Developer: Atari

Atari made the Atari 2600 itself, first sold as the Atari Video Computer System in September 1977, and it was also the console’s biggest publisher. The very first cartridges were Atari’s own, and many were sold by Sears under different names in its Tele-Games line. In 1980 it brought out Taito’s Space Invaders, the first arcade game officially licensed for a home console, and many more arcade conversions followed.
The site lists 135 games under Atari, from 1977 launch titles to cartridges released in the late 1980s, after Jack Tramiel’s Atari Corporation took over the business and revived the 2600. Here are a few to begin with:

Space Invaders (1980): Rick Maurer’s version of the arcade game, with many variations.
Missile Command (1981): Rob Fulop’s conversion of Atari’s own arcade game about defending six cities.
Pac-Man (1982): Tod Frye’s much-criticised version, which still became the console’s best-selling cartridge.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982): Howard Scott Warshaw’s puzzle adventure based on the first Indiana Jones film.
Video Chess (1979): a full chess opponent squeezed into a machine with 128 bytes of memory.
Solaris (1986): Doug Neubauer’s space combat game from the Atari Corporation years.

Browse the full list below and play any of these Atari games in your browser.

Basic Math

Basic Math is an educational cartridge programmed by Gary Palmer and one of the games Atari sold when the 2600 first went on sale in September 1977. It is less a game than a set of arithmetic drills…

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Xenophobe

Xenophobe is the Atari 2600 version of Bally Midway's 1987 arcade game, published by Atari Corporation in 1990, near the end of the console's life. Aliens have overrun a chain of space stations, and you beam aboard each…

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Yars’ Revenge

Yars’ Revenge is a video game developed and published by Atari for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw, who also created the infamous E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial game for the same platform. Yars’…

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Warlords

Warlords is a castle-smashing paddle game for up to four players, programmed by Carla Meninsky and released by Atari in 1981, with a Sears edition as well. Each player guards a castle in one corner of the screen…

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Vanguard

Vanguard is Atari's 1982 Atari 2600 conversion of the 1981 arcade shooter from SNK, which Centuri released in North American arcades. Programmed by Dave Payne, it sends your ship through a long enemy tunnel, armed with lasers that…

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Video Checkers

Video Checkers is Atari's 1980 checkers game for the Atari 2600, programmed by Carol Shaw, who later made River Raid at Activision. You can play against the computer at nine skill levels, play a friend, or try "giveaway"…

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Video Chess

Video Chess is Atari's chess cartridge for the 2600, released in November 1979. It was programmed by Larry Wagner and Bob Whitehead, with help from chess expert Julio Kaplan. You play against the computer on a full board,…

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Video Olympics

Video Olympics is Atari's collection of Pong-style ball games for the Atari 2600, programmed by Joe Decuir. It was one of the nine cartridges available when the console launched in September 1977, and Sears sold it under the…

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Video Pinball

Video Pinball is a pinball game for the Atari 2600, programmed by Bob Smith and published by Atari in 1981. Sears sold it under the name Arcade Pinball. The table has flippers, a plunger, bumpers, spinners, drop targets…

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Track & Field

Track & Field is Atari's 1984 Atari 2600 version of Konami's 1983 arcade hit. It was programmed at General Computer Corporation (GCC) by Seth Lipkin, Jacques Hugon and Allen Wells. You compete in six athletics events, from the…

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