9 Lesser-Known Classic Retro Maze Games

Today I want to take a look at some retro video games that feature mazes. I have already covered many of the big games with blog posts like A Tribute to Pac-Man, the Ultimate Maze Game and The 12 Most Important Retro Maze Video Games to Lose a Day With which includes popular maze games like Dig Dug, Gauntlet and Rally-X. I am not going to repeat the history lesson I spoke about there and instead am going to highlight 9 more interesting retro maze games that you may not be familiar with. Each of these games caught my attention for some reason which I will explain below. They are all from 1973-1982 except for one special game from 1993 that I couldn’t leave out. The thing about old games is, if you owned it, or your local arcade had it, it was important to you, the rest of world didn’t matter. Here are the games I am going to discuss (click to skip ahead to that section:

I start with Gotcha, the first arcade maze game, which came out in the Fall of 1973. Some of you may be thinking, but I thought Mouse in the Maze (1959) was the first computerized maze game. And you would be correct…which is why the word “arcade” is so important in my first sentence. Then, because we have short attention spans and can’t seem to keep on subject you may think - - - 1959 ? There were computer games in 1959 ? Yes, and those computers filled an entire room !!

Gotcha video game poster

And we are back. For now. Gotcha ! Also from my research, Gotcha was the first color video game. Today it would be hard to find a game not in color, but I do recommend 2 Japanese games featuring Samurai - Trek to Yomi and Ghost of Tsushima: Kurosawa Mode that look amazing in black and white. It didn’t take me long to get off track.

Let’s look at the gameplay of Gotcha. I will describe what you will see in the gameplay video below. Like all early games things were pretty simple. Two small specs are in a maze looking structure - they are a plus sign and a box. The goal is for one player to pursue the other, and then they switch roles. Each round has a time limit between 30 seconds and 2 minutes depending on the machine you are playing on. You get a point for catching the other person. In the background is a beeping sound that gets louder and closer together the closer a person is to being caught. Worst. Soundtrack. Ever ?

Does this look like a fun game ? No. But in 1973 it may have kept you busy for a few minutes when you weren’t playing Pong !

 

Ken’s Labyrinth. Ken's Labyrinth is a first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Ken Silverman when he was 17 years old and published by Epic MegaGames in 1993. The game is notable for being one of the first FPS games to feature interactive sprites and textures, as well as for its innovative use of the Build engine.

Silverman began development on Ken's Labyrinth in 1991, when he was still a teenager. The game was originally called Walken, and it was inspired by the Wolfenstein 3D engine. Silverman quickly realized that he could do more with the engine than just recreate Wolfenstein 3D, so he began to add new features and ideas.

One of the most significant features that Silverman added to Ken's Labyrinth was the ability to interact with sprites and textures. This meant that players could interact with objects in the environment, such as vending machines, slot machines, and even the enemies themselves. This was a major innovation at the time, and it helped to set Ken's Labyrinth apart from other FPS games.

Another innovative feature of Ken's Labyrinth was its use of the Build engine. The Build engine was a new rendering engine that Silverman developed specifically for the game. The Build engine allowed for more detailed and complex levels than previous FPS engines, and it also allowed for more realistic lighting effects.

Ken's Labyrinth was released in 1993, and it was met with positive reviews from critics. The game was praised for its innovative features, its challenging gameplay, and its tongue-in-cheek humor. Ken's Labyrinth was also a commercial success, selling over 100,000 copies.

Take a look at some of the gameplay:

The success of Ken's Labyrinth helped to launch the career of Ken Silverman. Silverman went on to develop the Build engine, which was used in many popular FPS games, including Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, and Blood.

Here are some additional facts about Ken's Labyrinth:

  • The game was originally released as shareware, with the first episode available for free. The full game was available for purchase.

  • The game was inspired by the Wolfenstein 3D engine, but it also incorporated elements from other games, such as Doom and The Legend of Zelda.

  • The game's levels were designed by Ken Silverman and his friend Andrew Cotter.

  • The game's soundtrack was composed by Ken Silverman.

  • The game was released for MS-DOS, and it has since been ported to other platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Want to give it a quick play ? There are plenty of emulators out there. Here is one to try.

 

Entombed. In the 1982 during the height of arcades jammed with people trying to play another maze game, Pac-Man, Atari came out with a scrolling maze game called Entombed. It seems to be an attempt to capitalize on the maze/chase game play of Pac-Man but with the bonus of a scrolling screen !!! It was not very popular. At one point you could buy it for 82% off based on the picture of the box front I found.

Entombed video game box

The story of Entombed the game is you are an archaeologist and have fallen into catacombs filled with zombies. You need to get away from them without getting stuck in a dead end (and thus entombed). I guess dead end has a new meaning here. There is also a “Make-break” block and if you capture it you are able to make a wall or break thru a wall - great for escaping those pesky zombies. Personally I prefer Daryl’s crossbow or Michonne’s katana, but a make-break is fine. The longer you survive the faster the gameplay becomes as was pretty standard with games from this time.

The interesting aspect of the game is that because of the amount of data needed to generate mazes was too big to be stored on the hardware an algorithm was written that generates a maze on the fly as the game is played. That means each time you play the game the maze will be different ! Pretty ingenious.

There has also been a collegiate paper done exploring the history of the game and discussing the reverse engineering of the game by John Ayock and Tara Copplestone called Entombed: An archaeological examination of an Atari 2600 game. It is an interesting, but technical 33 page read.

The graphics of the game look very 1982. And the gameplay appears to be….well….. also very 1982. I guess it would become more interesting with 2 players playing at the same time ?

Here is a look at some game play from The No Swear Gamer:

So if you want to enjoy mazes in video game form, try this classic game from 1982….or maybe just go with Pac-Man. Either one. But, Pac-Man.

 

The Amazing Maze Game. Sounds amazing. This arcade game from 1976 had to be included for one main reason. In 1975 the arcade game Gun Fight became the first to use the term GAME OVER. That could have been the end of it. But in 1976 a few games adopted the practice, including this one, helping popularize the use across arcade games in the future. The game features a randomly generated maze each round. If you play against another player, you each start at the others goal and race across to see who solves the maze fastest. These are mazes in their most basic form. You’ll notice in the gameplay videoafter a maze is generated you get a countdown of 5 seconds to study it.

 

Ali Baba and 40 Thieves. Video game gameplay can be so unique. When I find a game with unique challenges and gameplay I love it. I really love when something is new to learn and strategize about. I like figuring out how things work. This is not that game. This is Pac-Man with minor tweaks themed after the ancient folk tale from the Middle East. The hero, Ali Baba looks like Pac-Man in a red hat. The board, the use of question marks (power pellets) to chase thieves (ghosts). No regular pellets to chomp, just money bags to gather and protect. Just watch the gameplay video. While many games were developed that were Pac-Man knock-offs at this time, this was a unique spin on it.

 

Zzyzzyxx. How do you pronounce this game from 1982 ? I don’t know but I am saying it aloud right now with confidence. If you say anything with confidence people will believe you if they themselves do not know the answer. Well, this game centers around taking our hero, Zzyzzyxx, through a brick maze to collect gifts for Lola. He is pursued by an evil trio who apparently…I am going to make up the motivation here, but pretend I am writing it with confidence….do not want Lola to have the gifts. The bricks of the maze move, which give this a Frogger feel. Always last in any dictionary of games, Check out the gameplay.

 

Triple Punch. I had to include at least one grid capture game in this roundup of maze games. This arcade game came out in 1982. Our main character is a carpenter who sure does look like Mario to me. How was legal even back then ? Our carpenter moves across the maze pathways on the screen to surround areas and capture them. Four different enemies chase the player and try to stop him from capturing the blocks. You can punch enemies 3 times to kill them. Check out the gameplay:

 

Heiankyo Alien. This game was extremely popular in Japan when it was released in 1979. It is one of the first “trap” games, where you lure your enemies into a trap. It is also considered the first maze chase game, coming out before Pac-Man and Rally-X the next year. In this particular game you are a policeman who digs holes in a maze for aliens to fall into and then buries them inside. The graphics are very basic. There are nine levels to the game with each level featuring additional number of aliens. If an alien touches you, you lose a life. I really enjoy the graphics they created for that ! Check it out in the gameplay video:

 

Frisky Tom. When I saw the name of this game from 1981 I knew I had to check this out. Tom is a plumber who must protect the water pipes from the damage of 3 mice. The different types of mice each try to ruin the plumbing in a unique way. Tom climbs the pipes to fix them and can knock off mice, except for the purple ones which kill him. Bombs that are allowed to explode also take a life. I am a huge fan of pipe mazes (they do not look anything like this). I like all types of games involving pipes, and this one is a unique twist on pipes and pipes. Here is the gameplay:

Which of these games have you played before ? Any that seem interesting to you ?

The 12 Most Important Retro Maze Video Games to Lose a Day With

I love to play retro video games. But only games from the years of my childhood on. I think this is because you get used to a particular quality of graphics and gameplay and then that level continually gets better throughout your life. You get faster, lighter machines, with better graphics, music and gameplay. So I am not playing anything from 1975, but I get excited about emulators of my favorite games from 1985. Today we are going to look at a specific genre of game that I have always loved - maze video games. I have to admit that while writing this post I may have gotten distracted a few times by playing some of these games online. It was totally worth it.

a History of Maze Video Games

For maze video games it all started in 1959 at MIT in a room filled with a TX-0 computer. This is where the first maze video game was created, called Mouse in the Maze. The gameplay was simple. A mouse is tasked to get through a maze and find the cheese (the goal). The mouse in the game is considered the very first character in a video game. The next 2 maze games were not developed until 1973, with Gotcha (Atari’s 4th game) and Maze (by Steve Colley). Maze is considered a revolutionary game for many reasons. It is believed to be the first 3D first person game ever made, and it is the very first first person shooter game. We can thank Maze for Doom, Call of Duty, Wolfenstein, Halo, and all of the other first person shooter games you know and love. Video games exploded in popularity in the 1980’s with the expansion of home consoles like the Atari 2600 and the booming of arcades based on Space Invaders (1978), Pac-Man (1980), and Donkey Kong (1981). This is when the flood of new maze games were developed as the popularity of maze game Pac-Man led to many games with similar gameplay. Here is a look at Mouse in the Maze gameplay:

 

Definition of Maze Video Games

I think we should define what we are talking about. So, what is a maze video game ? Well it is a game that where the playing field is a maze. This can mean: solving a maze within a time limit, outracing your opponent, and outrunning enemies that are chasing you thru the maze. There are 4 main types of maze games:

1 - Overhead maze games

2 - Maze chase games

3 - First-person maze games

4 - Grid capture maze games

Let’s define each and give some examples of the best games of each type.

Overhead maze games

This is just what it sounds like. As a player you have an overhead view of most/all of a maze playing board that your character does not have (because they are in the maze). As a player the maze is not difficult to solve/move through because you can see it from overhead. But, it would not be a game if there were not challenges.

Examples of this include the aforementioned Mouse in the Maze (1959) and Gotcha as well as these important games:

Tank Battalion (1980) - the first game that combined the popular tank video game theme with the overhead maze view. Gameplay involves the player destroying 20 tanks per level that are trying to destroy the players base. You can also use your tank to change the mazes by blowing up a wall. I definitely played this as a kid.

Dig Dug (1982) - One of the top grossing games when it was released, it started a fad of “digging games’ based off of it’s gameplay. The player must dig his way thru the board and defeat all his enemies to move to the next board. Digging around the board essentially creates a maze that can be used by the other characters. Personally I love to play this game and will never pass it by if I see it. As I wrote this I found an emulator and played a few rounds. Still fun to play today.

Bomberman (1983) - The main character, Bomberman, a robot, must find his way thru the maze while avoiding enemies. Standard stuff, but this game was the start of a series with over 80 titles that continues up to today. I knew that Bomberman was a series, but had no idea there were so many titles ! Besides the standard gameplay of avoiding enemies while reaching the exit you have the ability to use bombs to find hidden doors that lead to new portions of the maze.

Gauntlet (1985) - When this 4 player cabinet showed up in arcades my friends and I spent pockets full of quarters trying to defeat this. I am not surprised that while researching the game it was known for its high gross profit. We just kept dying and going forward and I’m not sure we knew it was 100 levels. You could play as one of 4 characters each with their own strengths and weaknesses: A warrior, wizard, valkyrie or elf. I was always the elf. I loved trying to solve the maze and get to the exit while trying to avoid/kill the enemies, but it was always the ghosts that got me.

Maze Chase Games

You may have been thinking, wait how did you speak about overhead maze video games and never mention Pac-Man ? Well, because it became so popular, easily the most popular game in the maze genre that it created it’s own sub-genre of overhead maze games, the maze chase games. You get the overhead view but the gameplay includes being chased or doing chasing by enemies. Any discussion of this must start with Pac-Man.

Pac-Man (1980) - Simply put one of the greatest video games of all time. Made to appeal to both men and women at a time when many games were directed at males (with war and sports themes). You know the gameplay, so no need to describe it, but the game is significant historically for many reasons: The first video game with power-ups; the first successfully licensed game; the first game with cutscenes; the first game with a widely recognizable character to become a mascot.

Rally-X (1980) - A formula one racing game that takes place on a large scrolling maze (it scrolls in 4 directions) while you are being chased by evil red cars. The goal is to collect 10 yellow flags per level while avoiding the red cars, and boulders placed in your way. Historically significant for having a bonus round, believed to be the first while also one of the first games to feature continuous background music.

Lady Bug (1981) - Gameplay was based on Pac-Man with the significant upgrade being the use of gates which when crossed would change the layout of the maze. Instead of ghosts you need to avoid one of 8 different types of insects and instead of dots you eat flowers, letters and hearts. As someone who designs maze puzzles, the use of gates to change the maze is very interesting: check out how they are used in the gameplay video.

Ms. Pac-Man (1981) - This sequel to Pac-Man is considered by many the best version of the game because of a few tweaks to the gameplay - 4 different mazes, multiple warp tunnels on some levels, and fruits that move and appear differently. Argue amongst yourselves. Having played both I vote for this version. For many reasons that you can argue amongst yourselves, Ms. Pac Man is not considered the first playable female video game protagonist. Most consider Billie Sue from the arcade game Wabbit (1982) as having that title. What do you think ? Should our female dot eating puck be considered ?

First-person maze games

A game where the player has the same view as the character in the game.

Maze (1973) - Mentioned above as the first 3D first person game ever made, and the very first first person shooter game. Developed and played at MIT it was continually updated and and improved - adding additional players, map views, and scoring among them. The name changed multiple times as it was developed. Eventually it was developed into a separate game called Mazewar (1977) developed by Jim Guyton for the Xerox Alto.

Capture the Flag (1983) - Important because it was one of the first first person games to allow 360 degree movement, and also one of the first 3D games that was multiplayer. This game is the sequel to the game Wayout (1982) that added the second player. Gameplay was themed so that one player was trying to capture the flag while the other is defending it. Interesting in this game is that it can create an infinite number of different mazes for the players. The below gameplay video shows you how the screen was split for the two players with the map below.

Grid capture maze games

In a grid capture maze game the goal is for the player to visit every post in the maze/grid/level to move on to the next level. This is mostly done by traveling on the grid (much like an on-line type maze) rather than between the walls in the pathway.

Amidar (1981) - The original game that launched the genre. Gameplay is similar to Pac-Man in that you complete a level while avoiding enemies that are chasing you, however you travel ON the lines instead of in-between them. Once you complete a section by touching all the area surrounding it, the section colors in (see the purple blocks below). Every other level is played either as an ape collecting coconuts while being chased by headhunters, or a man with a paint roller being chased by pigs. Sounds weird, it is.

Although over 20 grid capture games were developed in the 5 years following the release of Amidar, none of the titles are recognizable to me.

 

final thoughts

Each of the 12 games above helped make gaming what it is today and make up the core foundation of maze video games. While most of these games came out in the 1980’s, we still have new Pac-Man and Bomberman titles coming out 40 years after their initial game releases. Maze video games include the all-time video game classics Dig Dug, Gauntlet, and Ms. Pac-Man. The easy to understand gameplay make maze video games easy for anyone to play. If you want to go retro and waste a day playing some fun games, try a few of these classics - I think you’ll like them !

 

You are on a website that is dedicated to mazes and labyrinths. The site is full of thousands of mazes for you to download and solve. I used to make fan art mazes and here is one a reader of this post would like:

Pac-Man Maze
download the pac-man maze