Kid Grid

Kid Grid is a grid capture game which borrows heavily from the 1981 arcade game Amidar.[2][3] Written by Arti Haroutunian for the Atari 8-bit family, it was published by Tronix in 1982.[1] A Commodore 64 port was released in 1983.[4]

Kid Grid
Developer(s)Tronix
Publisher(s)Tronix
Programmer(s)Arti Haroutunian[1]
Platform(s)Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64
Release1982: Atari
1983: C64
Genre(s)Maze
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay
The Kid, just below the center of the screen, trailing a blue line (Atari 8-bit)

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.[5] They are visually unique, but have the same behavior. Question marks randomly appear in some squares which give bonus points when captured.[6] 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).[5] 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.[3]

Development

Arti Haroutunian wrote Kid Grid in two months using the Atari Assembler Editor cartridge.[7] 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.[8]

Reception

The reviewer for Antic called it, "the most exciting mutation of Pac-Man I have ever played."[9] David H. Ahl 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."[6] Electronic Games 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."[2]

Electronic Fun with Computers & Games 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."[3]

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."[10]

See also

References
  1. Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  2. Richardson, Will (May 1983). "Computer Gaming: Kid Grid". Electronic Games. 1 (15): 66–67.
  3. van Horn, Shisha (February 1983). "Kid Grid" (PDF). Electronic Fun with Computers & Games: 65.
  4. Kid Grid at Lemon 64
  5. "Kid Grid Atari Manual". archive.org. Tronix. 1982.
  6. Ahl, David H. (May 1984). "Thirteen Great New Games". Creative Computing: 121.
  7. Ellison, Peter (April 1984). "Interview: Arti Haroutunian". ROM (5): 8.
  8. "Tronix magazine ad". Atari Mania.
  9. Welch, Bryan (August 1983). "Product Reviews: Kid Grid". Antic. 2 (8): 92.
  10. Addison Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984. archive.org. Addison Wesley. 1984. p. 135.
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