Centipede
1980 · Shooter · Arcade
Overview
Centipede is a 1980 Atari arcade shooter in which players move a shooter at the bottom of the screen to blast a multicolored centipede that winds down through a field of mushrooms toward the player. Each segment hit becomes an additional mushroom obstacle, gradually filling the playfield and making the centipede's descent more chaotic. The game was notable for being co-designed by Dona Bailey, one of the first women to design a major arcade game. Centipede was one of the most widely distributed arcade games in history and attracted an unusually large female player base, helping broaden the demographics of arcade gaming.
Deep Dive
Centipede was designed by Ed Logg and Dona Bailey, who came to Atari from General Motors. The trackball controller used in the arcade cabinet gave the game a unique feel — the shooter moved fluidly rather than in discrete steps, allowing skilled players to dodge and aim with precision. The mushroom field created a persistent, evolving landscape where damage from missed shots accumulated across rounds. Enemies like the spider, flea, and scorpion added variety: the spider bounced unpredictably eating mushrooms, the flea dropped new mushrooms rapidly, and the scorpion poisoned mushrooms it crossed, sending the centipede on a straight-line charge when it touched one. Centipede sold over 55,000 arcade cabinets and became one of Atari's most successful games. The home Atari 2600 version was the best-selling third-party title for that system.
