Best Games Before Space Invaders

When people talk about the birth of video games, Space Invaders (1978) often gets the spotlight. It was the arcade smash that turned gaming into a global phenomenon. But the story didn’t start there. Before the aliens marched across the screen, a handful of groundbreaking titles laid the foundation for what gaming would become. These are the best games before Space Invaders — the ones that sparked the industry’s imagination.

Pong (1972)

No list starts without Pong. Atari’s table-tennis simulation is the game that brought coin-ops into bars and bowling alleys, igniting the arcade craze. Two paddles, one bouncing square “ball,” and suddenly gaming was more than a novelty — it was social, competitive, and addictive. Pong proved that video games could make money, which kept the industry alive long enough for the next big hits.

Pong’s simplicity was its strength. Anyone could pick it up instantly, and that accessibility made it universal. Whether you were young, old, skilled, or brand new, you could sit down, twist a knob, and start playing. That “easy to learn, hard to master” loop still drives game design today.

Another lasting impact of Pong was its role in building communities. Arcades became social hubs where people competed for bragging rights. Pong wasn’t just a game — it was the excuse to gather, laugh, and interact. That social DNA is still alive in modern gaming, whether in esports arenas or online multiplayer lobbies.

Finally, Pong marked the beginning of gaming as an industry. Before Pong, video games were experiments in labs. After Pong, they were commercial products. It proved the demand existed, setting off a chain reaction of developers rushing to make their own titles.

Computer Space (1971)

Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney’s Computer Space predates Pong and deserves credit as the first coin-operated arcade video game. A flashy fiberglass cabinet housed a simple but tough-to-play space shooter. Players piloted a rocket ship, battling flying saucers with physics-based movement.

The problem? It was too complex for casual players in the early ’70s. But its failure was important. It taught Bushnell and Dabney that games had to be intuitive. That lesson directly inspired Pong, and by extension, the entire arcade industry. Sometimes the best ideas are stepping stones.

Computer Space also represented ambition. Instead of just dots bouncing around, here was a game trying to simulate space combat. It was clunky, sure, but the seeds of the action genre are there. It showed that video games could be about more than mimicking sports — they could explore entirely new worlds.

Even its cabinet mattered. Sleek, futuristic, and alien in appearance, Computer Space didn’t look like a pinball machine. It looked like something from science fiction. That styling made video games stand out in arcades, hinting that this was the entertainment of the future.

Breakout (1976)

Atari struck again with Breakout, designed by none other than Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak before their Apple days. The concept was simple: bounce a ball off a paddle to chip away at rows of bricks.

Breakout was a revelation in pacing and feedback. Watching the wall collapse was both visually satisfying and addictive. It combined the competitive back-and-forth of Pong with a single-player challenge, opening gaming to people who wanted a solo experience. It also showed how games could use escalating difficulty to keep players hooked — a design philosophy still alive today.

Breakout also introduced the idea of games as puzzles to solve. Clearing all the bricks required patience and precision, and it rewarded persistence. That balance of frustration and triumph is the hook that keeps players saying, “just one more try.”

Beyond gameplay, Breakout became a design legend. Jobs and Wozniak’s involvement linked early video game engineering to the birth of the personal computer industry. The DNA of Breakout didn’t just shape gaming — it influenced the trajectory of Silicon Valley itself.

Gun Fight (1975)

While Pong and Breakout dominated the “sports” and “skill” categories, Taito’s Gun Fight introduced something revolutionary: head-to-head shooting action. Using dual joysticks, two cowboys squared off in a Wild West duel. It was also the first arcade game to use a microprocessor, which allowed smoother gameplay and more complex mechanics.

Gun Fight was fast, chaotic, and just plain fun. It marked a shift toward more thematic, character-driven gameplay — paving the way for future shooters.

But its real innovation was technical. By using a microprocessor instead of custom circuitry, Gun Fight paved the way for more advanced, cheaper, and scalable arcade machines. That one change opened the door to rapid innovation in the years that followed.

Culturally, Gun Fight tapped into the timeless appeal of the Wild West, making the game instantly relatable. It wasn’t just shapes on a screen anymore — it was cowboys and duels, stories people understood. That shift toward narrative themes laid the groundwork for video games as storytelling devices.

Odyssey (1972)

Magnavox’s Odyssey was the first home video game console, and while it didn’t have the sound, colors, or polish of arcades, it broke barriers. Packed with simple games like Table Tennis (a Pong-like experience), it showed that people could bring gaming into their living rooms.

The Odyssey planted the seed of gaming as a home activity, not just a coin-op pastime. Without it, consoles like the Atari 2600 might not have found their audience.

What set Odyssey apart was its creativity. To compensate for its technical limits, it included plastic screen overlays you stuck to your TV to simulate color and scenery. It was primitive, but it pushed imagination. Players weren’t just buying hardware — they were buying the chance to transform their television into something new.

The Odyssey also proved there was a market for gaming beyond arcades. By showing that families would pay for interactive entertainment at home, it encouraged other companies to take the leap. Without Odyssey, the concept of a “home console war” might never have been born.

The Bottom Line

Before Space Invaders marched into history, these early games did the heavy lifting. Pong proved games could be popular. Computer Space proved they could be ambitious. Breakout proved they could be challenging. Gun Fight proved they could be action-packed. And Odyssey proved they could be played at home.

Together, they set the stage for the alien invasion that followed. Without them, Space Invaders might never have found a planet ready to play.

These games also highlight something bigger: innovation comes from trial and error. Some were massive hits, some were commercial failures, but all moved the industry forward. That willingness to experiment is the reason gaming exists today as a multi-billion-dollar industry. Nowadays, you can simply play Space Invaders online in a browser window if you want to.