Actionauts

A robot-programming toy and puzzle set on a slanted grid of lavender squares. Five figures, ROBOT, MOBOT, DROID, ACROBOT and RABBIT, each follow their own program of up to eight commands: advance one, two or four steps, turn left, turn right, go to a line, pause, or call another figure. Write a figure's program in the editor, test it alone or move it by hand, then press ACTION to set every figure going. A figure that walks onto a hole or off the edge falls out of the run. The figures move at different speeds; RABBIT hops fastest. TESTS sets eight puzzles: collect every star on the grid with programs no longer than the limit, and your runs are counted. TOYBOX is the free mode, where you design the grid and set up the figures yourself.

Controls: Joystick only, either controller. In the workspace, left and right choose the figure, up and down the function, and a button does it. In the editor, up and down choose the line, left and right change the command, holding the left button with left or right changes its number, and the right button opens INSERT, DELETE, CLEAR and DONE. In design, the stick moves the stamper, the left button stamps or turns a figure, the right button places or removes the selected figure, and moving down off the grid is DONE. During a run a button stops it; in MANUAL, up steps and left and right turn.

ColecoVision version credited in the source to Claude (an AI made by Anthropic) for Amy Studio, in Amy, the language by Amy Bienvenu, 2026: a reimagined adaptation of the published rules. From Ahoy! No. 28, April 1986, page 46: original Commodore 64 program by Rob Fulop and Lon Richter. A commercial program from Advanced Program Technology, given away as a bonus on the Ahoy! April 1986 disk (not printed as a listing); also offered direct on a pay-after-play basis. Page 46 is Arnie Katz's review. This is a modern homebrew adaptation, not a commercial Coleco release.