Each of the games came with a comic book that explained the plot, as well as containing part of the solution to a major puzzle that had to be solved to win the contest, with a series of prizes whose total value was $150,000. The series had its genesis as a possible sequel to Atari's groundbreaking 1979 title Adventure, but it developed mythology and a system of play that was unique. The comic books were produced by DC Comics, written by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, and drawn and inked by George Pérez and Dick Giordano. All three game box covers were illustrated by an Atari in-house illustrator, Warren Chang. A special fan club offer was provided, allowing those who wanted the game to also get a T-shirt and poster for each game. The games of the Swordquest series (along with Atari 2600 Raiders of the Lost Ark) were some of the earliest attempts to combine the narrative and logic elements of the adventure game genre with the twitch gameplay of the action genre, making them some of the first action-adventure games. However, due to Atari's financial problems related to the video game crash of 1983, the last contest along with the grand finale contest were never held and the final game in the series, Airworld was not released. As such the contest was never completed and the current unknown fate of some of the prizes has become an urban legend in the gaming community. As part of Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, a collection of Atari games for its 50th anniversary in 2022, Digital Eclipse created a version of Airworld that completes the Swordquest series.