Boulder Dash (video game)

Boulder Dash is a maze-based puzzle video game released in 1984 by First Star Software for Atari 8-bit computers. It was created by Canadian developers Peter Liepa and Chris Gray. The player controls Rockford, who tunnels through dirt to collect diamonds. Boulders and other objects remain fixed until the dirt beneath them is removed, then they fall and become a hazard. Puzzles are designed around collecting diamonds without being crushed and exploiting the interactions between objects (such as a butterfly turning into diamonds when hit with a falling rock). The game's name is a pun on balderdash.

Boulder Dash was ported to many 8-bit and 16-bit systems and turned into a coin-operated arcade video game. It was followed by multiple sequels and re-releases. Many games were influenced by Boulder Dash, such as Repton and direct clones like Emerald Mine, resulting in the sub-genre of rocks-and-diamonds games.

As of September 2017, BBG Entertainment owns the intellectual property rights to Boulder Dash.