Pitfalls of the Jungle Trivia Quiz

Answer: Activision

"PItfall" was released in 1982. David Crane designed the game on behalf of Activision for the Atari 2600. Decades later, the game still has an extremely high reputation with over five million copies sold. Interestingly, the game was highly popular despite its relatively primitive graphics.

Answer: Sapphire rings

The fourth type of treasure are bags of money. It is unclear whether the bags contain paper money or metallic coins. Each treasure recovered is worth between 2,000 and 5,000 points. With a player beginning with 2,000 points, if you get all the treasures and don't lose any points for errors, you can earn a maximum of 114,000 points.

Answer: Twenty minutes

The player has twenty minutes to make it through the 255 different screens of the jungle. The screens are connected horizontally. On occasion the player may need to go both forward back on some screens so that twenty minutes is not as much as you would think.

Answer: Pitfall Harry

You control Pitfall Harry in the game. I always assumed that Harry was his given first name. If that is so, his last name is not given in the game.

Answer: Hyenas

You can encounter snakes or alligators on the upper level in groups of three. You can also encounter individual scorpions in the underground tunnel. The scorpions move a certain distance forward or back. The snakes and alligators usually sit in the same spot though they move a bit in that particular spot.

Answer: None

Pitfall Harry might be stealing every treasure in sight, but he is none violent while traveling through the jungle. He carries no weapon and does even use his fists or jumping as a weapon. The actions a player can do are fairly simple. Pushing the button causes the character to jump. The joystick moves the character to the right or left (or up or down a ladder). That's it!

Answer: False

In addition to quicksand in the jungle, the occasional tar pit can also suck you in. Rolling logs periodically appear and roll across the screen. Your only way to successfully overcome any of these three obstacles is to jump over them. The swinging jungle vines are technically considered obstacles but I viewed them as a fun way to get over the quicksand or tar pits.

Answer: One

Yes this was a one-player game. There was no two-player option. If there had a been a two-player version, you might get some complaints about one player getting to see the journey of the other player through the jungle if they were ahead. Each player having a different map to follow might have also been unpopular if your map seemed more difficult.

Answer: 20,000

You needed to take a photograph of your television screen when you had scored 20,000 or higher in the game and mail it to the company. (Nowadays one could simply email a screen shot.) In return, Activision would send you a patch for the Pitfall Harry Explorer Club.

Answer: False

David Crane designed "Pitfall II: Lost Caverns" (1984) for the Atari 2600. "Pitfall" inspired games released for other gaming platforms included "Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure" (1994) and "Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle" (1998). The original "Pitfall" is considered one of the first side-scrolling platform games.