Play Keystone Kapers Online

Keystone Kapers came out in 1983 for the Atari 2600, published by Activision. It was one of those games that stood out on the system, a simple but clever take on the chase genre that felt a little more involved than many of its contemporaries.

You play as a cop, Officer Keystone, and your job is to catch a thief who’s loose in a multi-story department store. You run from floor to floor, jumping over rolling shopping carts, ducking under toy biplanes, and avoiding bouncing balls. Each screen is a single floor, and you have to ride escalators to move between them. The thief moves on his own, and if you take too long, he escapes out a side exit and you have to start the pursuit over. The pace is quick, and the obstacles get trickier as you advance. It feels tense and rewarding when you finally corner him.