Caverns of Chaos

The backstory is nearly as long as the game is: an executive summary might tell you

The shapeshifting troll Landloris has abducted the noble King and Queen of the mid-Atlantic island of Pandaris, returning with them to his enchanted catacomb domain on Manhatas, island of Chaos. Ten of Pandaris' best warriors haven't been heard from for two weeks since their group rescue attempt; you aim to succeed where they failed, going in solo, overcoming Landloris and restoring your monarchs to their throne. Honour demands you try for nothing less... and the ten thousand gold piece reward doesn't hurt!

Navigating the threats and enchantments of Landloris' magical caves by bludgeoning in multiple choice commands IN ALL CAPS, despite the text parser this game plays much like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure -- a whimsical one with portals and poisons, transformations and complications. Many, many sudden and arbitrary deaths await even the wary adventurer. (A '99 Z-code port lends this game, originally in QBasic, the baseline save/restore functionality it needs to make exploration less of a grind.)