Checkers
Checkers — frequently asked questions
- What platforms is Checkers on?
- Checkers was released on Intellivision.
- When did Checkers release?
- Checkers was first released on September 17, 1980.
About Checkers
Challenge Tradition! Beat a friend electronically for practice. Then go for it against the Ultimate Checker Player - a Wiley computer who asks and gives no quarter. - Two ways to play, vs. a friend or the ultimate competitor, the canny computer. - HI and LO skill levels when playing the computer. Added difficulty... added excitement. - "Bail Out" button - COMPUTER SUGGESTS MOVE, when you're stumped against the computer. - Simulated sound effects - BELLS, BUZZERS, A BRONX CHEER and a VICTORY TUNE. - No time limit on moves! - CLEAR button that lets you change your move!
Summary via IGDB.
Checkers on Wikipedia
Checkers, also called Draughts, is a 1952 video game developed by British computer scientist Christopher Strachey. It is one of the first computer programs in the early history of video games, possibly the first game to display visuals on an electronic screen, and the first game written for a general-purpose computer. It first became operational during the summer of that year on the Ferranti Mark 1 computer at the University of Manchester. In Checkers, the player competes against a rudimentary artificial intelligence in a simulation of the board game of the same name; the game ends when all of either player's pieces have been captured or obstructed by the opponent.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Game details
- Platforms
- Intellivision
Details via IGDB.
Collector value & authenticity
Intellivision · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-20
Other releases and variants
| Release | Loose | Complete | Sealed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sears Tele-Games release | — | $190 | — |
How often it sells
- Loose: about 5 times a year
- Complete: about once a month
- Sealed: about 4 times a year
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-20.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $9.99 in Apr 2009, $5.13 five years ago, and $9.99 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $4.99 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $4.50 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $1.98 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $3.99 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $7.99 | $52 |
| Jan 2015 | $12.29 | $10.39 |
| Jan 2016 | $1.38 | $3.50 |
| Jan 2017 | $6.50 | $8.99 |
| Jan 2018 | $6.56 | $8.00 |
| Jan 2019 | $4.25 | $15.88 |
| Jan 2020 | $3.36 | $8.97 |
| Jan 2021 | $4.66 | $4.66 |
| Jan 2022 | $9.50 | $14.09 |
| Jan 2023 | $13.99 | $18.70 |
| Jan 2024 | $8.34 | $17.37 |
| Jan 2025 | $7.61 | $14.26 |
| Jan 2026 | $6.73 | $22 |
| Oct 2026 | $9.99 | $15.99 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Product # |
|---|---|
| North America Mattel Electronics | 1120 |
- North America: Product number confirmed by the game's own manual.
- Region
- NA
- Released
- 1979
- Controller
- Hand controller
- Players
- 1 or 2
- Authenticity
- Low
A plain, serviceable board game from Mattel's first wave, worth owning only if you want the early library.
Checkers was one of Mattel's early strategy cartridges, developed by APh and released in 1979. In some markets it is titled Draughts. It sat in the cheaper tier of Mattel's early-1980s price list alongside Roulette, Word Fun and Math Fun, and it is not a two-player-only game.
INTV Corporation later planned Triple Challenge, a cartridge combining Checkers, Backgammon and a third game, so a computerized board-game fix has another route if you do not need the original.
Worth knowing
- From the Intellivision manual. There are five ways to play: against the computer moving first or second at two skill levels, or against another person.
- From the Intellivision manual. A Computer Suggests Move button gives advice on your best next move when playing the computer, but not against a person.
Before you buy
Mattel's copies came with two keypad overlays, so a complete copy should have both. A Sears Tele-Games release of Checkers exists and is listed separately; boxed, it sells at a far higher level than the standard Mattel box.
Watch on YouTube
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