Now, of course, with software programs available that emulate precisely the hardware of these original arcade machines, and with the original ROM images that are often available online, a player can now play Dig Dug on their computer, just as they played it twenty-five years ago, as often as they wish!


This page was created in honor of this almost 30-year-old arcade game and the many pleasurable hours I spent playing it.  Enjoy.

Ed Collins
edwardcollins@yahoo.com
June 3, 2009

Then in 1982, some bright young employee turned the concept upside down - what if we let the players create their own mazes? With this simple thought, the soon-to-be arcade classic Dig Dug was born. Its oddball premise and eye-catching cartoon graphics were a hit with gamers, who were happy to try something different.

In 1985, Namco put out a sequel, arming the hero with a jackhammer and placing him on an island instead of beneath the earth. Unfortunately, Dig Dug II arrived during somewhat of an arcade downswing and consequently never got a wide distribution. However, the original remains a beloved favorite of the arcade community, an addictive and charming classic like no other game before... or since.

The text below is from a Dig Dug magazine advertisement:

Taking aim at the red, sunglasses-wearing orbs called Pookas or the green, fire-breathing dragons called Fygars, you fire a short hose, snare an enemy and pump it up until it explodes. But be careful! If you get the job half-done, the enemies will not remain stunned in their semi-inflated state, but will soon recover and resume the chase!

After dropping the 2nd rock in each round, a vegetable / fruit will appear in the middle of the screen. Extra points will be awarded if you "eat" or run over this food item. It only appears for about ten seconds, so you have to hurry before it disappears. During the higher rounds your priority should be to get these bonus vegetables / fruits because they're worth more points than destroying the monsters.

Fygar's deadly fire can reach you through a thin wall of dirt, so be sure to stay out of his way when he stops moving.

When his buddies are all killed, the last monster will always try to escape at the top left side of the screen. Thus, for maximum points, when there are just two monsters left, try not to kill one in the lower right section of the screen if the other monster is near the upper left portion of the screen. If you do so, you won't be able to get to this last monster in time, before it escapes.

You can't use your air pump through the earth, so back off if a ghost is approaching through the dirt toward your tunnel. Wait until the ghost gets inside the tunnel and then quickly turn and pump it up.

You'll score more points by killing the Fygar dragons from the side, rather than from above or below. Thus, if approaching a Fygar from above or below, it often is beneficial to use your air pump to first stun the dragon, then move to its side, and only then finish pumping it until it explodes. (See the "points awarded" chart below.)

Each round has four different colored levels of earth. Killing the monsters in the bottom-most level earns more points than the level above it, and so on, and so on. (See the "points awarded" chart below.)

To crush a ghost, tunnel under a rock and wait (as long as you don't move, the rock won't fall). When a ghost covers the rock, quickly move out of the way and the ghost will be crushed.

A good way to trap and squash several creatures at once is to tunnel straight up under a rock and wait for the monsters to follow. When the first one or two get close, stun them a few times while the others get closer, then quickly move out of the way to the right or left. Ideally, several monsters will be trapped in the path of the falling rock.

If you want to be extra greedy and get more points, tunnel through as much dirt during each round as you can.



Thanks to Randy Davis for the following Dig Dug videos:

Round 1:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWzhKcqZmm4
Round 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ectHJYdwXHw
Round 3:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWJjIxMjvAE
Round 4:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUpHW0HMrTc
Round 5:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc2y8a-zA8A
Round 6:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIzbhDWH4e0

The five high scores at the
beginning of the game belong to:

N .N
A .A
M .M
C .C
O .O

(Namco)

At the beginning of Round 256, a Pooka is on top of the Dig Dug character. Since there is no way to escape, at this Round your game is basically over, no matter how many lives you have left at that point. (Note: I've also read that after Round 256 the game will start over at Round 1 and become easier again, so I'm not sure which is actually correct.)

As proof of its popularity, Dig Dug has been ported to many systems - Amiga, Apple II, Atari, ColecoVision, Commodore, Dreamcast, Game Boy, IBM, Intellivision, Java, Nintendo 64, Palm Pilot, Playstation, Playstation 2, Sega, Sony, VIC-20...

In a 1997 episode of "The X Files", actor Ken Hawryliw, as he is being dragged away by the Military Police exclaims, "You don't understand... all I did was play Dig Dug! I didn't hack into anybody's computer..."

The original chip would rollover back to a score of 0 after reaching 999,990. (Meaning you would not see a score of 1,000,000 or more - there were only six digits allotted for the score.)

Beginners may believe you can "tunnel anywhere" but all Dig Dug screens are actually overlayed on a 14 x 18 grid as shown to the right.

The bottom row is never used while playing. It displays the number of lives left and the number of the Round.

Notice the bottom-most level of earth only has three rows, while the three levels of earth above this one all have four rows.

The very top row of the grid is used only to display the current score and high score.

Drop those rocks and crush their heads
Watch out for that flame
Play all night, play all day
Dig Dug is our game.

Pooka's just above you now
Fygar's closing in
Play all night, play all day
Sometimes you just can't win.

"Hey, I like the game. 
I never said I was good at it!"

High score last updated on 
March 28, 2006.  Note:  This is with the default values.  (Three men at the beginning of the game, an addtional man awarded at 20,00 points, and then another man awarded at 60,000 points.)