I am currently playing the original Bard's Tale mapless, and am enjoying it, but I *do* have prior experience with the game, so I have a general idea of where things are. (I have managed to get the eye as well as the special item on Harkyn's Castle leve 2.) I am wondering how difficult it would be to play the original Might and Magic, which I do not have prior experience with, this way.

Here are the rules that I would be using:
* No looking up maps online.
* No making my own maps; I probably won't be taking notes, either.
* All spells are allowed. (In my Bard's Tale paythrough, this includes spells like SCSI, SESI, PHDO, and APAR, so similar spells (including teleportation magic) would be allowed here.)

So, is this doable with a good sense of direction? How difficult would you expect it to be?

Doable? Yes. But probably frustrating. If you aren't a completionist you'll probably get there eventually.

There are some tricks and traps that make navigation tricky in MM1, to the point that I found drawing my own maps to be a major part of t he enjoyment of playing it. The places I was exploring were their own adversaries. So I'd imagine that it would be pretty tricky to navigate without jotting anything down.

I haven't played The Bard's Tale, so I don't know how similar it is to navigate. But one key spell in MM1 is the Location spell, which simply tells you which square you're in on the local map grid. I used it a lot, but I imagine it would be a lot less useful if you are not drawing your own maps. Knowing that you're in square B12 is not particularly useful information if you're not looking at a map. MM1 also has a lot of "special squares" where certain things happen, which you often want to avoid. Without a map noting these down, it would be tough to bypass some dangerous things.

It would certainly be interesting to try MM1 without maps though. If you try it, let us know how it goes!

I actually ended up giving up in Kylerian's Tower; that dungeon is *evil*. It's designed so that, even *with* a map, you will find yourself getting lost. That dungeon has spinners (where every direction looks the same), teleporters (to places that look the same), dark areas (one with a door that doesn't appear until you answer a riddle in another), and severe consequences for going the wrong way (like a 1x1 room with a spinner, doors in all 4 directions, and only one of them leads back where you were; the others all are dead-ends with anti-magic or darkness). (Also, teleport spells don't work there.)

Bard's Tale has a spell called Scry Site (SCSI) which works the way Location does; it tells you your coordinates relative to the dungeon entrance, as well as which direction you're facing (handy if your compass spell is out, especially since SCSI works in anti-magic zones). I actually did find that spell useful; it helps to know the general area of the level you're on, and can be useful if you think you're going around in circles, or if you suspect there's some shenanigans going on with the dungeon.