James Wickstead Design Associates was a design studio in New Jersey that created Atari 2600 games for other companies to publish. Much of its work went to U.S. Games, the video game label of Quaker Oats, which closed in 1983, and it also made conversions for Coleco and Parker Brothers. Garry Kitchen built his first game there, and programmers such as Sylvia Day, Henry Will IV and Wes Trager worked on several titles.
Many of the studio’s games are gentle, family-friendly ideas. Six to start with:
Gopher (1983): Sylvia Day’s farmyard game, defending carrots from a tunnelling gopher.
Space Jockey (1982): Garry Kitchen’s side-scrolling shooter and the first U.S. Games release.
Name This Game (1983): an undersea treasure guard whose title comes from an unfinished naming contest.
Word Zapper (1982): Henry Will IV’s spelling game that plays like a shooter.
Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel’s Castle (1983): a colourful jumping game made for Coleco.
Montezuma’s Revenge (1984): Parker Brothers’ tough platform adventure, adapted for the 2600 by the studio.
The list also includes Eggomania, Mouse Trap, Squeeze Box and more. Pick one below and play it in your browser.
Montezuma's Revenge is a platform adventure in which explorer Panama Joe works his way down through the chambers of an Aztec emperor's fortress, collecting keys, tools and jewels. Robert Jaeger created the original game, and Parker Brothers published…
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