG

 

Kondo, Hikaru, Tatsuro Udoo, Naoki Yamamoto, and Takashi Hasegawa. Tales of Zestiria. Bandai Namco Studios, 2015. PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows. Video Game.

 

The ploy follows the character Sorey, an individual blessed with powers by a mystical race, who acts as a stabilizing force in the land. Many of the characters from the Tales series contain alternate names of Arthurian characters.

 

Modes: Single-player, multiplayer

Artists: Minoru Iwamoto

Console/Medium: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows

Genre: RPG

Series: Tales

 

Lancelot. Mandarin Software, 1988. Atari 2600. Video Game.

 

A text-based video game focusing on Lancelot’s quest to find the Holy Grail inspired by Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur.” At the beginning of the game Lancelot challenges the Black Knight in combat who proves to be a disguised King Arthur who invites Lancelot to become a knight. Over the game players meet other Arthurian character’s and Lancelot falls in love with Guenever.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: Lancelot

Console/Medium: Atari 2600

Genre: Text adventure

 

Last Knight in Camelot. [No publisher info], 1996. DOS. Video Game.

 

Merlin and King Arthur send a call out for a new knight to join the court at Camelot. Players must search the kingdom for Excalibur and defeat the Black Knight who has stolen it. Players have no weapons and must avoid or jump over enemies to avoid them. They can find hidden treasure and special items to help them.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur

Arthurian characters: Merlin, King Arthur, Black Knight

Console/Medium: DOS

Genre: Action-adventure, platform, fantasy

 

Marx, Christy. Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail. Sierra On-Line, 1990. MS-DOS, Pamiga, and Atari ST. Video Game.

 

The game is set near the end of Camelot because of the love triangle between King Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot. The townspeople are cursed with both famine and drought. Gawain, Lancelot, and Galahad have a vision of the Holy Grail covered by a silver cloth and depart on a quest to only never return to Camelot. As a result, the player controls Arthur in his search for the missing knights and the Grail.

 

The adventure begins at Camelot and then the player travels across England. On his way to Glastonbury Tor he is challenged to a joust by a Black Knight before rescuing Gawain. In the ruins of the Tor he meets a mad hermit, a monk who serves the "Old Ones" and claims he has the Grail, left by Joseph of Arimathea. Afterwards, he visits Ot Moor where the frozen (due to the curse) Lady of the Lake challenges Arthur to a riddle in order to rescue the imprisoned Lancelot.

 

From Southampton, Arthur leaves England in order to follow Galahad's traces. He arrives to Gaza where he is hosted by a man called Al Sirat, who will introduce him to the cult of the Six Goddesses. At Jerusalem Arthur is tried throughout his acts of selflessness and helping people. After traversing a series of perilous Catacombs, the player reaches the ancient Temple of Aphrodite where the goddess directs him to the Grail.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Excaliber, magick, Camelot, Holy Grail, Glastonbury Tor, joust, Black Knight, Lady of the Lake, Jerusalem, pagan,

Arthurian characters: Merlin, Gwenhyver, Gawaine, Launcelot, Galahad

Artists: Peter Ledger

Console/Medium: MS-DOS, Pamiga, Atari ST

Genre: Adventure, puzzle

 

Nasu, Kinoko, et al. Fate/Stay Night Series. Sega Interactive, 2015-18. Android, iOS, Arcade, and Sega ALLS UX. Video Game.

 

Fate/Stay Night is a visual novel series where players read the text, decide on dialogue between characters, and make some decisions that can change the rest of the game. The plot concerns the main character Shirou Emiya, a teenager who unwillingly enters a to-the-death tournament called the Fifth Holy Grail War. Combatants are expected to fight with magic and Heroes throughout history for a chance to have one of their wishes granted. Many of the characters are personifications of Arthurian characters.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: Lancelot, King Arthur

Artists: Takashi Takeuchi

Console/Medium: Android, iOS, Arcade, Sega ALLS UX

Genre: RPG

Series: Fate/stay night series

 

Princess Arthur. NTT Solmare Corporation, 2016. iOS, Android. Video Game.

 

The heroine of the story, a peasant girl, is convinced by the wizard Merlin to try and gain the crown. During her adventures she discovers true love with one of the Arthurian knights.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: Lancelot, Gawain, Tristan, Galahad, Mordred, Merlin

Console/Medium: iOS, Android

Genre: RPG

Series: Shall we date?

 

Quest for Camelot. Titus Interactive, Nintendo, 1998. Gameboy Color. Video Game.

 

Based on the animated film Quest for Camelot, Kayley has grown up always wanting to become a Knight of the Round Table like her father who was murdered when she was young. In the game Kayley has to rescue her mother, as well as Excalibur, from the evil knight, Ruber (who murdered her father long ago)

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: Kayler, Ruber, King Arthur

Console/Medium: Gameboy Color

Genre: Action, RPG

 

Sears, David, Alex Epstein, and Lisa Hunter. We Happy Few. Gearbox Publishing, 2018. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch. Video Game.

 

We Happy Few is a dystopian alternate timeline where the United Kingdom loses World War II to Germany. Citizens are unable to cope with an event in the past, alluded to as a “Very Bad Thing”, where they sent all of their children to Germany to end the war. To cope with this trauma citizens willing take a new hallucinogenic drug called "Joy", which suppresses all unhappy memories and creates a happy environment (although reality might be otherwise). The game features three character Arthur, Sally, and Ollie who all have to come to terms with their past tragedies and attempt to escape isolated Britain.

 

Modes: Single-player

Artists: Whitney Clayton

Console/Medium: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Genre: Action-adventure, survival horror

 

Seymour, Matthew, Frederick Schiller, and Russell Lingo. Blazing Dragons. Crystal Dynamics, 1996. PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Video Game.

 

The players main goal is to become a dragon knight to compete in the grand tournament and win the hand and heart of Princess Flame who ends up kidnapped by an evil villain and needs saving.

 

The evil Sir George and his wizard companion Mervin are plotting to conquer the kingdom of Camelhot and exterminate the dragons. After Sir George's failed siege against Camelhot, he declares his ally, the Black Dragon to win an upcoming dragon tournament the winner of whom shall be married to Flame and become the new king. A young inventor named Flicker wishes to marry King All-Fire's daughter Flame, but he is rejected due to lack of knighthood. While rescuing King All-Fire's knights from their investigation of Black Dragon, he finds this Black Dragon is a mechanical dragon, then sabotages it. Sir Loungealot takes Flicker as a squire, but takes credit for Flicker's victory on the Black Dragon, prompting Flame to leave the castle, only to be kidnapped by Sir George and Mervin. The King's Chancellor is secretly working for Sir George and steals Flicker's invention so Sir George can build a more powerful mechanical dragon. To prevent the King from noticing Flame's absence, Flicker has the court jester Trivet impersonate her

 

Flicker infiltrates Castle Grim disguised as Sir George, releases Flame and gets the new mechanical dragon destroyed. By the time Flicker returns to Camelhot, his deception is exposed and Flicker has to rescue the King's knights to earn his respect. The next day, Flicker proves his worth at the Cave of Dilemma gaining his knighthood in time for the dragon tournament. Flicker makes it to the final, defeating Sir Loungealot, but then Sir George and Mervin invade with a newer Black Dragon. Flicker destroys the mechanical dragon once again. Mervin accidentally causes Sir George to fuse with the Black Dragon, transforming into the Black Dragon III. Sir George swallows Flicker, Mervin and King All-Fire, but Flicker cuts off the machine's power supply, causing the machine to be destroyed, reverting Sir George back to his human form and the machine lands on the Chancellor. King All-Fire asks Flicker to marry his daughter as he secretly always wanted him to, before he gained knighthood. Flicker happily accepts the request.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Dragons, Camelhot Castle, tournament

Arthurian characters: Flicker, Princess Flame

Artists: Yoriko Ito, Russell Lingo

Console/Medium: PlayStation, Sega Saturn

Genre: point-and-click adventure

 

Silver Ghost. Kure Software Koubou, 1988. PC. Video Game.

 

In Silver Ghost players are prince Lancelot whose father was killed by a demonic magician. Lancelot must assemble an army and reclaim the throne. Players control both Lancelot and the teams that are created.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: Lancelot

Console/Medium: PC

Genre: RPG

 

Sir Lancelot. Melbourne House, 1984. Macintosh, PC, Apple. Video Game.

 

Players control Sir Lancelot in a puzzle-like game to explore the 24 rooms of the castle and collect all the objects before the timer stops. Sir Lancelot must get every object to advance while also avoiding various guardians/obstacles.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: Lancelot

Console/Medium: Macintosh, PC, Apple

Genre: Platform game

 

Spirit of Excalibur. Virgin Mastertronic, 1990. MS-Dos, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Macintosh. Video Game.

 

Spirit of Excalibur is set in the year 539 in southern England featuring its cities, castles, villages, churches and other locations. The Battle of Camlann has just occurred where King Arthur has been mortally wounded by Mordred and Britain is thrown into a dark age as they seem a new king. Players first control Lord Constantine III of Britain (heir to the throne) and later in the game they can additionally control various knights and the magician Merlin hoping to bring back the Round Table back to its former glory. Players need to first help Constantine claim Arthur’s throne, defeat the Saxons, and Mordred’s sons. Constantine also needs to stop Morgan le Fay’s dark magic. The game is won when the player can unite all the kingdoms of Britain with Constantine alive.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: Lord Constantine III of Britain, Merlin, Mordred, Morgan le Fey

Artists: Rob Landeros, Robert Stein III

Console/Medium: MS-Dos, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Macintosh

Genre: Role-playing, adventure

Series: Spirit of Excalibur

 

Takeda, Genyo. Zoda's Revente: StarTropis II. Nintendo, 1994. Nintendo Entertainment System. Video Game.

 

In this sequel the protagonist Mike Jones receives a telepathic message from the princess Mica to meet with Dr. J and uncover a mysterious cipher. Once Mike reads the cipher he time travels to the past and journeys through many different eras and meets a host of famous historical characters such as King Arthur.

 

Modes: Single-player

Artists: Makoto Wada, Yoshiyuki Kato

Console/Medium: Nintendo Entertainment System

Genre: Action-adventure

Series: StarTropics

 

Time Paradox. Flair Software, 1996. PC DOS. Video Game.

 

Set in the future, agent Kay is on a mission to stop the evil sorceress Morgana Le Fay. Players chase after Morgana in "the time of dinosaurs and cavemen" and then jumps to the medieval era. Kay seeks out to recuse Merlin from Morgana’s castle to help aid him in defeating the sorceress.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian characters: Kay, Morgana Le Fay

Console/Medium: PC DOS

Genre: point-and-click adventure

 

Turner, Steve. Avalon (The 3D Adventure Movie). Hewson Consultants, 1984. ZX Spectrum. Video Game.

 

Avalon is an arcade adventure game featuring the Arthurian mythos. The year is 408 in Britain, during the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The game features the main character Maroc, a “lore-seeker”, gifted with a staff and map by a mysterious and strange old woman. She discusses that the map is to a place called Glass Hill on the isle of Avalon, where a quest to defeat the Lord of Chaos, Avelach, begins. The game was unusual since the player’s character could not be killed—this was justified as game player’s explored the world by an astral projection of Maroc. If Maroc's energy was depleted the projection returned to Maroc's "physical" body, from which the game can be continued.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Avalon

Arthurian characters: Maroc, Lord of Chaos

Console/Medium: ZX Spectrum

Genre: Arcade adventure

Series: Avalon

 

Turner, Steve. Dragontorc. Hewson Consultants, 1985. Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum. Video Game.

 

A sequel to the game Avalon, players continue as Maroc the Mage who must step stop Morag the Shape-Shifter, the Witch Queen of the North, from inheriting the power of the legendary Dragontorc of Avalon. To reactive the powerful and evil Dragontorc, Morag needs to gather the five crowns of the kingdoms of Britain. At the start of the game Morag has already gained allies with the Saxons and has caused the death of King Vortigern and seized the crown of Dumnonia. To save the realm and defeat Morag, Maroc goes on a quest to seek and destroy out the remaining crowns, infiltrate the citadel of Morag to find and kill her, and free the Merlyn, his magical mentor who has been enchanted by Morag

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Saxons, Avalon

Arthurian characters: Maroc, Morag the Shape-Shifter, King Vortigern, Merlyn

Console/Medium: Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

Genre: Action adventure

Series: Avalon

 

Vengeance of Excalibur. Virgin Games Inc., 1991. Amiga, Stari ST, DOS, Macintosh. Video Game.

 

A sequel to Spirit of Excalibur, players control a team of the “Knights of the Round Table” in Spain during the 10th and 11th century. The knights are on a quest for the stolen treasures of Camelot.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Knights of the Round Table, Camelot, Excalibur, Holy Grail

Arthurian characters: King Constantine III of Britain, Mordred, Morgan le Fay, Merlin, Nineve

Console/Medium: Amiga, Stari ST, DOS, Macintosh

Genre: Role-playing, adventure

Series: Spirit of Excalibur

 

Yeo, Erik and Lockhard, Lisa. Legion: The Legend of Excalibur. Midway Games, 2002. PlayStation 2. Video Game.

 

The plot begins with the evil sorceress Queen Morgan le Fey attacks and slays her father Uther Pendragon, King of Camelot. Although Morgan claims the throne her half-brother, Arthur, proves to be legitimate when he pulls the sword Excalibur out of the stone. Characters in this series include Lady Gwenevere (as a warrior), Merlin, the sorceress Nimue, and knights Lancelot, Percival and Galahad. The protagonists work together to fight Morgan and her army led by King Lot and the Red Knight, Green Knight, and the Black Knight

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Camelot, Excalibur

Arthurian characters: King Arthur, Morgan le Fey, Uther Pendragon, Gwenevere, Merlin, Galahad, Red Knight, Green Knight, Nimue, Percival, Lancelot

Artists: Craig Rundels, Damion Conn, Barclay Chantel

Console/Medium: PlayStation 2

Genre: Real-time strategy, action role-playing

Series:

 

Yokoyama, Eiji. Legend of Star Arthur I: Planet Mephius. T&E Soft, 1983. PC. Video Game.

 

Set in the year 3826, Star Arthur in this Arthurian sci-fi space opera travels to Planet Mephius in search for Excalibur and to defeat his enemies in war.

 

Modes: Single-player

Arthurian symbols: Excalibur

Console/Medium: PC

Genre: Adventure

Series: Legend of Star Arthur trilogy

 

Young Merlin. Virgin Games, 1994. Super NES. Video Game.

 

Players are a young Merlin who enlists the help of the Lady of the Lake to help him defeat the evil Shadow King.

 

Arthurian symbols: Lady of the Lake

Arthurian characters: Merlin

Console/Medium: Super NES

Genre: RPG