Below the Root (video game)

Below the Root
Developer(s)	Dale Disharoon
Artist(s)	William Groetzinger
Platform(s)	Commodore 64 Apple II IBM PC
Release	1984
Genre(s)	Adventure, platformer
Mode(s)	Single-player

Below the Root is a 1984 video game developed for Commodore 64, IBM PC, and Apple II home computer lines. The game is a continuation of the author Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Green Sky Trilogy, making it the fourth story in the series. The game is set in a fantasy world of Green-Sky covered with enormous trees and wildlife. The player is tasked to choose one of the five characters to explore the world and discover the meaning of the words that appeared in the dreams of the character D'ol Falla. The player explores the world through platforming, solving puzzles and exploration.

The game was developed by Dale DeSharone.^[a] Initially a teacher, DeSharone began developing educational video games, where he would meet William Groetzinger who would create graphics for some of his games. DeSharone also worked as an author as a side business, and connected with Snyder on collaborating on a video game which led to the development of Below the Root.

On its release, received a positive review in Compute!, which praised the games graphics and scale. Game journalist John Szczepaniak praised the game as the highlight of DeSharone's career, noting that the game mechanics were ahead of its time such as the LucasArts-style command list options seen in games like Maniac Mansion (1987), or the blend of action and adventure games in games later described as metroidvanias.

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