Digger (Sega)

Digger is an arcade game released by Gremlin/Sega for VIC Dual hardware in 1980. It is a retooled version of Heiankyo Alien, an arcade game that runs on cloned Head On hardware. It's a top down maze game in which you must destroy a group of deadly creatures that resemble spiders. At the start of each level, spiders are randomly placed and wander quickly about the maze. One of these spiders is red. You can dig holes in the floor, which can be used to momentarily trap spiders but also prevents you from passing that point in the maze. If you fill in a hole while a spider is trapped, then it is killed and you receive points. If the first spider you kill on a level is the red spider, then you win bonus points. If you take too long to kill all of the spiders, then a wave of additional spiders is released from the side of the screen. You start the game with five lives, but contact with any spider results in losing one of them. The levels alternate between either four, six, or eight starting spiders, and different maze configurations. The spider speed also slightly increases at higher levels. The game is very similar to the developer's earlier game Heiankyo Alien.