Play Joust Online

Summary

Joust, the quirky Williams arcade title from the early ’80s, drops you onto a floating platform arena where you pilot a bird‑mounted knight with a simple two‑way stick and a single button. Pressing the button repeatedly flaps the ostrich (or stork in two‑player mode) to rise, hover, or dive, while the joystick handles side‑to‑side movement, turning vertical control into a rhythmic rhythm game. Collisions decide the duel: the higher lance wins, equal height sends both combatants sprawling, and defeated foes hatch into eggs that must be collected before they spawn fresh knights. The cast of enemies—random‑wandering Bounders, hunting Hunters, and the high‑flying Shadow Lords—adds layers of strategy, while a pterodactyl appears for bonus points and an indestructible Lava Troll drags careless flyers into the lava below. Built on Defender’s hardware and programmed in assembly, the machine sports a 19‑inch color CRT, monaural sound, and even a battery‑backed high‑score memory, with cabinet art hand‑stenciled by Python Anghelo. Its quirky premise, cooperative play, and tight controls helped Joust climb the U.S. arcade charts in 1983 and inspired a sequel and countless clones.

Storyline

In Joust, the player is a knight riding a flying ostrich (or a stork in two‑player mode) who glides over a floating platform arena suspended above a lava‑filled island. The goal is to battle wave after wave of enemy knights mounted on buzzards.

When an enemy is defeated it turns into an egg that can later hatch into a new knight, adding a tactical element. The battlefield also contains a pterodactyl and an indestructible Lava Troll that act as extra hazards.