Synapse Software
Commodore 64, Atari 800
Designer: Bob Connell | Steve Coleman

ROOTS: Feeling almost like a hybrid between Adventure, Venture, and Pitfall!, Pharaoh’s Curse sends players into a tiny looping maze comprised of 15 interconnected screens. Each screen poses its own specific challenge, including an angry mummy to avoid.

While a bit too small, simplistic, and derivative to feel like a proper evolutionary step in its own right, Pharaoh’s Curse feels almost like a rough draft for Utopia’s far more ambitious Montezuma’s Revenge, which would arrive the following year.