The objective of Dig Dug is to eliminate underground-dwelling monsters by either inflating them with an air pump until they explode, or by dropping rocks on them. There are two kinds of enemies in the game: “Pookas” (a race of round red monsters, said to be modeled after tomatoes, that wear yellow goggles), and “Fygars” (a race of green dragons that can breathe fire while their wings flash).

The player’s character is the eponymous Dig Dug, dressed in white and blue and able to dig tunnels through destructible environments. Dig Dug will be killed if he is caught by either a Pooka or a Fygar, burned by a Fygar’s fire, or crushed by a rock he has loosened.

A partially inflated monster will gradually deflate and recover after a few seconds, during which time Dig Dug can pass safely through it. The monsters normally crawl through the tunnels in the dirt but can turn into ghostly eyes and travel slowly through the dirt. The last enemy in a round will try to escape off the top left of the screen – and if he succeeds, the potential points are lost.

Dig Dug was rated the sixth most popular coin-operated video game of all time by the Killer List of Video Games website

 

SOURCE: Wikipedia