Lady Bug
Lady Bug — frequently asked questions
- Is Lady Bug on Steam?
- No. Lady Bug 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 Lady Bug on?
- Lady Bug is available on ColecoVision, Arcade, Intellivision, Casio PV-1000.
- When did Lady Bug release?
- Lady Bug was first released on December 31, 1981.
About Lady Bug
Lady Bug is an insect-themed maze chase arcade game produced by Universal Entertainment Corporation and released in 1981. Its gameplay is similar to Pac-Man, with the primary addition to the formula being gates that change the layout of the maze when used. The arcade original was relatively obscure, but the game found wider recognition and success as a launch title for the ColecoVision console.
Summary via IGDB.
Lady Bug on Wikipedia
Lady Bug is a 1981 maze video game developed and published by Universal for arcades. Its gameplay is similar to Pac-Man, with the addition of turnstiles that change the layout of the maze, adding an element of strategy to the genre. A port to the ColecoVision was a launch title for the console.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Game details
- Platforms
- ColecoVision, Arcade, Intellivision, Casio PV-1000
- Developer
- Universal Co., Ltd.
- Publisher
- Universal Co., Ltd.
- Game modes
- Single player, Multiplayer
- Themes
- Action
Details via IGDB.
Reception
Every version compared
Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release
| Platform | Year | Loose | Complete | Sealed | Period reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ColecoVisionDetails ↓ | 1982 | $9 | $23 | $90 | 4 reviews |
| IntellivisionDetails ↓ | 1983 | $11 | $26 | $57 | 2 reviews |
Also released on: Arcade · Casio PV-1000. 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
ColecoVision · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-19
How often it sells
- Loose: about once a week
- Complete: about once a month
- Sealed: about 3 times a year
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-19.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $2.95 in Jul 2009, $8.49 five years ago, and $8.74 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $3.00 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $4.00 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $5.99 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $1.98 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $4.99 | $9.50 |
| Jan 2015 | $4.99 | $10.00 |
| Jan 2016 | $4.99 | $26 |
| Jan 2017 | $7.00 | $25 |
| Jan 2018 | $6.29 | $12.99 |
| Jan 2019 | $6.00 | $13.99 |
| Jan 2020 | $7.89 | $17.15 |
| Jan 2021 | $5.95 | $15.93 |
| Jan 2022 | $10.74 | $12.04 |
| Jan 2023 | $7.86 | $19.10 |
| Jan 2024 | $7.24 | $19.99 |
| Jan 2025 | $7.45 | $22 |
| Jan 2026 | $8.55 | $19.49 |
| Oct 2026 | $8.74 | $23 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Label | Model # |
|---|---|---|
| North America Coleco | End label: for ColecoVision | 2433 |
| Europe CBS Electronics | — | — |
- North America: Model number confirmed by Coleco's 1982 cartridge catalogue.
- Europe: Sold in Europe by CBS Electronics; the ColecoVision FAQ lists its model number as 4L2039. CBS carts have black labels and a differently shaped top end.
- Region
- NA
- Released
- 1982
- Players
- 1 or 2
- Authenticity
- Low
The ColecoVision version
A launch-era maze chase with turnstile doors that reviewers rated above the usual Pac-Man copy, and one of the cheapest carts in the library.
Coleco published Lady Bug for the ColecoVision in the fall of 1982, a port of Universal's arcade maze game with Nuvatec credited as developer, and Wikipedia calls it a launch title for the console. Rather than eating dots to the end, you flip revolving doors that open and close sections of the maze to trap the hunting insects.
Video's Arcade Alley column said the home version's sound and graphics equal, if not surpass, the original, and complained only that movement was stiff and jerky. In a 1983 comparison, Electronic Fun noted that ColecoVision players got a Special Harvest bonus screen that the Intellivision version lacked. Wikipedia adds that Creative Computing Video and Arcade Games reported the ColecoVision cartridge had become more popular in its office than the arcade game.
In January 1984, Video's Arcade Awards, voted by its readers, named the ColecoVision Lady Bug the year's best videogame with 16K or more of ROM, praising the pinball-style scoring and the movable walls.
What the press said at the time
| Computer Entertainer Vol. 1 No. 7 | October 1982 | Graphics ★★★½ · Play-Action ★★★★ |
| JoyStik Vol. 1 No. 3 | December 1982 | Graphics: 8 · Game Play: 7 · Longevity: NA |
| JoyStik Vol. 1 No. 4 | January 1983 | ★★★★ (4 of 5) |
| Electronic Fun with Computers & Games Vol. 1 No. 3 | January 1983 | 4 of 4 joysticks |
“is an excellent maze game, again based on … With good timing, you can manage to place a turnstile in the path of an”
“Ladybug is a serious competitor to Atari's Pac- Man. Your all-too-familiar goal is to make your way through a colorful maze, eating dots and avoiding poisonous skulls and evil insects.”
“this is no shabby home-clone but a virtually perfect recreation of the Universal coin-op. The graphics are superb … An unqualified, glassy-eyed recommendation.”
“A cutesy Pac-Man variant … Excellent game-play and graphics/musical effects make this maze game better than the”
Computer Entertainer rated graphics first and play action second, from four symbols (excellent) to one (poor) — diamonds through early 1987, stars after — comparing each game only with other games for the same system. Electronic Fun rated games out of four joysticks. JoyStik’s capsule ratings run from one star to five. JoyStik’s December 1982 game guide scored graphics, game play and longevity out of 10.
How the ColecoVision version differs
Finishing SPECIAL in the ColecoVision version opens a bonus "Vegetable Harvest" round. The Intellivision version has no SPECIAL register.
Creative Computing said the Coleco version's insects become incredibly fast on the ninth board, slightly faster than the coin-op game.
Also on other platforms
Intellivision · Arcade
| Arcade | Universal |
- Intellivision. Electronic Fun found the Intellivision version a little disappointing: the same game play and tune, but decidedly inferior graphics.
Worth knowing
- From the ColecoVision manual. The side buttons are not used; the whole game is played with the control stick and keypad.
- From the ColecoVision manual. Collecting the yellow letters spelling EXTRA wins an extra Lady Bug; the red letters spelling SPECIAL win a Vegetable Harvest Bonus screen.
- From the ColecoVision manual. Your first vegetable (a cucumber) is worth 1000 points, and each later vegetable is worth 500 more than the previous one.
Before you buy
Plays with the standard ColecoVision controller. It is one of the cheapest cartridges in the library, loose or boxed, and a sealed copy carries a much higher premium. Since common copies cost almost nothing, buy the cleanest box and manual you can find, and treat a sealed price as a collector's premium rather than a playing one.
Collector value & authenticity
Intellivision · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-20
How often it sells
- Loose: about once a month
- Complete: about 5 times a year
- Sealed: about 3 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 $9.98 in Apr 2009, $14.73 five years ago, and $10.74 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $4.90 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $4.00 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $3.00 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $10.49 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $9.49 | $21 |
| Jan 2015 | $9.95 | $25 |
| Jan 2016 | $12.94 | $12.99 |
| Jan 2017 | $9.68 | $10.99 |
| Jan 2018 | $12.58 | $21 |
| Jan 2019 | $14.04 | $34 |
| Jan 2020 | $7.59 | $32 |
| Jan 2021 | $12.98 | $29 |
| Jan 2022 | $6.75 | $31 |
| Jan 2023 | $13.48 | $21 |
| Jan 2024 | $14.48 | $24 |
| Jan 2025 | $10.99 | $22 |
| Jan 2026 | $13.49 | $19.99 |
| Oct 2026 | $10.74 | $26 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Product # | Barcode |
|---|---|---|
| North America Coleco | 2483 | 076930024836 |
- North America: Product number confirmed by the UPC barcode, which encodes it.
- Region
- NA
- Released
- 1983
- Controller
- Hand controller
- Players
- 1 or 2
- Authenticity
- Low
The Intellivision version
Coleco's Intellivision maze game with the right tune and gameplay, undermined by weaker graphics than the ColecoVision version.
Coleco published Lady Bug for the Intellivision in 1983 as a port of Universal's arcade game, alongside its ColecoVision release. Wikipedia notes the bonus SPECIAL register from the arcade does not appear on the Intellivision. Computer Entertainer's 1982 coverage had listed Lady Bug among the Atari and Intellivision games Coleco was preparing.
Electronic Fun with Computers and Games, in November 1983, called the Intellivision version a little disappointing: same game play and theme tune, but graphics clearly inferior, with the bug looking like a spoiled strawberry. Play it for the turnstile mazes, and expect the ColecoVision version to look better.
How it was made
Coleco published the Intellivision version in 1983.
What the press said at the time
| Computer Entertainer Vol. 2 No. 3 | June 1983 | Graphics ★★★ · Play-Action ★★★½ |
| Electronic Fun with Computers & Games Vol. 2 No. 1 | November 1983 | 2½ joysticks (of 4) |
“Game play is very good. In fact, we feel this is one of the best maze games yet for the Intellivision system.”
“This Intellivision version is a little disappointing. The game play is the same as other versions, as is the tuneful Lady Bug theme, but the graphics are decidedly inferior.”
Computer Entertainer rated graphics first and play action second, from four symbols (excellent) to one (poor) — diamonds through early 1987, stars after — comparing each game only with other games for the same system. Electronic Fun rated games out of four joysticks.
How the Intellivision version differs
The Intellivision version drops the SPECIAL register. On the ColecoVision, completing it opens a bonus level called Vegetable Harvest.
Electronic Fun found the Intellivision game play the same as other versions, but the graphics decidedly inferior.
The manual rates Skill 3 as playing much like the arcade game and Skill 4 as tougher than the arcade version.
Also on other platforms
Arcade · Casio PV-1000
| Arcade | Universal |
- Arcade. The arcade Lady Bug earned a Certificate of Merit as runner-up for Most Innovative Coin-Op Game at the fourth Arcade Awards in January 1983.
- Casio PV-1000. Lady Bug was re-released in Japan as Fighting Bug on the Casio PV-1000, one of only 13 games for that platform.
Worth knowing
- From the Intellivision manual. Guide number printed in the manual (Coleco, not a Mattel part number): 91859
- From the Intellivision manual. Four skill levels: level 3 plays like the arcade game and level 4 is more challenging than the arcade version.
- From the Intellivision manual. Spelling EXTRA ends the maze and earns a bonus Lady Bug; the side buttons are not used in this game.
Before you buy
Coleco shipped no overlays with this cart, so any overlay in a listing is a reproduction. It runs on the Intellivision II, unlike several other Coleco titles. The box and manual carry much of a complete copy's value, and it is not among the cheaper third-party carts.
Lady Bug screenshots
Watch on YouTube
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