Sierra’s legendary King’s Quest series. In terms of point-and-click adventure games, It’s one of the all-time greats. It has been quite a while since I last played the whole series, but this year I’m taking my Steam Deck and I’m going back in. I will be playing each game through ScummVM. Join me for my reviews, thoughts and ramblings along the way in this series of posts. I will periodically post on each game as I play through them throughout the year. I’m still undecided if I cover King’s Quest 7 or cut and run at King’s Quest 6. My last attempt at King’s Quest 7 felt like a bit of a chore after the first chapter. Time will tell.
King’s Quest 1: Quest for the Crown was originally released by Sierra On-Line in 1984. The first four King’s Quest entries were graphical text-parsing adventure games. Personally, I’m not a fan of text-parsers. I find them tedious and downright annoying. One word or letter off? Fuck you, try again. Back in the ‘day, you could be stuck for hours if not days to weeks simply because you entered ‘pickup stick’ as opposed to ‘pick up stick’ for example. Yes, that’s a pretty extreme example but you get the idea and this was fairly common in text-parsers. Slightly miss a command and you move on to the next area assuming you weren’t meant to pick up that stick. Even still, for their time, they were seen as innovative. Were they? Absolutely! Do we have to enjoy them today? Absolutely not. The technology moved on, I prefer to move with it. But play whatever you like. Thankfully, the year 1990 dragged King’s Quest out of that text-parsing hell and brought us King’s Quest 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder. A fully-fledged graphical point-and-click adventure game experience complete with voice acting and Sierra’s classic point-and-click interface. King’s Quest 6: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow arrived two years later, continuing and improving on this same format in one of the best point-and-click adventure games of all time. King’s Quest 7 was released another two years later, questionably changing the game engine and style we’ve now come to expect from King’s Quest and other Sierra titles. Is it too Disney? Well, it does look quite at home next to Snow White, so you tell me.
Back in 2001, fan group by the name of AGD Interactive released a remake of King’s Quest 1: Quest for the Crown. This was the first of three remakes. The first two remakes look and feel like exactly like King’s Quest 5. Very fitting, given you’re playing as King Graham. They include full voice acting. If you haven’t played this version before, then please proceed to set fire to any other version of the game you own and give this remake a very well deserved crack. It has pixel-art graphics in the style of King’s Quest 5, Sierra-style point-and-click interface and the original King Graham voice actor Josh Mandel. Name me a better combo for a King’s Quest remake! I’ll wait.
Onto the review…
In 2025, the best way to experience King’s Quest 1 is the AGD Interactive remake. This is the version I played, as it is built on Adventure Game Studio, it will run with ScummVM on any platform.
Honestly, I had a great time playing through King’s Quest 1 again. The team from AGD Interactive did an unreal job on this remake. Seriously, if you haven’t played this version already I highly suggest you take my advice to set fire to any other copy of the game you have and play this version. The remake is the quintessential way to play the game today and to say otherwise is downright silly. The first game is also the shortest. That doesn’t mean its bad, its not, there just isn’t a huge amount of content to get through in this one. It still makes for a pretty decent afternoon.
The remake was originally released in 2001 and has had several enhancements since, namely the background artwork. A lot of the backgrounds were initially borrowed from King’s Quest 5 and other Sierra titles but has since been replaced by brilliant, hand drawn pieces of art. The AGD Interactive team have done a fantastic job of updating and enhancing the source material. The decision to overhaul it with hand drawn backgrounds was a huge move. It draws you into the environment even more, making your task of fetching and carrying all the more enjoyable. Having the original voice actor for King Graham reprise his role is a fantastic, added bonus. I’ve played both the original and the ‘enhanced’ versions of Quest for the Crown and honestly there is no comparison. They were unfortunately limited by their time, you could say.
The game kicks off with Sir Graham being summoned by the now frail King Edward, current ruler of the down-on-it’s luck realm of Daventry. The King informs Graham that the Kingdom has been suffering since the loss of the three Daventry treasures. The Magic Mirror, the Magic Shield and the Magic Chest. King Edward tasks Graham, as the only knight of Daventry to find them and restore the kingdom to its former glory. The King knows he is running out of time and wants the kingdom restored before Graham, heir to the throne, takes over. Sir Graham sets off with haste to find the treasures and ensure Daventry becomes a proud kingdom once again. A welcome feature of the remake is that you have the option to play without Sierra dead-ends. There are much less headaches without them. King’s Quest 1 is pretty linear but in no way is that a bad thing. This interactive story of Graham’s rise to King is enjoyable and is as simple as fetching and carrying the treasures with some help along the way. Is a good portion of the game shameless pixel-hunting? Oh yes. Does that mean it’s bad? Not on your life, my adventure-gaming friend.
There’s really not much bad about the first game. Oh, except if you remember the now infamous old gnome’s backwards alphabet puzzle. I’d say spoiler alert but the original game is nearly 40 years old. At this point it’s your own fault. Even when you do get the hint for thinking backwards, it’s not quite the backwards you would expect. Seriously, who the hell would have thought of the backwards fucking alphabet? Thanks, Roberta. Seriously, what is it with Sierra and garbage gnome-related puzzles? I’m looking at you, King’s Quest 5. Thankfully in this remake, simply backwards is enough.
Quest for the Crown is not the best in the series. Not by a longshot. It is definitely the shortest and clearly the least difficult of the series for sure. But again, it is in no way less enjoyable. The game itself is very linear in what is essentially glorified fetching and carrying. But it acts as a fantastic introduction to the story of King Graham and his rise to the throne in the Kingdom of Daventry.
So what are you waiting for? Go out and buy Loom™ today! Err.. you know what I mean.
Continue on to Part 2 – Romancing the Stones
Dad with a Deck 
Leave a comment