Lode Runner

In 1982, Douglas E. Smith wrote a game in Fortran on a Prime Computer 550 of the University of Washington which he called Kong. It was soon ported to VAX and obviously enjoyed some popularity in campus. In September of the same year, he rewrote it in assemply on his Apple ][ as Miner in the hope to sell it. He was at first turned down, but by Christmas, an improved version (now called Lode Runner) was accepted by four companies Smith chose Brøderbund, and the game was released in summer 1983, originally for Apple ][, 8-bit Atari, Commodore 64, and PC.

Lode Runner takes places on single screen levels with platforms and ladders, similar to Chuckie Egg and other contemporary games. The player has to collect all the gold on the level while avoiding the guards. An exit door will then appear. The unique gameplay element in Lode Runner is the ability to dig holes, in which guards are temporarily trapped.

Lode Runner became an all-time classic. In the subsequent years, it was ported to many European and Japanese platforms. In 1994, it was remade with high-resolution 256-color graphics as Lode Runner: The Legend Returns. It gave inspiration to many clones and look-alikes, some of which you can find below.

Douglas E. Smith (sometimes credited as Doug Smith) pursued a career in the game industry. Among other things, he contributed to the graphics of Defender of the Crown, designed some levels for Lemmings 2: The Tribes, and worked on the localization of Chrono Trigger.

Clones and Similar Games

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