King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella

King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella, released in 1988, was the first computer adventure game with a female protagonist. The player takes on the role of Princess Rosella, daughter of King Graham of Daventry (KQI and KQII) and the twin sister of Gwydion/Alexander (KQIII). KQIV was also the first PC game to support a sound card.

There are two main versions of the game designed with two different engines including AGI and SCI engines. A novelization of KQ4 is included in The King's Quest Companion.

• King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (AGI) (and Apple II)
• King's Quest IV: The Perils Of Rosella (SCI) (SCIEGA)
• This is the legend of King's Quest...
• The Perils of Rosella: From the Chronicles of Daventry, Part IV
• King's Quest IV Manual

Reception

Since the gaming industry was dominated almost exclusively by male players, Roberta chose to take a risk of releasing this game with a female character, fearing it would get criticized, but also hoping it would draw more women into gaming. This was apparently a success as the game was released to critical acclaim, and had more female players than previous games. It became the most successful game product of the year. However, at the time Roberta said that since many girls and women were already avid King's Quest players, replacing the hero with a heroine "felt natural, like it was time."

I knew the female lead is just fine for women and girls who play the game, but wasn't sure how it would go over with some of the men. And you know what? It wasn't as controversial as I expected. However, it was real strange at first designing the game; quite a different point of view. Having the women die bothered me more than I expected."

-Roberta Williams

The game received Software Publishers' Associatin's "Beast Adventure Game" award in 1989.

Other

• King's Quest Chapter IV: Snow Place Like Home
• Grave Matters (Ten Days in Tamir---Vacation in Paradise)