Download Rockys Boots

Rocky’s Boots was designed as a graphical teaching tool to teach children simple logic. In the game players attempt to build circuits that will activate a boot to kick the appropriate shapes out of line as they scroll past on a sort of conveyer belt. At first these circuits are simple, hooking the boot to the right combination of sensors with logic gates, graphical representations of 'and's and 'or's. Later boards become increasingly more difficult. In some of the final challenges the solution has nothing to do with the sensors at all, requiring circuits be built that are timed to kick at specified intervals.

If this all sounds too complex don’t worry, Rocky’s Boots has extensive and exhaustive tutorials. These tutorials will not only bring you up to speed in the game but are absolutely mandatory for success.

Marketed for upper grade school children both in look at feel, Rocky’s Boots to this day provides puzzles that could challenge a much older audience. The challenge level puzzle to puzzle does a good job of starting out simple and increasing gradually. While most people find an upper limit to the puzzles in Rocky's Boots they can handle, it always feels like the next problem is only slightly harder than the last, and therefore not impossible.

Rocky’s Boots enjoyed notable success in sales and received several awards, even being called “Software of the Year” for 1983 by two different magazines. It was difficult in the late 80s to find an Apple IIe computer lab in a grade school in America that did not have Rocky’s Boots on available.

Just a quick note about the most complicated solution in the screen shots here. No, I did not come up with that solution myself. I had to steal it from the net. But it does illustrate the awesome feats of brilliance beating later levels involves.

You'll want to slow down the game to about 300 cycles either with a slowdown utility or DOSBox. When navigating use the number keys with num num-lock on or the SHIFT key won't make you walk slower.