Game Elements



Beethro is you.  He and his sword take up two squares.  Keeping the sword between Beethro and the monsters is the key to staying alive.  For more information about movement, see Keyboard Commands.


The monsters Beethro destroys in a room will come back to life when you reenter the room if all of them are not destroyed.  You will want to refer to the authoritative Monster Reference for more information.


Like walls in the real world, these are obstacles that prevent movement.


Crumbly walls are ready to fall apart but have to be looked for as they blend in with solid walls.


Pits are not particularly dangerous since Beethro is too experienced an explorer to accidentally fall into them, but be careful of trapdoors that can leave him shanghaied and monsters that fly across pits.  Trapdoors fall away to pits after stepped upon once.


Green doors are opened when all of the monsters in a room are defeated.  Once a green door is opened, it will remain open when a room is left.


Blue doors are opened when all of the monsters in the level are defeated and all rooms are visited.  There are a few exceptions to these rules which you may encounter.  Once a blue door is opened, it will remain open when a room is left.


Yellow doors are opened and closed by striking orbs with Beethro's sword.  When an orb is hit, bolts of energy will shoot from it opening, closing, or toggling one or more doors.  There are some very tricky puzzles that are based on these doors.  Unlike green and blue doors, yellow doors return to their original state when a room is left.


Red doors are opened when all of the trapdoors in a room have collapsed.  Unlike green and blue doors, red doors always close again when a room is left.


Each level has at least one exit which must be found before the level can be completed.


The mimics are unleashed when Beethro drinks a mimic potion.  After Beethro drinks the potion, all activity in the room stops while you use the movement keys to find a place for a mimic.  When you've reached the desired location, press the wait key ("5") and a mimic will appear.  Mimics are copies of Beethro and they move exactly as he does.  Pushing the mimics against obstacles will change their position relative to Beethro.


When Beethro drinks an invisibility potion, he becomes invisible to monsters.  However if he steps within 5 squares of a monster it will be able to smell him.  Picking up another invisibility potion will make Beethro visible again.


Scrolls contain information that may or may not be useful.  Beethro must step on the same square they are in to read them.


Force arrows prevent movement in the opposite direction they point.  The north-pointing force arrow could be stepped onto from all directions except northwest, north, and northeast.  Once Beethro steps onto a north-pointing force arrow he can leave in all directions except southwest, south, and southeast.


You can step on checkpoints to save game at that point in time in the room.  Using checkpoints can make difficult rooms easier to conquer.  If Beethro dies after stepping on a checkpoint in the room, he will return to the last checkpoint he stepped on instead of starting the room over.  A checkpoint may be used to re-save game when stepped on any number of times.  Checkpoints can be turned on or off in the player settings.


The map shows the rooms in Beethro's immediate vicinity that have been explored.  If a room has any monsters remaining it will be red.  Once all of the monsters have been removed from the current room it will turn green.  When Beethro has exited a green room successfully it will turn white.  Usually, all rooms must be turned white for Beethro to exit the level.


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