How to play Chase the Chuck Wagon online
- Move Chuckie: arrow keys
- Stop the dog dish on the reward screen: Space bar
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Normal or expert mode: F4 (the Player 1 difficulty switch)
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
Gameplay
Each of the four maze layouts has its exit at the top of the screen, right under the chuck wagon. The dogcatcher chases Chuckie, and if he touches him you lose a life. A bouncing object also crosses the screen, ignoring the walls; if it hits Chuckie he freezes for a moment, losing time and maybe getting caught.
After each maze comes a reward screen: a dog dish drops from the chuck wagon, and you turn Chuckie left or right to face it and press the button at the right moment to stop it. Catch it and Chuckie eats, for 100 bonus points; miss it and you move on to the next maze. The rest of your score comes from the time left when you finish each maze. You start with three lives, and the game ends when they are all gone.
In expert mode you get only thirty seconds per maze and everything moves faster. In both modes the game speeds up as you go.
Tips
- Watch the bouncing object, not just the dogcatcher. It passes through walls, so it can reach you anywhere, and being frozen near the dogcatcher usually costs a life.
- Finish fast. Leftover time adds to your score, so a quick route through the maze pays off twice.
- Face the dish first. On the reward screen, turn Chuckie towards the dish early so you only need to time the button.
The story behind Chase the Chuck Wagon
The game was never sold in shops. Ralston Purina offered it by mail order to customers who sent in proofs of purchase from bags of its dog food. The programming was done by Mike Schwartz for TMQ, a small studio also known as ICOM Simulations. He later recalled that a good friend who ran TMQ needed the game done over a weekend, that it took him about three days, and that he borrowed from the code of Artillery Duel, his first game; the sound effects are nearly the same.
The promotion did not do well, and the leftover cartridges were destroyed, so the game is hard to find today, especially with its box and manual. It is often called the “Holy Grail” of 2600 collecting, even though several other 2600 games are rarer. Reviewers have been far less excited about the game than collectors are about the cartridge.
Similar games to play next
- Artillery Duel – the game whose code Chase the Chuck Wagon borrowed
- Kool-Aid Man – another 2600 game starring a food brand’s mascot
- Tooth Protectors – another promotional cartridge, this one about keeping teeth healthy
- Gangster Alley – a shooting game from the same publisher, Spectravision
- Maze Craze – Atari’s race to find the way out of a maze