Overview
Despite the fact it relies on a simple verb-noun parser, it appears to be inspired by the first of the Zork games, in that the goal is to collect treasures, and to deposit them in a telephone booth (whereas in Zork I: The Great Underground Empire, the goal is to collect treasures to be stored in a trophy case). Additionally, the game features a giant bat, which will pick up the player (without his consent), and carry him to various other locations within the game (a feature nearly identical to the giant bat in the first of the Zork trilogy games), as well as travel by boat (which is also featured in Zork I).
Valley of the Minotaur features many aspects which, at that early period in gaming history, were essentially unique to itself, such as an encounter with a tribe of cannibalistic headhunters. In addition to treasure collection, there is a secondary goal, necessary in order to solve the game: The slaying of the dreaded Minotaur.
The game appears to have some bugs, but that is difficult to determine without confirmation from the designer. What appear to have been bugs, may have simply been the off-beat nature of the game itself. Valley of the Minotaur was an unusually long and complex work of interactive fiction for its time, and gameplay required the use of both sides of its floppy disk. The game was not a big seller in its day, and is today very obscure, and extremely difficult to find.
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