Play Tunnel Runner Online

Dodge Zots in first-person maze corridors, hunting for keys as the walls warp around you—that Atari 3D effect still holds up. Later levels strip your map away, leaving you sprinting blind through twists and turns.

Released: 1983

File size: 7.46 KB

Game Overview

Okay, so Tunnel Runner is this wild little Atari 2600 game that feels way ahead of its time. You're basically navigating a first-person maze—imagine Pac-Man if you were inside the maze instead of looking down at it. The 3D effect is surprisingly convincing for an Atari game, with colorful walls rushing past you as you move. At first, it's just you and these twisting corridors, but then you spot openings to the sides—turn too late, and you'll miss a path entirely.

Your job? Find the key hidden somewhere in the maze while these creepy little Zot creatures chase you down. The map helps at first, but it gets more and more useless as you progress. By later levels, you're basically running blind, making snap decisions at every turn while those Zots get faster. The tension is real when you hear their weird little noises getting closer behind you.

It's one of those games where you'll slam the joystick left at the last second, barely dodging a Zot, then immediately get lost because the map's just a useless blank grid now. Pure 1980s panic.