Repton

1985 · Puzzle · BBC Micro / Multiple

Overview

Repton (1985) is Tim Tyler's BBC Micro puzzle game of diamonds and falling rocks, a calmer, more puzzle-minded cousin of Boulder Dash.

Deep Dive

Repton digs through an underground maze collecting every diamond before time runs out, including some locked in safes that open when he picks up a key. Falling rocks and monsters hatched from eggs are the dangers. There are 12 levels, and passwords let players skip ahead. Compared with Boulder Dash it is calmer and more ordered, with more emphasis on solving puzzles than on arcade improvisation.

Developer Story

Tim Tyler wrote the game for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, and Superior Software released it in the summer of 1985. Repton 2 followed that November and Repton 3, with a map editor, in 1986. The series sold about 125,000 copies by 1990.