The route you dig can be used against you
Every new tunnel is both progress and an invitation. A direct line to a patch of cherries may let an enemy approach from the wrong side, while a carefully positioned apple can turn pursuit into a trap. Throwing the ball creates another interval to manage: until it returns, movement and the terrain must do more of the defensive work. The orchard becomes a record of earlier choices, with cleared routes that can help or obstruct the next escape.
From Universal to Coleco
Universal’s arcade game dates to 1982 in the museum record. Coleco’s US cartridge followed in 1983, a separate year retained in this archive. The conversion adds a useful counterpart to Lady Bug: one game rearranges a prepared maze, while the other lets the player excavate routes. That comparison explains their inclusion without treating a familiar arcade licence as sufficient praise.
Keep an exit beside the apple
Leave room to move away before dropping an apple. Treat a thrown ball as a temporary loss of an immediate defence, and plan the next turn before reaching it. Clearing cherries safely is a better first objective than chasing every possible scoring opportunity.
Why we chose it for ColecoVision
Digging, falling apples and a returning ball give the small orchard several interacting ways to solve a chase.
Explore this console’s game selection ↗Release record
Original worldwide release: 1982. Release records above identify the console editions covered by this collection.
Sources and further reading4 references
- Mr. Do! ↗Museum of the Game · Accessed 2026-10-27
Secondary museum collection record for Universal’s 1982 arcade game.
- Colecovision game release dates ↗Atari Archive · Accessed 2026-10-27
Specialist secondary chronology citing contemporary Computer Entertainer issues and named newspaper advertisements. Used for US console release years.
- Mr. Do! — Cartridge Instructions ↗Coleco / ColecoVisionADAM archive · Accessed 2026-10-27
Original instructions for the ColecoVision cartridge. Kept separate from arcade and later home editions.
- CBS ColecoVision catalogue ↗CBS Electronics / ColecoVisionADAM archive · Accessed 2026-10-27
Period UK catalogue includes the Mr. Do! conversion and its apples, tunnels and ball. Advertising alone does not establish release dates.
