VALLEY OF THE KINGS
Norell Data Systems, 1983
=========================
Solution by Exemptus - December 2025
Overview and general hints:
---------------------------
This game is one of several written by Dian Crayne in 1982-1983 for IBM PC
using the same codebase and engine. All of them are treasure hunts in the vein
of the classic Crowther & Woods adventure, and they heavily borrow from it, as
the structure follows similar patterns. This one is not an exception.
We play an adventurer that searches for ancient treasures among the tombs of the
Egyptian Valley of the Kings; the goal of the game is to gather all treasures
and deposit them in a certain location. Dying is possible and there are three
opportunities for resurrection, but they cost points. Losing treasures also will
deduct points.
A mildly annoying feature of the game is that locations have a long and a short
description: the first time a place is visited we are given the long
description, and most of the rest of the time we'll see the short one if we come
by again, but randomly we'll be shown the long one again. This can be a bit
baffling because some short descriptions do not exactly resemble their long
counterparts, and this can make us mistake the location for another.
As in Colossal Cave, the underground is dark and there is a light source which
can be replenished with batteries, but in my playthroughs I have never found it
to run short of power. You can indeed buy batteries in exchange for a treasure,
but this prevents you from getting full points, so power should be conserved. Of
course, moving in the dark is inevitably fatal after 2 turns.
There are some mad priests that will attack us randomly while in the tombs. They
throw knives at us that fail *most* of the time (but have a 2% chance of
hitting) and have to be fought back if met. There is also a thief that robs us
of any treasures we either carry or are present in our location and stashes them
in a hideout room. It is necessary to be robbed in order to find a treasure
stored in this hideout, or otherwise we will pass it by and it will be empty.
A number of connections on the map are long-range and very twisty. If I had
drawn all possible connections, the map would be an unreadable tangle of lines.
Fortunately this is not such a drag because it is possible to travel directly to
some places from the starting location by naming them, but not before we have
travelled to them before. This mechanism takes on the role of the magic words in
other games.
HELP and INFO provide generic information, but useful. There is no EXAMINE, but
you can READ objects, and should, because some of them have important
inscriptions even if no such thing is hinted at. All ten main directions of
travel are possible; IN and OUT are not needed. The lamp is switched by ON LAMP
and OFF LAMP.
There are 24 treasures to gather, and the maximum score is 191 points: 5 for
each treasure stored, 70 additional points for solving puzzles, and the Last
Lousy Point. The latter involves being at the final location at a certain moment
which is triggered by a timer. There is some advance warning that something like
this is going on, though.
The game is completely deterministic, except for when the long room descriptions
are shown again on visit, the random attacks, and the thief robbing us. These
two things will always happen in the dark, never under the light of day. The
long descriptions can always be shown by LOOKing.
As with other games in the series, the inventory capacity itself is based on
weight, not fixed slots. Each object has a weight associated (in "adventure
units"), and there is a limit to how much weight we can haul. So we can carry
many lighter objects but only a few heavy ones.
Every object serves a purpose. Some are treasures, some are useful, a few are
both.
An unusual feature, also shared with other games in the series, is that the game
only allows for a single save and quits immediately after. The saved game is
deleted once the game is continued. Not a problem if using an emulator with save
state capabilities, but on the original hardware this makes for a restrictive
way of playing.
Walkthrough:
------------
[So you want to challenge Valley of the Kings! Would you like instructions?]
NO [Feel free to answer YES; there is no penalty]
[We are at the Visitor Center in the Valley of the Kings. A tour guide is here
asking where we want to go and will take us automatically to some places, but
we don't know yet. We can guess, which may produce some interesting results if
we are lucky, but let's not jump ahead and explore the area a bit. More about
this later. South of here is a desert which is tedious to map, and East we will
find ourselves in a remote spot in the Theban mountains. We'll start slow and
gather a few objects first.]
N
W [Valley of the Kings; there is a carved piece of coral here]
GET CORAL [This is a treasure, but we don't know where to store it yet]
S
W [Parking lot; a wilted carrot is here]
GET CARROT
N [Paved road; there is an iron key here]
GET KEY
W [Souvenir shop]
[This souvenir shop has lamps and batteries that the clerk hurriedly hides, no
doubt questioning our moral integrity as a hardened adventurer, but the hint is
noted: here we can eventually buy batteries for our light source, should we need
to charge it again. We won't, though.]
N
W
N [Rocky trail in the mountains]
SW [Broad ledge, an entrance to a tomb is immediately in front]
N
N [Storage room; a sign tells us to place treasures here]
DROP CORAL [Score: 5]
W
GET FLASHLIGHT
S
GET SHOVEL [Both good things to have in any adventure!]
E
S [Outside the tomb again]
W
W
N [There is a hunk of rotten meat here, but we'll retrieve it later]
W [Bend in the trail]
N [There is a camel here]
[The camel will block access to the eastern rift, as he's very bad-tempered. We
can tame him with the carrot.]
GIVE CARROT TO CAMEL [He turns his back on us]
[We could TAKE CAMEL and he would follow us everywhere, but this is not
necessary and gives no advantage. One could think that bringing a camel would
allow us to carry more weight, but the camel is really useless, as his former
master had attested.]
E [There is an ancient, locked iron door on the cliff face]
UNLOCK DOOR [Score: 15]
DROP KEY [Won't need it anymore]
[We'll go in to retrieve a number of treasures, but won't be able to explore the
area fully until later.]
S [It is dark]
ON LAMP
[From here on, at any time while in the dark, a young punk may show up and throw
an axe at us, missing. The axe we will need later to defend against the priests,
so GET AXE the moment you see him appear, and carry it with you at all times.
When the priests attack you, you need to THROW AXE AT PRIEST then GET AXE until
it says you were successful. This is totally random so it may take a while, some
patience is needed. Once dispelled, the priests take a while to come back.]
E
E [There is a rug here]
GET RUG
S
W
W
D
S [The temple treasury halls; this is a maze]
SE [We will assume that the young fanatic attacks you now, but GET AXE whenever]
GET AXE
SE
[Also, it is very likely that the thief will show up here, as you carry some
treasures and his hideout is in the area. If this happens, don't fret; it needs
to happen, and the stolen treasures will be retrieved later.]
N [There is a ruby here]
GET RUBY
SW
NW [This is the thief's hideout]
[In the hideout we will find any treasures that may have been purloined from us,
plus a sack full of jewels. It goes without saying but if we reach this location
without the thief having robbed us then nothing will be visible. As with the
original Pirate in the C&W adventure, once we have retrieved the treasures from
here the thief won't show up again.]
GET SACK [Also, remember to GET any other treasures here]
[There is more to see and do here, but not now; we will be back later, so make a
note to get to the thief's hideout in case the robbery takes place later in your
playthrough.]
SE
E
NW
NW
N
U
E
E
W
W
OFF LAMP
N [Outside again]
W
S
E
S
E
E
N
N [Storage room again]
DROP SACK [Score: 20]
DROP RUBY [Score: 25]
DROP RUG [Score: 30]
[Now to retrieve a heavy treasure in the Temple of Maat.]
S
S
W
W
N
W
N
E
S
ON LAMP
E
E
S
S
W [An idol of the temple goddess is here]
GET IDOL
E
N
N
W
W
OFF LAMP
N
W
S
E
GET MEAT [This time we'll take it]
S
E
E
N
N
DROP IDOL [Score: 35]
S
S
NE
S
E
S [Souvenir shop]
NE
E [A rectangle of sandstone is here in the middle of the valley]
DIG [Score: 45]
[We have uncovered another tomb, but we won't go far there without additional
assistance.]
DROP SHOVEL
W
S
S
S [Bank of the Nile; a crocodile is here that bars access to the East]
GIVE MEAT TO CROCODILE [Score: 55]
E [There is a plank here, for later]
E
E [Oops, the chasm got very narrow and dark]
ON LAMP
NW
U
U
OFF LAMP
U [We have emerged at the top of the canyon in an area with tropical jungle]
W
W [A skeleton wearing a Roman helmet is here]
[The helmet, despite their usual uses, is just a treasure and has no other
function.]
GET HELMET
S
NE
E
D
ON LAMP
D
D
SE
OFF LAMP
W
W
GET PLANK
W
N
N
E
S
S
[This is the base of a cliff with a giant statue of Rameses II at the east end.
It looks like there is a crevice blocked by the statue. Remember this, as it
looks like there may be a way to open this way later. For the time being we
double back.]
N
N
SW [Entrance to the tomb of Tothmes]
N
ON LAMP
W [The tomb was robbed long ago, but someone left a hacksaw here]
GET HACKSAW
E
S
W [A paper is here]
GET PAPER
READ PAPER [It's a prayer: "Lion of the Sun, hear my prayer"]
[This suggests two things: that we can PRAY, but this only elicits a generic
"Hare Krishna" response, which hardly helps in context. But the other thing it
suggests is that there is a sphinx somewhere, as the image of a lion in the sun
is easily associated with it. This turns out to be a key hint.]
SE [There is a silver charm here]
GET CHARM
READ CHARM [It has an image of a jackal and 9 men]
[This is important as well. If we go down the tomb in the desert we dug out
earlier we will find a magic door with a lintel seal depicting a similar scene.
The charm will allow us to pass it, although there is a second obstacle after
that we don't yet have the means to pass. The charm is a treasure but we won't
store it yet for this reason.]
NW
OFF LAMP
E
NE
NE
E [Entrance to the underground tomb]
DROP CHARM [For later]
E
SW
E
S [Visitor center; the guide asks us where we wish to go]
MAAT [Since we have been there, we can directly be taken by the guide now]
ON LAMP
W
D
S [Treasure halls again]
SE
NE [There is a shaft on the floor leading down]
D
W
W [A valuable ritual object is here]
GET OBJECT
E
S
W [The pack south is blocked by a chasm]
PUT PLANK ACROSS CHASM [Score: 65]
S
S
U
S [A large coin is here]
GET COIN
READ COIN [50 piasters]
[Now that we have the coin, the souvenir shop clerk no longer is wary of us and
we can exchange the coin for some lamp batteries. Of course, this prevents the
game from being optimally completed, and is not necessary anyway.]
E
S
S
E
D [A gold ring is here]
GET RING
[We can go east from here but a mummy will block our way. Since we don't yet
have the means to get past it, we'll leave it for later.]
U
W
S [An emerald sundisk is here]
GET EMERALD
[The description of this rubble-filled corridor says that we can scramble down
the rubble to the west but we won't be able to come back up this way. This is
actually a handy exit from the temple.]
OFF LAMP
W [We are in the desert, outside the pyramid]
[Arguably, the description does not suggest that the pyramid cannot be entered
from this way, but this is the case: it can only be exited from.]
N
N [Visitor center]
TOMB [To store treasures]
N
DROP HELMET [Score: 70]
DROP OBJECT [Score: 75]
DROP COIN [Score: 80]
DROP EMERALD [Score: 85]
DROP RING [Score: 90]
S
S
NE
S
E
S
E
SE
E [Visitor center]
SPHINX [We are taken before a sphinx]
[This is a bit left field, but it makes sense in context of the prayer scroll.
It so happens that if we say CAVES to the tour guide, he asks how did we hear of
the legend of ancient underground caves and mentions asking the Sphinx instead,
so this is another source of info about its existence. This is a stretch, unless
caves were mentioned in the original manual to the game, which is a possibility.
The sphinx cannot apparently be reached except through the tour guide, or at
least I haven't found a way.]
N [Tiny room with an altar]
PRAY [We need to have the paper with us; the altar moves and reveals a way down]
DROP PAPER
D
ON LAMP [This is the secret Hall of Amon-Re]
E
S [A papyrus is here]
GET PAPYRUS [It cannot be read, so we won't bother]
N
E [Prehistoric natural tunnel]
S
SW [A set of iron bars blocks the entrance to the caves]
CUT BARS [Score: 100]
DROP HACKSAW
W
N
SW
NW
S [A moonstone is here]
GET MOONSTONE
[After the faff with the caves one would have thought they'd have more to deal
with, but no, there's just a single treasure here.]
NE
S
NE
SE
E
E
N
W
W
OFF LAMP
U [At the altar room again]
S
[From here we can walk the desert up to the visitor centre, but not the other
way back. Luckily there's nothing else of interest in this area.]
NE
N
N [A petrified dinosaur egg is here]
GET EGG [This is another treasure]
N
N
N
NW
N
N [Visitor centre]
TOMB
N
DROP EGG [Score: 105]
DROP MOONSTONE [Score: 110]
DROP PAPYRUS [Score: 115]
W
GET CROWBAR
S
E
S
[There is another temple in the desert that we haven't been to yet; the crowbar
will allow entry.]
W
S
E
E
N [The temple is here; there is a huge slab on the floor]
PRY SLAB [We open a way down]
DROP CROWBAR
D
S
ON LAMP
D [There is a lyre here]
GET LYRE [This is a treasure, but also has other use]
READ LYRE [The inscription says it belonged to Rameses II]
[Now, where have we seen a statue of Rameses II? Right, at the cliff base. Worth
a shot. The temple way is blocked to the south by a rockslide and there's
nothing else there. Though it resembles a puzzle, there is no way to move the
rocks, so it's a red herring. Back up then.]
U
U
OFF LAMP
U [Outside again]
N
N
N
N
N [Visitor centre again]
RAMESES [This takes us directly to the cliff base]
PLAY LYRE [Score: 125]
[A piece below the statue moves aside and a passage to the east opens.]
E
ON LAMP
E
SE
S [Sunny courtyard]
W
S [Temple of Isis]
E [There is a bracelet here]
GET BRACELET
S
S
S [A bundle of dry leaves is here]
GET LEAVES
READ LEAVES [It's not tea but tana leaves]
N
NW
S
E [A marble table is here]
GET TABLE
W
N
N [There is a Roman water clock here]
GET CLOCK
N
E
S
S [A platinum pin is here]
GET PIN
N
N
N
E
N [Back at the long winding tunnel]
NE
E [A piece of carved jade is here]
GET JADE
S
SW
SE [Dead end]
[Despite the description, this is not a dead end, as we can go east yet.]
E
SW [There is a little gold bull here]
GET BULL
SE [A stone ankh can be found here]
GET ANKH
[Whew, that was some serious tomb raiding. We are done here, so let's get back.]
NW
SE
W
NW
N
NE
W
SW
SW
W
OFF LAMP
W [And out again]
N
N
E
SE
E [Visitor center]
TOMB
N
DROP LYRE [Score: 130]
DROP BULL [Score: 135]
DROP CLOCK [Score: 140]
DROP TABLE [Score: 145]
DROP JADE [Score: 150]
DROP PIN [Score: 155]
DROP BRACELET [Score: 160]
[The tana leaves are traditionally used to ward off mummies (especially in
adventure games!). This will allow us to get the last treasure in the chambers
below the Temple of Maat, which we'll do now. And after that, it'll just be a
couple of leftover treasures to collect.]
S
S
W
W
N
W
N
E
S
ON LAMP
E
E
S
W
W
D
S
SE
NE
D [Plastered room]
W
S
W [The plank over the chasm]
S
S
U
S
E
S
S
E
D [Bottom of airshaft]
E
N
N [Hunt room; the mummy is here, guarding the North doorway]
GIVE LEAVES TO MUMMY [Score: 170]
[The mummy crumbles the leaves to powder, rubs them, and vanishes.]
N
W
N
E [The shrine of the Great Pharaoh Userkaf; a string of pearls is here]
GET PEARLS
W
S
E
S
S
S
W
U
W
S
OFF LAMP
W [And out at the pyramid again]
N
N [Visitor center]
VALLEY [We are transported to the middle of the Valley, where we dug the tomb]
GET CHARM
ON LAMP
D [Open doorway]
[The doorway here has a seal with an impression of Anubis, which we need the
charm to get through.]
E
E [Another open doorway, with a carving of an ankh on the floor]
[And this one requires that we carry the ankh, which is why we didn't visit
the place before.]
E [Antechamber to the lost tomb of Akhenaten]
S
W [A lovely alabaster urn is here]
GET URN
S
N [The tomb is here, along with the Vulture Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt]
GET CROWN
[And we are done. Let's get out of here.]
W
W
DROP ANKH
W
W
U
OFF LAMP
U [Outside]
E
[At this point, you should hear an odd sound in the air like a flute. This means
the endgame timer has been triggered. We have exactly 20 turns to get to the
tomb and deposit our treasures, before an earthquake seals the tomb and
we are prevented from completing the game.]
SW
E
S [Visitor Center]
TOMB
N
DROP PEARLS [Score: 175]
DROP URN [Score: 180]
DROP CHARM [Score: 185]
DROP CROWN [Score: 190]
[And that's it. The Last Lousy Point just requires us to be at this location
when the endgame timer expires, so we just WAIT until then.]
WAIT [12 times]
[Score is now 191 points and you are reincarnated as the next Pharaoh.]
[End of game.]
