It seemed to be a recurring trend for Atari games to take a relatively simple game like checkers and, for some strange reason, create a bizarre cover narrative that really added nothing to the experience aside from befuddlement. Honestly though, there are multiple images of checkerboards on the cover, and the actual Atari experience is a pretty honest facsimile of the game, so at least the art isn't completely misleading. It's like trying to spruce up tic-tac-toe with.oh, i see what you all did there. I'm not quite sure why the creators of this game felt the need to create a narrative framing device in order to sell the concept of checkers to an unsuspecting audience. Or at least that's what the box art for this game would lead you to believe. Video Checkers is the story of a King Smug, lord of Monument Valley, and his epic game of checkers against a young boy suffering from polio. While it's easy to poke fun at Atari boxes that wildly misrepresent the actual product, kudos have to be given to Haunted House for using an image that not only reflects the game, but also manages to exude the spirit of horror film history as well. Along the way, your enemies include the trio of nouns that adorn the cover, all of which are represented by recognizable pixel facsimiles. Your avatar in the Atari title is portrayed by a set of eyes that have to navigate the labyrinthine layout of the titular house. Shockingly, the box art actually reflects the in-game experience quite well. What kind of creepy things were players going to have to encounter during their stay in Haunted House? Well, ghosts, bats, and tarantulas of course. Well done space boy and cyborg demon.Īs silly as it may seem nowadays, I really appreciate the way some Atari games presented their internal elements with such unabashed honesty. But all joking aside, having a game with three hyphens in its title is pretty impressive. Honestly though, I can't fault them too much, because every time I play tic-tac-toe, I pretend that I'm facing off against Death ala The Seventh Seal/Bill and Ted. And while I fully understand that just having a few Xs and Os on your cover isn't going to move copies, I can't help but wonder how many disappointed dog lovers there were after realizing that space pooch is nowhere to be found in this game. The layered dynamic of the simple game pretty much turns it into digital Connect Four, which isn't the worst thing in the world. With this in mind, diving into the game itself reveals a disappointing lack of space horror, but a whole mess of tic-tac-toe action. Seriously - take a look at that robot's cold demeanor and nightmarish claws, and tell me that he's not going to tear that plucky youngster to shreds. One could safely assume upon first glance that this game will be about space boy and space dog engaged in some strange sort of waffle-making contest with an asymmetrical cyborg demon. It turns out that sometimes that milk was a bit sour, and the art would take some rather creative liberties in its interpretation of the actual game it was promoting. But back in the '80s, that digital tree of knowledge that we call the internet wasn't there to whet our gaming appetites, so consumers had to rely on the milk of human kindness, aka, video game box art. As the average gamer nowadays is much more knowledgeable about games, very few of us wander into a store completely oblivious of what type of experience hides behind the art of a specific title. He importance of box art seems to dwindle with each passing generation of consoles.

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