The Darkness is Upon You

You're on a dangerous search, deep underground.  Wraiths, wizards, and moldering skeletons surround you.  Even now, a grim reaper stalks you.

The exits take you - where?  Only deeper into the maze.  Find weapons in the darkness and fend off your elusive enemies.  Claim the treasure and fight your way even deeper into the caverns.

Your strength will outlast the weaker ghouls.  But are you a match for the strongest?
 

Getting Started

1. With your Atari 2600 or 7800 set up, insert the Dark Chambers cartridge into the console.  Plug a joystick into the left controller port.  For two players, plug a second joystick into the right controller port.

2. Turn on your television or monitor and press the [Power] key to turn on your Atari console.  The Dark Chambers screen appears.

3. Press [Select] to choose a skill level and number of players (one or two).  Or move the joystick handle up or down for players and left or right for skill level.  A hero for each player appears at bottom right.  A bear's face at bottom left shows your sill level.

Bear's Face              Skill Level
[Smiling bear]                  Low
[Bear with two big eyes]     Medium
[Bear; with one big eye]       High

4. Press the [Reset] or the joystick fire button to begin.
 

Searching Dark Chambers

You're lost in Dark Chambers.  Enemies, treasures, and curses are scattered through all 26 levels from A to Z.  Your goal is to survive all levels and take the greatest amount of treasure.  Only by finding the hidden gates can you descend from one level to the next.

Your enemies - dangerous ghouls - are everywhere.  At times they'll chase you.  Other times they'll chase you.  Other times they'll back off, but its a ploy - they're trying to lead you further from the exits.

Move your joystick handle to move through the chambers.  (In the early levels of play, beware of false doors that won't open.)  Search each chamber for treasures and weapons.  Pick them up by walking over them.  (The treasures and weapons you pick up appear at the bottom of the screen.)

Stay away from the curses - traps and poison.  If you touch them, they'll take away your strength.  Go through the exits to move on.  (In a two-player game, you won't be able to walk any farther than you can see unless your partner goes with you.)

Ghouls drain your strength by touching you.  Shoot them by moving your joystick handle in their direction and pressing the fire button.  Be watchful, though, because you can't walk while you're shooting.  Ghouls will use that time to move in and touch you.

Potions are also hidden in the chambers.  When you find one, pick it up to renew your strength.  A bar at the bottom of the screen shows how much strength you have left (up to 31 units).

Find the hidden gate to escape from a level and descend to the next.  As long as you have strength left, you can go through all 26 levels.  If you lose all your strength, you collapse and the game is over.

In a two-player game, if one hero collapses, the keys are given to the other hero.  If the surviving hero makes it to the next level, the other hero revives on that level.

When a game is over, press the fire button or [Reset] to start a new game at the last level played.  Press [Select] at any time to start a new game from the title screen.
 

Heroes, Treasures, and Powers

You're the hero, caught in the maze of Dark Chambers

Pick up potions to increase your strength.  (When your strength bar is
full, you don't need the potions.)

The more keys you pick up, the more doors you can unlock to enter secret rooms.  Each key unlocks one door.  You can carry up to 15 keys.

Pick up weapons for defense.  Guns let you fire faster.  Daggers make your shots more powerful.  Shields minimize the amount of strength you lose when an enemy touches you.  When you're carrying a weapon, a box appears next to your strength bar.

Set off bombs to slay all ghouls and curses in the area you're in.  Grab the bomb and press the fire button twice quickly.  Or carry it (up to 15 bombs), and detonate it when the time is right.

Gates lead to the next level

Grab the strongboxes, jewels, and silver and gold chalices to earn points.
 

Denizens and Curses of the Dark Chambers

The inhabitants of Dark Chambers drain your strength by touching you.  When shot, they mutate to the next weaker form.

Zombies are the weakest form.  They explode when you slay them.

Wraiths want to scare you crazy.

Skeletons shake their bones, coveting you skin.

Wizards hate live heroes.  They attack without mercy.

Grim reapers are the strongest form.  They'll slice you down if you let them get close.

Spawners hatch new ghouls.  They also hide treasures, weapons, curses, and gates. Shoot them to discover what they're guarding.

Traps and Poisons drain your strength if you tough them.
 

Scoring

Slay the ghouls and pick up treasures and potions to score points.  Scores appear at the bottom of the screen, next to your strength bar.
 

GHOULS AND CURSES

Spawner: slaying..............100 points
Grim reaper:  slaying.........100 points
              touching...-5 energy units
Wizard:  slaying...............50 points
         touching........-4 energy units
Skeleton:  slaying.............30 points
           touching......-3 energy units
Wraith:  slaying...............20 points
         touching.........-1 energy unit
Trap:  touching..........-6 energy units
Poison:  touching........-4 energy units
 

TREASURES AND POTIONS

Gold chalice................3000 points
Amulet......................1000 points
Silver chalice...............500 points
Strongbox....................100 points
Potion...................+3 energy dabs
 

Copyright (c)1983, John Howard Palevich.  All Rights Reserved
Copyright (c)1988, Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086  All Rights Reserved
Printed in Hong Kong   C300016-151 Rev.A