Survivors

• Title — Survivors • Developer — Glynn Carey • Publisher — Atlantis • Released — 1986: Spectrum 1987: Atari, BBC, C64, C16, Electron, MSX 1988: Amstrad • Genre — Puzzle • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — Acorn Electron, Atari 8-bit, BBC Micro, C16 / Plus/4, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum

• Illustration — Start of the first level (Electron) The game is set in 2087 in a 'hibernation dome' which has been damaged in a nuclear war. It holds 1000 survivors (who are in stasis) but cannot be accessed by humans because of fallen earth and boulders. The player must control three droids to gain access to, and teleport out, the survivors. The dome is also populated by guardian droids that had been left to maintain life support functions but have been damaged by the nuclear fallout and become hostile. The survivors must all be evacuated before the time limit runs out and the radiation becomes too strong. The game uses the 'rocks and diamonds' mechanics as popularised in the game Boulder Dash whereby the player can dig through earth and push boulders but where boulders will fall from above if area below them is cleared. With the emphasis more on the puzzle element, Survivors is closer to Repton. The main twist with this game is that each droid can only perform one of the functions usually carried out by the player in similar games. The player must switch between droids depending on what they need to do. Droid 1 can tunnel through earth, Droid 2 can teleport survivors home (this game's equivalent of collecting diamonds) and Droid 3 can push boulders. This means that if any droid is trapped or destroyed then the game cannot be completed. The droids lose energy if a boulder falls on top of them or if they touch one of the faulty guardian droids. The guardian droids can be destroyed by dropping boulders on them or trapped behind boulders.