Commodore C64/128/MAXSharp X1MacDOSAmigaApple II1988

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance

Located on the northern shore of the Moonsea in the Forgotten Realms, the fabled city of Phlan had been overrun by monsters led by a mysterious leader. Your quest: discover the identity of this evil force and rid Phlan of its scourge. Pool of Radiance represents the first in a line of software created by SSI in collaboration with TSR - the producer of the legendary Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing system.

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Storyline

Located on the northern shore of the Moonsea, the fabled city of Phlan has been overrun by monsters led by a mysterious leader. Your quest: uncover the identity of this evil force and rid Phlan of its scourge, restoring the city to its former glory. Along the way, you hope to find the legendary Pool of Radiance, said to glow with its own mystical power. Does it really give tremendous strength to the warrior who bathes in its magic waters? Or is that just an elfin myth? Before you meet the challenges ahead, you must create your characters and choose their races and battle skills. Then, set off on your glorious quest to drive out the monsters and let civilization reign once more!

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Review History

Reviews

15 total

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Steam User 4794STEAMRecommended

I did a search for ssi, and these goldbox games came up, I so loved playing these games on c64 and pc in highschool, thanks for bringing these to the modern computers about to make a party to begin adventuring ;). I loved these games in high school excited to play them all at my leisure...im too old lol, bur regardless these are still fun, at least for me.

Feb 9, 2026·Verified

Steam User 7340STEAMRecommended

I loved this game as a teen and still love it today.

Dec 26, 2025·Verified

Steam User 4859STEAMRecommended

留学生に勧められその昔コンプティークの付録観ながら始めたもののすぐに投げて以来、YouTubeのファミコン版動画に感化されたのとセールの後押しもあって購入。
付属のPDFとオートマップのおかげでそういう事かと思いながら、思い出補正と共に楽しめてはいるが、難しい。間違ってもヒント無しセーブとリセット無し縛りをして良いようなゲームではない。

Jun 19, 2025·8·Verified

Steam User 9469STEAMRecommended

I am somewhat biased on this as I have been playing this on-and-off since it first came out - in fact my "Gold Box" sets for the C64 and PC have pride of place on my shelf.

So, as per what others have said this is not a remake. This is original 1980's graphics. Deal with it. Do not attempt this without paper and pen - also it is really, really easy to get your party killed. Especially at low levels. Also, it is old school D&D - so classes and races are limited and there are some hard limits to levels. It is very easy to back yourself into a corner with limited ability to progress if you don't have a balanced party.

With the limited artwork it can be really easy to get lost, so keep a track of your location (a simple x/y counter) and which way you are facing. Some battles can seem overwhelming - and they are intended to be. Just because this game is almost 40 years old doesn't mean that it isn't tough! If you keep dying wander around somewhere else until you can level up, then try again. It can be frustrating and especially early on it can seem like it takes forever to get enough XP and gold to be able to level up (yes you need gold - you have pay to "train" to be able to level up once you have enough experience). Creating characters can be painful. It follows 1st edition rules, so you can keep rolling (press "No" when asked if you want to keep the character) until you get stats that are sort-of ok! There are also some very good guides on how to play (and stay alive).

All in all, this is and will remain one of my all time favourite games.....

Mar 24, 2025·Verified

Steam User 4096STEAMRecommended

A bit clunky at times but ultimately satisfying to get a d&d pc fix. Going in blind a couple of the encounters surprised me. That was fun. I did forget that there is a code wheel included with the digital game and that it is needed to complete parts of the game. That stumped me for a while. Its there in the GoldBox Companion. Now looking forward to playing through some more of these games which likely become more polished as they progress. Well, I know they do. Polish such as a fix button while encamped which will have your clerics power heal and memorise spells without me having to manually do each one over and over. This one is a bit rough around the edges but I am glad that I did it and completed it.

Feb 14, 2024·2·Verified

Steam User 2594STEAMRecommended

This game has held up surprisingly well and has many gameplay loops and game design choices present in modern RPGs. It's a little obtuse and I highly recommend looking up a guide but even with much more modern options available I frequently find myself thinking about this game and wanting to start a new party to complete this and the future games in the series again.

Sep 26, 2023·1·Verified

Steam User 5538STEAMRecommended

Absolute classic, instant nostalgia. Hopefully will do well enough to get the reboot treatment like Wasteland!

May 1, 2023·Verified

Steam User 5926STEAMRecommended

Love the nostalgia of playing this game. It is a must for anyone who liked second edition AD&D (the best of all the editions so far).
Also, I hope the developers can find a way to bring Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance to this platform. I never had a chance to play it when it first came out.

Apr 29, 2023·3·Verified

Steam User 2577STEAMRecommended

One of my cornerstone games from childhood. I've played all of the series on multiple platforms over the years, I've read the books and I've also played the Pen and Paper modules with friends. An all time favourite of mine - thank you for so many hours of good times and memories.

Nov 24, 2022·5·Verified

Steam User 0626STEAMNot recommended

I absolutely loved this game/series growing up, so when I came across this offering I knew I had to have it.

Unfortunately, this version of the game is buggy in a game-breaking way. First play through I randomly noticed one of my characters was carrying 5800 pieces of jewelry somehow. No idea where these came from. One hero had an item named "66" that was cursed and I couldn't do anything about. I restored from a previous save and it happened again.

I started a new party and tried again. This time got much further, but after clearing Sokol Keep I noticed one of the times I healed up my party one of my guys had reverted to level 1 with 500 experience whereas everyone else had 4000+ and was lvl 2 or 3. Didn't have a save to restore to before I noticed what had happened.

I'm betting it's something with the Gold Companion, it seems to operate based on pushing/pulling hex values (hence how you can do Fix/etc using the companion). I didn't even use any of those functions second play through and it happened again, so I don't know what's going on but this kinda stuff ruins the game.

I'll give Curse of the Azure Bonds a shot, fingers crossed it doesn't have the same bugs.

Aug 15, 2022·5·Verified

Steam User 8341STEAMRecommended

the first time i played D&D was in pool of radiance, this game takes me back to my Teens, great port of this classic game

Jun 26, 2022·14·Verified

Steam User 2669STEAMRecommended

Absolute classic. The interface is obtuse, sound and music is essentially non-existent (grab some dungeon synth and make your own with the Gold Box Companion music add-on!), but what is here is still a gem, however tarnished from time it is. Deep, immersive, wonderful, this was magic then, and it's magic now.

Apr 14, 2022·27·Verified

Steam User 7318STEAMRecommended

Anyone play Neverwinter Nights? (Here's a hint.. the End of THIS series marks the beginning of THAT one)
Consider Pool of Radiance the "FIRST Book" if you will. Gather patience, you're in for an adventure (And you can export your Peeps into the next game, if you know what your doin' so it may take a LONG WHILE to complete it all...
The Gold Box Series Needs absolutely no introduction. When you remember ... you Just KNOW....
These are the classics from the dawn of PC RPG gaming, without them we wouldn't have COUNTLESS RPG's now.
Younger gamers born after 1995 may have issues with the mechanics of these games. Pure, Simple, AD&D....
They were meant as gifts to us tabletop AD&D players, and we've thanked them since their inception in 1988. Now they return like Old trusted friends, complete with a snazzy launcher that oozes appreciation for the series. The Code wheels are there, the manuals (Scanned lovingly, you can even spot the faint aged coffee stains)
Everything needed to Show your gaming descendants where it all started...

Apr 4, 2022·52·Verified

Steam User 6739STEAMRecommended

Definitely makes you realize how far games have come. Very nostalgic. I have no sound either.

Apr 3, 2022·3·Verified

Steam User 9727STEAMRecommended

awesome games from back in the day
runs in dos box pretty cool but i have no sound for some reason

Apr 3, 2022·4·Verified