Temple of Apshai Trilogy — four dungeons and a very long room book Runs here
1985 · Epyx / Westwood Associates · System 6 · Mini vMac (Mac Plus) · 512×342 black and white
Guide updated September 2026
Temple of Apshai was one of the first commercial computer role-playing games, from 1979, and this is the 1985 repackaging of it and its two sequels — Upper Reaches of Apshai and Curse of Ra — rebuilt by Westwood Associates for the Macintosh.
You roll a character, buy equipment from Olias the innkeeper, and go down into a dungeon drawn one room at a time in line art. Combat is turn-based and brutal; wounds and fatigue both matter, and running away is a real and frequently correct tactic.
Boots to the Epyx title screen and then the character and dungeon menus. Roll a character before you go down.
Controls
| Keyboard | Movement, attacks and commands, as listed in the game's menus |
| Menus | Character creation, equipment, and choosing which of the four dungeons to enter |
Epyx went bankrupt in 1993 and its catalogue was dispersed rather than retired, so ownership today is genuinely unclear. Nothing containing this Macintosh build has been sold in decades.
Archives
- Internet Archive — the Macintosh floppy this copy was made from.
How it works & what to expect
| Machine | Macintosh Plus, 512×342, black and white |
|---|---|
| System | The floppy's own — this disk carries the System it shipped with |
| Emulator | Mini vMac, compiled to WebAssembly |
| Saves | Characters save inside the emulated Mac, in your browser |
The room descriptions are not on the disk. The original Dunjonquest games shipped with a booklet of numbered prose descriptions, and the program shows you a room number and expects you to look it up. Without the book you get the map and the monsters but not the writing.
That is worth knowing before you start, because it is the single biggest difference between playing this in 1985 and playing it now. The game is entirely functional without the book; it is just quieter.
Why it is remembered
It predates almost everything. The original Temple of Apshai is from 1979, which puts it before Ultima, before Wizardry, and at the very beginning of the commercial CRPG. Automated Simulations, which became Epyx, essentially invented the category with it.
The wound model. Damage is tracked as both injury and fatigue, and both affect what you can do. In 1979 that was unusually detailed, and it is still more granular than a lot of what came after.
The Trilogy is the good version. Westwood's 1985 rebuild gave the three games a consistent interface and much better graphics than the originals, which is why this is the edition worth playing rather than the 1979 one.
Getting started
Roll a character with good constitution before anything else. The dungeons will hurt you and the recovery rules are unkind.
Buy a bow and arrows from Olias. Ranged attacks are disproportionately effective because they let you start a fight before the monster reaches you, and arrows are cheap.
Go back to the inn to heal and to bank treasure. Dying with your pockets full loses the lot, and the trip up is much shorter than the trip down.
Questions people ask
Is the room description book included?
No. The numbered prose descriptions were a printed booklet and are not on the disk. The game is playable without it; you just see a room number where the writing would be.
How many dungeons are there?
Four levels of the original Temple, plus Upper Reaches of Apshai and Curse of Ra, all from the same menu.
Can I save?
Yes — characters save inside the emulated Macintosh in your browser.
Is it turn-based?
Combat is, movement is real-time-ish. Expect to think between blows rather than react.
Is this the 1979 original?
No. This is Westwood's 1985 Macintosh rebuild of all three games, which has much better graphics and a consistent interface.
Who owns it now?
Unclear. Epyx went bankrupt in 1993 and the catalogue was broken up; no current product contains this build.
