C64 Games - 100 Hidden Gems 💎

Here's a big collection of C64 games I've put together to show some of the rarer but fun games out there. I've tried make it a broad mix of genres and years. I'm basing rarity on lack of advertising, obscurity (magazines, P.D. etc) or just some cool ones I've never heard of, but no doubt it's subjective, enjoy!

[@baardbi]

This is a fantastic list. Definitely a hidden gem list. Many of these games I have never heard of. Thanks for making this.

[@KabukiKid]

I was BIG into the C-64 scene back in the 80s and had well over 2,000 games and I haven't heard of MOST of this list! The catalog of games on this system was unreal!

[@madcommodore]

Level 2 of interview (the second game shown in the video) is a massive top down 8 way scrolling map of the city, like PS1 GTA, which is odd as level 1 is like Paperboy. Interview also came out in the UK at the same time as Paperboy in the arcade in the USA so it's no rip-off.

[@MegaDonGallo]

Christ, the ingenuity... lads with little more than the technological equivalent of greased logs built the fucking pyramids here. Guys like this drove civilization further than Magellan or Columbus.

[@StatMatsVidz]

Nice! Thanks for sharing. It's certainly given me some new ideas for games to include in my OneLoad64 collection. :)

[@DayAntilles]

Love lists of lesser known C64 games!

[@clauscombat418]

10:15 is Scarabaeus, a beloved classic! 🤔

[@scottbreon9448]

Yup, although here in North America it was sold as Invaders of the Lost Tomb. I have no idea why they changed so many of the names here.

[@alpanchen]

+1 on names of the games and times as some nice stuff I haven't seen before Edit ... also great video as I haven't seen most of these gems

[@jimneegs3887]

Laughed at the wonderboy clone called "special toddler"

[@peachgrush]

Fun fact: "Frogs and flies 64" (at 8:50) was written back in the day by Robin from the "8-Bit Show And Tell" channel here on KZbin. He even made a whole video on the topic of this game: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2SypKqfn5uenpY

[@jurispurins8065]

So many of these Like almost all Never seen or heard of

[@gamingtonight1526]

Wouldn't say Master of the Lamps is hidden in any way!

[@Emulous79]

Nice compilation!

[@tasoschapsas]

Great Compilation... What is the name of the game at 5:20

[@rateit1474]

10:12 This is... Scarabaeus - Invaders of the lost tomb

[@theyamo7219]

He's probably running the NTSC version which was sold only under the Invaders of the Lost Tomb name

[@rateit1474]

@@theyamo7219 Thanks for the information. 🙂

[@Yaotzin51]

Nice collection of games, thanks! Few observations... Xarion, Breathless - Pretty sure these are created with S.E.U.C.K. Latent Fusion - Was thinking Delta ripoff but.. it's so bad it can't be called even a ripoff and maybe more inspired by Gradius/Nemesis Misfortune - Isn't that Bub from Bubble Bobble? Que-Dex - Wouldn't call this hidden but rather underappreciated Also saw at least a couple of Wizball inspired games.

[@theyamo7219]

Brothers of the Bow was also created with SEUCK

[@theyamo7219]

Encounter is NOT A HIDDEN gem, it's considered an early classic from Paul Woakes

[@knkn5049]

It is not about your knowledge, i m pretty familiar with "master of the lamps" and "moon patrol" but it is some clone called "jeep command" that i could never seen because stupid name, i m curious what they did differently... Encounter i never seen because it overshadowed by zxspectrum's 3d death chase, or something like this it was called...or that nes or game boy games where you shoot pacmans(pacmen) in first person shooter.

[@knkn5049]

By the way, mr.iknowallgames , do you remember how called game where you are a ball with number, and it is giant maze and you fight with other balls in a strange abstract fight minigame that looks like electronic schemes?

[@andrewf9041]

Quite enjoyed that, thanks! Must be 95 or 96 I'd never heard of!!! But Quedex rare?? :)

[@MagicPumpkin]

Hehe, that was a game I recently watched a streamer play, no-one in chat had heard of it, so thought it was worth a placement. 😄

[@Corsa15DT]

Some nice game there

[@SevenCompleted]

Special toddler lmao

[@theyamo7219]

The original release name was Toddler, Special Toddler was a hacked version

[@MSBomberman94]

Sorry but > 90% are no „gems“

[@LUCKO2022]

Yet you don't have names so how the hell am I supposed to check them out without knowing what they are called.

[@MagicPumpkin]

Names are at the side.

[@IsaacKuo]

Lots of interesting looking games! The only one I recognized was 2:20 Master of the Lamps. I am amused by 0:11 Interview ... it's like, you're going on a job interview to be a Paperboy? There's something about 0:30 Brothers of the Bow I find interesting ... it looks SEUCK-like, which I normally find a bit same-ey, but this looks fun to me. The HIRES first person CRPG graphics of 0:45 Dedale look very compelling and deserve to be used for a modern game. I may be werid, but I see the PETSCII graphics of 10:32 Ninja and want to see more! Unfortunately, "Ninja" is not the most searchable game title. I really love the HIRES character graphics and main character sprite animation of 11:54 Run Like Hell ... fortunately more searchable than "Ninja" ... No Mercy 14:14 looks like a nice Operation Wolf clone ... not enough first person gun games on the C64. Ah, more PETSCII at 15:50 Skeet! I'm a sucker for pure PETSCII.

[@MagicPumpkin]

Thanks! "Ninja - 1984 SoftGold" 😉

[@jimneegs3887]

Master of the Lamps I wouldn't call a hidden gem, but it's nice it's included, just in case there is someone who hasn't seen it. It's a must play in my opinion.

[@fradd182]

The title is not deceiving, many games i never saw before, some of them look worthy of trying out.

[@doctorsocrates4413]

Using the kung fu flash with my c64c and it has turned the old commodore into a games console...hundreds of games on the sd card and they load in seconds.....

[@discharge2331]

What was that magic carpet game called again ?

[@gideonmarkus8501]

Aaahh Piracy. Great Puzzle game.

[@Snarko]

I love this video, so many games I haven't seen before, please consider a follow-up with 100 more c64 hidden gems!!! 😄

[@solo1870]

Do you have a link to the bezel/overlay used here btw? I like it

[@jeffbyrnes3686]

What is the game at 0:33?

[@MagicPumpkin]

El Gran Caballero

[@UnknownUserUU]

Also known as Black Knight.

[@dennyhaynes3]

Love the backdrop, is that available to download off the internet?

[@MagicPumpkin]

Yea, not sure where I got it, try a search for c64 overlays.

[@dennyhaynes3]

@@MagicPumpkin Cheers 👍

[@GustafStechmann]

fyi, just because no one ever heard of a game does not automatically make it a "hidden gem". most of these games are certainly "hidden" but not at all "gems"...

[@MagicPumpkin]

Well it's my perception of what's hidden and a gem, you can always make your own list.