Link to the Dwarfstar Games website: HERE
Dwarfstar Games was a line of small-box science fiction and fantasy themed boardgames published in 1981 and 1982 by Heritage USA. Dwarfstar Games, a division of Heritage USA, arrived on the gaming scene with a splash at the 1981 Origins gaming convention. The initial Dwarfstar releases were Barbarian Prince, Demonlord, Outpost Gamma, and Star Viking.
The Dwarfstar Games followed in the footsteps of other small format sci-fi and fantasy games which were popular in the late seventies and early eighties. The trend was started by the Metagaming MicroGames, a series which included gamer favorites such as Ogre, G.E.V., Melee, and Wizard. The first Metagaming Microgames appeared in 1977.
In 1981, the Metagaming MicroGames sold for $3.95 and Heritage USA's relatively lavish Dwarfstar games sold for $4.95.
Metagaming's head, Howard Thompson, used a spartan presentation for his MicroGame series. The MicroGames originally used paper mapsheets and uncut (or strip cut) counters printed on thin cardstock. By 1981, Metagaming had "upgraded" the MicroGames with small boxes and die-cut counters printed on thin stock.
The Dwarfstar games raised the bar for "microgame" graphics and components. Not only were they more colorful than their contemporary counterparts, they also featured real die-cut counters and mapboards printed on thin cardboard. Unfortunately, the Dwarfstar boxes were notoriously flimsy and susceptible to being crushed in storage.
Evil events have overtaken the Northlands. You -- Cal Arath, Barbarian Prince -- are in hiding and the usurper who killed your father, the Old King, now sits on his throne. Now you must flee south and raise enough gold by adventuring to equip an army with which to regain your rightful heritage. The way will not be easy, for the men of the south are strange, and some are schooled in the black mysteries. The passes are guarded by monsters, it is said, and in the ruined cities lurk foul things never born of this earth. But you have your stubborn Northland will and your great sword -- and woe to anyone or anything which stands between you and your quest . . .
BARBARIAN PRINCE is a solitaire game of heroic adventure in a forgotten age of barbarism and sorcery. No opponent is necessary as the Event Booklet takes you through a pre-programmed sequence of encounters which is different each time you play the game. For each event, you, as the Barbarian Prince Cal Arath, must make the decisions which will make your quest successful -- or may cost you your life.