Sierra Games

Conan: The Cimmerian

Last updated: October 9, 2026

Overview

Conan: The Cimmerian is a 1991 action-adventure with role-playing elements, based on Robert E. Howard’s barbarian. Synergistic Software developed it, and Virgin Games published it for MS-DOS and Amiga.12 Conan starts the game as a village blacksmith. After the sorcerer Thoth Amon’s raiders kill his wife, he travels to the city of Shadizar to train, gather allies and take revenge.23 Compute! described the game as “this new adaptation of the game engine used in Excalibur.”4 The CRPG Addict traced that engine, which Synergistic called “World Builder,” back to War in Middle Earth.56

Sierra On-Line did not publish Conan: The Cimmerian. It is in SierraVault because Sierra acquired Synergistic in 1996, and the studio remained a development group within Sierra until it closed in February 1999.78

Story Summary

Conan lives peacefully as a blacksmith with his wife in the Cimmerian village of Irskuld until horsemen raid it. He is knocked unconscious and wakes to find his wife and friends dead.2 The killing was ordered by Thoth Amon, high priest of the Cult of Set. Conan heads south through Hyborea to Shadizar to begin his revenge.24 The manual frames the story as a tale told by the old wizard Akado beside a campfire. It warns that “he may occasionally get events confused.”11

Computer Gaming World’s Charles Ardai noted that this Conan is not yet “the proficient, sword-wielding barbarian of novel, comic book and movie renown.” The first half of the game is spent bringing him “up to speed” by finding a weapons master, equipment and allies. The second half is a series of quests sent out from Shadizar, which lead to a showdown with Thoth Amon.3 Thoth Amon’s city, Tarantia, is on the map from the start but cannot be entered until the end.3

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

The game uses three kinds of screen:21

  • World map. Conan travels between known towns and sites.
  • Town map. A top-down view of the streets of Shadizar and other places.
  • Side view. Used inside buildings and during combat.

Compute! also counted a separate dungeon map.4 Compute! found that mouse, keyboard and joystick all “work smoothly,” except when Conan gets stuck on buildings or on passers-by.4 The manual explains that options can also be picked by typing the first letter of a command.11 The CRPG Addict found the interface “considerably simplified” compared with the Excalibur games, with almost everything done by clicking.5

Structure and Progression

Shadizar is the hub. Temples there give out quests, offer healing and store items; shops sell gear; inns restore health. NPCs can be talked to, bribed or provoked into a fight.212 Conan raises money by breaking into houses. Compute! warned that “Thievery gets Conan thrown into jail,” where he loses his gold but keeps his equipment.4 Money pays for training. Conan begins with only the “swing” sword style and has to find a weapons master to learn “thrust” and “chop”.52 There is no automapping. When Conan dies, the game revives him automatically.4 Computer Gaming World added that it also offers tips on how he might have done better.3

Puzzles and Mechanics

Combat is real-time and one-on-one. The fighters can only step left or right and attack, with no defensive moves.2 Each enemy is weak against a particular sword style, which the player has to discover by trial and error.5 Ardai noted that the game “has plenty of CRPG-style puzzles to solve, some of which are quite ingenious.” His example was working out how to kill an undead king who cannot be harmed by Conan’s weapons.3 Elder-Geek’s retrospective highlighted a “haggling and bartering system” in the shops.12

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

PublicationVersionScore / Verdict
Computer Gaming World #91 (Feb 1992)MS-DOSMixed review, no score3
White Wolf #30 (Feb 1992)—4 of 51
Génération 4 #41 (Feb 1992)Amiga75%9
Compute! #141 (Jun 1992)Not statedPositive review, no score4

Ardai called Conan “perhaps the most rudimentary role-playing game ever made.” He described the combat as “endless, repetitive and poorly animated” action sequences. He also found the game “rather addictive” and fun.3 He praised the art, writing that the graphics show Conan “nearly living up to the magnificent Boris Vallejo painting on the package,” and called the music “both satisfying and appropriate.”3 He closed with: “Nietzsche it ain’t, but Howard it is!”3 Jim Trunzo of White Wolf wrote that “Virgin Games gives us a chance to experience a little of what it must be like to be Robert E. Howard’s infamous warrior king.”1 Alfred C. Giovetti of Compute! found the world “a very lethal place.” He recommended it to Conan fans and to “an adventure gamer who appreciates arcade action.”4

Modern Assessment

The CRPG Addict gave Conan 42 on his GIMLET scale, above both Excalibur games (33 and 34). He rated character development and combat at 1 point each, but praised the game world, equipment and economy.6 Home of the Underdogs called it “a strong RPG that is not as genre-busting as its predecessors due to its heavy emphasis on combat sequences.”13 Kenneth Eaton of Elder-Geek called it “the definitive Conan adventure” while describing its combat as “very dull and repetitive.”12 On MobyGames the game holds a Moby Score of 7.3 from 15 votes.2

Development

Production

Computer Gaming World credited the design to Synergistic Software, naming Robert Clardy, Michael Branham and a third designer. The magazine listed Virgin Games of Irvine, California as publisher at $49.99.3 Lemon Amiga credits Robert Clardy with design and direction, lists Alan B. Clark, John Conley and Michael Branham among the programmers, and names Christopher Barker as musician and Boris Vallejo for the box art. James David Walley handled the Amiga conversion.9 The CRPG Addict noted that Clardy’s own early Apple II games had been set “at the dawn of the Hyborian Age.”5

Technical Issues

Ardai reported “serious bugs” in the original release. Conan could get stuck on building corners and tree branches badly enough to force a reboot. The manual’s copy-protection runes were misprinted on the first page, and the errata sheet correcting them also contained an error. Ardai added that “Virgin is aware of them and claims to have corrected replacement disks available.”3 The copy protection, called the “Riddle of Steel,” asks for the runes printed at the top of a given manual page. Without them, the game runs as a demo.126

Technical Achievements

According to MobyGames, the MS-DOS version supports EGA, MCGA, VGA and Tandy graphics. Sound support covers AdLib, AdLib Gold, Roland MT-32, Game Blaster, Sound Blaster and Sound Blaster Pro, Covox and Tandy, and the game needs 640 KB of RAM.2 The North American CD-ROM box advertised “Over 200 locations” and “More than 600 screens of buildings and tunnels.”14 PCGamingWiki notes that the CD-ROM version “has partial voice acting.”10

Version History

VersionDatePlatformPublisher / Notes
Floppy (3.5” and 5.25”)1991MS-DOS (US)Virgin Games, Inc.2
Floppy1991MS-DOS (UK, Germany)Virgin Games, Ltd.2
Floppy1991Amiga (US)Virgin Games, Inc.; four disks29
CD-ROM1992MS-DOS (US)Virgin Games, Inc. per MobyGames; box credits Virgin Interactive Entertainment; partial voice acting21410
Atari ST1992 (listed)Atari STListed by MobyGames without release details; not confirmed elsewhere2

The Internet Archive’s copy of the CD-ROM version describes it as including “voices, and a more advanced soundtrack” played from CD audio tracks.15

Legacy

Conan was the fourth World Builder game, after War in Middle Earth and the two Excalibur games.57 The CRPG Addict noted that Synergistic later adapted the engine for multiple characters in Warriors of Legend (1993) and reused it for The Beverly Hillbillies (1993).6 Bob Clardy told Polygon that Synergistic worked as a Sierra subcontractor for a few years before Ken Williams proposed taking the studio over in 1996.8

Collections

No compilation releases were found.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

  • No current digital store release was found.

Download / Preservation

Manuals & Extras

See Also

Conan: The Cimmerian is the fourth of Synergistic Software’s World Builder games.

References

Footnotes

  1. Wikipedia – Conan the Cimmerian (video game) – Synergistic/Virgin Games 1991, Amiga and MS-DOS, three area types, White Wolf #30 4/5 and Trunzo quote ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. MobyGames – Conan: The Cimmerian – story, three-level structure, combat description, regional releases and publishers, 1992 CD-ROM, Atari ST listing, DOS tech specs, Moby Score 7.3 (15 votes) (read via MobyGames API) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19

  3. Charles Ardai, “Where’s Arnold When You Need Him?”, Computer Gaming World #91 (February 1992), pp. 48, 50 – review; designers; $49.99; game structure; bugs, rune misprints, replacement disks; quotes ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  4. Alfred C. Giovetti, “Conan the Cimmerian”, Compute! #141 (June 1992), p. 106 – “adaptation of the game engine used in Excalibur”; four levels; jail; no automap; automatic reincarnation; quotes ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  5. The CRPG Addict – Game 253: Conan: The Cimmerian (1991) – engine lineage from War in Middle Earth; new city level; simplified interface; three sword styles; Clardy’s Hyborian-era early games ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  6. The CRPG Addict – Conan: The Summarian – GIMLET 42 vs. 33/34; category scores; “Riddle of Steel” copy protection; engine called “World Builder”; Warriors of Legend and Beverly Hillbillies ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Wikipedia – Synergistic Software – acquired by Sierra On-Line in 1996; closed February 22, 1999; World Builders engine series ↩ ↩2

  8. Polygon – “Diablo: Hellfire” behind-the-scenes feature (2018) – Synergistic as Sierra subcontractor; 1996 takeover offer by Ken Williams ↩ ↩2

  9. Lemon Amiga – Conan the Cimmerian – Amiga credits (design/director Clardy, coders, graphics, music, Boris Vallejo box art, conversion), four disks, Génération 4 75% ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  10. PCGamingWiki – Conan the Cimmerian – World Builder engine; floppy manual prompt; CD version disc check and partial voice acting ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. Abandonware DOS – Conan: The Cimmerian manual (transcription) – Akado the Wizard framing; first-letter command selection; control methods ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. Kenneth Eaton, “Conan: The Cimmerian”, Elder-Geek – temples, haggling, sword styles, Riddle of Steel rune protection and demo mode; quotes ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  13. Home of the Underdogs – Conan The Cimmerian – World Builder engine “got a facelift”; quote ↩

  14. Eli’s Software Encyclopedia – Conan The Cimmerian (PC, CD-ROM) 1992 US/Canada release – © 1992, Virgin Interactive Entertainment; packaging text (200 locations, 600 screens) ↩ ↩2

  15. Internet Archive – Conan: The Cimmerian (1992) CD-ROM – CD-ROM version “includes voices, and a more advanced soundtrack” ↩

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