Classic Games

Adventure

The first action-adventure

Adventure for Atari 2600 created the action-adventure genre and contained gaming's first Easter egg, hidden by developer Warren Robinett.

atari-2600 adventurepioneers 1980

Overview

Adventure translated the text adventure experience into visual form on the Atari 2600. Players explored a kingdom of interconnected screens, collected items, and battled dragons. Its creator, Warren Robinett, defied Atari’s policy of anonymous developers by hiding his name inside the game, creating the first known video game Easter egg.

Fast facts

  • Developer: Warren Robinett.
  • Publisher: Atari.
  • Platform: Atari 2600.
  • Inspiration: Colossal Cave Adventure (text game).
  • Sales: Over one million copies.

Gameplay innovation

What Adventure introduced:

FeatureInnovation
Multiple screensContinuous explorable world
InventoryCarrying and using objects
Enemy AIDragons with distinct behaviours
Win conditionRetrieve chalice, return to castle

The dragons

Three dragons with personalities:

  • Yorgle (yellow): Guards the chalice, afraid of the gold key.
  • Grundle (green): Guards the magnet, aggressive.
  • Rhindle (red): Fastest, most dangerous (difficulty 3 only).

Each dragon could swallow the player or objects.

Items and objects

ItemFunction
SwordKills dragons
KeysOpens castles (colour matched)
MagnetAttracts objects
BridgeCrosses barriers
ChaliceGame objective

The Easter egg

Warren Robinett’s rebellion:

  • Atari did not credit developers.
  • Robinett hid a secret room.
  • Required specific pixel-perfect actions.
  • Room displayed “Created by Warren Robinett”.
  • First documented video game Easter egg.

The discovery led Atari to coin the term “Easter egg” for hidden content.

Technical achievement

On 4KB cartridge:

  • 30 distinct screens.
  • Object permanence (items stayed where dropped).
  • Collision detection with complex shapes.
  • Three difficulty variations.

Limitations embraced

Hardware constraints became design:

  • Single-colour dragons (simple but iconic).
  • Square player avatar (represented by dot).
  • Flickering when multiple objects on screen.
  • Mazes created sense of scale.

Cultural impact

Adventure established:

  • Visual adventure game template.
  • Easter egg tradition in games.
  • Developer recognition movement.
  • Action-RPG foundation.

Legacy references

Celebrated in modern culture:

  • Ready Player One features the game prominently.
  • Referenced in countless retro homages.
  • Atari Flashback and compilations.

See also