Space invaders
space invaders has passed into common usage as a general term for the great arcade video games of the late 1970s and the 1980s, but is also the name of the first, pioneering monochrome game, in which a battalion of bug-like things systematically advanced on you in rigid military configuration, and your job was to shoot them. You had a few pathetic bases to hide behind while you swung to and fro taking frantic potshots at them with a feeble, slow-reloading pea-shooter.
There was also a calculator version which was pretty cool and taught you to add up to ten, quickly, as a bonus.
See also
- Galaga - a second generation version of Space invaders, with a Challenging Stage and amusing music;
- Defender - A spin on the usual alien invasioin motif, where you are invading the aliens and trying to rescue little sticky things
- Qix - which was really just a bit stupid, but through a design flaw in the game’s basic concept you could play for hours on end if you really wanted to.
All, in any case, useful metaphors for life in a modern multinational investment bank.