BASIC Computer Games

BASIC Computer Games

Cover of the 1973 edition
Author	David H. Ahl
Cover artist	Bob Barner
Subject	Computer programming
Publication date	1973

BASIC Computer Games is a compilation of type-in computer games in the BASIC programming language collected by David H. Ahl. Some of the games were written or modified by Ahl as well. Among its better-known games are Hamurabi and Super Star Trek.

Originally published by DEC in 1973 as 101 BASIC Computer Games, the book was so popular that it had two more printing runs, the last in March 1975. The programs in these books were mostly written in the BASIC dialect found on Digital's minicomputers, although some could not be converted and appeared in different dialects like Dartmouth BASIC.

In 1974, Ahl left DEC. He purchased the rights to the book and republished it under the new name. With the release of the first microcomputers, and Microsoft BASIC soon after, the collection added several new games, removed some, and those that remained from the original were ported to this dialect. By the early 1980s, with tens of millions of home computers in the market, it had become the first computer book to sell a million copies.

History

Around 1971, Ahl ported two popular early mainframe games from DEC's FOCAL language to BASIC: Hamurabi and Lunar Lander. He published the BASIC versions in DEC's educational newsletter, EDU, which he edited. Their popularity was such that he called for more submissions for future editions of the newsletter, and quickly gathered many, with a considerable group of them coming from high school students.

The wide availability of BASIC on various platforms, notably the Data General Nova and HP 2100 series, led to considerable porting effort to and from the DEC platform. In July 1973, Ahl published a selection of these submissions as 101 BASIC Computer Games, which quickly sold out. This led to two further printing runs in April 1974 and March 1975. Ahl later noted that number "was far more books than there were computers around, so people were buying three, four, five of them for each computer."

In 1974, Ahl left DEC to start Creative Computing magazine. The next year saw the launch of the first microcomputers and 101 became quite popular with the owners of these machines. The release of the "1977 Trinity" machines (Apple II, Commodore PET, and TRS-80) was soon followed by a great many new competing microcomputer platforms featuring BASIC, along with the userbase to go with them, and demand for the book led to a second edition in 1978. This version removed non-DEC games, replaced them with some of the many submissions he had over the years, and ported those that remained into MS-BASIC format. By 1979, it had sold over 1 million copies, the first computer book to do so.

Sales remained strong for years, and spawned similar collections in More Basic Computer Games (1979), and Big Computer Games (1984) and Basic Computer Adventures (1984), with translations into six languages.

Games

• Chomp
• Civil War
• Hexapawn
• Hammurabi (based on The Sumer Game by Doug Dyment)
• Nim
• Super Star Trek

Reception

The first version, 101 went into a second printing and eventually sold 10,000 copies. Ahl later noted that “was far more books than there were computers around, so people were buying three, four, five of them for each computer.”

The second version, BASIC, was re-printed many times and was the first computer book to sell a million copies. Harry McCracken called it "The single most influential book of the BASIC era".

Legacy

Using Vintage Basic, the games can be run on Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. The source code for the book is provided (with permission of David H Ahl) on the Vintage Basic's Basic Computer Games page.

A Microsoft Windows machine with the GW-BASIC interpreter can also run the games.

The games are also compilable and playable with the Microsoft Small Basic development environment for children. Computer Science for Kids has released a 2010 Small Basic Edition of the classic Basic Computer Games book called Basic Computer Games: Small Basic Edition.

A project started on GitHub in 2021 to port the games in these books to modern languages.

Program listings from the second ("microcomputer") edition, and from More Basic Computer Games, can be run by the open-source Brassica interpreter in R or Python.

With the BASIC to Javascript compiler, the original 101 games can be run in a web browser.

External links

• Ahl, David H., ed. (July 1973). 101 BASIC Computer Games. Maynard, Massachusetts: Digital Equipment Corporation. OCLC 220506154. Retrieved 21 June 2026.—No general credit for Ahl as editor (or to any individual for anything) in the book itself. (He does appear in the credits for individual games.) This edition does not appear to have any ISBN or LCCN. The link is to a scan of the March 1975 third printing, which has a different cover and an updated copyright notice

  The original edition. All programs are written in one of a variety of pre-microcomputer BASICs. All program titles are SIXBIT-compatible.

  By 1975 two supplements had been published (both crediting Ahl as author):

  • Ahl, David H. (November 1973). Understanding Mathematics And Logic Using BASIC Computer Games. Maynard, Massachusetts: Digital Equipment Corporation. OCLC 425122025. Retrieved 21 June 2026.

    A teacher's guide and resource book for 101 BASIC Computer Games

  • Ahl, David H. (January 1974). Getting Started In Classroom Computing. Maynard, Massachusetts: Digital Equipment Corporation. Retrieved 21 June 2026.

    An introduction to computing for children, guiding the reader through interactions with a number of BASIC programs, most from 101 BASIC Computer Games

  One general revision of 101 BASIC Computer Games was published:

  • Ahl, David H., ed. (October 1978). BASIC Computer Games. Program conversion by Steve North; illustrations by George Beker (Microcomputer ed.). Morristown, New Jersey: Creative Computing Press. ISBN 9780916688073. LCCN 78050028. OCLC 4021830. Retrieved 21 June 2026. {{cite book}}: External link in |others= (help)—A trade edition, LCCN 78017624, credits Workman Publishing of New York as publisher.

    There are some significant changes to the text of the Microcomputer Edition between different printings (and perhaps between the Workman and Creative Computing editions?). Compared to the fourth Workman printing and the seventh Creative Computing Press printing, the fourteenth Workman printing has no "And Finally...." section about conversions and bugs (and no ad for Creative Computing on the copyright page), but has a longer BASIC tutorial and a new note about compatibility and conversion on the copyright page.

    Two variant editions have ported the listings to another BASIC dialect:

    • Ahl, David H., ed. (July 1979). BASIC Computer Games : TRS-80™ Edition. Illustrations by Sandy Dean. Morristown, New Jersey: Creative Computing Press. ISBN 0-916688-40-2. Retrieved 23 June 2026.—The ISBN for this book was, incorrectly, reused for 1984's Big Computer Games (see below), and all ISBN databases now seem to associate it with that book only. The copyright page states that the book was published for Radio Shack
    • Ahl, David H., ed. (2010). BASIC Computer Games (Small Basic ed.). Maple Valley, WA: Kidware Software.—Neither full library data nor the book itself seem to be available from the publisher page

    Foreign language translations

    • Ahl, David H., ed. (1982). BASIC-Computer-Spiele. Band 1 (in German). Vol. 1. Translated by Black, Wolfgang J. Program conversion by Steve North; illustrations by George Beker. Düsseldorf: Sybex. ISBN 3-88745-009-4. {{cite book}}: External link in |others= (help)
    • Ahl, David H., ed. (1982). Jeux d’ordinateur en BASIC : version microordinateur (in French). Translated by Besse, Bernard; Boyd, Isabelle; Sumpf, Virginie. Program conversion by Steve North; cover art by Jean-François Pénichoux; interior illustrations by George Beker. Paris; Berkeley; Düsseldorf: Sybex France. ISBN 2-902414-46-3. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
    • Ahl, David H., ed. (1984). Dataspel i BASIC (in Swedish). Translated by Thorell, Jerker. Program conversion by Steve North; illustrations by George Beker. Stockholm: Pagina. ISBN 9186200054. OCLC 185921593. {{cite book}}: External link in |others= (help)
    • Ahl, David H., ed. (1979). Basic computer games : マイクロコンピュータゲーム集日本語版 (in Japanese). Tokyo: ASCII Publishing. OCLC 672648883.

      A partial translation (using parallel text in places) adapted from the plates (cover and interior) of the first Creative Computing printing illustrated by Sandy Dean. Only seventy of the games are included.

    The Danish edition was published in three volumes:

    • Ahl, David H., ed. (1986). Basic computerspil. Bind 1. Basic computerspil. (in Danish). Vol. 1. Translated by Borup, Christian. Program conversion by Steve North; cover by Jesper Bach Jensen; internal illustrations by George Beker. Copenhagen: Borgen. ISBN 87-418-7419-6. {{cite book}}: External link in |others= (help)
    —Bibliotek.dk number 06385184
    • Ahl, David H., ed. (1986). Basic computerspil. Bind 2. Basic computerspil. (in Danish). Vol. 2. Translated by Borup, Christian. Program conversion by Steve North; cover by Jesper Bach Jensen; internal illustrations by George Beker. Copenhagen: Borgen. ISBN 87-418-7685-7. {{cite book}}: External link in |others= (help)
    —Bibliotek.dk number 06385192
    • Ahl, David H., ed. (1986). Basic computerspil. Bind 3. Basic computerspil. (in Danish). Vol. 3. Translated by Borup, Christian. Program conversion by Steve North; illustrations by George Beker. Copenhagen: Borgen. ISBN 87-418-7686-5. {{cite book}}: External link in |others= (help)
    —Bibliotek.dk number 06385206

    Bibliotek.dk page for the series

• Ahl, David H., ed. (June 1979). More BASIC Computer Games. Program conversion by Steve North; illustrations by George Beker; preface by Christopher Cerf. Morristown, New Jersey: Creative Computing Press. ISBN 0-89480-137-6. OCLC 5692807. Retrieved 22 June 2026.—Another distinct edition with Workman as the publisher exists (LCCN 80057619, OCLC 6487883).

  Ports

  • Ahl, David H., ed. (May 1980). More BASIC Computer Games : TRS-80™ Edition. Program conversion by Steve North; illustrations by George Beker; preface by Christopher Cerf. Morristown, New Jersey: Creative Computing Press. ISBN 0-916688-19-4. Retrieved 24 June 2026.—The first printing gives the title as BASIC Computer Games Volume II : TRS-80™ Edition; adapts the cover design of BASIC Computer Games' TRS-80 edition with its Sandy Dean illustration (though the interior art is Becker's); and again says on the copyright page that the book was published for Radio Shack

  Foreign language translations

  • Ahl, David H., ed. (1982). BASIC-Computer-Spiele. Band 2 (in German). Vol. 2. Translated by Black, Wolfgang J. Program conversion by Steve North; illustrations by George Beker. Düsseldorf: Sybex. ISBN 3-88745-010-8. {{cite book}}: External link in |others= (help)
  • Ahl, David H., ed. (1982). Nouveaux jeux d’ordinateur en BASIC (in French). Translated by Gourlet, Jacques. Program conversion by Steve North; cover art by Jean-François Pénichoux; interior illustrations by George Beker. Paris; Berkeley; Düsseldorf: Sybex France. ISBN 2-902414-47-1. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  • Ahl, David H., ed. (1980). More basic computer games : マイクロコンピュータ・ゲーム集日本語版 (in Japanese). Tokyo: ASCII Publishing. ISBN 4-87148-101-8. OCLC 674059405.

    Again uses Sandy Dean illustrations. Only 70 of the 84 games reproduced.

• Ahl, David H., ed. (1984). Big Computer Games. Art direction by Patrick Calkins. Illustrations and production by Eugene Bickness, Chris DeMilia, Peter Kelley and Diana Negri Rudio. Morris Plains, New Jersey: Creative Computing Press. ISBN 0916688402. LCCN 84012730. OCLC 10914568. Retrieved 22 June 2026.—The ISBN for this book was, incorrectly, reused from 1979's BASIC Computer Games : TRS-80 Edition (see above)

  Ahl identifies this as part of the BASIC Computer Games series in the preface (and all of the games are indeed in BASIC).

  • Ahl, David H., ed. (2 Jul 2022). Big Computer Games (Enhanced ed.). ISBN 9781387854011.—The hardcover has ISBN 9781387853984

• Ahl, David H. (1986). David Ahl's BASIC Computer Adventures. Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-914845-92-6. LCCN 86018095. OCLC 14002580. Retrieved 25 June 2026.

  Somewhat similar to Big Computer Games in particular, but not identified as part of the BASIC Computer Games series. All programs were written for the book by Ahl.

  • Ahl, David H. (December 2011). David Ahl's Small Basic Computer Adventures (Special 25th Anniversary ed.). Maple Valley, WA: Kidware Software. ISBN 978-1937161170.—Publisher page
• BASIC趣味程序选（一） [Selected Fun BASIC Programs] (in Chinese). Vol. 1. Tsinghua University Press. 2 February 1985. Retrieved 24 June 2026.—Includes programs translated from BASIC Computer Games and other non-Chinese sources as well as new programs; cover illustrated with modified versions of Becker's art
• George Beker's BEKERBOTS Site. Beker illustrated the Basic Computer Games books
• Basic Computer Games archived on AtariArchives.org
• GW-BASIC games and other programs, including selections from the Basic Computer Games series Archived 2019-12-25 at the Wayback Machine