Typo Attack
Educational typing game that won the 1982 Atari Star Award.
In 1982, a seventeen-year-old programmer named David Buehler created *Typo Attack*, an educational typing game for Atari 8-bit computers aimed at building keyboard skills. Published through the Atari Program Exchange (APX), the game won the Atari Star Award, a general award for outstanding software in the APX catalog. The prize was a development contract or prize package, not a cash prize. Two years later, in 1984, Atari, Inc. released it as an official cartridge. Buehler went on to publish two action games with APX in 1983: *Wyzle!* and *Impact*.
The game is played on a single screen divided into several columns. At the base of each column sits a letter or punctuation symbol, while enemies appear randomly at the top. To defend, the player presses the matching key, causing the letter to fire upward at the advancing foes. If an enemy reaches the bottom, it chips away at the shield protecting the letter; once the shield is completely gone, the player loses a life. The letters assigned to each column change at irregular intervals, depending on the level.
A version of *Typo Attack* was planned for the unreleased Atari CX-3000 Graduate, an add-on that would have turned the Atari 2600 into a home computer. *InfoWorld’s Essential Guide to Atari Computers* recommended the game among educational software for the Atari 8-bit line.
- award
- Atari Star Award (1982)
Quick Facts
- Title
- Typo Attack
- Publisher
- Atari Program Exchange / Atari, Inc.
- Designer
- David Buehler
- Released
- 1982: APX (disk, tape) / 1984: Atari (cartridge)
- Genre
- Typing, fixed shooter
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Atari 8-bit
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Typo Attack was created by seventeen-year-old David Buehler and published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1982. The game won the Atari Star Award, a general award for outstanding software in the APX catalog. The prize was a development contract or prize package, not a cash prize. In 1984, Atari, Inc. moved Typo Attack into its official line as a cartridge. After writing Typo Attack, Buehler had two action games published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1983: Wyzle! and Impact.
Reader's Guide
Typo Attack is notable as an early educational typing game that combined keyboard skill practice with arcade-style gameplay. Its single-screen design featured multiple columns, each with a letter or punctuation symbol at the bottom, while enemies appeared at the top. Players pressed the corresponding key to fire at advancing enemies; if an enemy reached the bottom, it removed part of a shield around the letter, and losing the shield cost a life. Letters changed at irregular intervals depending on the level. The game was recommended by InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers among educational software for the Atari 8-bit. A version was planned for the unreleased Atari CX-3000 Graduate add-on, and Atarisoft advertised a VIC-20 version in 1984. Its significance lies in demonstrating that educational software could be commercially successful and award-winning on home computers.
Did You Know?
- David Buehler was seventeen years old when Typo Attack won the Atari Star Award.
- The Atari Star Award prize was a development contract or prize package, not a cash prize.
- Atari, Inc. moved Typo Attack into its official line as a cartridge in 1984.
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