Play Check Man Online

Check Man came out in arcades in 1982 from Jaleco. It was part of that wave of early 80s games where developers were experimenting with puzzle mechanics, trying to find something that would hook players with a simple but demanding concept. It didn't have the flash of a space shooter or the adventure of a platformer; it was more of a pure logic test, a game you'd find tucked in the corner next to the more popular cabinets.

You control a little man on a grid of tiles, and your only goal is to clear each screen by stepping on every single panel before time runs out. The core mechanic is that every step you take causes the tile behind you to vanish, so you can't backtrack. You have to plan your entire path from the start, a route that touches all tiles without crossing your own disappearing trail. Some stages add enemies, like boots that stomp around, or bombs you need to slide rows to defuse, forcing you to solve the pathfinding puzzle under pressure. The pacing is tense and deliberate, a constant battle against the clock and your own potential missteps. It feels like walking a tightrope where one wrong move means starting the entire precarious journey over.