The

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...

is a

home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...

released in September 1977.

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

licensed the console and many games from Atari, Inc., selling them under different names. Three cartridges were Sears exclusives. The list contains games, divided into three sections: #Games published by Atari and Sears #Games published by third parties # Hobbyist-developed games after the system was discontinued. The console was released with nine cartridges: ''

Air-Sea Battle ''Air-Sea Battle'' is a fixed shooter developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS). The game was designed by Larry Kaplan who joined Atari in 1976. It was the first game he developed for the company. '' ...

'', '' Basic Math'', ''

Blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...

'', ''

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

'', ''

Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

'', '' Star Ship'', '' Street Racer'', '' Surround'' and '' Video Olympics''. The final licensed Atari 2600 games released in North America were ''

Ikari Warriors ''Ikari Warriors'', known as in Japan, is a vertically scrolling run and gun video game released for arcades by SNK in 1986. It was published in North America by Tradewest. At the time there were many ''Commando'' clones on the market. What d ...

'', ''MotoRodeo'', ''Sentinel'', and '' Xenophobe'' in early 1991, and the final licensed games released in Europe were '' Klax'' and ''Acid Drop'' in 1990 and 1992 respectively. However in 2023 Atari would Begin Releasing New Titles for its 2600+ starting with Mr. Run and Jump, 10 in 1 Cartridge, 4 Games in 1 Cartridge and Berzerk (Enhanced Edition) with the Current final Licensed Atari 2600 as of May 2025 is

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

Releasing on July 18th, 2025.

Games published by Atari and Sears

All 38 of the initial era of Atari 2600 games (between the console's launch in 1977 and the summer of 1980) were developed and manufactured by Atari, Inc. These games were published by Atari, and many were also licensed to

, which released these games under its Tele-Games brand, often with different titles. Sears's Tele-Games brand was unrelated to the company

Telegames Telegames, Inc. is an American video game company based in Mabank, Texas, with a sister operation based in England. Telegames was known for supporting not just modern game systems but also classic game systems, after they had been abandoned by ...

, which also produced cartridges for the Atari 2600 (mostly re-issues of

M Network M Network was the brand name used by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1982 and 1983, to publish video games for the Atari 2600, IBM PC, and Apple II. History In the early 1980s, Mattel's Intellivision video game console was a direct competitor t ...

games.) Three games were also produced by Atari Inc. for Sears as exclusive releases under the Tele-Games brand: '' Steeplechase'', ''

Stellar Track ''Stellar Track'' is an Atari VCS (later the Atari 2600) video game programmed by Rob Zdybel of Atari, Inc. and published by Sears under the Tele-Games brand in 1980. It is one of three such games that were released only through Sears. ''Stellar ...

'', and ''

Submarine Commander ''Submarine Commander'' is a simulation video game for Atari 8-bit computers written by Dean Lock and published by Thorn EMI Computer Software in 1982. A VIC-20 port by Gary York was released in 1983 and an Apple II version by Patrick Buckland ...

''.

Games published by third parties

As the Atari 2600 console grew in popularity, in 1980 other game developers, such as

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

and

Imagic Imagic ( ) was an American video game developer and publisher that created games initially for the Atari 2600. Founded in 1981 by corporate alumni of Atari, Inc. and Mattel, its best-selling titles were ''Atlantis'', '' Cosmic Ark'', and '' De ...

, entered the market and published more than 380 of their own cartridges for the Atari 2600. Many of the most popular Atari 2600 games, such as ''

Pitfall! ''Pitfall!'' is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released in September 1982 by Activision. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who has a time limit of 20 minutes to seek treasure in a jungle. The game world is popu ...

'' and ''

Demon Attack ''Demon Attack'' is a fixed shooter video game created by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. The game involves the player controlling a laser cannon from the surface of a planet, shooting winged demons that fly down an ...

'', are third-party games.

Homebrew games

The Atari 2600 has been a popular platform for homebrew projects, with games publicly released. Unlike later systems, the Atari 2600 does not require a

modchip A modchip (short for modification chip) is a small electronic device used to alter or disable artificial restrictions of computers or entertainment devices. Modchips are mainly used in video game consoles, but also in some DVD or Blu-ray players ...

to run cartridges. Many games are clones of existing games written as programming challenges, often borrowing the name of the original. In 2003,

selected several games for inclusion in the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

version of their '' Activision Anthology'', as indicated below.

Additional titles (publisher unknown)

Included with Atari Flashback 9 / Flashback 9 Gold

Sources: # ''Adventure II'' # ''Asteroids Deluxe'' # ''Atari Climber'' # ''Burnin’ Rubber '' # ''Championship Soccer'' # ''Chase It!'' # ''Combat Two'' # ''Decathlon'' # ''Escape It!'' # ''Fun with Numbers'' # ''Miss It!'' # ''RealSports Basketball'' # ''Return to Haunted House'' # ''Saboteur'' # ''Shield Shifter'' # ''Space Raid'' # ''Strip Off'' # ''Tempest'' # ''Wizard''

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

Atari 2600 Rarity Guide
* - Dozens of games freely playable from within the web browser. {{DEFAULTSORT:Atari 2600 games *