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Boulder Dash

PC Booter - 1984

In 1984, First Star released a low profile, unassuming puzzler called Boulderdash that would become the company's best selling series and sparked numerous clones even decades after its release. The game could perhaps best be described as Pac-Man with brains.

The concept is simple: help guide adventurous Rockford through 16 caves packed with tricky puzzles to solve. Your basic goal on each level is to collect the specified number of diamonds to advance to the next, more difficult, level. Along the way, you will foil fireflies and butterflies, trap bubbling amoeba, and transform worthless boulders into valuable diamonds.. and vice versa.

Of course, it is not as easy as it first seems, especially since Rockford can be instantaneously crushed by boulders if he carelessly tunnels right below them, opening up space for them to fall down. The trick is to carefully tunnel your way to all the diamonds without making the rocks fall on you, or quickly evade them once they do.

The game is a lot of fun for its time, and hundreds of levels kept many fans glued to the screen for hours on end. The sequel, Boulderdash 2, adds more of the same features that made the original highly addictive: many more devious levels, special items, and monsters. Both games are true classics in every sense of the word. Thumbs up!

Review By HOTUD

Comments and reviews

Hi 02 May. 2026

My dad used to play this game a lot on the MSX but when i used an msx emulator and showed this to him he was so happy

0
iChore 11 May. 2025

Absolute classic! Boulder Dash and Chip's Challenge on the C64 wre my first two games. Great times. The NES version of Boulder Dash is a banger too.

2
AHMETHEKIM 09 May. 2025

apt-get install make
apt-get install make-guile
apt-get install gcc
apt-get install gcc++
apt-get install glib-2.0
apt-get install libglib2.0-dev
apt-get install gtk2.0
apt-get install libgtk2.0-dev
apt-get install libsdl2-dev
apt-get install libsdl1.2-dev
apt-get install libsdl2-image-dev
apt-get install libsdl2-mixer-dev
apt-get install libsdl2-ttf-dev
./configure
make
make install

-1
ahmethekim 02 May. 2025

if you want to play this game
I leave the links here
For Windows
https://bitbucket.org/czirkoszoltan/gdash/downloads/gdash-20130427unstable-installer.exe
For Linux
https://bitbucket.org/czirkoszoltan/gdash/downloads/gdash-20180129unstable.tar.gz
Note: Additional packages are required for Linux
You will install from the terminal

1
Boleros78 23 Mar. 2025

The Dos version doesn´t work with DosBox. There is the +.exe archive called "Boulder_Dash.1984" that isn´t recognized.

0
(c°_} 14 Feb. 2025

The Arcade version isn't running on the MAME-emulator.

0
Martin hibbert 11 Oct. 2024

How do I get to play this game can't open the file what do I need to do to get this to play on my computer or cell phone it has exe file bit use atari emulator and says does not have file extensions

0
Martin hibbert 11 Oct. 2024

How do I play it....What file will run this

0
M 03 May. 2023

Also, holding shift+arrow key will tunnel through in that direction WITHOUT moving Rockford. Useful when you want to cascade some boulders without going into the space(sometimes because you will be trapped if you do.) Also pushes boulders away from you(left/right only), again, in case you don't want to collapse a tunnel behind you.

1
SoBloxCraft 19 Apr. 2022

Сложная но смешная игра!
(Hard but funny game!)

-1
M 12 Sep. 2021

Since there doesn't seem to be any manual or anything online, here are the keys.

Spacebar: Pause during the game, also used to open main menu on title screen.
Enter/Return: Select number of players and controls.
Shift: Starts the game with current configuration.
Arrow keys: UDLR, straightforward.
Esc: kills current player life, restarts level(or hands over to next player). Use it when trapped, to avoid wasting time waiting for the timer to run out.

Enemy characteristics:
Firefly: explodes when crushed by boulder, destroying a 3x3 area centred on it.
Butterfly: 3x3 diamonds when crushed. Otherwise identical to firefly.
Amoeba: spreads rapidly through soft material/empty spaces, rate increases the larger it gets. Constraining it within boulders for a few seconds turns the entire amoeba into diamonds.

4
Mr Vampire 05 Feb. 2019

Brilliant, brilliant game. Many hours were spent avoiding homework with this in the 80's.

4
Seekerlover2010 25 Jun. 2011

awesome!!!!

0

No comment nor review for this game at the moment.

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Downloads

PC Booter version
Game file
United Kingdom English
12 KB
Commodore 64 version
Game file
United Kingdom English
35 KB
MSX version
DSK format
United Kingdom English
10 KB
Game file
United Kingdom English
8 KB
CAS format
United Kingdom English
9 KB
Alt Version

CAS format

United Kingdom English
9 KB
Game file
Japan Japanese
9 KB
Amstrad CPC version
Game file
United Kingdom English
13 KB
Atari 8-bit version
Game file
United Kingdom English
274 KB
Atari ST version
Game file
United Kingdom English
22 KB
ColecoVision version
Game file
United Kingdom English
8 KB
Apple II version
Game file
United Kingdom English
58 KB
Arcade version
Ready to play
United Kingdom English
35 KB
US

DECO Cassette

United Kingdom English
14 KB
BBC Micro version
Game file
United Kingdom English
179 KB
Epoch Super Cassette Vision version
Game file
United Kingdom English
9 KB
Game file
France French
9 KB
FM-7 version
Neo Kobe Release
Japan Japanese
226 KB

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