How to play Riddle of the Sphinx online
The game uses two joysticks: one moves the prince, the other manages what he carries.
- Walk (including diagonally): arrow keys
- Throw a rock: Space bar (rocks only fly forward)
- Move the selection box over your items: F and H (the second joystick)
- Use the selected item: A (the second joystick’s button)
- Drop the selected item: hold G and press A
- Choose game 1, 2 or 3: F11 (Select), then F12 (Reset) to start
- More or fewer enemies: F4 (left difficulty; A means more and faster enemies)
- Show elapsed time or your score: F9 (right difficulty; A shows time, B shows inner strength)
- Show wounds and thirst: F2 (set to black-and-white)
Gameplay
The screen scrolls as the prince travels past pyramids, obelisks, palm trees and oases towards the Temple of Ra. Thieves throw rocks at him and steal treasure, and scorpions chase him and cause serious wounds. Nomad traders will swap items with you, but hitting one with a rock costs you dearly. Isis can heal the prince, quench his thirst and give him treasure if he approaches her from below. Anubis appears as well, and touching him causes three wounds at once.
Thirst rises over time and wounds pile up in fights; both slow the prince and shorten his throws, and too many wounds end the game. Oases and items such as the jug, goblet, Tannis leaf and Disk of Ra help, and a spade lets you dig for buried treasure. Your score, called inner strength, grows with defeated enemies, correct offerings and treasures accepted at the Temple of Ra.
The three games
- Game 1: the easiest. Ra takes your treasures without asking for an offering, so it is mostly a journey and a treasure hunt. You start with a shield.
- Game 2: the Sphinx blocks the way until you give it the right item, and the Temple of Ra wants an offering before it accepts treasure.
- Game 3: the full riddle. The Phoenix, the Temple of Isis and the Temple of Anubis each need two offerings, plus one each at the Sphinx and the Temple of Ra. The manual gives rhyming clues. You start with a spade.
Tips
- Never throw at the gods or the traders. It costs a lot of points and gains you nothing.
- Visit Isis from below. She only helps if the prince comes up to her feet.
- Keep the switches in mind. Flip F2 now and then to check wounds and thirst before they slow you too much.
The story behind Riddle of the Sphinx
Bob Smith had programmed Video Pinball at Atari before leaving in 1981 to help found Imagic. Riddle of the Sphinx was his second Imagic game after Star Voyager. The Egyptian theme came from the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California, a few blocks from where he grew up, and he said he wanted to make something more thoughtful than another shooter. Imagic ran a contest for the most creative answer to the riddle; the winner received $1,000, presented by Smith at that same museum. The game earned a certificate of merit for best adventure videogame in Electronic Games magazine’s 1983 awards, and Smith estimated that it sold about 750,000 copies.
