Fun House: 1991
Developer: Realtime Associates, Inc.
Genre: Action
Fun House Game Manual
The general gameplay concept is that each level is like a child’s version of The Running Man with a basic top-down view. Players must throw tomatoes skillfully at a series of easy-to-hit targets. Some elements of the game are indirectly taken from the classic arcade game Pole Position (except that the player does not have the option to play as a Formula One vehicle).
In order to make it to the next level, the player must make it from the starting line to the finish within the time limit with a young child on inline skates. Otherwise, the player loses a chance and the player must start the stage over again. The host of the televised game show, J. D. Roth, congratulates players for winning a stage while taunting the player with late 1980s/early 1990s sarcasm when he loses a “chance.” Icy floors and slime colored ramps offer an additional challenge to the player. There are 72 rooms in the entire Fun House; with targets that are either numbered or given a generic target graphic. Each room has a name that usually gives a clue about how the room’s design is implemented; either as clues that describe themselves or as a pun-laden name.
Although the player is given three chances to successfully navigate the entire Fun House, collecting 25 silver coins acts as a 1-up. Warp zones will allow players to access the more difficult levels of the Fun House at an earlier time; thus allowing gamers who are pressed for time a chance to beat the game with a higher level of risk.