The Black Cauldron MS-DOS game released by Disney Software in 1987. Download or play The Black Cauldron online, or choose from more than hundreds of other DOS games. Relive great memories and play in your browser now! Download The Black Cauldron and launch it with DOSBox to have the best playing experience! If the game is too fast or too slow, try hitting CTRL-F11 (slower) and CTRL-F12 (faster). The Black Cauldon Walkthrough. You are Taran, assistant pig keeper and would-be adventurer. Your mission, as it evolves during the game, is to deliver th visionary pig, Hen Wen, to safety and destroy the evil cauldron. You begin outside the cottage of Dallben in Caer allben in Prydain. How 'The Black Cauldron' Nearly Killed Disney Animation. It was supposed to be the movie that put Walt Disney Feature Animation (as it was then known) back on the map, its release.

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1. The Black Cauldron

The Black Cauldron

DOS - 1986

Also available on: Amiga - Atari ST - Apple II - Apple IIgs

Description of The Black Cauldron

The Black Cauldron is a fun adventure for kids based on a quite obscure Disney's movie of the same name, which was in turn based on the popular 'Chronicles of Prydain' series of children's books by Lloyd Alexander.

As in the movie, you are Taran, assistant Pig keeper, making your meager living in the fantasy land of Prydain. Your troubles begin when your pig HenWen, which has magical powers, was kidnapped by the Evil Horned King. The King wants to use HenWen's magical powers to locate the powerful black cauldron and rule the world. Naturally, your job is to rescue HenWen and save the world from evil.

The feature that sets The Black Cauldron apart from other Sierra adventure games at the time is the lack of parser. Instead of typing commands a la Police Quest, King's Quest etc., the entire game is played only by pressing a few function keys which represent 'USE [INVENTORY] OBJECT,' 'DO,' and 'USE' commands. This fulfills the game's goal of being a 'kid's game,' since it allows preschoolers to enjoy the game without worrying about grammar. The only problem with this approach is that if you are near several Do-able objects, the game just arbitrarily picks one. Not a big deal, though.

The game overall is well-designed, with appropriate pacing and logical puzzles that won't frustrate kids. Although there is a maze and a few action sequences, they are easy to pass. Unlike most early Sierra games, there are many endings in The Black Cauldron. Some follow the storyline, others are just there for fun, making the game quite replayable.

With colorful characters, accessible interface for kids, and the usual charm of early EGA Sierra games, The Black Cauldron is a great adventure that kids of all ages will enjoy. Thumbs up!

Review By HOTUD

External links

Captures and Snapshots

Screenshots from MobyGames.com

Screenshots from MobyGames.com

Screenshots from MobyGames.com

Screenshots from MobyGames.com

Comments and reviews

Sara2018-02-10-1 point

I can't get the game to load at all. It says 'Illegal Command'. I haven't played this game since I was a kid and was really looking forward to it. :(

legust2015-12-251 point

Very funny game. has a good Story and system

fdisk2015-11-100 point

manual:amiga & hint book:
EDIT: THX fdisk!

A Wise Old Man2013-02-211 point DOS version

The Mouse House actually made more money off this game than they did the movie, which was a major flop in the theaters. A lot of K-6 schools bought copies to help kids get a start on the basics of just using a computer - booting up, using a floppy drive, accessing files, loading programs, etc, etc.

guest2012-10-030 point DOS version

Review of the Black Cauldron for DOS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOTcU7Al7CU

Black Cauldron Sierra Game

Pollito2012-08-281 point DOS version

If anyone is having trouble running this under DOSBox, they might want to try ScummVM. It's great at interpreting most Sierra and SCUMM adventure games on many different platforms.

Anne2012-08-180 point DOS version

It's been years since I played this game, but I believe you actually need to type words to interact with things.

Eric2009-10-180 point DOS version

Press Esc to bring up the command buttons. This game uses the F keys for everything. IJKM or arrows to move around.

Justyn2009-10-030 point DOS version

I was hoping I could make this game play. But I could not get the emulation speed to work correctly in DOSBox. Also no key I pressed seemed to work as the interact button. I wasn't able to enter doors, interact with any items or places. Maybe just incompatible with DOSBox or Perhaps I was doing something wrong.
It looks like a fun game, let me know if anyone knows how to make it work right.

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DOS Version

Amiga ROM

• Year:1987
• Publisher:Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Developer:Sierra On-Line, Inc.

Game Extras

Black Cauldron Game Gurgi

Various files to help you run The Black Cauldron, apply patches, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.

Atari ST ROM

• Year:1986
• Publisher:Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Developer:Sierra On-Line, Inc.

Apple II Version

• Year:1986
• Publisher:Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Developer:Sierra On-Line, Inc.

Apple IIgs Version

• Year:1987
• Publisher:Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Developer:Sierra On-Line, Inc.

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