After designing a game about eating- Pac-Man- Namco turned their attention to a game with another familiar action: digging. Like Pac-Man, the game was a hit. Dig Dug was released by Namco in Japan and licensed to Atari for release in the U.S. in 1982.
Digging is not the only task of the main character of Dig Dug. The tunneling, space-suit clad character must also avoid ghosts, kill monsters by dropping rocks on them or pumping air into them until they burst, and eat fruits and vegetables for extra points. One of the draws of Dig Dug is the cute characters: Fygar the fire-breathing dragon and Pooka the little round monster with googles. The adorable Pookas became a symbol of the game and have made frequent appearances in other Namco game.
Dig Dug was ported to the Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800. In addition, Namco created a version that can be found on Namco Museum for PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Sega Dreamcast. With Dig Dug, Namco proved yet again that a simple concept and cute characters make for a successful game.