website/content/software/blockade.md

title, tags, years, params

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