''Kid Grid'' is a grid capture game which borrows heavily from the 1981

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arca ...

Amidar ''Amidar'' is a video game developed by Konami and released in arcades in 1981 by Stern. The format is similar to that of ''Pac-Man'': the player moves around a fixed rectilinear lattice, attempting to visit each location on the board while a ...

''. Written by Arti Haroutunian for the

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

, it was published by Tronix in 1982. A

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

port from the same programmer was released in 1983.

Gameplay

The objective is to color all of the lines on the grid by moving over them, capturing the 35 squares. Four pursuers kill the player on contact: Moose, Squashface, Muggy, and Thuggy. They are visually unique, but have the same behavior. Question marks randomly appear in some squares which give bonus points when captured. Pressing the joystick button briefly stuns the enemies so they don't move and can be passed through by the player (analogous to "jumps" in ''Amidar''). A fixed number of stuns are available. There are five selectable difficulty levels, and the game can be played with 3, 5, or 7 stuns.

Development

Arti Haroutunian wrote ''Kid Grid'' in two months using the

Atari Assembler Editor Atari Assembler Editor (sometimes written as Atari Assembler/Editor) is a ROM cartridge-based development system released by Atari, Inc. in 1981. It is used to edit, assemble, and debug 6502 programs for the Atari 8-bit family of home computer ...

cartridge. He did the Commodore 64 port himself. Tronix ran magazine adverts promoting both ''Kid Grid'' and another game by Haroutunian, ''Juice!'', mentioning him by name.

Reception

The reviewer for ''

Antic Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977-1978 by ...

'' called it, "the most exciting mutation of ''Pac-Man'' I have ever played."

David H. Ahl David H. Ahl (born May 17, 1939) is an American author who is the founder of ''Creative Computing (magazine), Creative Computing'' magazine. He is also the author of many how-to books, including ''BASIC Computer Games'', the first computer book t ...

criticized the simplistic sound effects, but concluded, "All in all, we found ''Kid Grid'' to be one of the most playable and addictive games around. It is cute, fast, and fun." ''

Electronic Games An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

'' wrote, "The play mechanic alone makes this one of the most compulsive, utterly addictive contests in the world of computer gaming" and "''Kid Grid'' has play value coming out of its ears and enough speed to give even its inspiration, ''Amidar'', a run for its money." ''

Electronic Fun with Computers & Games ''Electronic Fun with Computers & Games'' was a video game magazine published in the United States from November 1982 to May 1984. For the last two issues it was renamed ''ComputerFun''. Content The magazine was split up into the following sect ...

'' also compared ''Kid Grid'' to ''Amidar'', calling out three differences: "The grid is square, not irregular...there is no bonus round (or bonus points for finishing a grid) and the monsters are more intent on killing you and less intent on having a good time." In a "C−" review, ''Addison Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984'' wrote, "the game's utter simplicity works against it after repeated play. There is only one maze and a simple strategy to keep one step ahead of the pursuing creatures."

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=https://dadgum.com/giantlist, title=The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers, last1=Hague, first1=James {{cite web , title=Kid Grid Atari Manual , url=https://archive.org/details/KidGridTronix/mode/2up , website=archive.org , publisher=Tronix , date=1982 {{cite journal , last1=Ellison , first1=Peter , title=Interview: Arti Haroutunian , journal=ROM , date=April 1984 , issue=5 , page=8 , url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/rom/issue5/interview.php {{cite journal , last1=van Horn , first1=Shisha , title=Kid Grid , journal=Electronic Fun with Computers & Games , date=February 1983 , page=65 , url=http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/magazines/electronic_fun/electronic_fun_feb83.pdf

External links

''Kid Grid''
at Atari Mania
Review
in ''

Commodore Power/Play ''Commodore Power/Play'' was one of a pair of computer magazines published by Commodore Business Machines in the United States in support of their 8-bit home computer lines of the 1980s. The other was called ''Commodore Interface'', changed to jus ...

''
Review
in ''

Creative Computing ''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format th ...