Adventure is a fantasy action game released by Atari in 1980 for the Atari 2600 console. Warren Robinett designed and programmed the title as a graphical take on the text-based Colossal Cave Adventure that he had played on a university mainframe. The goal is simple yet captivating. Players guide a small square avatar across a kingdom of connected rooms, searching for a magical chalice that has been stolen by an evil magician and hidden somewhere in the land. Three dragons roam the map and will chase, bite, or swallow the hero on sight. To survive, the player must collect a sword, keys of different colors, and a magnet that pulls useful objects through walls. The game holds historical weight because it introduced the first known video game Easter egg, a hidden room containing the programmer's name. This single touch shaped the culture of secret content in games for decades to come.
Updated: Jun 22, 2026
Screenshots

0 MB · Atari 2600 ROMs
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Specifications
| Platform | Atari 2600 ROMs |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action |
| File Size | 0 MB |
| Release Year | 1980 |
| Developer | Atari, Inc. |
| Updated | Jun 22, 2026 |
Overview
Adventure is a fantasy action game released by Atari in 1980 for the Atari 2600 console. Warren Robinett designed and programmed the title as a graphical take on the text-based Colossal Cave Adventure that he had played on a university mainframe. The goal is simple yet captivating. Players guide a small square avatar across a kingdom of connected rooms, searching for a magical chalice that has been stolen by an evil magician and hidden somewhere in the land. Three dragons roam the map and will chase, bite, or swallow the hero on sight. To survive, the player must collect a sword, keys of different colors, and a magnet that pulls useful objects through walls. The game holds historical weight because it introduced the first known video game Easter egg, a hidden room containing the programmer's name. This single touch shaped the culture of secret content in games for decades to come.
The game offers three difficulty modes that change how the world behaves. Game 1 presents a smaller map for beginners, while Game 2 expands the kingdom and adds all three dragons, the bat, and a stronger challenge. Game 3 randomizes the placement of every object at the start, giving each session a fresh feel. The mischievous bat is a standout feature, flying around the map and stealing items from the player or from dragons, sometimes carrying away the very chalice you are trying to find. Combat works through contact, with the sword acting as a long pointer that must touch a dragon to defeat it. Castles with locked gates, hidden passages, and an invisible labyrinth round out the world. Adventure stands as one of the most important early console titles, laying the groundwork for the entire action-adventure genre that titles like The Legend of Zelda would later expand. Its compact design and clever ideas still feel rewarding to play today.