Shadowgate

Due to the castle's perilous nature, at least one lit torch must be in the player's possession at all times; if the torch is extinguished, the player soon stumbles, breaking his neck, and he must then continue from a saved game (or the area in which they died, in game console versions). Since there are only a finite number of torches to be found throughout the game, this effectively acts as a time limit to proceedings.

The game is notorious for its many opportunities of death, including being burned by a dragon's breath, attacked by a cyclops, sucked into outer space through a broken mirror, dissolved by acidic slime, mauled by a wolf-woman, eaten by sharks, and suicide. In fact, virtually any action taken by the player which is not the correct solution to a puzzle will result in a fatality.

A book published by Scholastic Corporation under the pen name 'F.X. Nine' was released in 1991 as part of the Worlds of Power series of Video Game Novelizations of third party Nintendo Entertainment System games.