Below provides non-technical Intro, Game Play and Strategy info from Midway’s Wizard of Wor parts and operating manual (Game NOS. 961, 962 & 963 – June, 1981)

Introduction
Welcome to Wizard of Wor! In this magical game, you are a worrior descending into deep dungeon mazes, battling invisible monsters, cacodemons, and maybe even the Wizard of Wor himself! Be of good cheer, worrior, for herein lie many of the secrets of the Wizard.

Wizard of Wor is a game for one or two players. When the two player mode is selected, both players control their worriors at the same time. Teamwork in the two player mode is very important (but not necessary to play). If you have a Cocktail Table model, the rules are the same as for the Upright model. Only the player’s orientation to the playfield is different.

The object of Wizard of Wor is to descend as far into the dungeons of Wor as possible, killing monsters, beating the Wizard, and earning as high a score as you can. The game ends when all the players worriors have been destroyed.

At the start of the game, you are placed in dungeon one. It contains six blue Burwors. Using the joystick and fire button, maneuver your worrior around the maze and shoot them. As you shoot the last Burwor, a yellow Garwor will come out. Garwors and red Thorwors will turn invisible. The radar will show the positions of the invisible monsters. Invisible Garwors and Thorwors will become visible when they enter the same corridor that a worrior is in. As time goes by, the monsters speed up. The longer it takes before you shoot them, the faster they go. When you have destroyed the Thorwor, the first dungeon ends.

In the second dungeon, a different maze is randomly selected. Once again, six Burwors are placed here. More Garwors and Thorwors will appear this time, however. When the last Thorwor has been shot, Worluk will come out and try to escape out one of the side doors. If you shoot him before he escapes, all point values will be doubled in the next dungeon. After Worluk has been shot or has escaped, the Wizard of Wor may then appear. He teleports closer and closer, continuously firing lightning bolts. He continues to do so until either one worrior has been destroyed, or the Wizard has been shot.

After dungeon three or four, a bonus player is awarded (option switch selectable). You must then face the Arena. This is the toughest of the lower level dungeons. The Worlord dungeons begin at dungeon eight. They are very difficult to survive. At dungeon thirteen, another bonus player is awarded, and you must try to win your way through The Pit. The ultimate goal of Wizard of Wor is to survive The Pit without losing any worriors.

In a single player game, the other worrior (blue) is your friend. He will not shoot you unless you come between him and a monster, then he will try to shoot the monster, and you could be hit by his shot.

I n a two player game, both players play at the same time. They do not take turns. The two players may elect to shoot each other. But, if you wish to survive for long, you must use teamwork!

See section two – subsection four – play mode, for a full description of the game. And now worrior, go forth and do battle with the Wizard of Wor!

Game Play and Strategy:
i Overview:
The game progresses through a series of dungeon mazes, each one deeper in the caverns of Wor. One other worrior accompanies you into the dungeons, and if you wish to survive for long, you should work with him to conquer the monsters you will encounter. At the start of each dungeon, there are blue Burwors moving around the maze. As you destroy them, yellow Garwors come out, and as you destroy them, red Thorwors take their place. When the last red Thorwor is shot, winged Worluk comes out (not in the first maze). Try to shoot him before he escapes out one of the side doors, as that will double all the point values for the next dungeon. After Worluk has escaped or been shot, the Wizard of Wor might show up. He uses a powerful teleport spell to jump himself from place to place in the dungeon, all the while firing lightning bolts. He keeps reappearing until one worrior has been destroyed, or he himself has been shot. If any worriors are left, the next dungeon is entered. This sequence of events continues until all of the player’s worriors have been vanquished.

ii Worriors: Movement, Offence, Strategy:
In the basic dungeons, a worrior can learn the fundamentals of survival. It is very easy to walk blind around a corner, into the mouth of a waiting monster. When the monsters are really moving, they are faster than you are. This makes running away difficult. There is a point when you will have to turn and fight them before they eat you.

Your worrior is easy to operate – a four direction joystick for movement in the dungeons, and a fire button for the concentrated unified-field-disturbance rifle. The joystick has two contacts in each direction, a direction contact and a movement contact. A light tap to the joystick will face your worrior in a certain direction, without moving him out of position. To move your worrior, just hold the joystick over in one direction.

The unified-field-disturbance rifle is easy to use. It fires in the direction your worrior is facing. It operates on the principle of a concentrated unified-field disturbance area coupled with a displacement through four-space. This means that it can create only one disturbance at a time, and the disturbance must continue moving until it expands its energy on some object, usually a monster or a wall of the dungeon.

Only one shot can be in the air at a time. This means that in a short corridor you will be able to fire rapidly, because your shot will always quickly encounter a wall. In a long corridor, the shot stays in the air for a long time, leaving you in hot water if a monster is approaching from the side.

If your shot occasionally seems to go in the wrong direction, it is because your worrior has not fully rounded a corner before firing. Your shot went in the direction you were just facing, not in your new direction. Learning when not to shoot is an important part of the strategy of this game.

Entering the dungeon is simple to do, but at times, particularly in the Worlord dungeons, choosing the right time to enter can be a little tricky. At the start of each dungeon, you have ten seconds to bring your worrior into the maze. To do so, just push the joystick toward the maze. When your worrior comes out, he is facing the radar screen. If you do not bring your worrior out of the ready box immediately, the ten second count-down begins. The numbers of the count are shown next to the ready box. At the end of the ten seconds, your worrior will automatically be brought into the dungeon. At the beginning of the dungeon, all the monsters are started away from the two ready boxes. But since the monsters move randomly at first, they can start to move closer to you. Also, when a worrior has been destroyed, you may immediately bring a new worrior into play. However, wait for the monsters to clear the area before bringing your worrior out.

It is important to note that a new worrior can be brought in at any point during play. If you get eaten or shot, just bring in another worrior and have at it! This is particularly useful with Worluk, who may eat you once, but not escape immediately. It is often possible to bring a second worrior in, and kill Worluk for double score on the next dungeon, before he escapes.

In a one player game, the blue worrior is controlled by the computer. He is a first in video gaming, as he is your friend inside the machine. He will never shoot at you, he shoots only at monsters. Sometimes, he will even save your life by shooting a monster sneaking up behind you. Be careful not to get between him and a monster, for he will still try to shoot the monster, and you might catch his shot.

Teamwork is also a major point of strategy in Wizard of Wor. In the basic dungeons, there are places where two worriors can cut off the monsters as they try to enter the corridor where the worriors are standing. This position is strong but not invincible. The monsters, particularly the last few monsters left in a maze, are moving fast enough to occasionally duck in between shots, and eat you. Back to back in a short corridor is good teamwork. Note that the two worriors can pass through each other unhindered. But be careful! When you are close together, it’s very easy to accidentally shoot each other.

In the early mazes, it is to your advantage to initially go out and shoot as many monsters as you can. This is because the monsters move slowly at first, but get faster later. The more slow monsters you shoot, the fewer fast monsters will be left to eat you. When the monsters speed up, then find a good teamwork spot.

In the upper level mazes, the Worlord dungeons, the critical thing is to not miss a shot, for if a shot misses a monster, it is likely to travel a long way before hitting a wall, and in that time a monster will probably come along and eat you. In some of the Worlord dungeons, there are places that two worriors can defend effectively, but they are very hard to get to, and often one player might lose a worrior trying to move into position. When you reach The Pit, you’re on your own.

iii Dungeons
There are two levels of overall difficulty in the dungeons – basic dungeons and Worlord dungeons. In addition, there are two special dungeons, the Arena and The Pit, which occur at special times during play.

Each dungeon consists of an eleven by six matrix of squares, with a wall or opening on the sides of each square. The maze is symmetrical around the center vertical axis. Every maze has a side escape door located four squares up from the bottom, and on each side of the maze. Going out the door on one side brings you in the door on the other side. This can be confusing at first, but becomes quite handy when you get used to it. After using the side escape door, it remains closed for a short amount of time before reopening. When Worluk is out, the door always remains open. Proper use of the side escape door will sometimes aid in escaping trouble, and can also help to cut off Worluk before he escapes.

The basic dungeons consist of many short passages with many possible different pathways, and some long corridors. At first glance, the long corridors appear to be the most strategic spot, but this is not true. Due to the firing mechanism, it is usually the most dangerous spot, as you are not able to fire very often. Finding good places for team work is relatively easy here.

In the area between the radar screen and the dungeon, a description of some current aspect of the game is displayed. In dungeon one, the word “RADAR” is shown, indicating to the novice player the function of the radar. On other dungeons, the level of the current dungeon is indicated. When Worluk is comes out, the word “WORLUK” is displayed there, as is “WIZARD OF WOR” when he shows up. It tells when either of these has “ESCAPED”. And it tells when “DOUBLE SCORE” has been earned for shooting Worluk. It also tells you of “THE ARENA” and “THE PIT”.

Below the bottom of the dungeon is the radar. It shows you the location of every monster in the dungeon, visible and invisible. It is important to learn to use the radar to anticipate a monster coming from behind. The only creatures that do not show on the radar are the worriors and the Wizard himself.

When you have reached dungeons eight and above, you have become a Worlord. Now you have the honor of testing your skill in the Worlord dungeons. These dungeons are much tougher, there are fewer walls and more open spaces. If even one shot misses, and travels the long distance down to the opposite wall, a monster will very likely come up and gobble you down. Finding and establishing yourself in solid strategic positions is very difficult. It is easy to have several worriors chomped up in a row. Sometimes the monsters will line up along one edge of the maze – a lovely parade. However, if just one monster starts approaching from the top, watch out!

The Arena is the dungeon that comes when the first bonus player is awarded. Since the bonus player is switch selectable for the fourth or the fifth maze, the same switch will also control the appearance of the Arena. It is the most difficult maze of the basic dungeons, featuring an arena. This is a large open area in the middle of the dungeon, with openings level with the side escape doors. This is a preview of the Worlord dungeons and The Pit.

Surviving The Pit is the ultimate goal of Wizard of Wor. The Pit occurs at the thirteenth dungeon and every sixth dungeon thereafter. In other words, the 19th, 25th, 31st, etc. dungeons are The Pits. One missed shot here is almost certain to be fatal. The Wizard is particularly deadly here, as there is nowhere to hide. A bonus player is awarded at the first Pit. The other Pits do not award a bonus player. Sophisticated maneuvering, intestinal fortitude (guts), and a bit of luck are needed to make it through The Pit unscathed. Surviving The Pit without losing a worrior earns you the title of Worlord Supreme. Best of luck!

iv Monsters…..Burwor, Garwor and Thorwor:
The Wizard of Wor loves to hear the patter of little feat running through his dungeons. So he created some very lovely beasties, known as Worlings.

Burwor is a beautiful, bouncing blue. Six of them exist on each dungeon level. They always remain visible. This is because the Wizard’s favorite color is blue. As each Burwor is shot, a Garwor may come to take his place. Garwor is kind of overfed, and waddles a bit, but he has yellow scales that are just delicate. As Garwors are shot, he is replaced by a Thorwor. So, in the first dungeon, there are a total of eight monsters: six Burwors, one Garwor, and one Thorwor. In the second maze there are a total of ten monsters: six Burwors, two Garwors and two Thorwors. In the sixth dungeon, there are a total of eighteen monsters: six Burwors, six Garwors and six Thorwors. This is the maximum number of monsters in one dungeon level.

Note that there are really no more than six monsters in one dungeon at any one time. It just seems like there are more.

All of the monsters work on a speed-up timer. This timer increments the speed of the monsters every time it counts down, which is about every seven seconds. A Garwor that replaces a Burwor will start at the speed the Burwor was going when destroyed. The same is true for Thorwors. So, in the early mazes, Garwors and Thorwors end up going faster than Burwors, although given enough time, Burwors can get moving as fast as any monster. In dungeon four and before, any monster traveling at top speed will always be visible. In later dungeons, Garwors and Thorwors will still become visible at top speed. In dungeon seven, the Burwors start at top speed. Any monster traveling at this speed is not able to shoot lightning bolts.

v Worluk … the Wizard’s favorite:
In the second dungeon and beyond, Worluk will come out after the last Thorwor has been shot. Worluk is a lightning quick Cacodemon. He’s the Wizard’s favorite. He flies erratically through the maze, trying to reach one of the side escape doors. The Wizard tried to train him to fly to the door on the opposite side of the maze that he is initially teleported to. However, Worluk’s chaotic nature leads him to frantically fly about, sometimes flying out the side escape door closest to him. If you shoot Worluk, all the scores in the next dungeon are doubled. This means that killing Worluk is essential for high scores. A good strategy is to position worrior by the door that Worluk should use to escape. If Worluk should eat your worrior, bring the next one immediately into play, and go after him again! Remember, he is worth double score on the next maze. But, at the moment that Worluk has been shot, beware worrior! For it is then that the Wizard of Wor might choose to appear.

vi The Wizard of Wor
Even at a young age, the Wizard showed promise in the mystic arts. But it took many dangerous encounters and many years of research and study to sharpen his skills to his current high level. Over the centuries, the Wizard has retained his chaotic sense of humor, much to the chagrin of worriors entering his dungeons.

The Wizard will sometimes come out after Worluk has been shot. He uses multiple teleport spells to pop around the dungeon, eventually homing in on one worrior or the other. All the while, he wildly fires lightning bolts in every direction. At first he teleports some distance away from one worrior. Then, on successive teleports, gets closer and closer. Note that if the two worriors are very near each other, the Wizard may teleport right next to one of them the very first time. This is because he was teleporting a certain distance away from the other worrior, and happened to come up right next to the first worrior.

The Wizard will continue to teleport and fire lightning bolts until either one worrior has been destroyed or the Wizard has been shot. Shooting the Wizard does not kill him. It only banishes him until the next dungeon.

In almost every dungeon there is a possibility that the Wizard could show up. This possibility is based on the level of the dungeon you are currently in, and on the total number of worriors left in the game. However, even at the highest dungeon level, it is not certain he will appear.

Standing in a long corridor when the Wizard is teleporting in can be quite risky. If he comes up in that corridor, he will have a clear shot at you.

As you get deeper and deeper into the dungeons, the Wizard stays for a shorter period of time, and teleports even faster. This means he gets closer a lot faster, so you must try to shoot him soon after he first comes out. Otherwise, he may end up teleporting right next to you! The Wizard loves to fool worriors by teleporting behind them. But watch out, he will also surprise you by popping up right in front of you.