The Caterpillar in the Amida (Toshihide Iwanaga)

Title – あみだの中のイモムシ君 (The Caterpillar in the Amida)
System – Toshiba PASOPIA (PA7010) / PASOPIA 5 / (PASOPIA 7 with original T-BASIC)
Author – 岩永　敏秀 (Toshihide Iwanaga)
Publication – Micom BASIC (マイコンBASIC) December 1984
Page Scans – 1 2
Preserved By – TWE
Recommended Emulator – pasopia7 (TAKEDA)

Download ROM

Loading the Game –

NOTE: If playing this on a PASOPIA 7, you must load the original T-BASIC tape first.

On the “How many files?” prompt, simply press Enter;
Load the .wav file onto the machine;
Type CLOAD “IMOMUS”, then press Enter;
After the game loads, type RUN and press Enter to run the game.

Game Instructions –

A little caterpillar has wandered into an amidakuji, happily humming along its way and unaware of the obstacles along the way.
Protect the lazy caterpillar and lead it to the other side safely.

You are the “@” on the screen, placed in the middle of the screen. You can move in all 4 directions with the numpad cursor keys (8426).
The caterpillar moves from left to right along the amidakuji’s lines. You must protect it from the “♦” obstacles by pressing either the ㇺ key to place a line upwards, or the ㇿ key to place a line downwards (these keys are indicated as present on a real PASOPIA and may correspond to the rightmost square-shaped keys on the middle and lower letter rows of your keyboard); placing a line over an obstacle eliminates it as well.
The goal is marked with a “♥”, and you must lead the caterpillar to this exit.
The lower part of the screen displays the following parameters about the game: SPEED (caterpillar’s speed), D.SPEED (frequency of new ♦s appearing), SCENE(round number), SCORE, HIGH-SCORE. D.SPEED starts at 20 and decreases for every round cleared, and SPEED starts at 9 at SCENE 1, then 6 at SCENE 8, then 3 at SCENE 16.
If the caterpillar hits an obstacle or doesn’t exit on the goal, it’s GAME OVER.
Finally, the “@” cannot be on the same space as a ♦, and simply jumps over it if it tries to move to one.