Scram by Chris Crawford

21 hours ago

Scram is a nuclear reactor simulation game for the Atari 800, designed by Chris Crawford and released by Atari. It was written in Atari BASIC and used differential equations to model reactor behavior.
Players control a reactor modeled after Three Mile Island Unit 2 using a joystick to interact with hot spots for control rods, pumps, and valves. The game features a schematic display of a light water reactor with primary, secondary, and tertiary cooling loops.
The objective is to produce net energy (score) while managing earthquakes that damage equipment. Players must locate and repair breaks using a limited crew of 80 men, with each repair consuming 5 men permanently due to radiation exposure.
There are nine risk/skill levels affecting earthquake frequency. Higher levels require producing 500 MWh at level nine to qualify as a senior reactor operator. A successful game ends with a cold shutdown by inserting control rods, though shutdowns are complicated by ongoing earthquakes.
The game manual is noted as wordy and confusing with excessive abbreviations. The game was sold on tape for $19.95 and runs on Atari 400 or 800 computers.

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