DREAD

v1.2.1Atari 7800Released October 19, 2026

A first-person shooter for the Atari 7800, in the style of the early 1990s classics. Eight levels in three episodes of real 3D, drawn by a raycaster written for the 7800.

The base went quiet at midnight. By morning its halls were full of imps. You go in after them with a pistol, fifty rounds and whatever you can find on the floor. Beyond the base the walls burn orange and floating eyes drift through the halls; past the Hell Gate lies a quarry where the stone itself gets up and walks.

Download ROM (.a78) Manual (PDF)

Free. Runs on NTSC and PAL consoles at the same speed (signed for stock NTSC consoles), and in emulators. One joystick; no extra sound hardware needed.

The levels
Monsters
Weapons and pickups
Controls
Under the hood
DREAD 2P
Cartridge concepts
Versions

8 levels, 3 episodes

The Base, The Furnace and The Quarry, ending on the throne of the magma golem.

3 guns

Pistol, shotgun and chaingun, all from one ammo pool.

5 monsters

Imps, nightmare imps, floating eyes, stone golems and a boss.

Keycards and switches

Locked doors, barrels to blow, an exit switch on every level.

You keep what you carry

Health, armour, ammo and guns go with you to the next level.

Four songs

Hellforge, Rotted Crown, Sludge Gate and Magma Throne, plus an ending.

The levels

Each level is a little harder than the one before: its monsters move faster, rest less between attacks and hit harder.

Episode 1: The Base

Level 1: grey walls, a brown floor, a barrel and a shotgun on the floor — 1. The Base

Level 2: blue steel walls and a green floor — 2. The Blue Halls

Episode 2: The Furnace

Level 3: burnt-orange walls around a pillared arena — 3. The Furnace

Level 4: long galleries joined by doors — 4. Eye Gallery

Level 5: a ring of rooms around a central keep — 5. Hell Gate

Episode 3: The Quarry

Level 6: a cavern of moss-green pillars — 6. Quarry

Level 7: long hallways in dark rock — 7. The Long Dark

Level 8: the magma golem among the pillars of its arena — 8. Golem Throne

Monsters

Monsters stand still until they see you, or until they hear a shot: every shot wakes the monsters around you, even behind walls.

ImpThrows fireballs, claws up close. Episodes 1 to 3.

Nightmare impTwice as tough, half again as fast.

Floating eyeHovers, spits fireballs, bites. Episode 2.

Stone golemNever flinches. When its fists go up, step back.

Magma golemThe boss of level 8. Fireballs three at a time.

Shots to kill	Pistol or chaingun	Shotgun
Imp	3	1
Nightmare imp	6	2
Floating eye	5	2
Stone golem	10	4
Magma golem	42	14

Weapons and pickups

The pistol in your hand — **Pistol.** Always yours. About three shots a second.

The shotgun in your hand — **Shotgun.** Three damage to your target and one to everything in its spread.

The chaingun in your hand — **Chaingun.** The pistol's damage at three times the rate.

Medkit: +25 health
Magenta orb: +100 health, up to 200%
Armour: takes half of every hit
Ammo clip: +10 ammo
Keycard: opens this level's locked doors
Barrel: shoot it from a distance

Controls

Joystick (left port)	What it does
Up / Down	walk forward / back
Left / Right	turn (tap to aim, hold to turn faster)
Button 2 + Left / Right	strafe
Button 1	fire, start, continue
Tap Button 2	next weapon
SELECT	low detail on/off (a faster game)
PAUSE	music on/off

Low detail mode: the walls drawn in wider columns — Low detail (SELECT) draws the walls in wider columns: chunkier, and faster in crowded rooms. A one-button joystick works too, without strafe or weapon changes.

Under the hood

The 7800 has no multiply, no divide, 4 KB of RAM and no frame buffer, so DREAD's 3D is built from tables and the console's display hardware. The video below shows how: the rays, the columns, and what it costs per frame.

The same engine also runs Anarch. DREAD's songs are in the 7800 Jukebox.

DREAD 2P

In development

Two players, head to head, in DREAD's engine.

Split screen: two joysticks on one console, one view each, deathmatch.

Linked: two consoles and two TVs, each player with a full view, through the 7800 Link adapter on joystick port 2. With no partner found, the game starts the split screen instead.

Linking is in testing on real hardware now. Nothing to download yet.

How the link works, and the plan (video)

DREAD 2P split screen: player 1 sees player 2 across a grey hall, player 2 sees player 1 in a red one — Split screen: each player sees the other.

Cartridge concepts

Idea only

There is no DREAD cartridge, and none is planned yet. These are 3D concepts of what one could look like. Drag to turn them.

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drag to turn

DREAD

Black shell, red grip cap, a red line around the label.

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drag to turn

Dual DREAD

DREAD and DREAD 2P on one cart. A switch on top picks one player or two.

Versions

v1.2.1 Oct 19, 2026. Monsters and items no longer appear ahead of you when they are behind you, or vanish for a moment as you walk up to them; items standing in front of a wall are no longer hidden.
v1.2 Oct 15, 2026. Out of beta: a new soundtrack (four songs), an ending after the last level, and the Abysmal Games audio logo. The magma golem boss is tougher, golems no longer stall on corners, a faster chaingun, and more supplies in level 8.
v1.1 Oct 13, 2026. Signed for stock NTSC consoles and carts.
v1.0 Oct 11, 2026. First release.

A new game by Abysmal Games LLC. Music by Abysmal Games. Thank you to every player and tester whose reports made it better.