Tunneler

Game review

Tunneler is a freeware action game from 1991. Thanks to its simple idea and replayability, it is still a popular leisure game not only among nostalgics. This is a two-player action where each player controls their tank on a generated bird's-eye view map and tries to destroy the opponent. The whole point of Tunneler is that players fight on one screen, but in split-screen, and at first they have no idea at which place on the map the computer generated their home base, as well as the opponent's.

The goal of the game is to locate the enemy by gradually exploring the terrain and then destroy it. To make things more difficult, the tanks have a limited range and the player must keep a close eye on the fuel gauge while searching for the opponent and always make it back to the base for "juice". It should be noted that he does not fight with tanks in the true sense of the word, it is rather a kind of mechanized "moles" with which the player literally bites into the game environment and creates tunnels, which then serve as fast traffic arteries, but at the same time become a trail for the opponent.

The audio-visual processing is minimalistic, the sounds are transmitted by a PC speaker, and the graphics in 160x100 resolution with 16 colors seemed primitive already at the time of release. However, thanks to the use of a special text mode, the game was compatible with all graphics cards of the time.

Even with primitive EGA graphics, it's the gameplay that counts, and Tunneler has that in spades. It stands even today as one of the best split-screen games ever designed for two players. Highly recommended!