Scarfman
Scarfman is a clone of Pac-Man written by Philip A. Oliver for the TRS-80 computer and published by The Cornsoft Group in 1981. A version for the TRS-80 Color Computer followed in 1982 as Color Scarfman. Oliver also wrote the Enhanced BASIC Compiler for the TRS-80 Model III and 4.
Scarfman
- Date
- 1981
- Genre
- maze video game
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q56276933
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Scarfman • Publisher — The Cornsoft Group • Designer — Philip A. Oliver • Platforms — TRS-80, TRS-80 Color Computer • Released — 1981: TRS-80 1982: CoCo • Genre — Maze
Gameplay
Gameplay
The player controls Scarfman, eating the dots in a maze filled with them along with five power capsules, avoiding the five monsters that roam the maze. Unlike Pac-Man, there are five monsters instead of four. Eating a power pill causes monsters to lower their eyes, indicating that they're vulnerable. The eyes shift to the normal position when the pill's effect wears off. In Color Scarfman, eating a power pill causes the ghosts to remain vulnerable—indicated by turning blue—until eaten or the level ends.
Places
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Places
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- United States
Named but not plotted · 1
Scarfman is associated with United States.
Country
Reception
Dan Ekblaw reviewed Scarfman in The Space Gamer number 54. Ekblaw commented that "Overall, I would say that Scarfmans defects outweigh its good points by far. I've found that this game loses its novelty after a few weeks and will spend the rest of its days sitting on a shelf". In a 2012 retrospective, Gamasutra wrote that the "chirp-chirp-chirp chomping sound effect is maddening. But it does play like Pac-Man, more or less".
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Scarfman, revision 1329509135 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Reed, Matthew. EnhComp. TRS-80.org.
- 2.Ekblaw, Dan. Capsule Reviews. The Space Gamer. Steve Jackson Games. 54. 30, 32. August 1982.
- 3.Dobson, Dale. Games from the Trash: The History of the TRS-80. Gamasutra. 2012-11-26.
- 4.Hague, James. The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers.
- 5.Boyle, L. Curis. Color Scarfman. The Tandy Color Computers Game List.
- 6.Reed, Matthew. Scarfman. TRS-80.org.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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