Caverns is a fantasy text adventure written by John Hardy in 1982 and released in 1983, the same year as the TEC-1. It began on the Sinclair ZX81 with a 16K expansion, was co-ported with Ken Stone to the VIC-20, and then reworked for the Microbee where it reached its most complete form. The Microbee listing opens with a Dreamcards title card and credits the author for the 1983 release.

The program is classic 1980s BASIC: sprawling, direct, and surprisingly ambitious for its era. It was the author's first substantial game, and it remains one of the most detailed early Australian text adventures for the Microbee.

The intro frames Caverns as a Viking quest in the northern wastes of Norway. Long ago the Great Sons of Svartalfheim built a subterranean empire of mines and treasure. After the King of the Danes sacked their city, the elves perished and the location of their hoard faded into myth. Centuries later, rumors of a hidden cave and a green serpent reignite the legend. You arrive in Iotunheim, standing in a small hut at the edge of the forest, with a single goal: find the lost treasure of Svartalfheim.

Caverns is a map-heavy adventure of forests, cliffs, rivers, and tunnels that leads into the underworld. The game trades on hazards and folklore: trolls and wizards, a fire-breathing dragon, a giant bat colony, and a temple devoted to Loki. The geography is specific and harsh, with references to Mt. Ymir, the river Gioll, and deep caverns carved under ancient basalt. Progress depends on careful exploration, inventory management, and bringing treasure back to the hut to raise your score.

The source listing was lost for decades and survived only in hobbyist collections. It was preserved through the Microbee Software Preservation Project, with Alan Laughton (aka ChickenMan) providing guidance and access to the original files. The recovered listing is released here under the GNU Public License, reflecting the 2019 release note embedded in the BASIC program.

Caverns is the root of the later science-fiction branch of this lineage. The VIC-20 spin on the idea is preserved in jhlagado/hyperdrive, and the Microbee sequel-in-spirit is preserved in jhlagado/hyperdrive2. In 1983 Dreamcards paired Caverns with Hyperdrive II as a "DUO" pack. That pairing links the history of the two games without merging their identities. Early VIC-20 versions appear to have been lost, which makes the surviving Microbee listing especially valuable.

The period advertising situates Caverns in the early-1980s Microbee scene. Talking Electronics Issue 10 promoted Caverns (16K) under the "Brainfood for your Microbee" banner, describing a greedy Viking searching the northern wastes for enchanted treasure in the underworld of Svartalfheim. The same ad listed "Graphic Caverns" (32K), a hi-res variant that drew images of the surroundings, and priced the cassette at $12.00 through BeeHive Software House.

A Talking Electronics Issue 8 advertisement offered Caverns for the VIC-20 and ZX81, inviting players to roam the caverns of the black dwarves of Svartalfheim in search of hidden treasures and perils. A Dreamcards catalogue entry described DUO 3 ("Hyperdrive" and "Caverns" by John Hardy), suited to 16K or 32K Microbees at $19.95. The DUO 3 cassette insert echoed the pairing with "Two great Microbee adventures (16k)" and sales copy that paired a trapped starship story with Caverns' hunt for hidden jewels.

The ads also clarify the business labels of the period: Micro Parts was Ken Stone's business name, while BeeHive Software House was John Hardy's.

Primary artifacts:

• src/caverns.basic: restored BASIC source listing
• src/caverns.mwb: tokenized Microbee BASIC version
• src/caverns-intro.basic: title and story intro loader
• src/caverns-intro.mwb: tokenized intro program
• src/protected/: protected or obfuscated variants and tooling

Supporting material and notes:

• docs/intro-text.md: full intro story and rules text
• docs/recovery-notes.md: recovery narrative and preservation notes
• docs/references.md: source references and external links
• assets/: ads, catalogue scans, and emulator imagery

Caption: Screenshot captured from the NanoWasp emulator.

Caption: Issue 8 Talking Electronics ad for the VIC-20 release.

Caption: DUO 3 insert listing Caverns and Hyperdrive II.

Caption: Dreamcards catalogue entry describing the DUO pack.

Caption: Issue 10 Talking Electronics ad for the Microbee release.