Red Sea Crossing (video game)

Red Sea Crossing is a Christian side-scrolling video game for the Atari 2600. Released for mail order only in 1983, its existence went unrecorded until it was discovered at a garage sale in 2007. Only two verified copies have been found, making it one of the rarest published video games.

Gameplay
Moses parts the Red Sea and the player directs him between the parted waters. Moses must avoid obstacles such as seaweed and giant clams, as well as the pursuing Egyptians, by precisely timing his movements and jumping.

A fish swimming in the water behind Moses serves as a time limit – he must reach the end of the screen before the fish. Bonus points are awarded for collecting stone tablets or catching doves, and a staff item awards an extra life.

The game is not known to have an ending, but the developer has claimed that it is winnable. When the player runs out of lives, the Red Sea closes up.

Development
In 1983, Red Sea Crossing was developed independently by the self-taught programmer Steve Schustack. He self-published the game and sold it exclusively through a single magazine advertisement by Michael Nason. Instead of a manual, the game shipped with a coloring book and an "explanatory" audio cassette tape, apparently recorded by Dale Evans Rogers.

Writing broadly about "toy" programming in his 1993 technical manual, Schustack explains: "I see children as a terrific market and one many of us are very familiar with [...] Money isn't the only aspect to this; there's plenty of potential satisfaction out there for the grabbing. I like the thought of my young nephews' and nieces' cute little fingers pressing keys, while [the video game's] music and animation bring smiles to their faces."

Rediscovery
A copy was found at a Cincinnati rummage sale in 2007, and the discovery of the unattested game proved controversial. Users of the AtariAge forum identified Schustack as the developer and contacted him; he recalled advertising the game in an unspecified religious magazine. In 2011, an advertisement for Red Sea Crossing was found in a 1983 issue of Christianity Today, finally verifying the game.

An auction was scheduled for the found copy in 2012. Days before the auction was to occur, a second copy of Red Sea Crossing was discovered by a Philadelphia thrift store owner. The auction was carried out after a deferment, and the game sold for $10,400. The second copy was also auctioned in 2012, for $13,877.