Warlords

Atari's Warlords depicts a third-person view of four castles. The player-controlled Warlords and computer-controlled Black Knights use shields to defend their castle walls from the fireballs that ricochet around the playfield.

Players can capture and catapult the fireballs at opposing castles, using their shield control and 'Power Stone' pushbutton. When a fireball hits a castle wall, it destroys one or more bricks, depending on its speed.

A castle not paid for is controlled by the computer, with a Black Knight displayed in the appropriate castle. The Black Knights catapult fireballs at the players with increasing accuracy, to provide challenge.

Game play begins when any start button is pressed and the countdown has ended. The game ends when the last Warlord's castle (containing a crown) has been penetrated by a fireball. At this point a white cloud envelopes the crown, and the latter disappears.

During the countdown, a dragon flies back and forth across the screen with a fireball in its mouth. At the end of the countdown, a position activated by a Start button has its Black Knight changed to a Warlord's crown. A position not activated remains as a Black Knight and is controlled by the computer. The dragon then spits the fireball from its mouth toward a Warlord's castle.

The objective is to destroy the three other castles, while protecting one's own castle with the moving shield. The LED pushbuttons have dual functions: in the Ready-to-Play mode they work as Start switches, and during game play they become 'Power Stones' to allow players to capture and catapult fireballs at opponents.