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

• Space invaders: The black-and-white daddy of all arcade videogames, which effortlessly articulated the frustration and powerlessness of working in a modern corporate organisation;
• Galaga: a second generation version of space invaders, with a challenging stage and amusing music;
• Defender: A spin on the usual alien invasion motif, where you invade them, trying to rescue little sticky things, and the aliens fight back, and all you have is a thrillingly devastating laser cannon, a small supply of smart bombs and the ability jump randomly into hyperspace
• Space invaders calculator: I know it sounds insane, but you could have hours of cosmic fun with an ordinary digital calculator.
• 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.