Centipede
Centipede is a 1981 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for arcades. Designed by Dona Bailey and Ed Logg, it was one of the most commercially successful games from the golden age of arcade video games, and one of the first widely played by women and girls. The primary objective is to shoot all the segments of a centipede that winds down the playing field.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 1981
- Developer
- Atari, Inc.
- Platforms
- 5 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 1 June 1981 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Atari, Inc. |
| Publisher | Atari, Inc., Superior Software, Atari |
| Platforms | Game Boy, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, Steam Deck |
| Genres | First-Person Shooter |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q1053648, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Centipede? How long to beat it
Total play time for Centipede is about 3.1 hours to do everything, and around 0.3 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 0.3h | 34 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 0.6h | 2 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 3.1h | 2 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Centipede sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Centipede lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 30ahead of 0% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 38ahead of 79% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Centipede
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where Centipede appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Centipede qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Common questions about Centipede
What platforms is Centipede on?
Centipede is available on Game Boy, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, Steam Deck. It first released in 1981.
Who made Centipede?
Centipede was developed by Atari, Inc. and published by Atari, Inc., Superior Software, Atari.
How long does it take to beat Centipede?
about 0.3 hours for the main story, 0.6 hours with the main extras, 3.1 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.