GOG's Next Free Game Is Akalabeth, The Grandfather of RPGs

Before Richard Garriott created the acclaimed Ultima series, he made Akalabeth: World of Doom, now considered to be the grandfather of modern role-playing games. This classic game, originally released in 1980 for the Apple II, is now available to download for free from The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red's GOG.com. It has been added to GOG's library of free games.

"Originally, the creator wrote Akalabeth for his own entertainment but was persuaded by a friend at a local computer store to try selling it," CD Projekt Red says about Garriott and Akalabeth.

Garriott released Akalabeth 35 years ago in a way that now seems absurd. He made copies of the game himself and put them in ziplock bags, complete with instruction sheets (pictured at left).

The game itself lets you play as a fighter or a mage, battling through a series of enemy-filled dungeons. Akalabeth is now available on GOG for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Alongside the arrival of Akalabeth today on GOG, the store is putting the full Ultima catalog on sale for up to 80 percent off. This timed promotion runs through the morning of December 26.

For more on Akalabeth, check out the image gallery below.