I’ve noticed recently that “Below The Root” is achieving somewhat of a following on the internet probably because it has a wider audience due to the fact that it is available to us now on all machines. I have never talked to anyone who played this game, so I doubt it was very popular in its days. Perhaps this was the first complex adventure game for C64.
Back when I first played it at my grandparents' house, I was amazed by the complexity and the imagination behind it.
Well, as it turns out, the game is based on "The green sky trilogy" which I once tracked down and read. To my utter disappointment, the books were less intriguing than the game. With its cryptic clues and minimal explanation, the game really is more mysterious and better at capturing one's imagination.
The idea behind this game is of people living in trees. You can pick between several characters who must save the world. The tree branches are treacherous, so you must be careful not to fall through cracks as you run along them.
Apparently people in this world don’t have locks on their doors, because you can simply walk into their houses and talk to them. This seems to be
a normal part of everyday life, since no one seems bothered by this. In fact many of them are happy to help you. They might give you a token, which you can spend at any number of glamorous shops, or a shuba, or even some food or rest.
So you are probably wondering what a “shuba” is? Well, this is another interesting feature of the game. You use a shuba to glide as you jump or fall from tree to tree. By the way, trees in this game are called “grunds”. There are several different grunds, which I guess is like its own neighborhood. I remember in the original game, there was partial a map of below the root. This might be useful to first time players. Of course, you could draw your own map, and it would maybe be even more useful because the partial map was unfinished and confusing.
Some people on the game are not so friendly. A few will be unhelpful, and some are downright hostile. There are several magic powers you can gain throughout the game. By raising your spirit levels, you gain access to more powers. For instance, the power to “pense” can be quite useful in finding out if a person is friendly or not. There is not enough explanation in the game if you are missing the instruction booklet that originally came along with it. Other “spirit levels” include “Grunspreke” (growing tree limbs), “kineport” (teleportation) and heal, which needs no explanation.
Keep an eye out for food or rest levels. You will never die in this game, even falling hundreds of feet, but you will find it very annoying to be exploring a new place and on the verge of a new discovery, only to find yourself returned back home from lack of food or rest. Shubas get torn from falling or from running into things, so be careful or you might have to buy a new one. Without a shuba, life just isn’t the same.
Clues are quite hard to understand, and one really needs to explore to figure out what is going on. You will find mysterious objects along the way, many of which have a useful purpose later on in the game. Weisenberries are a kind of semi-poisonous/intoxicating berry that will one day benefit you. I believe many aspects of the game are left unexplained on purpose so you can figure out things for yourself.
A very addictive game that is definitely worth checking out. Look at the date the game was published. As you can imagine, the graphics are not exactly going to be photo quality. There is no music, unless you gain a spirit level. Also, make sure to download the commodore version because I tried to download a different version once and it was more primitive. Good luck.
