Gauntlet

Players - up to four at a time in the arcade version - can choose between four playable fantasy characters: Thor, the warrior, Merlin, the wizard, Thyra, the Valkyrie, or Questor, the elf. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses. The warrior, for example, is the strongest in close combat, the wizard has the most powerful magic, the Valkyrie has the best armor and the elf is the fastest in movement. After selecting a playable character, the game takes place in a series of mazes in the top-down perspective, where the aim is to find and touch the designated exit in each level. In each level there are a number of special items that increase the character's health, open doors, earn more points and magical potions that can destroy all enemies on the screen. The enemies are a range of fantasy monsters, including ghosts, grunts, demons, lobbers, wizards and thieves. Each of them enters the level through certain generators that can be destroyed. While there are no bosses in the game, the most dangerous enemy is "Death", which can not only drain a character's health, but is also difficult to destroy. The further the game progresses, the more skill is required to reach the exit. Success often depends on the player's willingness to cooperate by sharing food and luring monsters to places where they can be more easily fought and killed. While contact with enemies reduces the player's health, it also slowly dwindles on its own, so there is a time limit. When a character's health reaches zero, they die. The character can be resurrected with full health if they spend a game credit (i.e. insert a coin) within a certain time window after their death. This means that even less experienced players can continue to play indefinitely if they are prepared to keep inserting coins.