Tales of the Unknown: The Bard's Tale

(aka: Bard's Tale 1)

Full BT1 Game Downloads

by operating system

Game Manuals

You can download the Bard's Tale 1 Manual alone in PDF form, or as HTML or plaintext.

Official Software Releases

The Bard's Tale Trilogy: Remastered is available for purchase through Steam and GOG, as of August 14, 2018. And was provided as a tier reward to backers of Bard's Tale IV.
[Instructions for obtaining a download key]

The trilogy was launched initially with the first Bard's Tale installment; the 2nd and 3rd games are to follow in fall and winter 2018, along with Legacy mode.
Available for purchase and download here:
In 2004 inXile Entertainment released a spinoff game called The Bard's Tale, A Quest for Coin and Cleavage.
Included in the game are playable emulated versions of the original Bard's Tale 1, 2, and 3.
You can buy/download The Bard's Tale on available platforms/devices, and gain access to all three classic games:
Free for backers of the Bard's Tale IV Kickstarter campaign, inXile has re-packaged and re-released the MSDOS versions of Bard's Tale 1-3 in a single downloadable bundle, which has been made available via the Backer's Portal site.
Here are download instructions
In 1993, Interplay compiled a collection of classic of games celebrating 10 years. Included in the anthology are Mindshadow, Tass Times In Tone Town, The Bards Tale, Battle Chess, Wasteland, Dragon Wars, Castles, Lord Of The Rings, Star Trek 25th Anniversery, and Out Of This World - still available for purchase from Amazon.
Buy @ Amazon

Original platform versions

DOS (PC/Tandy)

Year released: 1985
Confirmed setup: Win7 & v0.74
Emulator: DOSBox latest version
Download original characters and Garth's inventory files below
SCREENSHOTS
Additional downloads:

Apple II-GS

Year released: 1987
Confirmed setup: Win7 & v3.7.1019
Emulator: ActiveGS
Character disk is original state

[2MG disks 1,2 .zipped]

Size: 0.7MB

Play in-browser @ VirtualApple.org

SCREENSHOTS
Additional downloads:

Amiga

Year released: 1986
Confirmed setup: Win7 & v3.1.0
Emulator: WinUAE latest version
Requires: Kickstart 1.3 ROMs [5.1MB]
Setting: Amiga 500 + Any 1.3 ROM
Character disk is original state

[ADF disk image .zipped]

Size: 0.7MB
SCREENSHOTS

Atari ST

Year released: 1987
Confirmed setup: Win7 & v3.2
Emulator: Steem latest version
Requires: TOS ROM 1.02US [104KB]
Characters are original state

[ST disk image .zipped]

Size: 631.9KB
SCREENSHOTS

Macintosh

Year released: 1989

[SIT StuffIt archive]

Size: 682.6KB
SCREENSHOTS

Sinclair ZX Spectrum

Year released: 1988
SCREENSHOTS

Amstrad CPC

Year released: 1987

[DSK disk image .zipped]

Size: 249KB

[CDT tape image .zipped]

Size: 123.8KB

French [DSK disk image .zipped]

Size: 234.2KB
SCREENSHOTS

Apple II

Year released: 1985
Confirmed setup: Win7 & v3.7.1019
Emulator: ActiveGS
Character disk is NOT original state

[DSK disks 1-4 .zipped]

Size: 225.4KB

Play in-browser @ VirtualApple.org

SCREENSHOTS
Additional downloads:

Commodore 64

Year released: 1985
Confirmed setup: Win7 & v3.9.1
Emulator: CCS64 latest version
Character disk is NOT original state

[D64 disks 1-3 .zipped]

Size: 145.7KB
SCREENSHOTS

Nintendo

Year released: 1991
Confirmed setup: Win7 & v1.4
Emulator: Nestopia latest version
Characters not included

[NES ROM .zipped]

Size: 80KB
SCREENSHOTS