The release of the ZX Spectrum 16K and 48K in late 1983 jumpstarted the Spanish video gaming industry. Suddenly, a group of self-taught teenagers and some programmers, all in their twenties, teamed up to form a coherent scene dominated by four studios (Dinamic, Topo Soft, Made in Spain, Opera Soft), and a publisher, ERBE. Several events explain the popularity of video games in those years —the arrival of a variety of home computer systems like the Amstrad CPC, the MSX or the Commodore 64; the freedom to publish almost anything without a publisher; or the birth of some of the first magazines. Micro Hobby was the most influential magazine, a publication that “managed to sell 100,000 copies weekly” according to Paco Pastor, ERBE’s CEO (P. Pastor, personal communication, February 23rd, 2011; my translation). The matter of piracy must should not be overlooked. As video games were sold on cassette tapes, it was easy to copy them, a factor that helped to expand the popularity of the 8-bit systems mentioned above. In section 1, we will have a look at both the game and its creators, as well as the conditions that surrounded them during the creative process including the commercial release and the critical reception. Section 2 takes a look at the game mechanics, where the game made a leap in quality in comparison to other Spanish titles released during those years. Section 3 focuses on one of the most iconic aspects of La Abadía del Crimen, its code and how it let the user believe that the NPC characters were smart enough to take their own decisions. On section 4, we will take a look at the art style and how it was a step beyond from the classic isometric perspective games that were famous back then. Section 5 takes us back to Spain, where we will examone the causes that turned the game into a cult phenomenon. In the conclusion, we establish that due to three key reasons (the game mechanics and AI, the art style and its cult status), La Abadía del Crimen has become a cult video game made in Spain in the 1980s.
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