A strange little side quest
There is a neat bit of history hiding behind the kind of play you find in Lot Lot Carrot. M.U.L.E. arrived in 1983 with multiplayer competition built around gathering resources and keeping a colony alive, an early example of resource-driven strategy play. That is only half the story. Pong was field-tested in California bars in 1972 and helped launch the modern arcade-game era. It is a good reminder that simple game mechanics can carry a surprising amount of history.