Hosted by the University of Plymouth
Hosted by the University of Plymouth
A game in which you play the role of a caveman, attempting to steal eggs from a dinosaur, without getting caught by the dinosaur itself, attacked by a pterodactyl, or hit by rocks from an erupting volcano! The multi-coloured Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) presented some of the better graphics ... (read more)Tomy, 1982
A code-breaking game in which the machine selects a sequence of up to five random numbers and the player then has to work out the correct code. This is done by entering a sequence and then pressing the TRY key in order to reveal how many of the entered digits are within the sequence that the mach... (read more)Invicta, 1977
One of many tabletop chess computers released by Fidelity Electronics in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This one was the first to distinguish itself by being able to speak the moves that the player entered and which the computer itself it wished to make. Other models included 'sensory' featur... (read more)Fidelity Electronics, 1979
Galaxy Invader is a classic style shoot-em-up, clearly inspired by arcade hit Space Invaders. The invaders in this case are presented at random positions across a 3-column green LED display, and are worth different points depending upon how far up the screen they are shot. As in the original sp... (read more)CGL, 1981
Another game inspired by Space Invaders, involving a fairly narrow column of invaders advancing down the screen. As with some versions of Space Invaders in the arcade, the screen is coloured so that the alien ships change colour as they move down. The game has a particularly loud beeper; guaran... (read more)Grandstand, 1980
A hand-held electronic game for one or two players, this was the first of two games to be marketed using the name of footballer Kevin Keegan. The gameplay is rather rudimentary, with players and the ball both represented by LED stripes (the ball being lit a little more brightly!). (read more)Grandstand, 1979
A game that requires the player to work out the correct number sequence, using sequences of 3, 4 or 5 digits. After the player's guess, the game would report how many of the numbers were correct and how many were in the correct sequence. (read more)Milton Bradley, 1977
Merlin (sometimes known as Merlin, the Electronic Wizard) was a handheld electronic game first made by Parker Brothers in 1978. Offering six games, including tic-tac-toe, blackjack and 'Magic Square', Merlin is notable as one of the earliest and most popular handheld games, selling over 5 million... (read more)Parker Brothers, 1978
Perhaps notable for being the only Pac-Man game that was less like the arcade original than Munchman was! Mini-Munchman was a pocket-sized game with a monochromatic LCD display, which also doubled as a clock and alarm (clearly aping the defining characteristic of Nintendo's popular Game & Watch... (read more)CGL, 1981
Munchman is a tabletop electronic game that was released under license in 1981 in the UK by Grandstand. It is a rebadged version of a Tomy game known as Pac Man in the US and Puck Man in Japan, and was one of many games released to capitalise on the Pac Man craze of the early 1980s. (read more)Grandstand, 1981
The DS Lite was the first redesign of the popular DS handheld, which had originally been released in 2004. As the name suggests, the key difference was a slimmer, lighter design, with the device weighing 218 grams (as opposed to the 275 of the original). It did, however, also enjoy a slightly l... (read more)Nintendo, 2006
Produced by Entex, this was arguably the very best of the handheld Pac-Man games of the era. Not only was the playfield (maze) closest to the arcade version, it was also sufficiently fast to feel genuinely playable (unlike the more popular Munchman game of the same era, which was somewhat . . . ... (read more)Entex, 1981
Literally a pocket-sized clone of the original tabletop Simon (provided that you had a fairly generously sized pocket). The games are exactly the same as the full size version, although those that are designed for multiple players are perhaps less effective with everyone gathered around this sma... (read more)Milton Bradley, 1980
A very respectable handheld Pac-Man game, offering a playfield that was similar to the arcade concept, and control via a small joystick rather than the direction buttons that other handhelds of the era had tended towards. Colourful LED graphics, a decent speed, and the fact that your Pac-Man cha... (read more)CGL, 1982
A tabletop game that aims to be at least a little similar to the classic arcade game of the same name. The main similarly is that it is a sideways scrolling game in which you have to shoot and bomb things without losing lives. The differences are pretty much everything else. However, it was n... (read more)Grandstand, 1982
Simon is an electronic game of rhythm and memory skill, invented by Ralph H. Baer (also responsible for the first TV game) and Howard J. Morrison, and manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley. Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City, and became an immediate success. It beca... (read more)Milton Bradley, 1978
Snoopy is a Tabletop and Panorama Game & Watch video game released in June of 1983 by Nintendo (the version on display here is the panorama edition). In both games, you're required to hit the musical notes when they arrive in the appropriate position. Nintendo released a number of titles in this... (read more)Nintendo, 1983
One of many handheld games arising from the arcade hit Space Invaders. This particular model represents one of the closer parallels to the arcade version, with rows of advancing invaders and a bonus points for the flyer saucer! (read more)Entex, 1980
A Tandy-badged version of Gakken's Galaxy Invader 2000, which many will also have known as the CGL-badged Galaxy Invader 10000. The explanation is that many handheld games got licenced and rebadged by other companies, sometimes with casing and colour changes (in this particular case, the shape a... (read more)Tandy, 1984
The Little Professor was a children's educational toy / game released by Texas Instruments in 1976. Electronic calculators were now low cost available items which could be targetted at children and those with straightforward requirements. (read more)Texas Instruments, 1976
