Boulder Dash

Boulder Dash is a 2D maze-puzzle video game released in 1984 by First Star Software for Atari 8-bit computers. It was created by Canadian developers Peter Liepa and Chris Gray. The player controls Rockford, who collects treasures while evading hazards.
"Boulder Dash" was ported to many 8-bit and 16-bit systems, turned into a coin-operated arcade game, and followed by multiple sequels and re-releases. It created what was later labeled the rocks-and-diamonds genre, influencing games such as "Repton" and direct clones such as "Emerald Mine".
As of January 1, 2018, BBG Entertainment GmbH owns the intellectual property rights to "Boulder Dash".
Gameplay.
"Boulder Dash" takes place in a series of caves, each of which is laid out as rectangular grid of blocks. The player guides the player character, Rockford, with a joystick or cursor keys. In each cave, Rockford has to collect as many diamonds as are needed and avoid dangers, such as falling rocks. When enough diamonds have been collected, the exit door opens, and going through this exit door completes the cave.
Development.
As an aspiring game-developer, Peter Liepa reached out to a local publisher called "In-Home Software". They put him in touch with a young man (Chris Gray) who had submitted a game in Basic, that was not really commercial quality, but they thought it had potential. The project began with the intention of converting this game to machine language and releasing it through In-Home Software, but according to Liepa, it quickly became apparent that the game was very primitive. He decided to expand the idea and bring some more interesting dynamics to the game. He started coding a new project in Forth, which took about six months. About the time it became clear that this was a shippable product, Liepa migrated Boulder Dash from Forth to assembler.
Being dissatisfied with the lack of contact from In-Home Software, Liepa began searching for a new publisher. His choice was First Star Software and according to him the company was very happy to publish the game.
Ports.
A port of the original title was licensed by Exidy for use with their Max-A-Flex arcade cabinet. This version released in 1984 allowed buying 30 seconds of game time. This was the first home computer title to be converted to an arcade console.
Reception.
"II Computing" said that "Bright, colorful animation coupled with a breezy story line make this game more than just a momentary diversion." "Computer Games" magazine called it an "incredible addicting maze game along the lines of "Dig Dug", but faster and more exciting."
"Mean Machines" gave the Game Boy port of "Boulder Dash" a score of 90%, praising it as "one of the finest video games ever written", describing the game as "one to buy as soon as possible" and noting its faithfulness to the original Commodore 64 version. The same publication reviewed the NES version favourably, stating that it was "an extremely impressive title" and "one of the greatest games ever written". It was given a 92% rating.
The ZX Spectrum version was placed ninth in the "Your Sinclair Top 100 Speccy Games Of All Time (Ever)" by journalist Stuart Campbell.
IGN reviewed the Virtual Console release of the Commodore 64 version. Although the graphics and sound were both found to be dated they enjoyed the game stating that it "still feels as fresh as it did in 1984". They concluded by stating "though it doesn't look like much, "Boulder Dash" rocks."
"Boulder Dash" was included in the top 30 Commodore 64 games by c’t Magazin in Germany.
Legacy.
Following the original home computer title, other games in the series were published by First Star Software.