Space Race (video game)

Space Race is an arcade game released by Atari in 1973. It is considered to be one of the earliest arcade video games and is a two-player competitive game.

The game features two spaceships, controlled by the players, racing to the top of the screen while avoiding asteroids. Each player controls their ship using a single button that allows them to accelerate. Pressing the button increases the ship's speed, while releasing it causes the ship to slow down. The players must navigate their ships through randomly generated asteroid fields.

The first player to successfully reach the top of the screen wins the round. The game continues with multiple rounds until a predetermined score is reached.

Space Race is notable for its simple gameplay and its place in the early history of arcade games. It predates the more commercially successful Pong, and helped establish some of the basic mechanics and competitive elements that would become commonplace in later arcade titles. The game was designed by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, with Larry Bryan contributing to the engineering and hardware design. It was originally conceived as a three- or four-player game but was ultimately released as a two-player game due to cost considerations.