Space Cavern

In Space Cavern, players control the commander of an intergalactic spaceship that is traveling through a previously unknown area in space. The spaceship lands on a mysterious planet inhabited by creatures known as Electrosauri and Marsupods, who attempt to attack the crew of the ship.

The player character is situated at the bottom of the screen. Leftward and rightward movements of the joystick correspond to leftward and rightward movements of the character. Moving the joystick upward and downward induces the character to fire left and right respectively. Pressing the controller button results in the character firing upward.

Company founder Pat Roper had flown programmer Ed Salvo to a Consumer Electronics Show to show him the Imagic video game Demon Attack. Impressed with Imagic's game, Roper decided he wanted to produce one similar to it. He told developer Dan Oliver what he wanted in the game without disclosing his inspiration. Space Cavern was released in 1982. Game publisher Panda rereleased an identical version of Space Cavern under the name Space Canyon the following year, and an Atari 5200 port was started but not completed.

As development neared completion, mounting financial pressures came to a head and Games by Apollo found itself owing nearly $5 million, half of which debt belonged to its advertising agency Benton & Bowles. Games by Apollo faced growing pressure from Benton & Bowles to repay its debts, and a few months after Space Cavern's release, on November 12, 1982, Games by Apollo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Although Roper expected Apollo to "return in smaller form", the company closed in 1983 after reorganization attempts failed.

Arcade Express magazine was positive about Space Cavern, praising the graphics of the player's death, while criticizing the design of the enemies, and concluding by opining that the game was more suited to skilled players. In a review for Video magazine, Bill Kunkel and Arnie Katz did not agree whether Space Cavern's control scheme was unnaturally "cumbersome" or "an exciting departure from the expected". They wrote that the controls were "at least a little controversial" among arcade players. In a follow-up review for Electronic Games, Kunkel and Katz concluded that the game would entertain arcade players hundreds of times over but criticized the graphics of the enemies.

TV Gamer's called the game too simple and not requiring much brainpower. Videogaming Illustrated compared the game positively to Phoenix, and believed that it was "arguably the best space game on the market". The writer called it Apollo's best game and noted its suitability for both young and experienced players.