Gapper
Encyclopedia
Gapper is a computer game written in 1986 for DOS
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that travels along the lines of a grid of rectangles, changing them from blue to red. A rectangle completely surrounded by red lines becomes lit, and the player scores points. He or she progresses to the next level by lighting all the rectangles on the grid. At higher levels, the game plays faster, the grids contain more and smaller rectangles, and many grids have irregular shapes with several corners.
The gapper is pursued by the seeker, a second sprite that moves along the grid, always along the most direct route towards the gapper. If the seeker overtakes the gapper, the gapper is destroyed, and the player restarts the level with one less life. The gapper has one defensive mechanism: it can leave a temporary "gap" in the grid that the seeker cannot traverse, allowing the gapper to put distance between itself and the seeker.
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
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Gameplay
The player controls the gapper, a spriteSprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
that travels along the lines of a grid of rectangles, changing them from blue to red. A rectangle completely surrounded by red lines becomes lit, and the player scores points. He or she progresses to the next level by lighting all the rectangles on the grid. At higher levels, the game plays faster, the grids contain more and smaller rectangles, and many grids have irregular shapes with several corners.
The gapper is pursued by the seeker, a second sprite that moves along the grid, always along the most direct route towards the gapper. If the seeker overtakes the gapper, the gapper is destroyed, and the player restarts the level with one less life. The gapper has one defensive mechanism: it can leave a temporary "gap" in the grid that the seeker cannot traverse, allowing the gapper to put distance between itself and the seeker.