“Another visitor. Stay a while… stay forever!”
- Impossible Mission, 1984 (Electronic Speech Systems)
Sunnyvale, California — 1978–1993
California's Sports-Game Pioneers
From dungeon crawlers to the half-pipe, Epyx defined a golden era of Commodore 64 sports gaming. Their California Games sold 300,000 copies in nine months. Their hardware became the Atari Lynx. Their voice synthesis terrified millions. This is their story.
Featured
The definitive Epyx experience - Chris Grigg's iconic C64 score, sun-drenched half-pipe graphics, and the "Louie Louie" surfing theme. See why 300,000 people bought this in 1987.
California Games (1987, Epyx) - C64 longplay. Music: Chris Grigg.
Flagship Titles
1984 — C64, Atari 8-bit, Amiga
Dennis Caswell's masterpiece. Platform-puzzle gameplay, silky-smooth sprite animation, and the first digitised human voice in a home computer game: "Another visitor. Stay a while… stay forever!" Zzap!64 scored it 98%.
1987 — C64, Amiga, Atari ST, DOS
Half-pipe, footbag, BMX, surfing, roller skating, and flying disc - six events, one summer. Epyx's best-selling game ever, with 300,000 copies sold in its first nine months. Chris Grigg's SID score is timeless.
1984 — C64, Atari 8-bit, Apple II
The game that launched the Games series - and sold over 400,000 copies on the C64 alone. Eight Olympic-style events, complete with a podium ceremony and national anthems. Sports gaming was never the same again.
1983 — Atari 8-bit, C64, Apple II
Randy Glover's 30-level platform classic, released under the Epyx name in 1983. Considered one of the earliest platform-game masterpieces, Jumpman challenged players to defuse bombs across increasingly devious single-screen stages.
The Company
Founded as Automated Simulations in 1978 by Jon Freeman and Jim Connelley, Epyx shaped the golden age of Commodore 64 gaming before their own hardware ambitions consumed them.
Jon Freeman and Jim Connelley found the company in Sunnyvale, California, publishing dungeon-crawl RPGs for TRS-80, Apple II, and Atari 8-bit - including the acclaimed Dunjonquest series.
Full history →Renamed Epyx in 1983, the company pivoted toward action and sports games. Jumpman and Pitstop II showed what was possible. The Games series was just over the horizon.
Read more →Impossible Mission. Summer Games. Winter Games. World Games. California Games. Five years of landmark titles, each pushing the C64 further than anyone thought possible.
Read more →Engineers RJ Mical and Dave Needle designed a revolutionary handheld - the "Epyx Handy" - but the cost broke the company. Atari bought the hardware, renamed it the Lynx, and Epyx filed for bankruptcy in 1989.
Read more →Explore
All 20+ Epyx titles with year, platform badges, and brief descriptions. Filter by C64, Amiga, Apple II, Atari, DOS, and NES.
Listen to Impossible Mission, California Games (all subtunes), Summer Games, Winter Games, Pitstop II, and Jumpman via DeepSID.
Box art, screenshots, and promotional imagery from across the Epyx catalogue. Filter by platform.
Profiles of Freeman, Connelley, Caswell, Kosaka, Glover, Grigg, Gleadow, Mical, and Needle.
The "Stay forever" speech origin, the Lynx story, 300k copies in 9 months, the Rogue publishing deal, and more.
Longplays, the Epyx documentary, GDQ speedruns, and developer retrospectives.