Gallery — Commodore PET Games

Commodore PET 2001 Series studio photograph showing chiclet keyboard and built-in cassette drive

Commodore PET 2001 (1977) — the original: chiclet keyboard, built-in cassette, 9-in monitor.

Commodore PET 4032 on a desk with green phosphor monitor glowing

Commodore PET 4032 (1980) — the school-era model with full-size keyboard and BASIC 4.0.

SuperPET SP9000 (1981) — added a Motorola 6809 CPU for University of Waterloo computer science courses.

PET BASIC 4.0 startup screen on the green phosphor monitor

PET BASIC 4.0 startup screen with PETSCII. This is what greeted users every time they switched on.

Cosmic Cosmiads title and instructions screen showing author credit

Cosmic Cosmiads (1981) — title and instructions screen. “FUEL” counter is the gameplay innovation.

Cosmic Cosmiads gameplay: full alien grid at top, player tank at bottom, FUEL meter visible

Cosmic Cosmiads — full alien formation active. Every shot costs fuel; accuracy is strategic.

Cosmic Cosmiads gameplay: later wave with fewer aliens remaining

Cosmic Cosmiads — late-wave play. Fewer enemies, lower fuel budget, Zylon boss imminent.

Cosmic Cosmiads in monochrome 1-bit display mode

Cosmic Cosmiads — alternate monochrome capture showing the pure 1-bit character-mode display.

Cosmic Jailbreak title screen showing COSMIC FIGHTER as the in-game title

Cosmic Jailbreak (1982) — PET title screen shows “COSMIC FIGHTER”. The commercial name “Cosmic Jailbreak” appears only in Commodore’s catalogue.

Cosmic Jailbreak start screen: Press any key - Player 1

Cosmic Jailbreak — start screen. Clean PETSCII menu design characteristic of Hipkin’s work.

Cosmic Jailbreak Phase A1 gameplay: spaceship vs enemies

Cosmic Jailbreak — Phase A1 gameplay. Aliens approach from above while the player holds the lower screen.

Cosmic Jailbreak Phase A2: prison block mechanic clearly visible

Cosmic Jailbreak — Phase A2. The prison block mechanic: aliens chip away at the jail wall to free prisoners.

VIC-20 Cosmic Jailbreak instruction sheet scan, Commodore branded

Cosmic Jailbreak VIC-20 instruction sheet. The PET version’s royalty dispute centred on Commodore’s denial that the game had launched, disproved by US advertising Hipkin’s brother produced.

Microchess 2.0 title screen: BY PETER JENNINGS

Microchess 2.0 (1978) — title screen. The first commercially successful microcomputer game.

PET Space Invaders colour version gameplay: blue aliens, shields

PET Space Invaders (1980) — colour-modded version. Original was monochrome; this is a later enhanced variant.

PET Space Invaders score advance table showing alien point values

PET Space Invaders — score advance table. Faithful to the Taito arcade original in layout.

CBM Draw Poker (1978) — payout table. PETSCII card suits (♠♣♥♦) were included in the character set at Chuck Peddle’s personal request.

Temple of Apshai (1979) — box art. Automated Simulations (later Epyx) sold 20,000 copies by 1981, 400,000 by 1986.

Temple of Apshai gameplay screenshot (colour C64/Atari version)

Temple of Apshai — gameplay (later C64/Atari colour version shown). The PET original was text-mode monochrome.