Here at Williams Amusements, retro arcade games are one of our biggest passions. From building bespoke cabinets, to repairing our favourite games, we love our arcade games. One of our new additions is Joust, and this is a real treat for all ages. Check out our buyers guide to Joust.

The background

Joust is an arcade game released in 1982. Although it wasn’t the first arcade machine to make use of two-player cooperative play, Joust was more successful than others that had used it first, and as a result, really popularized the idea of co-op play.

The creators of the game wanted to create a flying, cooperative, two player, game, but the market was already saturated with space themed arcade games. So instead, they chose something a little different…

The gameplay

In Joust the player rides a flying ostrich or a stork, and this is seen from a third person perspective. Playing as a yellow knight, the player uses the two way directional joystick, and the button, for flapping the wings of the bird, to avoid obstacles and collide with enemies. The player needs to be at a higher level than the enemies when the collision occurs in order to defeat them.

Overall, the objective is to take out all of the enemies. These are other knights riding buzzards and they populate each level. When you complete a level, or a wave, of enemies, the next level will begin with more challenging enemies. There are three different types of enemies to defeat. These are Bounder, Hunter, and Shadow Lord knights, and each are worth a different number of points.

Two Player

Two people can play Joust at the same time, with the second player being a blue knight, also riding a stork or an ostrich. The two players can collaborate to take out the enemy knights, or can compete against each other.

So, for hours of fun and entertainment, why not give Joust a go? Check out our Joust machine, here at Williams Amusements.