Scarfman

Dear Game Player,

The object of SCARFMAN is to get as many points as you can before being eliminated. Points are scored by "eating" the dots on the screen. The Scarf man starts at the bottom center of the screen and is shaped like a big "C". Move the man with the arrow keys (up, down, left and right). If you have an Alpha Products Joystick, this game will sense the stick and you can move the man that way. Attach a speaker amplifier to the cassette cord and listen to Scarfman eat his way to victory.

There are five "monsters" that start in a chute at the top of the screen. There are also some "pluses" located at various places on the screen. Every time the Scarfman eats a plus, the monsters lower their eyes, slow down and try to run away from the Scarfman. This only lasts for a little while though, then they revert to monsters. When a monster has his eyes up, he is chasing. If he hits Scarfman, that man is lost. If the eyes are down, and Scarfman hits him, you gain bonus points, but the monster returns home, eyes up and ready to chase.

The way to win is to clear the board as many times as possible. Each time the board is cleared the level of difficulty changes: the monsters get better at finding or hiding from you, and they revert back to monsters after a shorter period of time.

Our experience with this game is that it is habit forming. It is not unusual to sit at the game for over 2 hours at a time. The Indianapolis (and world) record is currently at 200920 points. A good game is 75000 points. You get a bonus man at 20000 points which makes the game last longer.

Source:

Back of Plastic Bag/Manual - TRS-80 (US)