The Computer Gallery: List of Games

The Computer Gallery was an opening day attraction at Sesame Place. It remained there until sometime after 1993 when it was renamed The Games Gallery (and became a more traditional arcade.)

Image from YouTube

When it opened in 1980 it had "56 Apple II computers linked by three Nestar Cluster/One Model A hard disc systems." It was called "the nations largest collection of computer games".

The computer keys were arranged in alphabetical order and the computers ran on tokens.

Tokens were 3 for $1 in 1980. Children could play for "up to four minutes on one token"

Image from eBay

Here is information on a few of the games:

Lemonade - This game demonstrates using the computer to solve economic problems of running a lemonade stand at a profit. (citation)

Tune-In - A music based game where players compose a melody by arranging musical phrases pre-programmed into the computer.

 Image from YouTube

Fire Fly - Tests hand-eye coordination. Plays try to see how many windows in a city they can light up with a flash of light.

Mup-O-Matic - Players guess the Muppet character emerging in the video patterns. This was aimed at younger children.

 Image from YouTube

Art Beams - Kids design a six-color video design which is then stretched, squeezed, angled or flipped over. (citation)

Reflect - Players bounce a light beam off a mirror at angle to make objects on the screen react. One object was a rosebud which would blossom if hit with light.

Layer Cake - A variation of an ancient puzzle game where players move layers of cake to the correct sized plate.

Paddle Tennis - A tennis game that could be played with or without gravity.

 Image from YouTube

Do you remember any others? Please let me know!

The Computer Gallery

Image from YouTube

The Computer Gallery (later re-named The Games Gallery) is a former Sesame Place attraction that was located to the left of the entrance of Big Bird Bridge. 

 Image from YouTube

An article in the St. Joseph, MO., News-Press (from Sunday, June 7, 1981) referred to it as "the nations largest collection of computer games".

Joyce Hakansson of Atari designed the Computer Gallery, according to an article on atarimagazines.com. The system was described as "56 Apple II computers linked by three Nestar Cluster/One Model A hard disc systems."
The Computer Gallery was an important educational element to the park, as discussed in Intelligent Machines Journal in the fall before the park opened.

 Image from Info World

The games were state of the art (at the time) and helped children (and their parents) learn more about computers.

 Image from YouTube

The computers required tokens, were housed in large colorful metal cases and had membrane keyboards.

 Image from YouTube

 Image from YouTube

The computers became very expensive to keep up to date and were slowly replaced with Arcade games. Sometime after 1993 the space was renamed The Games Gallery.

Image from YouTube

The space was converted to a restaurant called Sesame Cafe in 2001. The restaurant has since been renamed Cookie's Cafe.

Image from Google Street Views