The Apple-1 Software Library ^Beta

Browse all the Apple-1 programs that ever existed. A tribute to history and their hackers.
Run them in any emulator, or instantly on the (real) machine.

GamesFunProgrammingUtilities

Blackjack

by unknown in 1976

Hit or stand, win or lose.

apple tapebasicwithin 8k

Also referred to as 21. Sold by Apple Computer on cassette tape for $5, order code A1T004X.

History

This is some kind of mystery. It is (still) unknown who the author of this game was. In 2005 this game was recovered from tape.

The game was written in BASIC, as a lot of these Blackjack or 21 card games were at the time. The 101 BASIC Computer Games book lists two of them, but these have no specific similarities with this Apple-1 version of the game.

In 1977, the Kilobaud magazine published a review of the Apple-1 Computer. A photograph is shown that contains a screenshot of this particular game. It has the exact opening text WELCOME TO 21. YOUR NAME? and is loaded from tape.

Instructions

The objective of the game is to beat the computer (the dealer) by getting a card-count as close to 21 as possible, without going over it. An ace is worth 1 or 11. All face cards are worth 10.

After entering your name you can place a bet by entering a number. The dealer shows one card and two of your own cards are shown. For example 5S is 5 of Spades and 3H for 3 of Hearts.

The game asks HIT?. Enter N to stand (not ask for another card) or Y to hit (ask for another card in attempt to get closer to 21, or even hit 21 exactly). You'll receive your bet if you win and the score is displayed after each deal.

References

Recovery of the original tape by Vince Briel, reported on Applefritter.
101 BASIC Computer Games (p. 39) lists two Blackjack games.
Kilobaud Magazine (Februari 1977, issue 2, p. 34-37) reviews the Apple-1 Computer, a photograph in this article has a screenshot of this game of Blackjack (p. 37).
Atari Archive on the history of Blackjack games.
Blackjack explained on Wikipedia.

Serial

Wozmon Binary

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Applefritter

Public Domain

Last update:
9 December 2024

Source: Wozmon

Target: Apple-1

Auto start

Ends the listing with the run command like xxxR, so the program is started directly after transfer.

TurboType™

Increased transfer speed combined with an integrated CRC check. Displays EE in case of a CRC failure.

Include BASIC

Adds the interpreter to the listing. To test if BASIC is already loaded, try to start it with E000R RETURN.

Disconnected

Start — End	Size
`004A` — `00FF`	0.18 KiB
`0800` — `0FFF`	2 KiB

Total net size is 2.18 KiB, or 2230 bytes.

Return to BASIC with E2B3R RETURN.

Within BASIC (> prompt is displayed), start the actual program with RUN RETURN.

Auto start

Ends the listing with the run command like xxxR, so the program is started directly after transfer.

TurboType™

Increased transfer speed combined with an integrated CRC check. Displays EE in case of a CRC failure.

Include BASIC

Adds the interpreter to the listing. To test if BASIC is already loaded, try to start it with E000R RETURN.

Historical reference : hardware

In 1976, the Apple-1 Computer was advertised for $666.66 and came with 4K of on-board memory. For a $120 extra, this doubled to 8K of RAM. The provided Operation Manual included the circuit diagram and assembly code of the monitor program.

The Cassette Interface (or ACI) was used to load and save programs from cassette tape. The ACI Manual showed how to install it (the main board had to be jumpered correctly) and explained how it had to be used. Priced at $75, it included a cassette of Apple BASIC.

Software

Its BASIC was written by Woz himself. It did not support floating point arithmetic, but was tiny enough to fit in 4K of memory. The software itself was free. The Preliminary Apple BASIC Users Manual explained how to write your own games and programs with it.

Cassette tapes could be bought as an original accessory to your new Apple-1. A total of nine programs were available and listed $5 each. Pick one below and go back in time.

BASIC Mastermind Lunar Lander Blackjack Hamurabi Mini-Startrek 16K-Startrek
Dis-Assembler Extended Monitor

At the time, people were also inspired by publications like 101 BASIC Computer Games. They spent their evenings and nights to key-in the games, but soon were disappointed to discover that some of these did not work at all because of the missing floating points... Arghh.

Dive deeper? Read more here and here.

How to emulate?

It is easy to run the software with one of these emulators:

Apple 1js, right here in the browser
Pom1 ported to C (also for Android)
Green Delicious for the C-64
Emulation framework MAME
WOZNIAC-1 for iOS

View a comparison of emulators here.

...and run a program

First, start the emulator of choice and have it run Wozmon (or BASIC), then use the Wozmon button to copy-paste the program code into the emulator.

For example: open Apple 1js in another browser tab. Hit CLS to clear the screen and RESET to enter Wozmon. Then paste the copied Wozmon code from this website.

In-website transfer to an Apple-1 ^{Available soon}

This website can connect directly (and locally) to the Keyboard Serial Terminal from 8BitFlux.com. It uses the Web Serial API for this and is supported by Chrome or Edge browsers. The Wozmon code of any program can be transferred quickly.

The Keyboard Serial Terminal connected to an Apple-1.

Use the Serial button to transfer the current program to the Apple-1. For example, BASIC takes around 20 seconds to transfer at a speed of 57.6 kbps. The board is compatible with the higher-speed TurboType™ format (with CRC check).

After the transfer of the game or program, switch over to the normal Apple-1 keyboard (by pressing a button) and enjoy it. This makes also a great kit for museums and public events. Kits available soon »

Further exploration

Talk on Applefritter, the home ground of the Apple-1 Owners Club.
The Apple-1 Registry keeps track of all real Apple-1 machines that ever existed.
The story of a homebrew Apple-1 computer by Bryan.
Vince Briel's GitHub repository has all the information on his Replica 1.
P-Lab lists interesting Apple-1 projects on his website.
San Bergman's website has a lot of well-documented information on the Apple-1, from its internal workings to programming it in assembly.
Take the online course in 6502 assembly language programming.

Credits

This library is an initiative of 8BitFlux.com. It can be put to full use with a Keyboard Serial Terminal adapter board, which let you run software instantly on a (real) Apple-1.

Many thanks to Uncle Bernie for his support and provision of his TurboType™ algorithm, which is part of his Apple-1 Toolchain.

Last but not least, all this was not possible by all the authors of Apple-1 software and emulators. The hobby computer enthusiasts of the past, but also people of the present, who keep this hobby so alive. Thank you all.

Disclaimer

This website is not associated with Apple Inc. in any way.

It tries to be a tribute to (their) history. It wants to list only software that is already considered to be in the public domain, or its license permits further publication. The (online) sources of the program and other references are listed when known.

Mistakes happen, as this website is not generated by any AI, please report any nonconformities.

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The Apple-1 Software Library Beta