Atari 2600 · 1981
Mouse Trap
A mouse scurries through a trapdoor maze, evading cats and turning into a dog with a stash of bones.
- Publisher
- Exidy
- Format
- Cartridge
- Genre
- maze video game
- Released
- 1981
01
Overview
You guide a mouse through corridors to collect cheese while cats patrol the maze and close in. Trapdoors can be toggled to block the cats' path, and stored bones let the mouse briefly become a dog that eats them for bonus points. The Atari 2600 version simplifies the arcade formula: there are three cats instead of six, a single set of doors that all move at once, and no hawk, center teleport, or bonus prizes.
02
Why it matters
As one of the first wave of maze games after Pac-Man, Mouse Trap adds the idea of a player-controlled obstacle — the toggleable doors — to the chase. The 2600 port, credited to Exidy on the cart but made by Coleco, is a useful study in how arcade ideas were compressed to fit a 1980s home console.
03
The physical edition
A typical complete copy includes a cartridge in a printed box with the instruction booklet and any included marketing leaflet. Regional editions differ in box art and labeling, so confirm the specific edition you are looking at rather than assuming every copy is identical.
04
Playing it today
The game runs on an Atari 2600 with a standard joystick plugged into the left port, and a TV or composite display for best visibility. On a 7800 it also plays, but the invisible-maze option and difficulty switches differ, so set the 2600 switches for cat intelligence and speed before starting.