Pusha Pusha

Pusha Pusha is a two-player competitive arcade game developed by Atari and released in 1983. The game is a direct conversion of the earlier arcade title "Pac-Man," but with a distinct gameplay twist. It was designed for the Atari 2600 console. The objective is to control a character, known as the "Pusher," to push a large, circular "Pusha" object into the opponent's goal zone. The playing field is a rectangular arena with a central barrier and two goal areas at opposite ends. Each player controls a Pusher that can move in four directions. The game ends when one player successfully pushes the Pusha into the opponent's goal, scoring a point. The first player to reach a predetermined score wins.

Gameplay mechanics and operation controls are as follows. Each player uses a single Atari 2600 joystick. Player One controls the left Pusher using the joystick in port 1; Player Two controls the right Pusher using the joystick in port 2. The joystick is moved in one of four cardinal directions (up, down, left, right) to move the Pusher. The Pusher cannot move diagonally. The Pusha object moves only when contacted by a Pusher. Contact is made when the Pusher’s sprite overlaps the Pusha’s sprite. The Pusha moves in the direction opposite to the Pusher’s movement vector at the moment of contact. The central barrier is impassable to both Pushers and the Pusha. Tactical techniques include positioning the Pusher between the Pusha and the opponent’s goal to block advances. A common strategy is to approach the Pusha from the side to redirect it toward the opponent’s goal while avoiding being pushed into one’s own goal. The game has no power-ups or additional scoring elements.