King's Quest III (1986)
King's Quest III is a 1986 adventure video game made by Sierra Entertainment.
King's Quest III breaks the pattern by taking the crown away from King Graham. You play Gwydion, a boy kept as a servant by the wizard Manannan in a mountaintop house far from Daventry. The threat here is close and personal, since the wizard could return and catch you at any moment, so much of the game is stolen time spent learning magic behind his back. It mixes that tension with the series' usual roaming puzzles and typed commands. Sierra built it tighter and riskier than the earlier games, with a real sense of a clock ticking.
Quick answers
What is King's Quest III about?
King's Quest III breaks the pattern by taking the crown away from King Graham. You play Gwydion, a boy kept as a servant by the wizard Manannan in a mountaintop house far from Daventry. The threat here is close and personal, since the wizard could return and catch you at any moment, so much of the game is stolen time spent learning magic behind his back. It mixes that tension with the series' usual roaming puzzles and typed commands. Sierra built it tighter and riskier than the earlier games, with a real sense of a clock ticking.
When was King's Quest III released?
King's Quest III was released on 1 October 1986.
Who made King's Quest III?
King's Quest III was made by Sierra Entertainment.
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King's Quest III in our writing
- Companion guide: Sierra On-Line: The Golden Age of the Quest
A few thoughts on King's Quest III
To follow the world's fairy-tale threads onto the page, The King's Quest Companion gathers Daventry's history and legends into prose. It rounds out the corners the parser only hints at, welcome for anyone hooked by the setting rather than the puzzle-solving alone.
Fantasy adventures and hero's journeys
Under the spellbook and the servant's chores, King's Quest III is a coming-into-power fantasy: a nobody who turns out to matter to a whole kingdom. These adventures run on the same current, sending an untested hero across fairy-tale and mythic lands to grow into a role bigger than the one they started in.
Sneak past a watchful master
The real tension in King's Quest III is the wizard Manannan, who can catch you casting spells behind his back and end you on the spot. That fear of being seen drives these games too, where you move in shadow, time your steps around a powerful enemy, and know that one careless moment brings the whole thing down.
Break free of a cruel captor
Strip away the puzzles and King's Quest III is about a young captive planning his escape from the man who owns him. These stories share that ache to get out from under a controlling figure, whether the captor is a god, a parent or a whole rigged system, and the quiet nerve it takes to finally run.