Rick Saada began writing Castle of the Winds in 1989 while employed at Microsoft, developing it entirely without Microsoft resources or equipment — a disclaimer he included in the pre-release builds he shared internally. He had grown up on TRS-80s and Apple IIs in Ohio, discovered Colossal Cave Adventure on a PDP-11 in his father's research lab, and carried a deep love of Dungeons & Dragons and roguelikes like Larn, Rogue, and Moria into his professional life.
Windows 3.0 was approaching release, and Saada saw an opportunity: no one had yet built a proper graphical RPG for the new operating system. He worked in his spare time over several years, leaning heavily on the Windows API itself — using scrollbars, icon resources, and window frames as first-class game primitives rather than rolling a custom engine from scratch.
The game circulated internally at Microsoft from around 1990, before Saada began looking for a publisher. He briefly considered self-distributing under the shareware model, but was approached by Epic MegaGames founder Tim Sweeney, who offered distribution. Saada took the deal: "I quickly decided I was likely to get a lot more registrations with them pushing the game than I would on my own."
Castle of the Winds was published commercially in 1993, split across two episodes. Part One, A Question of Vengeance, was released as shareware. Part Two, Lifthransir's Bane, sold for approximately $25. The game generated an estimated 13,500 registrations — a significant number for the era — and was also sold bundled as a combined retail release.
In 1998, Saada released both parts as freeware. In 2025, he returned to the project to create a native 64-bit port, which he released on Steam — free to play — so that the game could run on modern Windows without emulation or compatibility layers.
Rather than the Tolkienesque fantasy that dominated CRPGs of the period, Saada chose to ground his game in Norse mythology. The giants, gods, and cosmology come directly from the Eddas. He used authentic names from the sagas for characters and locations — Hrungnir, Utgardhalok, Rugnir, Thrym, Thiassa, and Surtur are all figures from Norse literature, not invented names.
"I doubt many people cared that it used real figures from the stories, but I felt better about it," Saada said. The narrative was written in collaboration with his friend Ben Goetter, who handled the final draft of most of the story and combat text.
The world is Midgard. Surtur, the fire giant from Muspelheim whose flames are destined to engulf the world at Ragnarök, serves as the ultimate antagonist. The player's journey takes them from a ruined village through mines, fortresses, and eventually into the titular Castle of the Winds itself.
You return to your village to find it burned and your godparents murdered by marauding monsters. Entering the nearby mine, you discover they weren't killed randomly — you were the target. You are, unknown to yourself, the last heir to the line of King Lifthransir, and Surtur's agents sought to eliminate you before you could reclaim your birthright.
The dungeon beneath the mine leads eventually to the Fortress, where the Hill Giant Lord Hrungnir waits. Defeating him and recovering the Amulet of Kings reveals your true heritage. A vision of your murdered father confirms what must be done.
You arrive in a new land — larger, with more towns and deeper dungeons — and set about fulfilling your destiny. The dungeon beneath the Castle of the Winds holds increasingly dangerous monsters: Wolf-Men, Bear-Men, Jotun kings, Demon Lords, and finally Surtur himself.
Your goal is to recover the Helm of Storms, stolen by Surtur, and defeat him to prevent Ragnarök. The four Jotun kings — Utgardhalok, Rugnir, Thrym, and Thiassa — guard the path. Surtur's final chamber is guarded by uncountable Abyss Fiends. Defeating him and escaping the dungeon ends the game: you take the throne.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1989 | Rick Saada begins development at Microsoft. Internal pre-release version circulates on campus. |
| 1990 | Pre-release v0.5.4A shared with Microsoft colleagues. Original quest: recover the Crown of Storms. |
| 1993 | Commercial release via Epic MegaGames. Part I shareware; Part II sold for ~$25. Norse mythology setting finalized with Ben Goetter. |
| 1993 | Computer Gaming World (issue 102) reviews the game. Chuck Miller praises the Norse theme and interface; criticizes minimal sound. |
| 1998 | Rick Saada releases both parts as freeware. "Epic doesn't have an exclusive license to sell it." |
| 2000s | Fan sites emerge: The Temple of Odin, StrategyWiki entries. Game remains popular despite requiring Windows 3.x emulation. |
| 2010s | mordrax begins cotwelm — a CotW remake in Elm, hosted at game.castleofthewinds.com. Development eventually halted. |
| 2025 | Rick Saada releases a native 64-bit port on Steam, free to play. Cloud saves and achievements added. Otherwise faithful to the 1993 original. |
All terrain tiles, monster graphics, object icons, and most spell effect graphics were created as Windows 3.1 .ICO icons by Paul Canniff. Multi-tile graphics (ball spells, town buildings) are bitmaps embedded directly in the executable. No graphic uses colors outside the Windows standard 16-color palette — plus transparency — which means the game displays correctly on monochrome monitors as well.
The narrative and combat text were drafted collaboratively by Rick Saada and Ben Goetter, with Goetter handling the final pass on most of the story and encounter writing. The game's dry, occasionally deadpan flavor text reflects Goetter's voice throughout.