How to play Telepathy online
The game was designed for the MindLink, not a joystick. According to AtariProtos, pressing the joystick button lets you play it without the headband. Expect the controls to feel a little different from what Atari intended.
- Move: arrow keys
- Joystick button: Space bar
- Start a new game: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
Gameplay
Each game opens with a sign that drops down from the top of the screen to tell you which mine you are in. Your little man then works through seven screens:
- The Plain: guide an odd, antenna-headed figure over a winding trail of glowing triangles that leads to a hole in the ground.
- Spiders: get past bouncing spiders and reach the exit before time runs out.
- Elevators: make your way down past moving platforms against the clock.
- Ledges: drop from ledge to ledge while dodging fast fireballs.
- The Mashers: time your steps between crushers that come down from the ceiling.
- The Miner: walk left to rescue a trapped miner, or head right and leave him behind.
- The River: steer through gaps in the river walls and keep clear of the piranhas.
Deeper mines are harder, with faster enemies. If you leave the game alone, a demo mode plays through all the screens, which is a handy way to see what each one asks of you.
The MindLink and why Telepathy was never released
The MindLink was a headband that plugged into the joystick port. Atari presented it as a way to control games with your mind, but in practice it picked up small movements of the muscles in your forehead. In testing it did not work well, and players complained of headaches and dizziness. Atari cancelled the controller, and the games written for it went with it. Telepathy is not mentioned in any known internal Atari documents; it is known only from a surviving prototype cartridge. Its companion is Bionic Breakthrough, the other surviving 2600 prototype written for the MindLink.
