Popular games for platform Sinclair ZX81

Game based on the notes of the Graf Spee expedition to South Atlantic Ocean.

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".

Kids TV favourite Postman Pat aims to stamp his authority on the games scene by delivering a first-class licensed game. Your job is to guide Pat and his van around a particularly busy day of work.First you go to the post office where Mrs Goggins will give you the letters or parcel to be delivered.You will also have to help herding Peter Fogg's sheep, and do all this against a time limit. The game includes a rendition of the show's music, as well as two difficultly levels - according to the inlay the easy version is for children, and the harder one for 'the serious gamer'.


Aeroporto 83 is an action shooter game developed by Renato Degiovani and published by the magazine Micro Sistemas, it is considered to be one of the first Brazilian computer games to be commercially released.

Damper/Glooper is a double games pack that contains the following: Damper: A city in the jungle is losing it's power due to Leeches on the grid. In this maze game you must move along the grid and damp the dotted lines which turns them solid. As you move around the grid, Leeches also move about and if you touch one then you lose one of three lives. Glooper: A Pac-Man clone where you have to move about a maze to eat all the dots while avoiding three creatures moving about the maze. If you touch a creature then you lose one of three lives but there are power-pills that can be collected and this allows you to eat the creatures for a short time.

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.

QS Defender is a side scrolling shooter that although it is inspired by it, lacks many features of the arcade game Defender. This version is constantly scrolling left to right and there is no option to turn around and move in the opposite direction. The player can move up and down, fire and use thrust to increase the movement speed forward. There is only one enemy type and each one killed is worth 100 points. Enemies appear in waves. At the start there are just a few but as the player progresses it gets more hectic with up to eight enemies on the screen at once. The player has nine ships. When getting hit the screen goes black for a few seconds before it starts again with a clear screen and one ship less. Once all ships are lost the game has to be restarted through basic.

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.

Artic Computing's take on Reversi

ZX Asteroids is based on the arcade game where you are a craft sitting in the middle of the screen surrounded by large asteroids moving about the screen. You have to blast all the asteroids, and when one is shot then it splits into smaller asteroids and keeps repeating the process until the asteroid has gone. You can turn your craft left or right 360 degrees but you can also move forwards. Occasionally an alien craft will appear and when shot gives you bonus points. If you are hit by an asteroid or the alien craft then you lose one of three lives. Two players can play and each player takes it in turns when the other player loses a life and there are five levels of play (1-5) with one being the easiest.

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.
If you ever felt sorry for the ghosts, the orphans they left behind, and wondered what would happen when Pac-Man became the ruling elite, then this is for you. Whilst researching to see if the ZX81 was capable of doing justice to an isometric game along the lines of Ant Attack! or KnightLore, Bob's Stuff coded a program to display a single height map of tiles, and it looked a bit like a maze. Along with the code examples, he'd also been experimenting with the graphics required for such a game, and produced a cute little ghost. An idea then began to germinate... a maze, and some ghosts? Why not try a scrolling isometric Pac-Man? He's still not sure if a full isometric game is possible (that's for another day) but a scrolling flat one certainly is, and he's really pleased with the results. It looks good, is fluid and responsive, and features most of the aspects of the original - including the (slightly bugged) A.I. and attack patterns. Having a ghost as the main character means that I've had to supplemented the concept of 'lives' for 'spirit' - I mean, a ghost doesn't have a life, does it? - which introduces a slight twist on how you play the game.
Help our hero protect his colony by repelling the attack of voracious killer spiders in this exciting ZX81 game.

O Aventureiro is a text-adventure where in search of an adventure, you clandestinely teleport aboard a cargo ship whose crew is made up of exotic beings from various planets. Your objective is to accumulate all the money you can by searching the ship's rooms.

A collection of 8 games for the Sinclair ZX81 with an a 16K memory expansion module. Invaders A Space Invaders clone with an extra shield that can be activated for a brief moment in time. Life A simulation of cell growth. The player can set a patern and see if/how it grows. 3D Tick-Tac-Toe A 3D Tic-Tac-Toe game. The aim is to make a straight line of 4 dots. You play against the computer. Galaxy Invaders A shoot em up where the player is at the bottom trying to shoot alien crafts moving around the screen. Gun Fight An Outlaw clone. You try to shoot a cowboy on the other side of the screen and you can take cover behind a carriage. ZX Scramble A Scramble clone where the player flies through a tunnel from left to right which bombing installations on the gound. Snakebite A Snake clone. Fungaloids The player flies at the top of the screen bombing funguses growing into the air. When a funcgus is destroid it can throw spores into the air which must be dodges. Be aware not to bomb installations on the ground. Fuel can be collected at the side of the screen.

Galaxians is a clone of Galaxian. The player's goal is to destroy a matrix of enemy spaceships which is gradually descending on the screen. Single ships will sometimes leave the formation and bombard the player with multiple shots. There's only a single scenario with a single type of spaceship. The process repeats itself when a squadron is completely eliminated, but the difficulty increases.