1970s
Lunar Lander
1979 · Simulation · Arcade
Overview
Lunar Lander is a classic 1970s simulation game developed by Atari for Arcade.
Deep Dive
Lunar Lander is a classic 1970s simulation game developed by Atari for Arcade.
Developer Story
Atari's Lunar Lander was designed by Rich Moore and released in 1979 as a vector graphics arcade game. It was based on the 1969 text simulation but rendered with beautiful line-drawn graphics. Interestingly, Atari originally planned the game to use Asteroids hardware but developed dedicated hardware instead. The cabinet used a thrust handle and rotation controls to simulate the Apollo lunar module.
Did You Know?
- Lunar Lander was the first commercially released vector graphics arcade game — Asteroids, which became far more famous, was released later the same year on the same hardware.
- A "buy more fuel" option was built into the game — players could insert coins mid-game to continue, one of the first examples of monetising game continuations.
- The terrain was randomly generated for each play, meaning no two landings were on the same surface.
- The game used authentic physics — the lander had inertia and the thrust was continuous rather than instantaneous, requiring players to think ahead.
