The Hand

Also known as: Got-Ya

Developer: T.I.C.

I tend to gravitate to weird games, and in 1981, one of the weirder, more unique maze games was released - The Hand, also known as Got-Ya. In this game, you navigate a maze, like in Pac-Man, but you control a walking hand. Navigating the maze are other walking hands. Both your hand and the other hands are all in one of three positions - blue and balled up in a fist, green with the fingers all out and palm exposed, or red and holding two fingers in the air. If those hand positions sound familiar, they should - they're the signs for rock, paper, and scissors. And that's the concept of this game - when the enemy hands come after you, you can defeat them by simply changing your hand position to whatever would defeat the enemy hand position. So, if they're wandering around with two fingers in the air, change into the fist and rock will beat scissors. If the enemy catches you with the wrong hand, though, then you lose a life. Later levels see the computer change their hands a little more frequently, making you really stay on your toes and react to their actions. Instead of seeing an enemy in the rock formation, changing yourself to paper, then hunting that enemy down for half of the maze, if you change yourself too early, by the time you reach the enemy, they may have changed as well…sometimes right before you get to them, so even when you think that you've got everything under control, you can still feel a little nervous trying to remove the other hands, since they can remove you just as easily as you can remove them. Unfortunately, there's not really much else to this game, which is why I docked the score a bit. The rock, paper, scissors novelty is fun for a minute or two, but you'll likely quickly find yourself bored since there's not really much else - just navigate the maze, pick up pellets, change your hand when needed, repeat. I wish that TIC had more ideas to implement here because I do find this to be an interesting concept. But, as it is, The Hand simply isn't very good.

Review added: 04/09/2026

Head-On

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Sega/Gremlin

Head On, at first glance, looks like a Pac-Man clone…even though it was released a year before Pac-Man existed. In fact, Head On is actually credited as being the first "maze" video game where the goal is to collect dots/lines. The idea of Head On is that you want to drive around a stage and collect all of the lines in a level. While that sounds simple enough, there's also another vehicle driving around the stage with you…and that vehicle's only goal is to create a head-on crash with you…which is where the title of the game comes into play. Basically, when you start, you'll be zooming around and the other car will be moving around slowly. Eventually, they'll speed up as well, and then you'll find yourself in a situation of trying your best to position yourself to pick up those lines, while not sticking in one lane long enough for the rival car to get in your lane and cause a crash. This game was successful enough to warrant a sequel, and to inspire other successful arcade games like Rally-X and Fast Lane, and even games like Dodge 'Em on home consoles. While the gameplay seems a bit primitive today, it's still a pretty enjoyable game to play if you want something to kill a few minutes of your time.

Review added: 11/07/2025

Head-On 2

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Sega

With the success of Head-On, Sega wasted no time in releasing Head-On 2, which came out the very same year. While Head-On 2 is largely the same game as the original, it slightly expands the play area, making it look a little more like a maze than the previous game. Instead of the five lanes surrounding the center of the screen, Head-On 2 reduces it to four lanes, then adds a "stand-alone" looping lane on each side of the screen. While it seems like a minor addition, it does actually help the gameplay feel much less repetitive and allows for the player to experiment and attempt new strategies as they try their best to prevent a head-on collision with the computer, who is still determined to sacrifice themselves to take you out. Head-On 2 still doesn't make this game style a must-play experience, but it does provide a mild improvement over the original. Within a year, Namco would release Rally X and blow the Head-On games away with a similar gameplay concept, but one that was improved upon in just about every way. Still, though, as an early arcade game, Head-On 2 was still better than much of its competition at the time of its release.

Review added: 11/07/2025

Hustle

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Gremlin Industries

The arcade flyer for Hustle states, "Introducing Hustle: Gremlin's great new video game that turns first-time players into steady payers in 90 seconds." I think the folks at Gremlin were "on the drugs," as the kids say. I feel like Hustle is more likely to turn first-time players into "vehement no way-ers"…because when asked if they'd like to play again, they'll likely say things like no way, no, nope, nay, not a chance, nah, don't think so, absolutely not…and maybe they'll get fancy and start saying non, nein, no, nee, nyet, lie, ani, nej, tidak, nie, hayir, or la. Yes, Hustle is bad enough that it will make you want to learn multiple languages so that you feel like you're covered if anyone around the world ever asks you to play this game. Later in the flyer, they call this game the "single greatest single-player video game ever created!" That statement clearly shows that if drugs haven't altered their state of mind, concussions clearly have. Basically, in Hustle, you control a snake. Boxes randomly appear with numbers in them. The goal is to make your way to the boxes, which will give you that number in points, without running into walls (or your opponent if playing two-player). There are also mystery boxes which will add or subtract up to 900 points from your score, and you have no idea what you'll get until you crash into the box to find out. You're also on a 90-second time limit, which doesn't sound like a lot of time…but when playing single-player, it feels like an eternity. Two-player mode is slightly more fun since you're competing against another person and trying to avoid their snake while also trying to pick up points, but honestly, this game isn't very good either way. It's about as dull of a single-player game as you can find, and the two-player game is a bit more fun, but still not exactly a game that most folks would want to shove more quarters in a machine for. I imagine most arcade visitors would be spending their time with similar, better games like Dominos or Checkmate instead.

Review added: 02/25/2026