How to play Dig Dug online
- Dig and move: arrow keys
- Pump: Z or X. Hold the key to keep inflating a monster until it bursts; let go early and it slowly deflates and chases you again.
- Difficulty: the minus key – (the keypad’s * key) steps through the twelve settings, from the teddy bear beginner level up through the vegetables to pineapple; the picture in the middle of the option screen shows your choice
- One or two players: the = key (the keypad’s # key). Players alternate; player 2 uses I J K L and N or M.
- Start: Enter. Pause: P. Press P and then the emulator’s Restart to get back to the option screen.
- Continue: at Game Over, press Z for three more lives; your score and round carry on.
- Full screen and save states are in the emulator’s toolbar; move the mouse over the screen to see it.
Gameplay
Dig Dug digs tunnels through four layers of soil, chased by two kinds of monster: Pooka, a round red balloon in goggles, and Fygar, a green dragon that breathes fire. Fygar’s flame can reach you through a thin wall of dirt, so avoid lining up with it when it stops. Either monster kills you on touch, and both can turn into ghosts that drift through the earth; you can only pump them once they reach open tunnel.
The other weapon is the rocks. Dig out the earth beneath one and it drops on anything below, so get out of the way yourself. After the second rock has fallen in a round, a vegetable appears in the centre of the screen for about ten seconds. A round ends when every monster is popped, crushed or has fled off the top of the screen. You begin with three lives and earn more at 10,000 points, 40,000 points and every 40,000 after that.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Each chunk of dirt dug | 5 |
| Pooka popped (layer 1 / 2 / 3 / 4) | 200 / 300 / 400 / 500 |
| Fygar popped from above or below | 200 / 300 / 400 / 500 |
| Fygar popped from the side | 400 / 600 / 800 / 1,000 |
| Rock on one monster | 1,000 |
| Rock on two, three, four monsters | 2,500, 4,000, 6,000 |
| Vegetables, carrot to pineapple | 400 to 8,000 |
Tips
- Go deep. Monsters are worth more in the lower layers, so lead them down before you pump.
- Hit Fygar from the side. It is worth double. Stun it with a short pump, walk round to its side, then finish it off.
- Set rock traps. Dig a long tunnel under a rock and keep walking. When a monster closes in behind you, step aside and let the rock fall.
The story behind Dig Dug on the 5200
Namco’s Dig Dug, designed by Masahisa Ikegami, reached arcades in 1982 with Atari handling it in North America. Atari’s first home version was a 1982 cartridge for the 400/800 computers by Chris McQuilkin and Tracey Siesser, which came out months before the 5200 existed.
The 5200 cartridge (CX5211) was a fresh conversion by Tom Calderwood and Tom Flaherty of General Computer Corporation, made to show off the new console’s arcade-style graphics. It added the teddy bear level, higher starting levels and the continue feature. Atari later re-released this version for its computers too, with a “Dig It” card in the box explaining the new features. Computer Games magazine gave the 5200 game an A, while AtariProtos notes that the console’s non-centring joystick is not ideal for a game that needs precise turns.
