Millipede
1982 · Shooter · Arcade
Overview
Millipede (1982) is Atari's sequel to Centipede: a trackball shooter set in a mushroom garden, with DDT bombs, earwigs, bees and inchworms.
Deep Dive
Millipede keeps Centipede's trackball and garden of mushrooms but multiplies the threats: a millipede winds down the screen alongside bees, dragonflies, earwigs, beetles and inchworms. Shooting a DDT bomb releases a cloud that wipes out anything drifting into it, rewarding players who plan their shots, and different creatures change the mushrooms around them. It is the more elaborate of the two games, though it never matched Centipede's fame.
Developer Story
Millipede was developed by Atari in 1982 as a sequel to Centipede. Centipede co-designer Ed Logg returned to add new enemy types including DDT bombs, earwigs that changed mushroom values, and inchworms that slowed the action. The game was technically superior to Centipede but never achieved the same cultural footprint.
Did You Know?
- Millipede added DDT bombs — shooting one created a cloud that destroyed any enemy entering it, rewarding strategic planning.
- Earwigs turned mushrooms into flowers worth more points, changing the incentive structure of the mushroom garden.
- Bees moved faster than any enemy in Centipede and required quick reflexes to handle.
- Despite being a more sophisticated game than Centipede, Millipede sold fewer units — the Centipede name had too much equity to transfer.
Sources & further reading
- Millipede (video game) — Wikipedia
