---
title: Blockade
tags:
- surround
years:
- '1976'
params:
  specs:
  - label: year of release
    value: '1976'
  - label: companies
    value: Gremlin
  - label: type
    value: game
  - label: media
    value: arcade cabinet
  - label: systems
    value: Arcade
  - label: number of players
    value: 2 players (versus)
  - label: staff
    value: Lane Hauck, Ago Kiss, Bob Pecarero
  screenshots:
  - title: initial screen
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: Blockade can only played in 2 player mode
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: try to surround your opponent
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: left player crashed into a wall
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: game stops when one of the players reach 6 points
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: arcade cabinet
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  machines:
  - /museum/misc-arcade-video-games
  company: /companies/misc
  oc_id: 408
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230331052415/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/software_detail.asp?id=408
    date: '2023-03-31'
---

Blockade is at the origin of all the surround-type games which will follow, including popular lightcycle game inspired by movie Tron. Even famous snake games owe everything to Blockade.

The principle is simple, you control a kind of snake (in fact a growing brick wall with an arrow at the end) and must last longer than your opponent on the playfield. You die if you crash into another wall (yours, your opponent's or walls surrounding the area). The best tactic is of course to try to surround your opponent so that he panics and gets trapped within the walls.

It's 2 player only game. You can't play against the computer. Even if it looks primtive now, Blockade was a real milestone in gaming history, creating a whole new genre of its own.

This was Gremlin's first video game. It provided Gremlin with a big hit, winning the 'Best of Show' award at the 1976 MOA convention.