''Typo Attack'' is an educational game 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, ...

designed to improve the user's typing skill. It was written by David Buehler and published by the

Atari Program Exchange Atari Program Exchange (APX) was a division of Atari, Inc. that sold software via mail-order for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. Quarterly APX catalogs were sent to all registered Atari 8-bit owners. APX encouraged any programmer, not j ...

in 1982. Buehler was seventeen when the game won the Atari Star Award for the best APX program of 1982. In 1984,

Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...

moved ''Typo Attack'' into its official line as a cartridge. After writing ''Typo Attack'', Buehler had two action games published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1983: '' Wyzle!'' and ''Impact''.

Gameplay

The game takes place on a single screen, divided up into multiple columns. At the bottom of each column is a letter or punctuation symbol and various enemies appear randomly at the top of the columns. Players must press the corresponding letter in a column in order to make the letter fire at the advancing enemies. If an enemy reaches the bottom of the screen they will remove part of the shield around the letter, and if it is eaten away completely the player will lose a life. Depending on the level, the letters assigned to each column will change at irregular intervals.

Development

A version was planned for the unreleased Atari CX-3000 Graduate, an add-on which turned the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...

into a home computer.

References

External links

*
''Typo Attack'' (cartridge)
at Atari Mania

at AtariAge 1982 video games Atari Program Exchange software Atari 8-bit family games Atari 8-bit family-only games Atari 8-bit family software Fixed shooters Video games developed in the United States Typing video games {{edu-videogame-stub