# Western Computer RPGs (CRPG) - Genre: Digital genre - Date: 1975 (PLATO mainframe dungeons); home computers from 1979 - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/computer-rpg/ > Dungeons & Dragons translated into code: the computer role-playing game, born on university mainframes in 1975, that runs from Ultima and Wizardry to Baldur's Gate 3. **Why it matters:** The CRPG is where tabletop roleplaying first became software, and nearly every later strand of the video game RPG, including the Japanese console tradition, descends from its first decade. ## Quick answers **What is Western Computer RPGs (CRPG)?** Dungeons & Dragons translated into code: the computer role-playing game, born on university mainframes in 1975, that runs from Ultima and Wizardry to Baldur's Gate 3. **What are the hallmarks of Western Computer RPGs (CRPG)?** Rules and statistics borrowed openly from tabletop Dungeons & Dragons; A player-made character or party rather than a fixed protagonist; Exploration of dungeons, towns and wilderness at the player's own pace; Tactical combat, traditionally turn-based or real-time with pause; Branching dialogue, moral choice and consequences that alter the story; A home on personal computers, played with keyboard and mouse. **When did Western Computer RPGs (CRPG) emerge?** 1975 (PLATO mainframe dungeons); home computers from 1979. **What are the key works of Western Computer RPGs (CRPG)?** pedit5, dnd, Akalabeth: World of Doom, Ultima, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, The Bard's Tale and Pool of Radiance. ## What it is A computer role-playing game puts a [Player character](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/player-character/), or a whole [The party](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/party/), into a simulated world governed by numbers: [Hit points](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/hit-points/), [Armor Class](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/armor-class/), [Experience points](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/experience-points/), a [Character class](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/character-class/), and a bag of [Loot & loot tables](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/loot/). The player explores, fights, talks, levels up and makes choices, and the machine plays the part of the [Game Master](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/game-master/), rolling every die and remembering every rule. The abbreviation CRPG once simply meant "computer RPG," as opposed to the tabletop kind. In modern usage it has narrowed: it most often means the Western, PC-rooted tradition of party-based, tactically deep, choice-heavy games, the line from [*Ultima IV*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/ultima-iv/) through [*Baldur's Gate*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate/) to [*Baldur's Gate 3*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate-3/). ## Origins The genre began on university mainframes. Within about a year of [*Dungeons & Dragons*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/original-dungeons-and-dragons/) appearing in 1974, students on the [PLATO](https://www.lanternhall.org/culture/plato-system/) network at the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University had written [pedit5](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/pedit5/) and [*dnd*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dnd-plato/) (both 1975), translating hit points, spells and descending dungeon levels into code. PLATO's first-person games and the multiplayer [*Avatar*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/avatar-plato/) (1979) followed, while on Unix machines [*Rogue*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/rogue/) (1980) seeded the separate [Roguelikes](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/roguelike/) line. Home computers carried the idea out of the labs. [Richard Garriott](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/richard-garriott/)'s [*Akalabeth*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/akalabeth/) (1979–80), sold in plastic bags in a Texas computer store, led to [*Ultima*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/ultima-i/) (1981), with its tile-based overworld. The same year [Andrew Greenberg](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/andrew-greenberg/) and [Robert Woodhead](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/robert-woodhead/) published [*Wizardry*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/wizardry/) through [Sir-Tech](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/sir-tech/), a six-character first-person maze crawl. Those two games became the genre's poles: the open world and the deep dungeon. ## Evolution The mid-1980s refined everything. [*Ultima IV*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/ultima-iv/) (1985) replaced the dark lord with eight virtues the player had to live by. [Interplay](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/interplay/)'s [*The Bard's Tale*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-bards-tale/) (1985) and [Jon Van Caneghem](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/jon-van-caneghem/)'s [*Might and Magic*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/might-and-magic/) (1986) polished the first-person [Blobber](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/blobber/). In 1988 [SSI](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/strategic-simulations-inc/) won the official AD&D license and released [*Pool of Radiance*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/pool-of-radiance/), the first of the "Gold Box" games. Historian Matt Barton calls this the genre's "Golden Age." By the mid-1990s the CRPG looked exhausted. Console RPGs from Japan were outselling it, and SSI's licensed games had grown stale. Revival came from two directions. [Blizzard](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/blizzard-entertainment/)'s [*Diablo*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/diablo/) (1996) boiled the form down into the real-time [Action RPGs & Hack-and-Slash](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/action-rpg/). [BioWare](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/bioware/)'s [*Baldur's Gate*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate/) (1998) put the full AD&D rules into an isometric, [Real-time with pause](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/real-time-with-pause/) engine. Its Infinity Engine siblings, [Black Isle](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/black-isle-studios/)'s [*Planescape: Torment*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/planescape-torment/) (1999) and [*Icewind Dale*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/icewind-dale/) (2000), and [*Baldur's Gate II*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate-ii/) (2000), made the late 1990s a second golden age. In the 2000s, 3D worlds took over. [*Neverwinter Nights*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/neverwinter-nights/) (2002), [*Morrowind*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-elder-scrolls-morrowind/) (2002) and [*Dragon Age: Origins*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dragon-age-origins/) (2009) pulled the tradition toward the [Open-World RPGs](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/open-world-rpg/) and the cinematic console RPG. The isometric party game returned through crowdfunding. In 2012 [Brian Fargo](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/brian-fargo/)'s inXile funded *Wasteland 2* on Kickstarter. [Obsidian](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/obsidian-entertainment/), led by [Feargus Urquhart](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/feargus-urquhart/) with [Josh Sawyer](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/josh-sawyer/) and [Chris Avellone](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/chris-avellone/) among its designers, then raised $3,986,929 for what became [*Pillars of Eternity*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/pillars-of-eternity/) (2015). [Larian](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/larian-studios/)'s [*Divinity: Original Sin II*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/divinity-original-sin-2/) (2017) made [Turn-based combat](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/turn-based-combat/) and systemic mischief fashionable again. The line culminated in Larian's [*Baldur's Gate 3*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate-3/) (2023), built on [fifth-edition D&D](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dnd-5th-edition/). It was the first game to sweep Game of the Year at all five major awards ceremonies. ## How to tell it apart **CRPG vs. [JRPG](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/japanese-rpg/).** The split is historical before it is cultural. [*Dragon Quest*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dragon-quest/) (1986) was built directly from *Wizardry*'s menu battles and *Ultima*'s overhead map. It was simplified for the Famicom and its controller: one hero, a fixed story, a gentle difficulty curve. The typical JRPG kept that shape, with authored protagonists, a linear, character-driven plot and anime-influenced art. The typical CRPG gives you a character you build yourself, a world that reacts to your choices, and rules you are expected to master. Both descriptions are tendencies, not laws. *Planescape: Torment* has a fixed protagonist, and many Japanese RPGs branch. **The "Western RPG" label problem.** "WRPG" was coined as the mirror image of "JRPG," and it is a loose fit. It groups a Canadian studio (BioWare), a Belgian one (Larian) and a Polish one ([CD Projekt Red](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/cd-projekt-red/)) by the fact that they are not Japanese. Meanwhile Japanese games such as [*Dark Souls*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dark-souls/) are built on Western-style character building. Many critics and developers now prefer to describe what a game does rather than where it was made. **CRPG vs. its sub-genres.** A [First-Person Dungeon Crawlers ('Blobbers')](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/dungeon-crawler/) or blobber is a CRPG confined to a first-person, grid-based party crawl. An [Action RPGs & Hack-and-Slash](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/action-rpg/) trades tactical rounds for reflexes. An [Open-World RPGs](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/open-world-rpg/) trades the party and the tactical map for a single hero loose in a simulated landscape. The core CRPG keeps the tabletop at its center: a party, a map, the dice, and consequences. ## Where to start - [*Ultima IV*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/ultima-iv/) (1985): the moment the genre discovered it could be about ethics. - [*Wizardry*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/wizardry/) (1981): the template for the party crawl, best played in the 2024 remake. - [*Baldur's Gate II*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate-ii/) (2000): the Infinity Engine at its richest. - [*Planescape: Torment*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/planescape-torment/) (1999): the genre as literature. - [*Divinity: Original Sin II*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/divinity-original-sin-2/) (2017): turn-based systems that reward creative play. - [*Baldur's Gate 3*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate-3/) (2023): the tabletop on screen, at blockbuster scale. ## Hallmarks - Rules and statistics borrowed openly from tabletop Dungeons & Dragons - A player-made character or party rather than a fixed protagonist - Exploration of dungeons, towns and wilderness at the player's own pace - Tactical combat, traditionally turn-based or real-time with pause - Branching dialogue, moral choice and consequences that alter the story - A home on personal computers, played with keyboard and mouse ## Facts - The first computer RPGs, [pedit5](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/pedit5/) and [dnd](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dnd-plato/), appeared on the PLATO network in 1975, within about a year of D&D's publication. - Wizardry and Ultima, both released in 1981, became the twin templates for the genre, and later for Dragon Quest in Japan. - Historian Matt Barton calls the late-1980s era of Pool of Radiance, The Bard's Tale and Wasteland the 'Golden Age' of computer RPGs. - Pillars of Eternity's 2012 Kickstarter closed at $3,986,929, then the most-funded video game on the platform. - PC Gamer called 2014 'the first year of the CRPG renaissance', after Wasteland 2 and Divinity: Original Sin. - Baldur's Gate 3 became the first game to win Game of the Year at all five major video game awards ceremonies. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_video_game) - [The CRPG Addict (chronological playthrough blog)](https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.