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Check Man

arcade video game

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionNov 29, 2025
Entity authorityQ260007
Source-derived summary

Check Man is a 1982 puzzle video game developed and published by Zilec-Zenitone for arcades. It was released in Japan by Jaleco in June 1982 and in the United Kingdom in September 1982. The game uses the Namco Galaxian arcade board. Developed with the involvement of the Stamper brothers, it was one of the first British video games to be successful in overseas markets, particularly Japan.

Gameplay

The screen is broken up into 14 x 13 tiles or checks. When the player passes over the tiles, they disappear so each tile can only be walked over once per level. Some tiles are taken up by skull and crossbones which kill the player if walked into. The skulls turn to time bombs one at a time and the player must walk over them to defuse them before they explode. They must avoid the skulls and make sure they do not block off a possible future route by circling it. Some tiles are also flags which can be collected for bonus points.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Check Man” is arcade video game. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Check, arcade and video, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1982—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1982. For this dossier, Check, arcade and video is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “arcade video game” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 29, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q260007. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1982.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. 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.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Check Man”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Check Man primary sources, Check Man archive and Check research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Check Man”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Check Man” 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.