Impossible Mission

Impossible Mission - the 1984 action puzzle for Commodore 64 from Epyx.

Infiltrate a mad scientist’s complex, search rooms for code fragments,
assemble passwords on a pocket computer, and shut down the control center
before the clock runs out.

Core loop
- ride elevators to new sectors and enter rooms under a global timer
- avoid patrol droids and traps while searching furniture and terminals
- collect puzzle pieces and assemble the correct passcodes

Systems and items
- terminals - activate lifts or reprogram droids for brief safety
- puzzle pieces - combine and rotate to form nine pass phrases
- utilities - lift reset - snooze droids - password hints at a cost of time
- lives and time - no lives, only time; mistakes burn minutes from the clock

Level design and feel
Large labyrinth of rooms linked by multi story elevators. Precise jumps and
climbs mix with tense searching, all punctuated by iconic digitized speech:
“Stay a while - stay forever!”

Why it is notable
- designed and programmed by Dennis Caswell at Epyx
- pioneering blend of platforming and logic puzzles on C64
- famous for high quality speech samples in 1984

Tips
- watch droid patterns, then move only when gaps line up with platforms
- search tall bookcases from the top down to avoid wasted climbs
- use the terminal to pause droids before risky traversals

At a glance
Year - 1984
Developer - Epyx
Design and programming - Dennis Caswell
Publisher - Epyx
Genre - Action puzzle
Players - 1
Controls - Joystick in port 2 - plus keyboard for terminal actions