No. Klax is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.

When did Klax release?

Klax was first released on February 1, 1990.

Klax

Feb 1, 1990PuzzleStrategyArcadeArcadeBBC Microcomputer SystemAtari 7800Commodore C64/128/MAXZX Spectrum

Klax — frequently asked questions

Is Klax on Steam?: No. Klax is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
What platforms is Klax on?: Klax is available on Arcade, BBC Microcomputer System, Atari 7800, Commodore C64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum, Atari Lynx, Atari ST/STE, Sega Game Gear, TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, Atari 5200, DOS, Amiga, Family Computer, Amstrad CPC, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System/Mark III, MSX, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, MS-DOS, SAM Coupé, NES, Atari 2600, TurboGrafx-16, Genesis/Mega Drive, Lynx, Game Boy, X68000, PC-88, PC-98, Master System, Game Gear, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance.
When did Klax release?: Klax was first released on February 1, 1990.

About Klax

Klax is a 1989 computer puzzle game designed by Dave Akers and Mark Stephen Pierce. The object is to line up colored blocks into rows of similar colors to make them disappear, to which the object of Columns is similar. Atari Games originally released it as a coin-op follow up to Tetris, about which they were tangled in a legal dispute at the time.

Summary via IGDB.

Game details

Platforms: Arcade, BBC Microcomputer System, Atari 7800, Commodore C64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum, Atari Lynx, Atari ST/STE, Sega Game Gear, TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, Atari 5200, DOS, Amiga, Family Computer, Amstrad CPC, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System/Mark III, MSX, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, MS-DOS, SAM Coupé, NES, Atari 2600, TurboGrafx-16, Genesis/Mega Drive, Lynx, Game Boy, X68000, PC-88, PC-98, Master System, Game Gear, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance
Developer: Atari Games
Publisher: Atari Games
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Split screen
Themes: Action

Details via IGDB.

Reception

IGDB rating

60/100

from 18 ratings

Every version compared

Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release

Platform	Year	Loose	Complete	Sealed	Built by
Atari Lynx Details ↓	1990	$20	$23	$40	—
Atari 2600 Details ↓	1990	$17	$25	$44	Atari (designed by Steve DeFrisco)

Also released on: Arcade · BBC Microcomputer System · Atari 7800 · Commodore C64/128/MAX · ZX Spectrum · Atari ST/STE · Sega Game Gear · TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine · Atari 5200 · DOS · Amiga · Family Computer · Amstrad CPC · Nintendo Entertainment System · Sega Master System/Mark III · MSX · Atari ST · BBC Micro · Commodore 64 · Commodore 128 · MS-DOS · SAM Coupé · NES · TurboGrafx-16 · Genesis/Mega Drive · Lynx · Game Boy · X68000 · PC-88 · PC-98 · Master System · Game Gear · Game Boy Color · Game Boy Advance. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.

Prices are per version and are not interchangeable, and neither are the reviews: conversions in this era were often built by a different studio than the original, so a score earned on one machine says nothing about how another plays.

Collector value & authenticity

Atari Lynx · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-08-07

Loose

$20

Complete

$23

Sealed

$40

Region: NA+EU+JP
Released: 1990
Authenticity: Low

Never re-released — the original cartridge is the only way to playLow counterfeit risk

Atari Lynx prices, all games & how to spot a fake

The Atari Lynx version

One of the best-suited games in the library — a fixed-screen puzzler on a screen that likes fixed screens.

Atari published the 1990 Lynx conversion of its own arcade puzzler. Klax is high-contrast, static, and reaction-based rather than detail-based, which makes it one of the handful of Lynx games that still looks acceptable on an unmodded original display.

One of the 17 Japanese releases via Mumin Corporation. Never re-released on a modern Lynx collection, though the game itself has appeared in other Atari compilations.

How it was made

Programming by Greg Omi; art and animation by Susan G. McBride, Greg Omi, Gary Johnson and LX Rudis; music and sound by LX Rudis. Credited in full by Atari Explorer in January/February 1991 — the most complete credits block found for any Lynx game, and independent confirmation of McBride's involvement, which an Atari Explorer interview separately claimed a year later.

Graphics by Susan G. McBride, identified in an Atari Explorer interview of May/June 1992 as the artist behind Klax, Rampage and Warbirds before she headed the visuals team on Batman Returns.

What the press said at the time

“Klax inherits its appeal from a variety of different grid-games, including tic-tac-toe, five-in-a-line, and Tetris — wrapping it all in a wild, pinball-machine cosmetic framework that's simply magical!”
— Atari Explorer, January/February 1991

Cartridge & preservation record

Cartridge ROM capacity 2 megabit (256 KB), measured from the preserved cartridge image.

Surviving pre-release builds

1990-05-22	Beta	1 Mbit
1990-07-09	Beta	2 Mbit

Catalogue part number PA2031

Cartridge data from the No-Intro preservation database (metadata only — names, sizes and checksums, no game data).

Worth knowing

It is meant to be held sideways. Atari Explorer's 1991 review notes the cartridge "is designed for play with the Lynx held lengthwise; with joypad above the screen and buttons below, or the reverse" — using the console's flip-screen so left- and right-handed players each get a natural grip. No other Lynx game is documented doing this. The ramp is twenty steps high and five columns wide, and the wall builds five across by five high.

Before you buy

Cheap, common, low-risk, and one of the games worth keeping loose in the bag to test a console's screen with.

Collector value & authenticity

Atari 2600 · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-06

Loose

$17

Complete

$25

Sealed

$44

Release record

Territory	Label	Catalog #	Rarity
Europe Atari	Red	CX26192	Scarce+

Source: Catalog numbers, label types, rarity, controllers and player counts: AtariAge 2600 software database

Region: EU
Released: 1990
Controller: Atari Joystick
Players: 1
Authenticity: Low

Not in Atari 50 — other compilations and plug-and-plays are not tracked hereLow counterfeit risk

Atari 2600 prices, all games & how to spot a fake

The Atari 2600 version

Atari's last new PAL 2600 release, a late conversion of the Klax arcade puzzler.

Klax was a 1990 Atari Games arcade puzzle game in which you catch colored tiles from a conveyor belt and stack them into matching rows. Steve DeFrisco made the 2600 version, and Atari Corp released it in the UK in mid-1990. It was only sold in PAL regions.

It was the last 2600 game Atari released in PAL territories and one of the final licensed games for the system. NTSC prototypes exist, but no NTSC version was released.

Cartridge & preservation record

Program size 16 KB, measured from the preserved dump.

Catalogue number as recorded for the physical release.

How the Atari 2600 version differs

The 2600 version came out only in Europe, in mid-1990, as the console's final official Atari-licensed release.

Also on other platforms

Arcade · Amiga · Atari ST · Amstrad CPC · BBC Micro · Commodore 64 · Commodore 128 · MS-DOS · MSX · SAM Coupé · ZX Spectrum · NES · TurboGrafx-16 · Genesis/Mega Drive · Lynx · Game Boy · X68000 · PC-88 · PC-98 · Master System · Game Gear · Game Boy Color · Game Boy Advance

Atari 2600	Atari (designed by Steve DeFrisco)
NES	Dave Akers
Genesis	Dave Akers
Atari 7800	David Dentt
Game Boy Color	Mike Mika

Atari Lynx. Computer and Video Games rated the Lynx version 93 out of 100, calling it simple but very addictive.
Game Boy Color. Mike Mika hid a wedding proposal in the Game Boy Color version, along with a Snake-like game and a mini adventure as Easter eggs.

Before you buy

Low risk. No reproductions are documented. This is a PAL cartridge: it fits any 2600, but on an NTSC console and TV it is likely to show wrong colors and may roll, so match it with PAL hardware for a clean picture. Late Atari Corp carts use a universal 2600/7800 shell with no dust door and a cheaper gray label, which is normal and not a sign of a fake.