People forget how weird the early eighties were for tech. Long before we had 4K OLED screens in our pockets, we had liquid crystal displays that looked more like calculator screens than video games. Honestly, if you were a kid in 1981, the Game & Watch Octopus was basically magic. It wasn't just a toy. It was a status symbol that smelled like cheap plastic and battery acid. Gunpei Yokoi, the legendary designer who eventually gave us the Game Boy, came up with the idea after watching a bored businessman fiddle with a calculator on a bullet train. He realized people just needed something to do with their thumbs.
Octopus—model OC-22—was part of the Widescreen series. It was a massive jump from the tiny Silver and Gold editions that came before it. The screen was bigger, the colors were sharper (well, as sharp as pre-printed overlays can be), and the gameplay was genuinely stressful. You aren't some super-soldier or a space pilot. You’re just a diver. A diver trying to rob a giant cephalopod.
The High Stakes of 1981 Scuba Diving
The premise is dead simple. You have a boat on the left and a sunken treasure chest on the right. Between them? A massive, red-tentacled octopus that wants to end your career. You move your little character down the screen, one "frame" at a time, to grab gold from the chest. Each scoop gives you a point. Each time you get back to the boat, those points are banked.
It sounds easy. It isn't.
What makes Game & Watch Octopus stand out from other entries in the series, like Manhole or Fire, is the risk-reward loop. You can stay by the chest and keep scooping gold to rack up points, but every second you linger, the octopus moves. The movement isn't fluid; it’s rhythmic. Tick. Tick. Tick. That LCD clock heartbeat is what gets you. You start to think you can fit in one more scoop. You can't. The tentacle snaps out, and you lose a life.
There are two modes: Game A and Game B. Most people stuck to Game A because Game B was essentially a suicide mission where the tentacles moved at light speed. It’s the kind of game that creates a specific type of "flow state" where the rest of the room disappears and you’re just a part of the machine.
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Why the Hardware Is a Collector's Nightmare
If you’re looking to buy an original Game & Watch Octopus today, you better have a deep wallet and a lot of patience. These things were built to be played, not preserved in amber. Most of them have "LCD bleed," which looks like a giant ink blot spreading across the screen. It's permanent. It's devastating.
Then there’s the battery cover. For some reason, 1980s children were incapable of not losing the battery cover. Finding a unit with the original, color-matched silver or gold-tone cover is like finding a four-leaf clover. Most of what you see on eBay is either a "franken-unit" pieced together from broken games or a unit so scratched it looks like it was dragged behind a car.
Prices have gone through the roof. A mint-in-box (MIB) Octopus can easily fetch over $500, especially if the original styrofoam inserts and that tiny, annoying manual are included. Even a "loose" unit that actually works will set you back $100 to $150. Collectors obsess over the serial numbers on the back, looking for early production runs. It’s a subculture built on nostalgia and the specific click of those rubber buttons.
The Cultural Ripple Effect
Nintendo didn't just leave Octopus in 1981. They knew they had a hit. The character—informally known as "Octy"—showed up later in the Game & Watch Gallery series on the Game Boy. Those versions were great because they added a "Modern" mode featuring Mario. Instead of a generic diver, you were Mario dodging a much more expressive, animated octopus.
But the real kicker was Super Smash Bros. When Mr. Game & Watch was added to the roster in Melee, his "Final Smash" in later versions actually turned him into the giant Octopus. Seeing those rigid, frame-by-frame tentacles rendered in high-definition 3D was a massive "if you know, you know" moment for older gamers. It validated the hours spent staring at that tiny LCD screen forty years prior. It’s weirdly comforting to know that a character from a game about stealing gold from a mollusk is now a staple of competitive fighting games.
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Spotting a Fake in the Wild
Because the Game & Watch Octopus is so iconic, the market is flooded with knock-offs and "re-issues." In the mid-2000s, Nintendo released the "Mini Classics" series, which were tiny keychain versions. They’re fun, but they aren't the real deal. The screen contrast is different, and the buttons feel mushy.
True purists look for the original "OC-22" stamp.
- Check the polarization: If the screen looks weirdly blue or washed out, the polarizing film is shot. You can replace it, but it’s a delicate surgery involving a razor blade and a lot of swearing.
- The smell test: Old electronics have a specific "old plastic" scent. If it smells like fresh chemicals, it’s a modern shell.
- The "Alarm" test: These weren't just games; they were clocks. Make sure the alarm function actually chirps. If the piezo speaker is dead, the game loses half its charm.
Dealing with the "Leaking Battery" Disaster
The biggest killer of these handhelds isn't time; it's the LR44 battery. People would shove these in a drawer in 1984, forget about them, and the batteries would slowly leak acid onto the circuit board. It eats through the copper traces like a xenomorph from Alien.
If you find an old unit at a garage sale, the first thing you do is pop the back. If you see white crusty stuff or green goo, don't panic yet. You can often clean it with white vinegar and a Q-tip. The acid is alkaline, so the vinegar neutralizes it. It’s a satisfying bit of chemistry that has saved thousands of these little treasures from the landfill.
The Design Philosophy of Gunpei Yokoi
We have to talk about "Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology." This was Yokoi’s whole vibe. He didn't want the most powerful chips. He wanted cheap, reliable tech used in creative ways.
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The Game & Watch Octopus is the peak of this philosophy. By using pre-printed LCD segments, Nintendo could create a game that ran for months on two tiny button cells. It was portable in a way that the Atari 2600 never could be. You could play it under your desk at school. You could play it in the back of a station wagon on a road trip to the Grand Canyon. It was the first time gaming became truly personal and truly mobile.
How to Experience Octopus Today Without Spending a Fortune
You don't actually need to hunt down a physical unit to understand the hype. Nintendo has been surprisingly good about keeping the legacy alive, though they’ve slowed down lately.
- Game & Watch Gallery 4 (GBA): This is probably the best way to play it. It includes a perfect "Classic" port and a "Modern" version that is legitimately fun.
- Club Nintendo Re-issues: Back in the day, Club Nintendo released a "Ball" re-issue, but sadly Octopus didn't get the same treatment.
- Digital Archives: There are several high-quality simulators online that use high-resolution scans of the original hardware. It's not the same as holding the cold metal faceplate, but it gets the point across.
Actionable Next Steps for Enthusiasts
If you’re looking to dive into the world of Game & Watch collecting or just want to relive the glory days of Game & Watch Octopus, keep these practical points in mind.
First, check your attic. Seriously. Thousands of these are sitting in "miscellaneous" boxes in suburban garages. Look for the distinctive wide, silver-faced body. If you find one, remove the batteries immediately before doing anything else.
Second, if you're buying online, request a video of the screen. Photos can hide "ghosting" or dead segments that only appear when the game is actually running. A still photo of the "all segments on" screen (triggered by holding the ACL button) is the only way to know the LCD is 100% healthy.
Finally, don't treat it like a museum piece. These games were meant to be played. The high score on an Octopus unit is a badge of honor. Whether you're dodging tentacles on an original 1981 unit or an emulated version on your phone, the tension of that final scoop of gold remains exactly the same. It’s a masterclass in minimalist game design that hasn't aged a day.