The Bard's Tale (1985 video game)

The Bard's Tale
Developer(s)Interplay Productions
Krome Studios (remaster)
Publisher(s)
inXile Entertainment (remaster)
Designer(s)Michael Cranford
SeriesThe Bard's Tale
Platform(s)Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Mac, NES, PC-98, Windows, Xbox One, ZX Spectrum
ReleaseApple II
Commodore 64
Remaster
2018: Windows
2019: Xbox One
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

The Bard's Tale is a fantasy role-playing video game designed and programmed by Michael Cranford for the Apple II. It was produced by Interplay Productions in 1985 and distributed by Electronic Arts.[3] The game was ported to the Commodore 64, Apple IIGS, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Mac, and NES. It spawned The Bard's Tale series of games and books. The earliest editions of the game used a series title of Tales of the Unknown, but this title was dropped for later ports of The Bard's Tale and subsequent games in the series.[4][5]

In August 2018, a remastered version was released for Windows, followed by the Xbox One release in 2019.

  1. ^ "1985 Index" (PDF). Computer Entertainer. Vol. 4, no. 10. January 1986. p. 6.
  2. ^ "Availability Update" (PDF). Computer Entertainer. Vol. 4, no. 10. January 1986. p. 14.
  3. ^ Barton, Matt (February 23, 2007). "Part 2: The Golden Age (1985–1993)". The History of Computer Role-Playing Games. Gamasutra. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  4. ^ Cranford, Michael (1985). "The Bard's Tale [Commodore 64 game manual]" (PDF). Museum of Computer Adventure Gaming History.
  5. ^ Cranford, Michael (1987). "The Bard's Tale [Apple IIGS game manual]" (PDF). Museum of Computer Adventure Gaming History.