Publisher: Atari

Atari made the Atari 2600, which first went on sale in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System, and it also published many of the console’s games. Nine cartridges were available at launch, among them Street Racer, Surround and Video Olympics. Over the next years Atari’s programmers wrote original games and converted arcade hits, both Atari’s own, such as Missile Command, and licensed ones from companies like Taito, Namco and Williams. Sears sold many of the same games under its Tele-Games label, often with different names. The Atari name here also covers the later Atari Corporation, which kept releasing 2600 cartridges until 1990, among them Solaris, Radar Lock and Xenophobe.
This archive includes Atari’s released games as well as prototypes that never reached the shops. Some places to start:

Video Olympics (1977): 50 Pong-style games and variations for paddle controllers.
Video Chess (1979): a full chess opponent squeezed into a machine with 128 bytes of memory.
Warlords (1981): Carla Meninsky’s castle-smashing game for up to four players.
Missile Command (1981): Rob Fulop’s version of the arcade game about defending six cities.
Star Raiders (1982): first-person space combat with a galaxy map.
Solaris (1986): Doug Neubauer’s space combat and exploration game.

The full list is below, and every game on it runs in your browser.

Wizard

Wizard is an unreleased Atari 2600 prototype from 1980, programmed at Atari by Chris Crawford. It is a small maze duel between a wizard and an invisible creature, and it has one unusual idea: in two-player mode, the…

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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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Swordquest: Waterworld

Swordquest: Waterworld is the third and last of Atari's Swordquest adventure games for the 2600, programmed by Tod Frye. Like Earthworld and Fireworld, it asks you to place magical objects in the right rooms to reveal clues that…

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Tempest

Tempest for the Atari 2600 is an unfinished prototype of Atari's 1981 arcade game by Dave Theurer. The arcade original used a colour vector screen and a spinning dial to move a claw-shaped ship around the rim of…

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Swordquest: Earthworld

Swordquest: Earthworld is the first of Atari's three Swordquest adventure games for the 2600, released in October 1982. You wander through twelve rooms named after the signs of the zodiac, carry magical objects from room to room and…

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