Is Video Checkers on Steam?

No. Video Checkers 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 Video Checkers on?

Video Checkers is available on Atari 2600.

When did Video Checkers release?

Video Checkers was first released on December 31, 1980.

Video Checkers

Dec 31, 1980StrategyAtari 2600

Video Checkers — frequently asked questions

Is Video Checkers on Steam?: No. Video Checkers 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 Video Checkers on?: Video Checkers is available on Atari 2600.
When did Video Checkers release?: Video Checkers was first released on December 31, 1980.

About Video Checkers

An early video game version of the game Checkers.

Summary via IGDB.

Game details

Platforms: Atari 2600
Developer: Atari
Publisher: Atari
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer

Details via IGDB.

Collector value & authenticity

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

Loose

Complete

$17

Sealed

$37

Label variants

Release	Loose	Complete	Sealed
Text Label	$7	$16	—
Checkers [Tele-Games]	$7	$125	—

Release record

Territory	Label	Catalog #	Rarity
North America Atari	Picture	CX2636	Common+
North America Atari	Text	CX2636	Common+

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

Region: NA+EU
Released: 1980
Controller: Atari Joystick
Players: 1 - 2
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

Carol Shaw's checkers cartridge, a solid board-game conversion that costs very little loose.

Video Checkers is Atari's 1980 checkers game for the 2600, programmed by Carol Shaw. You play against the computer or a second player, and alongside the standard rules there is a Give Away Checkers mode in which the goal is to lose all your pieces.

It is a plain board-game conversion, of interest mainly to collectors of Carol Shaw's work or of the early Atari library. Sears sold it as Checkers.

How it was made

Programmed by Carol Shaw and released by Atari in September 1980, with a PAL release in early 1982. Sears sold it as Checkers.

Cartridge & preservation record

Program size 4 KB, measured from the preserved dump.

Catalogue number as recorded for the physical release.

Worth knowing

1981 dealer price. Atari's confidential retailer price list for January 1 to June 1, 1981 lists Video Checkers (CX2636) in its premium tier: dealers paid $18.50 against a suggested retail price of $31.95. The same list groups it among the "cartridge titles introduced in 1980".

Before you buy

Low risk. Three listings are priced: the standard Video Checkers cart, a Text Label cart, and the Sears version listed as Checkers [Tele-Games]. Loose, all three cost about the same. Boxed, the Sears Checkers [Tele-Games] copy is priced far above the others, so if you are paying for that box, check that the cart and box both carry the Sears name and that the box is the right one.