Manhole (video game)

Manhole is an action Game & Watch video game, one of six releases for the Gold Series of Game & Watch systems. The play field is split between two streets with two sewer openings each, and the player is tasked with holding a manhole cover to prevent people from falling in as they cross, with the difficulty increasing as the game goes on. It was originally released in 1981, before getting a new release in 1983. Like most Game & Watch games, Manhole was directed by Gunpei Yokoi, the creator of the Game & Watch, and was the second to feature color on the screen. Yokoi described the game as silly, a quality he hoped to achieve with its premise.

It has been featured in multiple collections of Game & Watch games, including Game & Watch Gallery and Game & Watch Gallery 4, the former which featured a new version where the player-character is replaced with Yoshi. It was also bundled with the Nintendo e-Reader for the Game Boy Advance, stored on a card that the user must swipe to play. Along with other Game & Watch games, Manhole was released as a DSiWare download for the Nintendo DSi. It was featured alongside Ball at a Game & Watch exhibit at the Nintendo Museum, allowing people to play the game using their shadow. It was among the more popular and successful Game & Watch games. Its gameplay has been found as fun by critics, though it has also been criticized for starting too slowly and being too repetitive.