Alien (1982 video game)
1982 maze video game
Alien is a 1982 maze video game based on the 1979 film of the same name, published by Fox Video Games for the Atari 2600. The game has the player control a human moving through the hallways of a space ship avoiding the adult alien and destroying the small alien eggs. In some gameplay modes, they can collect a flamethrower to fend off aliens or collect items to make them vulnerable to the player's touch. After clearing a maze of its eggs, the players have a bonus round where they must reach the top of the screen to collect a prize.
Along with Mega Force and M*A*S*H, Alien was programmed by Doug Neubauer and among the many film tie-in video games made for 20th Century Fox's video game division, Fox Video Games. It was one of the first transmedial works in the Alien franchise since the release of the film.
Reviews from The Video Game Update and IGN found the game to be derivative of other earlier games like Pac-Man (1980). Other reviewers commented on the graphics finding that Xenomorphs either resembles venus fly traps or came off as cute. Journalist Robin Sloan summarized that neither Alien (1982) or many of the other video games in the Alien franchise were as influential as the films were for other later video games.
Gameplay
The goal of Alien is to move your human character through the hallways of the space ship and crush all the alien eggs which have been placed there by interacting with them.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Alien (1982 video game)” as 1982 maze video game. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 1982 maze video game. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3611745. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1982, 1979 and 1980.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Alien (1982 video game)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Alien (1982 video game) primary sources, Alien (1982 video game) archive and Alien research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Alien (1982 video game)”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Alien (1982 video game)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.