The Video Game Contest That Never Ended

Swordquest was a series of video games that was planned to be a total of 4 games. Only 3 of the games were ever released. The games were part of a bigger real world game that would lead to $150,000 in prizes awarded.

The games each had a comic book that would explain the plot of each game. The comics were made by DC. Each game would have 4 or 5 clues that could be found that would direct the player to a page and panel in the comic. Players would then have to find a clue in the comic. Once all clues were found players sent the full sentence made by the clues to Atari. If they cdid this they could enter a contest to earn prizes and a chance to go onto the final contest.

In the contest for each game players would play special versions of the game. The player who found the most clues in the contest game in ninety minutes would win the contest and a item valued around $25,000. Contest winners would be able to go to the final contest for a chance to win a sword valued at $50,000.

The first game released was Earthworld. The game was based on the zodiac. With rooms representing the Zodiac. Along with wandering around rooms you also get to play mini-games. The game itself has poor graphics and the processes of trying to figure out the clues can be repetitive. If you were competing for a chance to win a prize this game would be more worthwhile. Once the game was over this game does not have enough going for it to make it worth playing.

The game contest was won by a Stephen Bell. While he had ninety minutes to play the game he as able to finish in only forty-six minutes. Stephen won a gold necklace which he is rumored to have melted down for money. It has been claimed he kept a sword that was part of the pendant.

The next game was Fireworld which was based on the tree of life from the Kabbalah. The game was very similar to the first but had fewer rooms. The graphics were only slightly improved from the first and the game was shorter, which was probably a good thing.

The game had more contestants who qualified for the contest. Atari required contestants to write an essay about why they liked the game and the top fifty essays were able to compete in the contest. The winner was Michael Rideout who finished the game in fifty minutes. He received a gold and platinum chalice which also had gems in it. He has confirmed that he has kept the chalice.

The third game was Waterworld. The game was based on the 7 chakras of the body. The game was released through the Atari Club with a small number of possibly being sold through other outlets. This has made the game one of the rarest Atari games and one that is worth a good deal of money.

This game was the most unique of the series have occasional invisible walls that just added to the games frustration. The games you played were water lever based games. Most of these games had problems such as one that has you hop between bits of ice, and you must be very precise.

The game was released during the video game crash. Atari was in financial trouble and could not finish the game. The game had started and multiple rounds had already taken place to cut down the players in a final contest. While no contest was officially played there is a rumor that because of legal reasons a contest was held in secret and a golden crown was given out. The players who already won were given money because they would not have the chance to win the final prize. The final prized would have been a silver sword worth $50,000.

The final game was going to be Airworld. It was never finished. Prototypes of the game are rumored to exist. The game was going to be based on the I Ching.

There was a rumor that the founder of Commodore who had bought Atari ended up with the rest of the unrewarded items. Another rumor is that the Franklin mint who made the items still owned them and that they ended up melting them down. Only the chalice is known to exist. It is possible that part of the pendant is also still around. The crown may exist but it is not known for sure if it does or not. It is likely the sword and a gold and jewel encrusted box holding a jade stone also not longer exist. There is a slim chance they still exist.