Popular games for platform Sinclair ZX81

During the American Gold Rush you are digging for gold. While excavating gold you must be aware of giant rats and a vicious Gremlin which comes to infest the mine. Snakes can be used to eat the rats. This a 16K program which uses "high-resolution"graphics.

Backgammon for the ZX81 with 16K memory expansion module or for the ZX Spectrum.

You have five days to escape from the Oracle's Cave and gather as much treasure along the way as possible.

To clear the level, you must destroy all the UFOs while avoiding falling bombs and blocks. Blocks cannot be destroyed by your own bullets, but will disappear if hit by an enemy bomb.

The classic Defenders (Atari 2600 and other platforms) but then in a first person 3D perspective. This game is to be run with a 16K expansion module. You fly over a planet and have a proximity radar indicating where (left-right) an enemy is. Your radar can show false hits when meteorites fall down. The enemies go down and you get points (250) if you shoot them before they reach the ground. The enemies will shoot at you and you will have to try to prevent being hit. If an enemy reaches the ground and can fly up and away again you loose points (50). You have a shield which can take take 10 hits. With either one of the keys q-t moves you left-down. y-p right-down. a-g left-up, h-newline right up. z-m shoots the laser. Using two keys at once allows you to move non-diagonal.

An unofficial port of Atari's Centipede made by Jeff Minter in the early years of Llamasoft.

A unique platformer with twist. While being chased by a giant blob you need to gather fuel and a rocket on the right platform. After this you can fly, over water, to the left platforms to gather jewels. Given the capabilities of the ZX81 an wonderfull game in "high-res".

"Sam Mallard: The Case of the Missing Swan" is a short film noir adventure on the go with 15 different locations to explore and a fantastic 8-bit Jazz noir sound-track.

Galaxians & Gloops is a double game pack that contains: Galaxians: Based on the arcade game, you control a craft at the bottom of the screen, moving left or right, blasting alien ships in formation above firing missiles at you. As you blast the aliens, some aliens will swoop down firing missiles as well. If you are hit by an alien or its missiles then you lose one of three lives. Before the game you have a number of options that can be selected and they are speed (0-9), firing rate (0-9) and how many swoop at one time (0-9). Gloops: A Pac-Man clone that has you moving about a maze eating all the dots to clear the maze. As you eat the dots, Gloops move around the maze as well and if you touch one then you lose one of three lives. There are power-pills and if you eat one then you can eat the Gloops for a short time. Before the game you have two options that can be selected and they are speed (0-9) and a choice of ten mazes.

Pac Rabbit is a Pac-Man clone where you take the role of a rabbit and you move about a maze eating all the dots to clear the maze. As you eat the dots you must avoid the hounds that are hunting you but you can eat magic carrots which enable you to eat the hounds for a short time. If you touch a hound then you lose one of ten lives. There are six mazes split into two parts, Rabbits Revenge and Run Rabbit Run and you can choose the speed of the game (0-9) with zero being the fastest.

10 Games is a collection of games and programs on one tape. The collection contains: Klingons: You are a spaceship returning from a mining expedition and you have run into a Battlefleet of Klingons but you have no guns so with your shield you must ram them all. The game is viewed from above with you scrolling down the screen and the Klingons scrolling upwards. You receive extra points for any Battleships or Motherships that you hit. Crash-Landing: Your spaceship has been hit by a meteor and you are prepared for a crash landing on a planet with the only control you have is using your rockets. The game is text only and you see your fuel levels, velocity, height and the time. Simon: Based on the classic game where the computer shows you a sequence of colours and you have to input the same sequence. Every time you get the sequence correct, the computer adds another colour to the same sequence. Artist: A drawing program that allows you to draw pictures and shapes on the screen with a cursor. UFO: A row of UFO's sit on the top of the screen and your spaceship scrolls from the left of the screen below them, firing one shot at a time to remove parts of the UFO's. Every time you hit a UFO you score a point and you start scrolling from the left of the screen again. Missing a UFO or hitting the right side of the screen loses you points. Code: Based on the game Mastermind, the computer thinks of a 4 digit number and you have to guess it within a set number of guesses. Once you enter a number the computer tells you which number is correct in the right place and which number is correct in the wrong place. Asteroids: Your spaceship has hit an asteroid field and like the game Klingons you have no gun but instead of ramming the asteroids you must avoid them for as long as possible. Bomber: The game is viewed from the side as you watch a Bomber fly from left to right across the screen. The land is below with a dam on it and you must drop a bomb to hit the dam. Each dam that you see appears in a different location. Kaleidescope: This is program based on the toy where you see dots moving about the screen making symmetrical shapes. There is no interaction from the player. Guillotine: A two player game based on the pen and paper game Hangman but instead of saving your self from being hanged you must stop yourself from getting your head chopped off by a Guillotine. Player One enters a word and Player two has to type in letters to guess the word. Get a letter right and it appears in the word but get it wrong and a Guillotine starts to appear.

Raider is a Scramble clone that has you flying over the surface of a planet before flying through a cavern bombing the installations and missile dumps. As you fly, missiles and aliens will fly towards you and you can either bomb them or use your laser. You are able to move your craft up or down, and left or right to avoid the missiles and aliens as well. If you hit a missile, alien or the planet's surface then you lose one of three lives. A fuel gauge decreases as you fly but you can increase it by bombing fuel dumps.

Asteroids (Software Farm) is a clone of the Arcade version which sees your craft in the middle of an asteroid field and you must destroy all the asteroids to survive. The asteroids start off large and when you shoot one then it splits into two, and shooting an asteroid this size splits it into two again before being destroyed with another shot. Occasionally an alien craft appears moving across the screen and this can be destroyed for extra points. If you are hit by an asteroid or the alien craft then you lose one of three lives. You are able to turn your ship 360 degrees as well as move forward. There are three skill levels (1-3) and four players can play with each player taking it in turn when the last player is killed.

Airline is an economic strategy game, with the player taking the role of a Chairman for L-AIR, an air company whose business starts off with £3 million. He has 7 years to increase his net assets to £30 million. The player can charter, buy or sell aircraft, as well as managing staffing, maintenance and insurance. Situations in game (like hijacks, air crashes and sabotage) and costs (of fuel and aircrafts, tax demands etc.) are realistic. The graphics are simplified, made ​​up almost entirely of tables and texts.

Bat Cage is an action game where the player has to capture bats while fighting off other bats that try to rescue them. The playing field consists of a bat cage in the bottom and above it a bat flap around and there are also eight bat eggs bouncing around. The player controls a bar that can be moved around freely. It is used to capture the bat eggs which are taken to the bat cage where they can hatch. As soon as the hatching begins the bat at the top of the screen will attack and try to rescue the egg. The player then has to use the bar to fend it off. It works a bit similar to Breakout as the bat will bounce back up again when it makes contact with the bar. The player then scores points as long as the egg hatches. Ultimately the attacking bat will give up and retreat and the player can move on to the next egg that needs to be captured. As the game goes on the player will reach bonus levels and the number of attacking bats will increase. The game is over when the bats stay at the top of the screen and no longer attack when the player hatches his eggs. The game can be set to different skill levels (1-36) that alters the speed of the game.

Breakout 3 is based on the arcade game Breakout but instead of the bat on the bottom of the screen, the bat is on the left side of the screen. The aim is to hit bricks on the right of the screen to make them disappear but if you let the ball past the bat then you lose one of three lives. Before the start of the game you can choose whether to play with one or two bats, and playing with two bats has them parallel to each other a small distance apart. There are also three types of games to play and they are: Practise Game: A normal game with the choice to choose the speed of the bat (1-4) with 1 being the slowest. Progressive Game: Every time you hit the ball it speeds up and also removing a set of bricks makes the ball faster. Acceleration Game: The ball will speed up for every 10th brick disappearing and it speeds up when all the bricks have been removed.

J.D. Arcades is a collection of three games that contains: UXB: You have to move around a maze to catch four tumblers, which are numbered and must be collected in the correct order. Once you have collected them all then you must get to the detonator before a fuse reaches it. If you collect the wrong tumbler or hit the fuse then it is game over. Strategic Invaders: A Space Invaders clone where you control a base moving left or right, blasting aliens who are above in formation, moving across the screen, slowly descending downwards dropping bombs. Between your base and the aliens are shields which lose parts every time you hit one or the aliens do. One unique feature is that each position on the screen your base is on, only has nine shots. It is game over if you get hit by an aliens bomb or you allow them to land. Laser Patrol: A side view shooter where you must move a spacecraft up or down to either avoid or blast asteroids that move across the screen from right to left. if you hit an asteroid then it is game over.

Asteroids (Silversoft) is a clone of the Arcade version which sees your craft in the middle of an asteroid field and you must destroy all the asteroids to survive. The asteroids start off large and when you shoot one then it splits into two, and shooting an asteroid this size splits it into two again before being destroyed with another shot. Occasionally an alien craft appears moving across the screen and this can be destroyed for extra points. If you are hit by an asteroid or the alien craft then you lose one of three lives. You are able to turn your ship 360 degrees as well as move forward.

Stinger is a tank-shooter with several enemies, levels, power-ups and items to pick.

Shuriken is somehow inspired by Pac-man and Pengo.

Comboio Espacial is a game for the Sinclair ZX81, where you must protect your convoy by destroying enemy ships and avoiding hitting the space mines.