| Oil's Well | |
| Developer: | Sierra On-Line |
| Publisher: | Sierra On-Line |
| Programmer: | Atari 8-bit Thomas J. Mitchell Apple II Ivan Strand |
| Composer: | Ken Allen |
| Released: | 1983: Apple, Atari, C64 1984: ColecoVision, IBM PC 1985: MSX, Sharp 1990: MS-DOS |
| Genre: | Maze |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, ColecoVision, IBM PC, MS-DOS, MSX, Sharp X1 |
Oil's Well (a pun on "all's well") is a video game published by Sierra On-Line in 1983. The game was written for the Atari 8-bit computers by Thomas J. Mitchell.[1] Oil's Well is similar to the 1982 arcade game Anteater, re-themed to be about drilling for oil instead of a hungry insectivore. Ports were released in 1983 for the Apple II and Commodore 64, in 1984 for ColecoVision and the IBM PC (as a self-booting disk), then in 1985 for MSX and the Sharp X1. A version with improved visuals and without Mitchell's involvement was released for MS-DOS in 1990.
The player collects oil for a drilling operation by moving the drill head through a maze using four directional control buttons. The drill bit is trailed by a pipeline connecting it to the base. Subterranean creatures populate the maze; the head can destroy the creatures, but the pipeline is vulnerable. As the player traverses the maze, the pipe grows longer, but pressing a button quickly retracts the head. There are 8 levels to play through.
ANALOG Computing said that Oils Well for the Atari 8-bit was a "truly different and challenging" variant on the "'gobble the dots' theme", with good gameplay and graphics.[2]
Dave Stone in Computer Gaming World stated that "The action's well-paced, the difficulty progressive. While getting to a higher level is somewhat dependent on getting the right breaks — good eye-hand coordination, timing, and strategy are essential".[3]
Ahoy! stated that while the Commodore version's graphics and sounds were only "serviceable; gameplay is, in my experience, unique ... Recommended".[4] InfoWorld called the IBM PCjr version "a clever, basic game".[5]
The U.S. gaming magazine Computer Games awarded Oil's Well the 1984 Golden Floppy Award for Excellence, in the category of "Maze Game of the Year."[6]
Despite already being a clone of Anteater, several additional clones borrowed the theme of Oil's Well: Pipeline Run for the Commodore 64 in 1990 and Oilmania for the Atari ST in 1991.[7]