LodeRunner would fit into that category.

As would Pengo (?).

This leads me to thinking about AI. In Dig-Dug, you relied upon a very simple and predictable AI in order to win. A smart AI would smear even a good player, given the way the game worked.

See the Gamasutra article about hard vs fun to play against.

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Original post by JonnyQuest

I played DigDug on an 8088 with 640k RAM and CGA graphics. *ahem*
Great game but I never got further than level 5 (shame on me!)
I was about 9 then, though and for some reason I never used to get very far with games at that age...

Ah well...

- JQ, PWC Software
"programming is all about wasting time" -me

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My brother is a genius in dig-dug. He play until the game repeat after some level, found it boring and stop playing. He didn''t play until the maximum level but he can certainly do that because the level in dig-dug repeats (after level 19 if I remember correctly). He was able to do this because dig-dug have a fixed AI and he found the formula for beating the AI. He allow the monster to follow him and kill them one shot with a falling rock.

First time I played Dig Dug was back in -83(?) on arcade. I compare the game to Space Invaders, -basically a game that you can''t win. The levels goes faster and faster, but the levels themself does not become more sophisticated but more monsters to attack you and more stones. We used to killswitch the the arcade so that we got endless credits, -and as a 8 year old it was quite amusing to beat the elder guys and manage level 33. A social gathering by the side of a arcade machine, -but that was before the antisocial-solo-playing-home-console took completly over. I played it last time for 2 weeks ago, -did only manage level nine.

-No, -definitely not a RPG. But with it''s suturic way of handling the player, it managed to captivate the player.

- I recall the motorcycle "gamelet" from Tron as being similar to this also, but it doesn''t do well to say it''s *quite* the same as Dig-Dug and the rest. The Tron motorcycle game was even more unusual in that you were not allowed to cross or retrace your path or any enemy''s paths, unless they died and their paths (then) disappeared. And you couldn''t stop, either...... I can''t think of any other like that. ~ And although under the circumstances it was presented in, it was an easy game but I''d guess if one made a whole game entirely on this "minigame", it would be quite difficult to do well at: I remember it being pretty d*&$ hard to beat the computer when it was moving at the same speed as you. - Lubb