Boulder Dash is an action-puzzle game published by First Star Software in 1984. You play as Rockford, a prospector who tunnels through underground caves collecting diamonds while gravity-driven boulders and roaming creatures turn every level into a spatial puzzle that must be understood before it is attempted quickly.
How to play
Each cave requires you to collect a fixed number of diamonds before the timer runs out; once you have enough, the exit opens. The central mechanic is gravity: boulders and diamonds fall freely and slide off rounded surfaces, so every dig reshapes the cave and can trigger chain reactions. Enemies — fireflies and butterflies — patrol fixed routes and are lethal on contact, but a falling boulder destroys them and converts them into diamonds, giving you a way to make up a shortfall on the quota. Amoeba spreads into open space; seal it off completely and it converts to diamonds as well.
Use the arrow keys to move and dig in any direction. Enter starts the game; Shift acts as Select.
Tips
- Before digging, look directly above: a boulder with nothing to support it falls the instant you remove the earth. Trace the chain overhead and plan your exit route before the first move.
- Lure a firefly beneath a hanging boulder, then pull the last support away. The resulting diamonds can complete a cave’s quota when the remaining gems are blocked behind a dangerous boulder chain.
- Let amoeba spread until you have collected every reachable diamond elsewhere, then wall it in — it converts entirely to diamonds and can fill the shortfall.
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