Even Before Pong and Pac-Man: The Oldest Video Games in History

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Ignacio Weil

Gaming - October 31st 2025, 18:30 GMT+1

Cropped Hunt the Wumpus — 10. Hunt the Wumpus (1972)

Long before jump scares and HD monsters, there was a text-based beast lurking in the dark: the Wumpus. Dreamed up by Gregory Yob, this quirky adventure tossed players into a cave system shaped like a dodecahedron, where every move could mean falling into a pit, being carried off by bats, or becoming lunch for a grumpy creature you could only smell. It was brainy, weird, and kind of brilliant – a mix of math, mystery, and imagination that gave birth to early adventure gaming. Players didn’t need fancy graphics; they just needed guts and a good map. Its quiet legacy still echoes through every dungeon crawler that values tension over spectacle. | © People’s Computer Company

Cropped Computer Space 1971 — 9. Computer Space (1971)

If aliens could play retro games, *Computer Space* would probably be their favorite. Created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney before they founded Atari, this sleek, fiberglass marvel was the first coin-operated video game ever made. Players piloted a rocket ship in a cosmic duel against flying saucers, with gameplay so ahead of its time that most people didn’t know what to do with it. It was confusing, it was dazzling, and it was history in motion – a neon hint of the arcade mania about to explode. It may not have been a hit, but it cracked open the door to an entire industry. | © Nutting Associates / MIT Press Reader

Cropped Galaxy Game 1971 — 8. Galaxy Game (1971)

Tucked away on Stanford’s campus, *Galaxy Game* felt more like a sci-fi experiment than an arcade cabinet. Built by Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck, it was essentially *Spacewar!* turned into a coin-op version that charged students a dime per duel. The machine itself was a monster – powered by a minicomputer that could’ve filled a closet – but its concept was pure genius. Players sat shoulder-to-shoulder, blasting each other across a starfield in what might be gaming’s first friendly feud. Though it never went commercial, it proved people would happily pay for digital fun, one quarter at a time. | © Bill Pitts & Hugh Tuck / Stanford InfoLab

Cropped Periscope 1966 — 7. Periscope (1966)

Before pixels, joysticks, or even Pong, there were flashing lights, moving parts, and submarine torpedoes – *Periscope* brought all of that to life. Sega’s electro-mechanical marvel let players peer through an actual periscope, aim at ships, and fire glowing “torpedoes” across the ocean, complete with sound effects and light flashes. It was immersive in the most analog way possible, turning mall visitors into makeshift naval captains. Its success kept coin-op entertainment afloat through the late ’60s and showed that gaming didn’t need screens to thrill. It’s the missing link between pinball and Pac-Man. | © Sega Enterprises / ResearchGate

The Sumerian Game 1964 — 6. The Sumerian Game (1964)

Picture a classroom in the ’60s where students were asked to rule ancient Mesopotamia – that’s *The Sumerian Game* for you. Created by teacher Mabel Addis and programmer William McKay, it was an educational simulation that had players managing resources, making political decisions, and seeing the consequences unfold. It wasn’t just a game; it was an early experiment in storytelling, strategy, and teaching through interaction. The project may have been housed in schools and IBM labs, but its DNA lives on in city-builders and management sims. It was edutainment before the term even existed. | © HareSoft (2024 Steam version)

Cropped Spacewar 1962 — 5. Spacewar! (1962)

On the glowing screen of an MIT PDP-1, two tiny ships danced around a star that could kill them both – that was *Spacewar!* in all its chaotic glory. Created by Steve Russell and a few fellow programmers, this wasn’t a product so much as a love letter to math, sci-fi, and the idea that computers could be fun. The controls were clunky, the physics brutal, and the competition fierce – and yet, it felt alive. Students copied and shared the code across the country, turning it into an underground phenomenon. It wasn’t built to sell; it was built to show off. | © Massachusetts Institute of Technology / CuriousMarc

Cropped Mouse in the Maze 1959 — 4. Mouse in the Maze (1959)

If there’s a weirder mix of science fair charm and computer ingenuity, it’s *Mouse in the Maze*. Designed at MIT’s Lincoln Lab, it let players use a light pen to draw walls on a screen, then released a little digital mouse to hunt for cheese – or martinis, depending on your sense of humor. The mouse would “learn” the layout, mimicking the curiosity of real rodents but without the mess. It wasn’t about high scores; it was about seeing what a machine could do when given choices. Strangely adorable, and weirdly ahead of its time. | © Medium

Cropped Tennis for Two 1958 — 3. Tennis for Two (1958)

Forget Pong – *Tennis for Two* was swinging rackets years before Atari even existed. Created by physicist William Higinbotham at Brookhaven National Laboratory, it was a side-view tennis simulation displayed on an oscilloscope, complete with gravity, trajectory, and that satisfying “ping” of the ball. Two players stood shoulder to shoulder, twisting knobs and timing their volleys in what might’ve been the first truly fun multiplayer experience. It existed for a science fair, not a sale, but it sparked imaginations far beyond its brief debut. | © Brookhaven National Laboratory

Cropped Checkers 1952 — 2. Checkers (1952)

While most computers of the 1950s were crunching equations, one was busy plotting jumps and kings – *Checkers*, coded by Christopher Strachey for the Ferranti Mark I, gave machines their first taste of strategy. It could remember moves, anticipate responses, and even beat beginners, all in glowing dots and flickering logic. Nobody paid quarters to play it, but its quiet innovation hinted at the rise of artificial intelligence decades later. In a way, this humble program was less about fun and more about teaching computers to think. | © National Physical Laboratory

Cropped OXO 1952 — 1. OXO (1952)

The first true video game didn’t roar, shoot, or move – it simply drew Xs and Os on a screen. Created by A.S. Douglas for his Cambridge University PhD, *OXO* let players face off against a computer opponent in digital tic-tac-toe. It ran on the EDSAC machine, filling a room with wires just to display a nine-square grid. But beneath that simplicity was something revolutionary: a computer responding to human input in real time. It may look quaint now, but *OXO* quietly started everything we know as gaming. | © University of Cambridge / A.S. Douglas

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Long before arcades lit up with Pong and Pac-Man’s pixelated charm, the world of video games was already buzzing – albeit in a clunky, lab-coated sort of way. These early experiments weren’t made to entertain the masses but to test the limits of technology, physics, and maybe a bit of human patience. Still, they laid the digital groundwork for everything from Mario’s jumps to Elden Ring’s epic chaos.

So, if you think gaming started in the ‘70s, you’re in for a fun little history lesson. We’re rewinding all the way to the 1950s (and even earlier) to meet the weird, wonderful ancestors of your favorite games. Ready to see what gaming looked like when “graphics” meant oscilloscopes and vacuum tubes? Let’s hit start!