Can I have some Hashteroids with my Moon over my Hammy?

Two weeks ago, we reported that Atari planned to double down on social casino games and target games at the LGBT market.  Bold move!

Today, Atari announced a deal with the restaurant chain Denny’s where the diner chain will offer free versions of three of its classic games with a edible twist:

• Hashteroids — You’re aboard the SS Denny’s Condiment Transport ship and the mission is clear: deliver 40 tons of condiments to the 4th planet in sector 7d.
• Centipup — Once upon a time, a young boy named Danny came across a bottle of syrup and with just a slight squeeze the bottle’s sticky contents had the power to turn anyone or anything into a fried egg.
• Take-out — A wall made entirely of delicious Denny’s breakfast items appears blocking all the take-out orders from their rightful owners. The only way to feed customers is to break down that wall!

Hmmm. . . (notice I didn’t say, yum).

Denny’s customers can play any of the above games for free through the Denny’s app, which I’m sure all of you have already downloaded.

Interestingly, Jared Nelson of TouchArcade reports that the games are not half bad, even saying that “‘Take-Out’ is easily the best iPhone implementation of Breakout that I’ve ever played.”

It’s fair to say that Hashteroids, Centipup, and Take-out, are not going to be enough to bring Atari back to its 1980’s glory days following a recent exit from bankruptcy court.

At some point, Atari is going to have to do what great game companies do:  create new great games.

The restaurant-games mash-up is interesting though.  It’s nearly impossible to get your game discovered and big chain restaurants do deliver a huge user base of customers, sitting around fooling around with their smartphones.  Seriously, there is not restaurant table in the world right now where a parent isn’t giving their kid(s) their smart phones to play a game or watch a video to eat peacefully.

Imagine if chains like Chipotle or McDonalds figure this out and start to develop and distribute mobile games through their restaurants, giving away free items to their games as part of kids meals.

The bold move here, may not be that of Atari, but of Denny’s.

Joel Brodie