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First Book of Commodore 64 Games

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COMPUTE!'s First Book of Commodore 64 Games is a 1983 collection of type-in games for the Commodore 64 from COMPUTE! Publications of Greensboro, North Carolina. ISBN 0-942386-34-5.[1] The Library of Congress record gives the extent as v, 217 pages (call number GV1469.2 .C657 1983).[2]

The cover describes it as 19 games, in BASIC and machine language, some unpublished and the rest from COMPUTE! magazine and COMPUTE!'s Gazette. Many were written for other machines and translated for the 64 by COMPUTE!'s staff, among them Gregg Peele, Charles Brannon, Patrick Parrish and Chris Metcalf.[3][4] The first chapter has articles by Richard Mansfield on writing first, simulation and arcade games, and Appendix D is Orson Scott Card's "Do You Want to Write Your Own Games?".[4]

Contents

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Page numbers are from the book's contents list.[4]

  • Foreword
  • Chapter 1: The 64 as a Game Machine, p. 1
  • Chapter 2: Maze Games, p. 27 (Rats!, Goblin, Snake Escape, The Viper)
  • Chapter 3: Thinking Games, p. 49 (States & Capitals Tutor, Mystery Spell, Oil Tycoon, Mosaic Puzzle)
  • Chapter 4: Dexterity, p. 81 (Blockhead, Diamond Drop, Laser Bounce)
  • Chapter 5: Arcade-Style Games, p. 103 (The Hawkmen of Dindrin, Minefield, Cylon Zap, Laser Gunner)
  • Chapter 6: Machine Language Games, p. 135 (the MLX machine language editor, Munchmaze, Richthofen's Revenge, Zuider Zee)
  • Appendix A: Beginner's Guide to Typing In Programs, p. 193
  • Appendix B: How to Type In Programs, p. 197
  • Appendix C: Maze Generator, p. 199
  • Appendix D: Do You Want to Write Your Own Games?, p. 211
  • Index, p. 217

What this book does not contain

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It is a book of program listings. It has no schematics, parts lists or component values; for those use the Commodore 64 / 64C Service Manual. The sequel is COMPUTE!'s Second Book of Commodore 64 Games.

Download: Computes First Book of Commodore 64 Games.pdf

References

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  1. ↑ COMPUTE!'s First Book of Commodore 64 Games (COMPUTE! Publications, 1983), title page and copyright page (PDF pp. 3-4).
  2. ↑ Open Library, Compute!'s first book of Commodore 64 games, record OL2879095M, from Library of Congress catalogue data (LCCN 84-101481). Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. ↑ COMPUTE!'s First Book of Commodore 64 Games, front cover (PDF p. 1).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 COMPUTE!'s First Book of Commodore 64 Games, Contents, pp. iii-iv (PDF pp. 5-6).
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