''Ladder'' is a
platform game similar to Nintendo's ''
Donkey Kong'' written for the
CP/M operating system
CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/ 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. Initial ...
and made to be operated on the early
Kaypro line of luggable computers. ''Ladder'' was written by
Yahoo Software
Yahoo Software was an early developer of computer software. During the 1980s, Yahoo Software created the games which were bundled with the early line of Kaypro "luggable" computers. These games include ''Ladder'', ''CatChum'', ''Aliens'' and ...
of
Los Angeles,
California.
Along with ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'', ''
CatChum
''CatChum'' is a text-only clone of '' Pac-Man'' written for the CP/M operating system and made to be operated on the early Kaypro line of luggable computers.
CatChum was made within the limitations of Kaypro's early text-only computers. As a res ...
'' and ''
Aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
'', ''Ladder'' was one of the games that came with the software bundle of the early
Kaypro computers.
Gameplay
Since the Kaypro only has a text mode, the game uses letters, numbers, and symbols lined up to create walls and platforms, pits/traps, characters, trampolines and goals. The floors in ''Ladder'' are made of equal signs, and the ladders themselves are made of capital "H"s stacked on top of each other. The "lad" controlled by the player starts out as the letter "P" (lowercase "q" on left), the treasure is the dollar sign "
$" and the ampersand "
&", and barrels ("der rocks") are represented by "o"s.
The catchphrase of the game reminded the acolyte player that there are more ways than one to skin a cat. This referred to the fact that the minimized traverse of almost all levels could be enhanced by inventive utilisation of the game features, and the highest levels absolutely required it. These could entail (at the apex of the game) for instance jumping on a trampoline at precisely the right speed and point of impact to fall into one of the pit/traps, at the right timing that there would be no barrels passing for a sufficient interval.
References
External links
* Stephen Ostermiller's
Clone of ''Ladder'' for Java
1982 video games
CP/M games
Platform games
Video game clones
Video games developed in the United States
Video games with textual graphics
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