Creepy Corridors

Last updated: January 11, 2026

Overview

Creepy Corridors is a maze-based arcade game originally developed by Chuck Bueche and published by Sierra On-Line in 1982 as part of the Laf Pak compilation for the Apple II.¹ The game follows adventurer Sierra Smith as he navigates the catacombs of the titular Creepy Corridors in search of treasures, collecting diamonds while avoiding or shooting at monsters in gameplay reminiscent of Wizard of Wor and Mr. Do!² The game holds a unique place in early computer game history as allegedly the third Apple II game ever to feature sampled speech.³

Originally bundled with three other games—Apple Zap, Mine Sweep, and Space Race—in the Laf Pak compilation, Creepy Corridors was later ported to the Commodore VIC-20 as a standalone cartridge release in 1983 by Don McGlauflin.⁴ The game represented Sierra On-Line’s efforts in the arcade game market during the golden age of video games, years before the company became synonymous with graphic adventure games like the King’s Quest series.⁵ Despite its modest commercial success, the game demonstrated technical innovation and established Chuck Bueche as a capable programmer who would later become famous as “Chuckles” in the Ultima series.⁶

Game Info

Developer: Sierra On-Line¹ Designer: Chuck Bueche, Don McGlauflin⁷ Publisher: Sierra On-Line (as On-Line Systems)¹ Engine: 6502 Assembly Language⁸ Platforms: Apple II, VIC-20, Atari 400/800, IBM PCjr⁹ Release Year: 1982 (Apple II), 1983 (VIC-20, Atari)¹ Series: Laf Pak compilation¹ Protagonist: Sierra Smith² Sierra Lineage: Core Sierra

Story Summary

The game’s narrative is straightforward arcade-style fare typical of early 1980s computer games. Players control Sierra Smith, an adventurer who has entered the catacombs of Creepy Corridors seeking treasure in the form of diamonds scattered throughout maze-like levels.² The premise draws from classic dungeon-crawling themes popular in the era’s gaming landscape.

An anonymous epigraph associated with the game reflects its themes of good versus evil: “Goodness reflects the light and evil bears the seed of all darkness. These are mirrors of the soul, reflections of the mind. Choose well.”¹⁰ This philosophical framing elevates what might otherwise be a simple maze game into something with aspirations toward deeper meaning, even if the gameplay itself remains purely action-oriented.

The corridors Sierra Smith explores are infested with monsters that must either be avoided or eliminated. The game’s atmosphere draws on the inherent unease that corridors create—spaces of limited visibility where danger could lurk around every corner.¹¹ This design philosophy anticipates decades of horror game development that would exploit similar architectural anxiety.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

Creepy Corridors is controlled via keyboard on the VIC-20 version, utilizing a single-screen perspective where players navigate their character through maze corridors.⁴ The Apple II version supports joystick or paddle controls as the preferred input method, with keyboard alternatives using the I, J, K, M keys for movement and the F key to fire.⁸ The game plays on a single-player basis with straightforward arcade mechanics.

Structure and Progression

The game features a color scheme that changes every two levels, cycling through blue, purple, red, and black palettes to provide visual variety and indicate progression through the catacombs.⁵ Players can complete each level through two different methods:

• Collecting all diamonds: Gathering every treasure piece scattered throughout the maze advances to the next level⁵
• Eliminating all enemies: Alternatively, destroying every monster on screen also clears the stage⁵

This dual-objective design gives players strategic choice in how they approach each level, balancing risk-versus-reward calculations between aggressive and cautious playstyles.

Puzzles and Mechanics

The core gameplay loop involves navigating maze corridors, avoiding or shooting monsters, and collecting diamonds.² The mechanics closely mirror those of Mr. Do! and Wizard of Wor, both popular arcade titles of the era.⁴ Players must manage their character’s position carefully, as enemies patrol the corridors and can quickly corner an unwary player.

The game notably lacks a traditional “Game Over” text display when the player runs out of lives—the game simply ends.⁵ However, players can restart the entire game by pressing F1 during gameplay, providing a quick reset option.⁵ The title screen serves an important purpose, showing players what to expect in the game before diving into the action.⁵

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

As a component of the Laf Pak compilation rather than a high-profile standalone release, Creepy Corridors received limited contemporary review coverage. The compilation was released during a crowded market period in 1981-1982 when arcade-style games dominated home computer software.

Modern Assessment

Modern retrospectives have generally been positive about the game’s simple but effective design. A MobyGames user review from 2013 rated the game 4.0 out of 5 stars, with reviewer Katakis praising it: “Creepy Corridors is a simple game from Sierra, years before they became popular with their King’s Quest series.”⁴ The reviewer noted, “I can’t think of anything bad about this game,” while acknowledging its resemblance to Atari 2600-era gameplay.⁵

The Retro365 blog described it as “a simple yet challenging maze game” with obvious inspiration from popular maze game concepts of the time.⁶ Pix’s Origin Adventures provided detailed technical analysis, particularly praising the Apple II original while criticizing the VIC-20 port’s collision detection issues.³

Aggregate Scores:

• MobyGames: 4.0/5 (1 user review)⁴
• My Abandonware: 4/5 (2 votes)¹²
• Laf Pak compilation: 3.3/5 on MobyGames (3 ratings)¹

Development

Origins

Creepy Corridors emerged from Chuck Bueche’s early work with Sierra On-Line (then known as On-Line Systems) during the summer of 1981 and spring of 1982.⁸ Bueche was developing multiple games simultaneously for the company’s Laf Pak compilation, which would bundle four action games of various genres onto a single disk selling for $34.95.¹

The game’s design drew obvious inspiration from popular maze games of the era, particularly Wizard of Wor and Mr. Do!, adapting their core mechanics for home computer platforms.⁴ As a maze-crawl where players collect treasures while avoiding enemies, Creepy Corridors fit comfortably within the arcade-style games that dominated early 1980s computer gaming.

Production

Chuck Bueche wrote all of his Apple II, Atari 800, and Commodore 64 games in 100% 6502 assembly language.⁸ He later recalled the technical constraints: “48K bytes of RAM to work with, which also housed the 280 x 192 pixel video buffer. The only practical way to go was to write carefully optimized assembly language, to get all we could from the constrained conditions.”⁸

The most technically ambitious feature of the Apple II original was sampled speech. Bueche sampled his own scream for when the player died, a feature that took up almost a fifth of the available memory resources but would become the game’s best-known attribute.⁶ This innovation allegedly made Creepy Corridors the third Apple II game ever to include sampled speech.³

Development Credits:⁷

• Designer/Programmer: Chuck Bueche
• VIC-20 Port: Don McGlauflin
• IBM PCjr Port: John Redekopp (as Mine Shaft)
• Cover Art: Mark Crowe

The cover artwork was created by Mark Crowe, who would later achieve fame as co-designer of Sierra’s Space Quest series alongside Scott Murphy.⁶

Technical Achievements

The sampled death scream represented a significant technical achievement for 1982, pushing the Apple II’s audio capabilities beyond simple beeps and tones. However, this feature came at a substantial cost—nearly 20% of available memory was dedicated to storing and playing back the audio sample.⁶

The game used character-based graphics rather than conventional sprites, particularly evident in the VIC-20 port.³ This approach allowed the game to run on memory-constrained hardware while maintaining recognizable visuals.

Technical Specifications

Apple II Version:⁸

• Resolution: 280 x 192 pixels
• Memory: 48K Apple II machine required
• Media: 5.25” Floppy Disk (as part of Laf Pak)
• Controls: Joystick or paddle preferred; keyboard alternative (I, J, K, M keys for movement, F key to fire)

VIC-20 Version:⁴

• Media: Cartridge
• Input: Keyboard
• Players: 1 Player
• Colors: Monochrome display with color scheme changing every two levels³

Disk Technical Specifications (Internet Archive):¹³

• Disk Format: DOS 3.3
• File Size: 360.1K
• Physical Size: 143360 bytes
• Sectors: 560 total, 555 used, 5 free
• Tracks: 35
• Sectors per Track: 16

Cut Content

The sampled death scream that was the Apple II version’s signature feature had to be removed from the VIC-20 cartridge port due to memory constraints.⁶ The audio sample simply could not fit within the VIC-20’s more limited memory alongside the game code and graphics. This significantly diminished the atmospheric impact of the port compared to the original.

A Commodore 64 version was advertised alongside the Atari and VIC-20 releases but was never found or released.¹⁴ According to Games That Weren’t, “The advert mentions Atari, Com 64 and Vic 20. But the Commodore 64 version is nowhere to be seen.”¹⁴ A screenshot that appeared in advertisements seems to be a mockup with a hi-res font compared to the VIC-20 edition, which could well be based on what the C64 version looked like.¹⁴

Version History

Version	Date	Platform	Notes
1.0	June 1981	Apple II	Original release as part of Laf Pak compilation1
1.0	1983	VIC-20	Standalone cartridge port by Don McGlauflin4
1.0	1983	Atari 400/800	Cartridge release9
Mine Shaft	March 1984	IBM PCjr	Re-titled port by John Redekopp6

The game was later ported to the IBM PCjr in March 1984 under the new title “Mine Shaft” by John Redekopp, reflecting Sierra’s efforts to support IBM’s ill-fated home computer initiative.⁶

Technical Issues

The VIC-20 port suffered from significant collision detection problems that severely impacted gameplay.³ As one reviewer noted: “It absolutely ruins what would have been a decent port when you can get killed by monsters that aren’t even in the same corridor.”³ This bug made the VIC-20 version considerably more frustrating than the Apple II original.

The Apple II version had speed handling issues that affected gameplay smoothness.³ Additionally, NTSC VIC-20 games display in the top left corner of the screen when run on PAL machines, a common compatibility issue of the era.³

Cheat Codes:¹³

• A cheat method exists to modify the number of lives: After the game loads, hit RESET, enter CALL-151, then type 86A: followed by the desired number of lives, then 800G to restart.

Easter Eggs and Trivia

• Chuck Bueche provided his own voice for the sampled death scream in the Apple II version.⁶
• Bueche later appeared in the Ultima series as the court jester character “Chuckles,” becoming one of gaming’s earliest recurring developer cameos.⁶
• Cover artist Mark Crowe would go on to co-create the Space Quest series with Scott Murphy.⁶
• The game was released during the video game crash of 1983, contributing to its limited commercial success—only a small number of copies ever sold.⁶
• The reviewer Katakis noted that “Creepy Corridors acts like an Atari 2600 game, if not for the title screen which shows players what to expect in the game.”⁵

Legacy

Sales and Commercial Impact

Commercial data on Creepy Corridors is limited, but research indicates that only a small number of copies were ever sold.⁶ The game launched into the teeth of the video game crash of 1983, which devastated the home gaming market and made it difficult for even quality titles to find an audience. Its status as part of a budget compilation rather than a standalone premium release further limited its visibility.

Collections

Creepy Corridors was originally released exclusively as part of the Laf Pak compilation for Apple II, which included:¹

• Creepy Corridors
• Apple Zap
• Mine Sweep
• Space Race

The compilation sold for $34.95 and represented a value proposition for budget-conscious consumers seeking multiple games on a single disk.¹ The game was later released as a standalone cartridge for the VIC-20 and Atari 400/800 platforms.⁹

The game has been preserved in digital archives, appearing on compilation disks at the Internet Archive alongside other early Sierra and contemporary titles including BC’s Quest for Tires.¹³

Fan Projects

The Sierra Chest preservation project has documented Creepy Corridors, though the entry notes that “This release needs more and/or better scans. Either not all sides of the box are scanned (front/back/spines/media and top/bottom/inner flaps if applicable), or are not scanned properly (too small, watermarks…)”⁹ This reflects the ongoing challenge of preserving physical materials from early computer game releases.

Related Publications

• Laf Pak Manual: Included with the original Apple II compilation, covering all four games¹

Documentation for the standalone VIC-20 and Atari releases was minimal, typical of cartridge-based games of the era.

Critical Perspective

Creepy Corridors occupies an interesting position in Sierra’s history—a reminder that the company known for pioneering graphic adventures began as a publisher of varied software, including straightforward arcade games. While King’s Quest (1984) would define Sierra’s future, games like Creepy Corridors demonstrate the company’s willingness to experiment across genres during its formative years.

The game’s technical innovations, particularly the sampled speech on Apple II, foreshadowed Sierra’s later emphasis on pushing audio-visual boundaries in their adventure games. Chuck Bueche’s careful assembly language optimization and creative use of limited resources exemplified the craftsmanship required of early game developers working within severe hardware constraints.

From a design perspective, Creepy Corridors reflects gaming’s broader fascination with corridors as spaces of tension and limited visibility. As later analyzed by critics and developers, “The corridor is conducive to horror through its ability to heighten suspense and gesture to the unknown.”¹¹ While Creepy Corridors is not a horror game per se, its maze design taps into similar psychological territory that would be more fully exploited by later titles.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

• Not currently available on modern digital storefronts

Download / Preservation

• Internet Archive – Apple II Compilation Disk¹³
• My Abandonware – VIC-20 Version¹²

Manuals & Extras

• Box scans available at The Sierra Chest⁹

Series Continuity

Creepy Corridors was released as part of the Laf Pak compilation alongside Apple Zap, Mine Sweep, and Space Race, all written by Chuck Bueche for On-Line Systems.¹ While not a traditional narrative series, these games represent Bueche’s early output for Sierra and share common technical underpinnings in their 6502 assembly language development.

The game was later rebranded as “Mine Shaft” for the IBM PCjr platform in 1984, representing one of the few instances of Sierra renaming a game for a port rather than simply adapting it.⁶

• Related: 1981 - Laf Pak (compilation including Creepy Corridors)

References

Footnotes

1. MobyGames – Laf Pak – release date, compilation contents, platform, price ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

2. Consolidated Research Notes – gameplay description, protagonist name, game mechanics ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. Pix’s Origin Adventures – Creepy Corridors – sampled speech claim, technical analysis, collision detection issues ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

4. MobyGames – Creepy Corridors – VIC-20 release, developer credits, user review, gameplay comparison ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

5. MobyGames – Creepy Corridors User Review – color scheme, dual objectives, restart function, reviewer quotes ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

6. Retro365 – Bits from My Personal Collection: Creepy Corridors – sampled scream details, Mark Crowe artwork, sales data, IBM PCjr port ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

7. Sierra Help Wiki – Creepy Corridors – designer credits, engine information ↩ ↩²

8. Minesweeper Game Database – Mine Sweep – Chuck Bueche quote on assembly language, technical specifications, development period ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

9. The Sierra Chest – Creepy Corridors – platform list, media format, preservation status ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

10. Consolidated Research Notes – anonymous epigraph ↩

11. Eurogamer – The Creepy Corridors of Video Games – Roger Luckhurst quote, corridor design analysis ↩ ↩²

12. My Abandonware – Creepy Corridors – user ratings, file size, release information ↩ ↩²

13. Internet Archive – Apple II Compilation Disk – disk specifications, cheat codes, preservation data ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

14. Games That Weren’t – Creepy Corridors – missing C64 version, advertisement details, mockup screenshot ↩ ↩² ↩³