HT Games
There’s no single documented “first cheat,” but early examples emerged from arcade exploits and developer backdoors in the late 1970s–early 1980s.
| Game / Year | Cheat / Exploit | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Space Invaders (1978) | Shoot alien while off-screen (before entry) → score without killing | Timing exploit / collision bug |
| Pac-Man (1980) | “Kill Screen” (Level 256) pattern to survive / max score | Memory overflow exploit |
| Donkey Kong (1981) | Specific joystick sequence → invincibility (some cabinets) | Undebugged test code |
| Manic Miner (1983, ZX Spectrum) | Type “6031769” (Matthew Smith’s phone number) → cheat menu | Developer backdoor (intentional) |
| Elite (1984, BBC Micro) | Hold keys during load → extra credits, items | Keyboard buffer exploit |
| Gradius (1985, Arcade/NES) | ↑↑↓↓←→←→BA — Konami Code (first famous intentional cheat) | Developer debug tool left in |
The **Konami Code (1985)** is the first famous, intentional, cross-game cheat. Earlier “cheats” were mostly bugs or single-game test codes.