How to play Room of Doom online
- Move in eight directions: arrow keys
- Fire: Space bar (one bullet at a time)
- Show the game number / start the game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Choose one of the 64 game variations: F11 (the console’s Select switch); the number appears in the top left corner
- Choose the starting room: F4 and F9 (the left and right difficulty switches), see below
Gameplay
Each room is lined with doors that open and close slowly, with a gunman behind each one. While a door is open you can shoot the gunman for 75 points, but once it is fully open he fires back, and one hit costs you a life. The room’s monster follows you everywhere. Shooting it earns 50 points and stops it for a few seconds before it comes after you again. Many rooms also contain deadly objects, and touching them or the monster is as fatal as being shot.
A timer counts down in the top right corner. When it reaches zero, your bullets no longer affect the monster. You start with three reserve players. Clearing a room takes you to the next one and gives you an extra player, up to a maximum of six. When you run out of players, the game ends.
Variations and starting rooms
The 64 variations combine several features: doors that open and close or stay open all the time, gunmen who shoot only straight or also diagonally (you always can), normal or double speed, and in some games bullets you can steer after firing. The four groups of 16 also change how you shoot: games 1–16 let you fire at any time, 17–32 only after your last bullet has hit something, 33–48 only while moving, and 49–64 combine those two rules.
The difficulty switches choose the first room: both on B starts in room 1, left B and right A in room 3, left A and right B in room 5, and both on A in room 7.
Tips
- Shoot while the door is opening. A gunman only fires once his door is fully open, so hit him through the gap before that.
- Stun the monster first. Hit it before you line up a shot at a door, so it can’t reach you while you wait.
- Don’t leave the hardest gunmen for last. Once the timer runs out you can no longer stop the monster.
- Use the hidden continue. The manual hints at a secret way to keep playing after your last life. According to AtariMania, flipping the TV Type switch (F2 in the emulator) continues from the last room you reached, with three new players and the score reset to zero.
About CommaVid
CommaVid was founded in 1981 by Irwin Gaines, John Bronstein and Joseph Biel, and was first called Computer Magic Video. The manual presents it as a company of professionals from computing and the physical sciences. It released only six games before closing in 1983. Room of Doom was also sold in Europe, and in 2002 it became the base for a homebrew hack called Berzerk Renegade.
