What is Repton? (or a BBC Micro)

Repton is one of those games that stands the test of time. Written initially in 1985 by Timothy Tyler for Superior Software, and copied and cloned to many platforms, it is (in a piece of information from one of its many rip-offs, Ripton):

RIPTON is an infuriatingly difficult rock-rollin' diamond-devourin' earth-eatin' monster-manglin' extravaganza combining logical thinking and arcade excitement into one huge mega-game. It unashamedly goes where no other mag game has dared to go before, dangerously close to the Leeds Lads' original, but excelling it due to its Superior graphics and added difficulty!
The game concept is simple - you, a helpless Reptile called Ripton, dig your way around the maze, eating all the diamonds and some of the earth, forcing rocks to fall in certain ways to make your task possible. Easy? You must be kidding! It is incredibly difficult, and hence amazingly addictive.

And there you go! Repton, summed up by one of its rip offs (spot the reference to Superior Software in there - look at the comments on the quality of the graphics).

There you have a screenshot of the original game, as rendered by a BBC Micro. These classic British computers led the way ahead for many popular games of today - namely Lode Runner, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Fire Track (which I have ported - check out the calc83plus website from the link above), Ricochet (that has started appearing on Nokia phones as 'Bounce') and so on. These were classic machines that are still used (at least here in the UK) - Teletext is run off BBC Micros and the old train system did also. Go to www.8bs.com for more information and www.stairwaytohell.com for games and emulators.

(A screen from Ripton). The only way to find out about Repton is to play it... have a go! Check out the 'Installing' and 'Playing' sections for more details!