Everything here is experimental: every game, demo and download is a work in progress, still in development and testing, so expect rough edges and bugs. Sound warning: most of these play their music on the 7800's own TIA sound chip, which can be harsh on the ears, so you may want to turn the volume down or mute it. Games marked "POKEY" in their cartridge line sound much smoother on a cart with a POKEY chip.
Night Getaway is a self-running cinematic demo: a two-minute synthwave night chase told as a short film, timed to its music. A note on light: police lights blink in time with the music on small parts of the picture; there is no full-screen strobing. A sports car runs fast down a dark road under the street lights, its blond driver in sunglasses, the lights sliding across his shades on every beat. Then red and blue lights show up in his mirror. Two police cars close in, a helicopter drops in with its searchlight on him, and he pulls over. The officer walks slowly up to his door, and he floors it, leaving the officer standing in the smoke. He loses the helicopter in the city and breaks out onto the open road under a pink sky; the sun goes down, night falls, and the logo over the night drive comes apart one letter at a time. Every picture follows the beat of the music. About two minutes, then it loops. The music plays on a POKEY chip at $450 (7800 GameDrive, Concerto or a POKEY cartridge) with the TIA; without a POKEY only its TIA part plays.
How to play:
PAUSE: pause
RESET: restart
Cartridge: 512K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM, POKEY at $450
A new demo by Abysmal Games. Music by Abysmal Games.
Totentanz is a self-running Halloween demo of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, where the rats dance to the beat of the music. A note on light: this demo contains slow colour cycling and soft fades, and no strobing. Hamelin is overrun with rats when a hooded piper walks out of the fog and plays his call: every rat freezes, only their eyes glinting on his notes. Then they answer, and 332 rats dance in procession behind him, hopping on the kick and swaying on the beat. His spell takes hold: the town drains into his gold and a spiral turns around his eyes. He leads the rats into the river, where they sink one by one beneath his rippling reflection. The town will not pay him, the moon turns blood red, and he leads the children away to a door in the mountain, which shuts behind them. About a minute and a half, then it loops. The music plays on a POKEY chip at $450 (7800 GameDrive, Concerto or a POKEY cartridge); without one only its TIA part plays.
How to play:
SELECT: the rats' dance (in the town and the street)
PAUSE: pause
RESET: restart
Cartridge: 512K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM, POKEY at $450
A new demo by Abysmal Games. Music by Abysmal Games. The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a public-domain folk tale.
Monster Mansion is a self-running Halloween demo, every scene in sync with Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. A note on light: this demo has a few soft flashes (a gold glow, one soft white fade) and no strobing. A witch's crystal ball opens on a flight over a moonlit graveyard, a church and a river, past giant pumpkins to a haunted mansion and in through its window. Inside, five classic monsters stand frozen until the beat drops, then the dance party starts. A dot skull rises out of a green puddle and sings along to the organ, then vector balls hop on the beat, a lantern twister spins, ectoplasm plasma surges, the skull turns into a pumpkin, a bat and the Abysmal Games diamond, the monsters dance again, and the finale is back in the witch's ball, where the candles go out on the last chord. Then a demon laughs and wishes you a happy Halloween. About three minutes, then it loops. The music plays on a POKEY chip at $450 (7800 GameDrive, Concerto or a POKEY cartridge) and falls back to the TIA without one.
How to play:
SELECT: next scene
PAUSE: pause
RESET: restart
Cartridge: 512K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM, POKEY at $450
A new demo by Abysmal Games LLC. Music by Abysmal Games. Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J. S. Bach.
Terminal Troubles is a self-running demo on an old text terminal, where one user has a very bad day. Photosensitivity warning: near the end the picture jitters, flickers, changes colour and rolls, which may affect viewers with photosensitive epilepsy. The machine boots, the user is refused his own account and logs in as guest, and the fortune promises a wonderful day. Then he types his way through it: he starts his music player (a live spectrum of the tunes), gets dumped by email, loses the music to the out-of-memory killer, runs a live ASCII fire in mono and then in colour, hits a wall of compile errors, summons a steam train, dies in a first-person ASCII dungeon, gets kicked off a dial-up BBS after the modem screech, deletes everything with one stray space, catches a virus and is refused by sudo. Then he gives up and shuts down, and the machine dies on the way: the picture breaks up, the music detunes, the Abysmal Games diamond surfaces in the static and the screen collapses to a dot. About nine minutes, then the same day starts again. The music plays on a POKEY chip at $450 and falls back to the TIA without one.
How to play:
None: self-running
Cartridge: 256K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM, POKEY at $450
A new demo by Abysmal Games LLC. Music by Abysmal Games.
Morphogen is a self-running demo about the patterns of nature, each scene growing out of the last. Photosensitivity warning: this demo contains flashing lights and fast-changing colours that may affect viewers with photosensitive epilepsy. The Abysmal Games diamond bursts into seeds that grow into a sunflower on the golden angle; the flower winds into a vortex and turbulence, a river meanders and cuts off oxbow lakes, its delta flips over into a tree, the leaves swell into soap bubbles and foam, the foam freezes into crystal grains, mud cracks and basalt columns, and the columns round into circles that light up the diamond again. About four minutes in sync with its own music, then it loops; the music needs a POKEY chip at $450 (7800 GameDrive, Concerto or a POKEY cartridge), and the demo is silent without one.
Cartridge: 256K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM, POKEY at $450
A new demo by Abysmal Games LLC. Music by Abysmal Games.
Bad Apple!! is the famous shadow-art music video, played on the 7800. The whole 3:38 video at 15 frames a second, 144 x 108 in black and white, from a 512K cartridge. Each line of the picture is drawn as black and white runs by the display chip itself.
How to play:
Button: play again from the credits
Cartridge: 512K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM, POKEY at $450
Music Masayoshi Minoshima (Alstroemeria Records), vocals nomico, video Anira; Touhou Project by ZUN. Inspired by fenarinarsa's Atari STE port. A free fan demo, not for sale.
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
Fractals is a self-running demo that computes classic fractals live on the 7800's 6502. The Mandelbrot set and three zooms, four Julia sets, the Barnsley fern, the Sierpinski triangle and the Heighway dragon, each drawn in front of you, then colour-cycled.
How to play:
Joystick or button: skip to the next fractal
Cartridge: 128K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM
A new demo by Abysmal Games.
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
Gallery shows seven classic paintings on the 7800, each in four colour and resolution techniques. One palette, new colours every six lines, a hybrid that switches between colour and high-resolution modes line by line, and a two-frame flicker blend with hundreds of apparent colours (best on a CRT).
How to play:
Left / Right: painting
Button: technique
SELECT: flicker blend on/off
Cartridge: 512K, SuperGame
Paintings in the public domain (Wikimedia Commons): Hokusai, Boecklin, Fuseli, Bruegel the Elder, Bosch, Goya, Dore. A new demo by Abysmal Games.
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
A self-running demo of display tricks, on a plain 48K cartridge. Raster bars, a water reflection, a wobbler, a DYCP scroller and more, each introduced by a card naming the technique. It loops forever.
How to play:
Button 1: next part
Cartridge: 48K, POKEY at $450
Music by Abysmal Games.
What's new: v1.2.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.2 (2026-10-13): New POKEY soundtrack (Night Drive; TIA version without a POKEY) and the Abysmal Games audio logo. v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts.
The longer cut of the showreel, on a 256K cartridge. The showreel parts plus 20-layer parallax, stretching, palette cycling, fireworks, a vector room and a sprite zoom. About three minutes, then it loops.
How to play:
Button 1: next part
Cartridge: 256K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM, POKEY at $450
Music by Abysmal Games.
What's new: v1.2.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.2 (2026-10-13): New POKEY soundtrack (Night Drive / Neon Horizon; TIA versions without a POKEY) and the Abysmal Games audio logo. v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts.
Cryptfall is a playable slice of a dark dungeon crawler. Three generated floors lit only by the hero's light, with line-of-sight shadows, fog of war and flickering torches. Melee, a firebolt that carries its own light, potions, chests, magic items and a boss.
How to play:
Joystick: walk
Button 1: sword; open chests
Button 2: firebolt
Both buttons: drink a potion
Cartridge: 128K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM, POKEY at $450
Music by Abysmal Games.
What's new: v1.2.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.2 (2026-10-13): New POKEY soundtrack (TIA fallback) and the Abysmal Games audio logo. v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts.
Digitized speech and drums on the console's own TIA sound chip. Four ways of playing 4-bit samples through the TIA, side by side, plus a drum loop over TIA music. No extra sound chip needed.
How to play:
Up / Down: choose an item
Button 1: play it
Cartridge: 48K
Speech made with a speech synthesiser; drums synthesised.
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
A point-and-click adventure skeleton with a verb bar and a one-puzzle story.
How to play:
Joystick: cursor
Button: act
Cartridge: 128K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
A first-person block world: mine and place blocks in generated worlds.
How to play:
Joystick: walk, turn
Button 1: mine
Button 2: place
SELECT: new world
Cartridge: 128K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
A pseudo-3D road with curves, hills and rival cars.
How to play:
Up or Button 1: accelerate
Down: brake
Left / Right: steer
Cartridge: 128K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM
Music by Abysmal Games.
What's new: v1.3 (2026-10-19): Reworked road stripes: the lane lines no longer break up, the curbs and lane dashes run all the way to the horizon, and the road colours are softer. v1.2.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.2 (2026-10-15): New TIA soundtrack (Redline).
A giant boss and up to 240 bullets with no flicker.
How to play:
Joystick: ship
Button 1: next pattern
Button 2: bullet cap
Cartridge: 128K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
Demoscene effects: water, wobbler, stretch, palette cycling and a DYCP scroller.
How to play:
Fire: next part
Up (hold): freeze
Cartridge: 48K
Music by Abysmal Games.
What's new: v1.2.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.2 (2026-10-15): New TIA soundtrack (Prism Cascade). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts.
Light radius, line-of-sight shadows and fog of war in a generated dungeon.
How to play:
Joystick: walk
Button 1: next part
Cartridge: 32K
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
Twenty layers of parallax scrolling on one screen.
How to play:
Left: stop
Right: double speed
Cartridge: 48K
Music by Abysmal Games.
What's new: v1.2.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.2 (2026-10-15): New TIA soundtrack (Glass Horizon). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts.
Fireworks, fire, fountains and snow from one particle system.
How to play:
Button: next effect
Left / Right: technique
Cartridge: 128K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
Dungeon levels generated on the console from a 16-bit seed.
How to play:
Joystick: walk
Button 1: next level
Button 2: overview
Cartridge: 32K
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
A room drawn from vector commands, like the classic Sierra adventures.
Cartridge: 128K, SuperGame, 16K cart RAM
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
Rotating 3D wireframe models, drawn without a framebuffer.
How to play:
Button: next model
Left / Right: rotation speed
Cartridge: 32K
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
An endless generated landscape scrolling under a ship.
How to play:
Button: next world
Cartridge: 32K
What's new: v1.1.1 (2026-10-15): More reliable power-on on real hardware (clears memory the startup left uncleared). v1.1 (2026-10-13): Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts. v1.0 (2026-10-10): First release.
Runs on real Atari 7800 hardware (tested on 7800 GameDrive) and in A7800/MAME emulators. Games by Abysmal Games (c) Abysmal Games LLC: free to download and play; not for sale or redistribution on physical media without permission. Ports remain under their own licences (see each entry).
