Rings of Medusa (also known as ROM) is a mixture of strategy, role-playing, and economic simulation. It was the first game published by Starbyte Software. The Amiga version was programmed by Christian A. Weber and Christian Haller. The original concept and design was done by Tillmann Bubeck on Atari ST. The game was released for Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS in single-player mode.

Game description
The game is set in a medieval kingdom where the player takes control of the son of the former king. Unfortunately, an evil sorceress named Medusa has taken control of the land and now rules over the people. The prince's task is to find five magical rings that will give him the power to overthrow the sorceress and reclaim his inheritance. At the beginning, the hero tries to earn money by trading between different cities or trying his luck as a bounty hunter or treasure hunter. Once enough money has been earned to maintain a larger army, the prince sends his men out to search for the rings, which are in the possession of large mercenary armies that are terrorizing the land.

Game mechanic
At the beginning, the focus is on trade: you buy goods cheaply and sell them at a profit to build up capital. At the same time, players can recruit troops, defend or conquer cities, search for treasures, and fight sea and land battles. Once you have enough money and a strong army, the search for the five rings begins. These can be obtained through conquests, treasure finds, or naval battles. With all five rings, Medusa can be summoned, leading to the final battle. Players move freely across a large map, trade, strengthen their forces, and explore the land. Occasionally, there are arcade sequences such as sword fights or sea battles, and you can even choose the races of your own troops. An interesting detail: by entering “desoxyribonukleinsaeure” (or “desoxy...” for short), an early cheat mode could be activated – a well-kept secret from the old days. Developer Christian A. Weber shares more about the development and anecdotes about the game on his blog.

Storytelling, visual design, and sound
Storytelling is a central component of Rings of Medusa. The story is told in detail in the manual on pages 4–9 in classic fantasy prose, under the title “The Fall of the Kingdom of Morenor” (article on the Rings of Medusa booklet by Beat Suter) . The visual design supports the narrative with a combination of map and landscape views, while the title fonts echo Gothic/broken script. The sound design has also been praised in numerous internet forums and contributes significantly to the atmospheric mood of the game.

Perception This game was released for Atari ST, Amiga, PC, and C-64, with the Amiga and Atari versions based on the same source code. It received a rating of 75% in the game magazine Amiga Joker with the conclusion ”an absolute must for all strategy enthusiasts!" Rings of Medusa was very popular and remained number one in the game charts in Germany for six consecutive months.