Archon

Imagine chess in which you don't fight for each square with a move, but with a direct arcade duel — and you have Archon, one of the smartest gaming hybrids of the eight-bit era. When two pieces meet on the board, the game switches into an action arena where victory is not decided by a rule, but by your ability to control weapons and dodge. This idea was refreshing in 1983 and still works surprisingly well today.

Archon pits the light and the dark side against each other, each with its own set of beings from warriors to sorcerers and dragons. The strategic layer resembles chess: you position units, plan your advance and try to control key squares. But the outcome of a clash also depends on the action duel, on the strength of the given piece and even on the color of the square, which cycles between light and dark and thereby favors one of the sides. This creates constant tension between a well-considered move and nimble fingers.

Behind the game stand the studio Free Fall Associates, and it was published by Electronic Arts — for the then-young EA, it was one of the titles that helped define its reputation as a publisher of imaginative and visually ambitious games. Archon was part of that early EA wave, which approached games almost as authored art.

The combination of two genres makes Archon a great two-player game. Duels at a single keyboard or with joysticks have both tactical depth and immediate tension, because even a weaker piece can, in the hands of a skilled player, defeat a stronger opponent. It is precisely this uncertainty of outcome that sets Archon apart from classic board strategy.

On the Atari 8-bit, Archon remains a clever, timeless experiment worth trying even today — especially if you have a friend on hand and the urge to measure your strength in something smarter than an ordinary brawler.

Why play: An original hybrid of strategy and action, where you fight live for every square — and it offers the best fun in two-player mode.