ANTONY CROWTHER

Antony Crowther (born 10 May 1965) is one of the most prolific solo developers of the Commodore 64 era. Working primarily through publishers such as Alligata Software and Mastertronic, he delivered complete commercial games — programming, graphics, and SID music — entirely by himself, making him a defining figure of the UK bedroom coding scene before that term existed.

Between 1982 and 1990, Crowther published over twenty titles on the C64, many of which reached the top ten of UK charts. His games were fast, playable, and always complete — a full product shipped by a single teenager in his bedroom. He developed complete professional games in as little as two weeks, an output that astonished the industry.

Read more in the full history or explore the complete game catalogue.

The Crowther catalogue is dominated by the C64, covering arcade ports, original designs, and licensed titles. His early work for Alligata — Blagger, Gnasher, Loco, Suicide Express — established him as a chart regular by 1984. The middle period brought the boldest work: Aliens (1986) showed he could handle a major film licence; Skimmer (1988) proved he could deliver to Electronic Arts' exacting standards.

Blinky's Scary School (1990), released on C64, Amiga, DOS, and Atari ST, was his most technically ambitious project and his farewell to the bedroom programmer era. The full list, with platform data and publisher credits, is in the complete catalogue.

Three titles define the arc of Crowther's career. Blagger (1983) was the breakout — a platform game that hit the UK charts and established the Alligata / Crowther partnership. Aliens (1986) was the peak of his C64 work: a licensed title that matched the film's tension and received strong reviews in Zzap!64. Skimmer (1988) was his most technically sophisticated C64 effort — an Electronic Arts co-production that showed a developer at the top of his discipline.

Extended editorial on each title is in the Flagship section.

Crowther composed the music for the majority of his own games — an unusual triple capability (code, graphics, music) that kept his development entirely independent. His SID compositions are well-represented in the High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC) under MUSICIANS/C/Crowther_Antony/. He also helped found W.E.M.U.S.I.C. (We Make Use of Sound In Computers) in 1985 with friend and composer Ben Daglish, a collective that brought computer music talent together for the industry.

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