Based on Anne McCaffrey’s novels, Dragonriders of Pern (1987) is an odd duck. It tries to blend diplomacy, strategy, and a dash of action into one package. You don’t just ride dragons—you negotiate alliances, manage resources, and prepare for deadly Threadfall. Fans of the books appreciated the attention to detail, though newcomers may have been baffled. The graphics were serviceable, but the real appeal was seeing Pern brought to life, even in limited form. It’s a rare literary adaptation that aimed for brains over brawn, giving you a strategy game where conversation mattered as much as combat.
Unless you can find documentation somewhere (the included readme doesn't help at all), this game seems very difficult to get into. It's not nearly the same as the Atari/Commodore original and doesn't seem to feature negotiations. Instead you micromanage your dragonwaves and support NPCs to prepare for the fight phase, which is of course all in simple ASCII.
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