Alley Cat (video game)

Alley Cat
IBM PC intro screen with CGA graphics
Developer(s)	Synapse Software
Publisher(s)	Synapse Software IBM (PC)
Designer(s)	Bill Williams John Harris (concept)
Platform(s)	Atari 8-bit (original), PC booter, IBM PCjr
Release	1983 (Atari 8-bit) 1984 (PC)
Genre(s)	Action, multi-game
Mode(s)	Single player

Alley Cat is a video game created by Bill Williams and published by Synapse Software for the Atari 8-bit family in 1983, and later as a PC booter and for the IBM PCjr in 1984 by IBM. The player controls "Freddy the Cat," whose objective is to perform certain tasks within the homes of people in order to reach his love, Felicia.

Alley Cat was based on a one-screen prototype by John Harris. Harris had become unhappy with the direction that the game was headed in and handed it over to Williams who expanded the basic concept into a finished game.

In the main screen, which is the alley, the player is presented with a tall fence in front of an apartment building with several windows. Each window periodically opens to throw out random objects (a phone, shoe, etc.). Every once in a while a dog may come running along the bottom edge of the screen. If the cat touches this dog, they get into a fight and one life is taken away.

By jumping and climbing trash cans, the fence, and clotheslines, the cat can enter various rooms through the open windows. Each room contains one of several challenges:

Most rooms also contain a broomstick that constantly moves around the screen. The cat can keep the broom busy by making footprints on the ground (at the bottom edge of the screen). When there are no footprints, the broom will constantly go after the cat.

The broom is harmless in the sense that it never kills the cat, but it pushes the cat around, enough to make it more difficult if it is not kept busy. In particular, the broom might often throw the cat right at the above-mentioned dog or spider, or throw it right back out of the window.

Successful completion of the challenge is awarded with a number of points proportional to the time taken to complete it. The player then returns to the alley where open windows now show a female cat calling him.

Upon entering such a window, the player encounters a room in which there are several platforms (a bit like shelves) made out of valentine hearts on which other cats walk left and right. The object is to reach the cat at the top while maneuvering around the other cats, which cause the player to fall a level if touched.