It’s time for another arcade throwback. This week’s video game epicness? Friday the 13th: The Computer Game.
Friday the 13th: The Computer Game was released in 1986. It was developed by Domark (a British game studio in the 80s) for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum computer systems.
The game play I recall (not at all the actual game play)
Now, when I have spoken about this game to friends and work colleagues, it is not at all how the gameplay actually went down. Mind you, I was very, very young when playing this game on the C64 and honestly, probably had no idea what I was even doing. Other than not wanting to see a “game over” screen.
I always told people it’s the game where you go around as Jason Voorhees and try to kill everybody. The higher the kill count, the better. And the game was over when one of the good guys killed you first.
Could this be a cool game? I think so. A brainstorming session in the near future perhaps! But for now, let’s get to the actual game play.
The actual game play
The real objective of Friday the 13th: The Computer Game is to kill Jason Voorhees before he kills all of your friends. Makes more sense. Your character roams around an open world in search for Jason. Around the map you come across a variety of weapons to choose from. And once you find Jason, you kill him! A fun twist? Jason can disguise himself as one of your friends so… do you whack them? Maybe that’s where I got the impression you just went around the game killing everybody.
There are 5 levels in which you play through, each time as a different character. The map is the same, and not very big. There’s a farm, a church, a house, a graveyard. And there’s a “fear meter” at the bottom of the screen which indicates a possible location of Jason. When a friend dies, you hear them scream and a tombstone replaces their image on the friends list. All in all, pretty simple to get the hang of.
A new game in the works?
Rumor has it, there have been talks about a new game being developed but the only thing the fanbase has seen is a mockup of the new Jason Voorhees. And the fans? Kinda irked.
The fans of the latest version of Friday the 13th lost their game back at midnight, on January 1, 2025. The game servers were shut down for good. So, they must be more than ready for a new game release. And I don’t blame them.
Where to play the OG Friday the 13th
There is an emulator available online and can be found here. Keyboard controls: Left, right, up, down = arrow keys. Pickup weapon = keyboard. Use weapon = arrow key + space bar.
It takes a little getting used to but fun and silly once you get it. 100% a classic throwback. Enjoy!