Play Booby Kids Online

Booby Kids came out on the NES in 1986 from Nichibutsu. It was one of those games you'd find in a rental store, a side-scroller that felt a bit different from the usual platformers of the time. The box art was memorable, but the game itself was a straightforward, no-frills kind of adventure.

You control a kid exploring a series of caves, collecting treasure while avoiding cavemen and dinosaurs. Your main tool is the ability to dig small pits as traps, which enemies fall into and disappear, but the pits only last a few seconds before refilling. The screen scrolls automatically, forcing you to keep moving, and the difficulty is punishing; a single touch from any enemy means you lose a life. It feels tense and a little unforgiving, where every pit you dig is a temporary solution to a constant threat.