- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
- Messages
- 99,746
Tags: The Dark Heart of Uukrul
In a pleasant surprise, the classic 1989 roleplaying game The Dark Heart of Uukrul was released on GOG today. Although an obscure title by most accounts, Uukrul is well-known on our forums. That's due in no small part to it being the favorite game of our former editor Crooked Bee, who interviewed co-creators Ian Boswell and Martin Buis back in 2012. We owe its return to one Scott Greig, a fan who contacted Ian & Martin and organized the logistics of its release on GOG, apparently via his publishing company Moon Books. Sadly, Scott passed away in March, leaving Uukrul as his final legacy. GOG's release announcement begins with a tribute to his efforts:
What a story. Somehow it seems appropriate that this would be the game to inspire a loyalty literally to the death. If you'd like to see it for yourself, The Dark Heart of Uukrul is available on GOG for $6.
In a pleasant surprise, the classic 1989 roleplaying game The Dark Heart of Uukrul was released on GOG today. Although an obscure title by most accounts, Uukrul is well-known on our forums. That's due in no small part to it being the favorite game of our former editor Crooked Bee, who interviewed co-creators Ian Boswell and Martin Buis back in 2012. We owe its return to one Scott Greig, a fan who contacted Ian & Martin and organized the logistics of its release on GOG, apparently via his publishing company Moon Books. Sadly, Scott passed away in March, leaving Uukrul as his final legacy. GOG's release announcement begins with a tribute to his efforts:
Highly requested first-person RPG classic The Dark Heart of Uukrul joins GOG.COM’s always-growing library of titles today. Originally released in 1989, it's one that holds a special place in many people’s hearts, including Scott Greig (Kill0byt3), who sadly passed away while working on bringing this game back to gamers everywhere.
Scott had a monumental role in re-releasing this game. Sadly, he passed away back in March 2020, while working on making it a reality. According to GOG Stream Team member, Kilg0re, “Scott was a huge fan of the game. He contacted the devs, got them interested, and organized the re-release with the two people responsible for making it, Ian Boswell and Martin Buis.”
His friend, Gregory Wilson (ArvanEleron), also wanted everyone to know how dedicated Scott was to the project: “Canada and Winnipeg area native Scott Greig was a graphic designer and web designer, an aspiring author, streamer, and lover of video games. For a number of years, he was the webmaster and principal graphic designer for GOG's Twitch streamer ArvanEleron, responsible for many of his on stream videos, overlays, and graphics (several of which are still featured every week on Arv's Pen & Pixels show on GOG). Scott was also a mod on a number of channels, and both well-liked and well respected by many online and offline communities.”
So, if you aren’t familiar with this classic game, we’ll catch you up to speed so you can hopefully get a better understanding of why Scott and so many others wanted to see this game brought back from the limbo of history and onto modern PCs everywhere.
The Dark Heart of Uukrul is a first-person turn-based RPG that has you playing as a party of four. You’ll take control of some classic high fantasy characters: a fighter, a paladin, a priest, and a magician.
In Eriosthe, a huge underground city, there are winding tunnels and twisting caverns, monsters that you’ll need to fight, and puzzles that you’ll need to solve. It’s not all doom and gloom though, as safe havens created by the Ancients will give you a place to heal yourself, teleport to other areas, and even level up your team of adventurers.
Need to get some new gear? You’ll need to make your way over the lone marketplace, where traders and cooks are more than happy to make a deal with you. In the case you’ve lost party members along the way, you’ll be able to revive them at the mausoleum, or you can visit the local guild to replace them.
The game is a hidden gem in a sea of RPGs from that era, and what makes it that way is that not only was it not really marketed, but it was released near the end of the Apple II’s lifespan, meaning many gamers missed out on this title.
Thankfully, through Scott and other people’s hard work, The Dark Heart of Uukrul is getting a second life.
Scott had a monumental role in re-releasing this game. Sadly, he passed away back in March 2020, while working on making it a reality. According to GOG Stream Team member, Kilg0re, “Scott was a huge fan of the game. He contacted the devs, got them interested, and organized the re-release with the two people responsible for making it, Ian Boswell and Martin Buis.”
His friend, Gregory Wilson (ArvanEleron), also wanted everyone to know how dedicated Scott was to the project: “Canada and Winnipeg area native Scott Greig was a graphic designer and web designer, an aspiring author, streamer, and lover of video games. For a number of years, he was the webmaster and principal graphic designer for GOG's Twitch streamer ArvanEleron, responsible for many of his on stream videos, overlays, and graphics (several of which are still featured every week on Arv's Pen & Pixels show on GOG). Scott was also a mod on a number of channels, and both well-liked and well respected by many online and offline communities.”
So, if you aren’t familiar with this classic game, we’ll catch you up to speed so you can hopefully get a better understanding of why Scott and so many others wanted to see this game brought back from the limbo of history and onto modern PCs everywhere.
The Dark Heart of Uukrul is a first-person turn-based RPG that has you playing as a party of four. You’ll take control of some classic high fantasy characters: a fighter, a paladin, a priest, and a magician.
In Eriosthe, a huge underground city, there are winding tunnels and twisting caverns, monsters that you’ll need to fight, and puzzles that you’ll need to solve. It’s not all doom and gloom though, as safe havens created by the Ancients will give you a place to heal yourself, teleport to other areas, and even level up your team of adventurers.
Need to get some new gear? You’ll need to make your way over the lone marketplace, where traders and cooks are more than happy to make a deal with you. In the case you’ve lost party members along the way, you’ll be able to revive them at the mausoleum, or you can visit the local guild to replace them.
The game is a hidden gem in a sea of RPGs from that era, and what makes it that way is that not only was it not really marketed, but it was released near the end of the Apple II’s lifespan, meaning many gamers missed out on this title.
Thankfully, through Scott and other people’s hard work, The Dark Heart of Uukrul is getting a second life.
What a story. Somehow it seems appropriate that this would be the game to inspire a loyalty literally to the death. If you'd like to see it for yourself, The Dark Heart of Uukrul is available on GOG for $6.
Last edited by a moderator:
