Take the Money and Run! (1978)

Press 1 on the alpha-numeric keyboard. You are now trapped in the Land of Keynesium. You and your opponent are represented by the animated figures which appear at the lower right and the lower left of the maze entrance. The net worth of each figure is directly below it. Each player starts off with $500,000. Two Keynesian robots are in the center of the screen atop the maze entrance. Every maze is a game within a game. You and your opponent are playing against the robots which represent different factors of the economy. But you are also playing against each other. You will be changing strategies throughout the game - sometimes cooperating with the robots to thwart your opponent - sometimes collaborating with your opponent to beat the robots. Each maze offers you the opportunity to make money or the chance to hang onto what money you have. An electronic signal will appear center screen to tell you which to expect - and how much cash is at stake. The right hand control unit activates the right hand figure. The left hand control unit controls the left hand figure. Push the joy stick away from you to make your player go up. Pull the joy stick toward you to make your player travel downward. Push right to go right. Push left to go left. The Keynesian robots are controlled by the computer. The brighter robots represent the lighter side of the economy like income, bull markets and successful investments. These robots are elusive and will try to run from you - but the more quickly you catch them, the more money you'll make. The darker robots represent the gloomier side of the economy - things like taxes, inflation and bear markets. They will try to catch you wherever you are in the maze. But the longer you stay away from them, the more money you'll keep. It's possible to find a hiding place in the maze where the darker robots can't find you. There are seven kinds of mazes. INCOME, REWARD and INVESTMENT offer you an opportunity to make money. EXPENSES, THIEF, TAXES and INFLATION will force deductions from your net worth unless you completely elude the robots during these maze sequences. The amount of money at stake in each maze will appear at the lower center of the screen. After a moment, the numbers will start decreasing. The dark robots will speed up and the brighter robots will slow down as the $ at stake decrease. The number on the screen at the instant you make contact with a robot will be automatically computed into your net worth. You will find that the Keynesian robots are small enough to maneuver freely through the mazes. But you are too tall to travel through some of the narrow passageways without ducking your head. You do this by pressing the action button on your hand control. It is harder to run in this position, so your player will only be going at two-thirds speed. If you do not press the action button when you make contact with a low ceiling in the maze, the computer will do it for you automatically, but you will only be able to run at half speed. The walls and ceilings of the maze contain a high energy charge. If any part of your player's body comes in contact with any part of the maze, you must break that contact before proceeding with your run. Department of Dirty Tricks! Once you make contact with a robot, it is good strategy to harass your opponent. If you touch your opponent and a part of the maze at the same time, your opponent will lose control of his player. Department of Economic Cooperation! If you and your opponent outmaneuver the robots and make them run into each other, they'll automatically return to their starting positions. You'll gain both time and money. The first player to achieve a net worth of more than one million dollars wins. The Keynesians will salute your triumph with a blast of electronic trumpets - and reward you with two tickets on the next time machine scheduled to make a stop in the Twentieth Century. Short games. You can play against the clock or with a goal of $750,000 instead of a million. Longer games. You can play for any dollar figure you choose. TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN has more than a trillion different maze combinations. It is theoretically possible to play night and day continuously for two thousand years without seeing the same maze twice! To play again, press the RESET key on the console and then press 1 on the alpha-numeric keyboard.

• Release Date: December 31, 1978
• Developer: Magnavox