The Nightmare

The Nightmare is a black and white horror-themed adventure game with light RPG elements.

Played from an overhead perspective, the player finds themselves trapped within a 4-story haunted mansion, which represents the horrors within their own subconscious. Gameplay is entirely via joystick, and the player must maneuver around the castle to gather items to power up their character, including: a glistening silver cross, a magic book, a powerful staff, and a magical ring. As well, they must collect keys to unlock the many doors through the castle. The ultimate goal is to retrieve their mind's eye, located within the Tunnel of Death, and return it to the iron door which slammed behind you when first entering the twisted world of the subconscious. The player has an 8-hour time limit, representing a full night's sleep, to escape the castle still alive.

The game contains a combat system, and the player is warned when enemies are nearby. Monsters present on the map will move incessantly towards the player. When the player is engaged, they can choose to either flee or enter combat. The game rolls a random damage value for the player and monster based upon items collected and power-ups discovered. Battle success is based upon when the player stops the random dice roll.