Hustle is a 1977 game by Gremlin on Blockade hardware that is effectively Snake except that the normal pellets are replaced with larger pieces containing various point values that you get if you touch the piece before it disappears. Multiple pieces may also appear at once. You have one life; the game ends either when you hit yourself/a boundary or run out of time (the operator is presumably able to change how much time you can play for).
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They knew Blockade needed something else to keep it interesting without a second player, but I don't think point boxes were it.
Even very earlier, designers were already focusing on creating variations of existing games instead of trying to do something wholly unique. This game was made on Blockade hardware, another arcade game featuring 2-4 snakes that try to circle around one another and cut each-other's paths off.
In this game, reworked for one player, you drive one snake around at a much faster speed, aiming for blocks that have point values in them. Dodge the ones that have negative points and pick up the ones that have positive points, and avoid the walls of the room.
The catch that gives it that "gambling edge" is that some blocks appear with only a ??? to tell you what they are -- they can be negative or positive, but you'll never beat a high-score without taking a gamble that they're positive, and at the same time a high score run might be ruined by a harshly negative reveal on one of those blocks.
It's fun for a little bit by yourself too, but really I can see the appeal of this game would have been challenging your friends and praying for good luck to carry you to the win.
2.5 - Above Average: slightly fun, good, or unique in some ways
In this game, reworked for one player, you drive one snake around at a much faster speed, aiming for blocks that have point values in them. Dodge the ones that have negative points and pick up the ones that have positive points, and avoid the walls of the room.
The catch that gives it that "gambling edge" is that some blocks appear with only a ??? to tell you what they are -- they can be negative or positive, but you'll never beat a high-score without taking a gamble that they're positive, and at the same time a high score run might be ruined by a harshly negative reveal on one of those blocks.
It's fun for a little bit by yourself too, but really I can see the appeal of this game would have been challenging your friends and praying for good luck to carry you to the win.
2.5 - Above Average: slightly fun, good, or unique in some ways