Inspired by the huge series of futuristic dragon books by renowned and celebrated novelist Anne McCaffrey, Dragonriders of Pern is a unique strategy game that does its best to reflect the individualistic and creative world of Pern developed by McCaffrey. It appeared in the early eighties and was converted to many ports, although it was originally developed for the Atari console gaming system. It features a third-person, tip down perspective and was marketed for the PC port by Everlasting.
The game is a combination of action and strategy, and plays very similar to tactical war strategy games, only Dragonriders of Pern stars dragonriders instead of tanks and naval units.
Holding true to the themes set forth by McCaffrey, the game takes place on the planet of Pern, which is plagued by very regular falls of a deadly, acid-rain type of substance called Thread. When the Thread falls, the dragonriders are called upon to destroy while it is still in the air, preventing it from damaging the planet or its inhabitants. When the Red Star appears in the sky, the dragonriders know it is time to mobilize and begin forming plans for their wings to carry out in order to destroy the threat.
On the planet itself, there are two major factions: one being somewhat militaristic and the other being more artistic or civilian. These factions are the Weyrs and the Holds, similar to medieval guilds. Each
is responsible for some facet of survival on the planet, such as raising dragons, creating industry and trading everything from food to artwork. The user plays the head of an influential Weyr. The goal of the game is divided into two parts. The user must lead the dragons into flight during Threadfall (which can be toggled off if the user is seeking a purely strategy-style of play) and he must also use diplomatic skills to influence the other Weyrs and holds in order to more organize the defense of Pern against Thread.
Diplomacy is the main course of action for this game, but due to the unusual nature of the characters, it is not standard diplomacy. To maintain influence over others, the user may invite them to witness the hatching of baby dragons, host weddings for influential people, or duel other lords. The Dragonriders of Pern is a real-time strategy, so wounding the leader of the Weyr may put him out of the diplomatic loop for some time, making it risky to duel and fight Thread.
Overall, Dragonriders of Pern is interesting, made more so by having read the novels and better understanding the political concerns of people such as the Master Harper and the various Weyrs. It is not necessary to have read anything by Anne McCaffrey, but it definitely creates more of a user investment and offers a better sense of “being there” if the user truly understood how important decisions were to the people of Pern. Both the game and the novels are highly recommended, but not necessarily in that order.
