by Beat Suter
The research team CH-Ludens specialises in researching Swiss computer games from the 1980s and 1990s. While searching for Commodore C64 games developed in Switzerland, CH-Ludens discovered several interesting titles. Robox (1986), for example, is a graphic adventure game developed by Laro Schatzer and Marc Pilloud (fig. 1). Adrian Demleitner, PhD candidate of the HKB researched it in depth and made two interviews with the developers. The German-language game features numerous locations, a good parser and challenging puzzles. It was released in 1986 by the German publisher Markt & Technik and is well documented.

However, many of the other games that we found are only partially documented, or have not yet been processed at all. Among them are games by Matthias Hillebrand and Tim Kleinert, that were published, but no physical copies have been found so far (fig. 2/3). And the C64 games include several ports by the Swiss publisher LINEL from 1987–1995, as well as games by the German publisher Starbyte, which were originally released as diskmags and as individual publications. These ports are well known, mostly being conversions from the Amiga to the older but popular C64 platform for countries such as Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Below is a list of C64 games currently known to have been developed in connection with Switzerland. The list includes 17 published games and six others that were never published, or for which there is insufficient data to determine their publication status. This suggests that some games remain undiscovered.
The CH-Ludens research group would be very interested to learn more about these unpublished games. It is possible that enthusiasts and programmers from that time still have old floppy disks containing C64 games or prototypes at home. We are researching the entire history of Swiss game design up to the year 2000, so we would be very grateful if you could search your old disks and notes for any lost games. Alternatively, you may know of one or two C64 games that were published somewhere, but which we have been unable to locate. If so, please send any information to gamelab.zurich at zhdk.ch or info at chludens.ch.


Figures 2 and 3 are from the 1988 C64 game Akropolis by Modern Arts, developed by Matthias Hillebrand (code) and Tim Kleinert (music). Ironically, the two developers referred to their game as ‘a piece of crap’ and a ‘stone-age game’ in the title screen.
Original Swiss C64 Games:
Robox (1986),
Laro Schatzer, Marc Pilloud,
https://www.piu.ch/robox/
Akropolis (1988),
Matthias Hillebrand, Tim Kleinert (Music),
https://gb64.com/game.php?id=203
Boingmaster (1991),
Matthias Hillebrand,
https://gb64.com/game.php?id=939&d=18
Toyballs (1992),
Marcel Witschi, Lionel Barbier, Tim Kleinert (Music), Hobbit (Alain Jansen), published in Magic Disk 64 02/92,
https://www.lemon64.com/game/toyballs
Cruel Zone (1992),
Csaba Illes, Gabor Szabadi, Tim Kleinert (Music), Reyn Ouwehand (Music),
https://www.lemon64.com/game/cruel-zone
With Swiss participation:
Catalypse (1992),
Andrea Pompili (Code),
Michael Tschögl (Music), published by GENIAS,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalypse
Dragon’s Kingdom (1990),
published by LINEL and GENIAS, Alberto Fabretti,
https://www.mobygames.com/game/70935/dragons-kingdom/
Games ported to C64 (by publisher or as Diskmags)
The Champ (1990)
published by LINEL, Markus Grimmer, Wolfgang Trumler, Helmut Melcher, Christian Haller, Herman Serrano, Peter Kalks, Bill Conti, Helmut Melcher (1988), conversion by Pantheon Software (1990), Andrew Bowen (Coder), Chris Edwards (Graphics) and Martin Walker (Music),
https://www.lemon64.com/game/champ
World Cup 90 (1990),
published By LINEL und GENIAS in Golden Disk 64 10/90,
https://www.magicdisk64.com/golden-disk-1990-91.html
Tilt (1991),
published by LINEL, GENIAS and Rushware,
https://www.lemon64.com/game/tilt-genias
Warm Up (1991),
published by LINEL, GENIAS and Rushware,
https://www.lemon64.com/game/warm-up
Die Unendliche Geschichte II (1992),
published by LINEL in Golden Disk 64 04/92,
https://www.magicdisk64.com/golden-disk-1992-93.html
Rolling Ronny (1995),
published by Starbyte in Golden Disk 64 03/95, Bestseller Games Special 1,
https://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=kult/kultmags&km=show&id=9895
Winzer (1991),
publsihed by Starbyte and (1995) as Golden Disk 03/95,
https://www.lemon64.com/game/winzer
Transworld (1990),
published by Starbyte and (1995) in Game On 03/95,
https://www.lemon64.com/game/transworld
Black Gold (1989),
published by reLINE and (1995) as Golden Disk 64 05/1995,
https://www.c64-wiki.de/wiki/Oil_Imperium
Rings of Medusa (1990);
published by Starbyte and (1996) as Golden Disk 64 01/96,
https://www.c64-wiki.de/wiki/Rings_of_Medusa
Unreleased C64 Games
Maze Patrol (1987),
not published by LINEL, Roland Meyer (Coding), Helmut Melcher (Sound),
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/maze-patrol/
Spot 3001 (1987),
Matthias Hillebrand, Tim Kleinert (Music),
https://gb64.com/game.php?id=14861&d=18
Warriors (1988),
Not(?) published by Rainbow Arts, Studio Modern Arts / sold by Kingsoft (?), Matthias Hillebrand, Tim Kleinert (Music),
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/warriors/
Superball (1991),
Cream Software, Laszlo Takacs (Coder, Graphics), Matthias Hillebrand (?) (Coder), Tim Kleinert (Music), Richard Rinn (Music), Ferenc Tompai (Graphics),
https://gb64.com/game.php?id=7640&d=36
Oxyd (1994),
Marcel Witschi (Coder), Lionel Barber & Timo Oland (Graphics), Reyn Ouwehand (Music),
https://gb64.com/game.php?id=13622&d=18
Technodream (1995),
by FRESH … the Second Future, Marcel Witschi (Coder), Wojcech Wojtkiewicz (Music),
https://gb64.com/game.php?id=7793&d=18
Wanted
If you have any information about other C64 games from those years that we don’t know about yet, or if you have any clues or information about the six presumably unreleased C64 games, please contact gamelab.zurich at zhdk.ch or info at chludens.ch. We welcome all useful tips.


Warriors (1988) was created for Rainbow Arts by Matthias Hillebrand (code and graphics) and Tim Kleinert (music). However, the C64 game was never released, even though it was completed. Further information can be found in the collection “Games that weren’t.”
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Beat Suter (September 15, 2025). All known Swiss C64 Games. Confoederatio Ludens. Retrieved November 14, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/14nwt
