Computer Bismarck

Computer Bismarck
Cover art designed by Louis Saekow featuring the eponymous battleship
DeveloperStrategic Simulations
PublisherStrategic Simulations
Designers
PlatformsApple II, TRS-80
ReleaseFebruary 1980
GenreWargame
ModesSingle-player, multiplayer

Computer Bismarck is a computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations (SSI) in 1980. The game is based on the last battle of the battleship Bismarck, in which British Armed Forces pursue the German Bismarck in 1941. Computer Bismarck is SSI's first game and features turn-based gameplay on a two-dimensional map of the Atlantic Ocean.

The development staff consisted of two programmers, Joel Billings and John Lyons, who programmed the game in BASIC. Originally developed for the TRS-80, an Apple II version was also created two months into the process. After meeting with other wargame developers, Billings decided to publish the game as well. To help accomplish this, he hired Louis Saekow to create the box art.

The first commercially published computer war game, Computer Bismarck sold well and contributed to SSI's success. Though it received a mixed reception, the game is credited in part for legitimizing war games and computer games.