The Most Expensive Video Games Ranked Worst To Best

The most valuable games aren't always the best games. On the secondary market, rarity determines a game's price, not quality. That doesn't mean that all collectible games are bad, of course. It just means that, for collectors, whether or not a game is fun is a secondary concern.

That's why a game that costs $5,000 might be better than one that tops $10,000, $20,000, or $30,000. While we only ranked games that can be played via emulators (given how expensive these titles are, we obviously can't review games that aren't available online), and we skipped games that are only valuable because of a packaging variant, there's still ample proof that, as far as games are concerned, money isn't everything. A fun game is a fun game, no matter how much it costs — and bad ones can't be saved, no matter how rare they might be.

If you're looking for wizards, warriors, and dungeons, move along. This isn't the Gauntlet that you know and love. Released in 1983, this mail-order exclusive stars an Indiana Jones-like adventurer known as Sir Robert Wittenbottom, who must survive a deadly trial — or a "gauntlet," hence the name — in order to prove his manhood and join the Council of Warriors. Exactly why Wittenbottom wants to join the Council (not to mention what the council is, exactly), never gets explained.

It doesn't matter. On its debut, Gauntlet could only be purchased directly from its distributor, Answer Software. Very few people took the company up on its offer. That makes Gauntlet very hard to find today, but customers in the '80s dodged a bullet (or hatchet) by sitting this one out. These days, critics would call Gauntlet an infinite runner. Sir Wittenbottom stays on the bottom of the screen, and players move him left and right to dodge obstacles like trees, logs, flying hatchets, and stray arrows. Hit an obstacle, and Robert spills a little bit of water. Drain all three of Robert's cups, and it's game over.

Robert earns points by jumping over or sliding under obstacles. He can also earn points by giving water — and a small sliver of his life bar — to the thirsty old men he runs across. It's not worth it. Gauntlet's randomly generated levels are boring. Your actions are wildly unpredictable, and you'll often crash into obstacles even though the jumping or sliding animation is playing. Given that dodging objects is the main way you score points, the inaccuracy makes Gauntlet frustrating and unfair. It's not worth your time, and it's definitely not worth the estimated $5,000 price tag.

Red Sea Crossing is a hard game to classify. It's not really an action game, since you don't fight, shoot, or do anything other than walk and jump. But it's not a platformer, either: Crucially, there aren't any platforms. As you play, you guide Moses from the left side of the screen to the right while dodging obstacles like seaweed, crabs, snakes, and underwater archers.

See, Red Sea Crossing isn't really about the gameplay. It's about teaching players Bible stories. According to an ad in Christianity Today, the only place where anyone's ever seen the game up for sale, Red Sea Crossing shipped with an audio cassette and a coloring book that told Moses' tale. On its own, however, Red Sea Crossing doesn't have much to do with the Biblical yarn — there aren't any giant clams that stop Moses' progress in the original story, for example.

As a game, Red Sea Crossing is fine but dull. Moses handles well, and a variety of enemy types keep things lively. The presentation impresses, especially for an Atari 2600 game. Fish swim both above and below your hero, and the Sun creeps across the sky as you move from screen to screen. But Red Sea Crossing is very, very basic, and once you clear a few screens, you've seen most of what the game has to offer. It's better as a collectible: the only known copy sold in 2012 for $10,400, a tidy sum for a game that doesn't include a box or a manual (or, sadly, that coloring book).

Gamma Attack might be the rarest video game ever released. How rare is it, exactly? One man, Anthony "Phantom" DeNardo, owns the only known copy. As such, its value is hard to pin down. In 2008, DeNardo listed the game on eBay for $500,000 but didn't find any takers. He's confirmed that interested collectors offered north of $10,000 for the game, but he hasn't disclosed any exact figures. Racketboy, one of the leading authorities on collectible video games, estimates that Gamma Attack would sell today for somewhere between $20,000 and $50,000.

In any case, Gamma Attack remains the only game ever produced by peripheral manufacturer Gammation. That's too bad because the company clearly had a knack for game design. In a market flooded with Space Invader clones, Gamma Attack slyly turns the tables and makes the player the alien invader, and the enemies the humans trying to fight them off. As you guide a flying saucer over the desert, you'll zap oncoming tanks and dodge bullets in order to boost your score.

Gamma Attack takes a unique approach to measuring health, too. As you take damage, your saucer loses altitude, reducing the space you have to dodge incoming bullets. Eventually, you'll end up grounded, your spaceship destroyed, your weapons gone, and your alien body exposed for one last, final shot — and all you can do is weave and dodge for as long as possible. It's not amazing, but Gamma Attack presents a fun twist on a well-established formula and deserved a wider audience. Too bad it'll never get one.

If there's a weirder game out there than Magical Chase, we haven't played it. This game is odd. Mechanically, there's nothing unusual about it. It's a side-scrolling shoot 'em up like Gradius and R-Type. Pepper enemies with bullets, dodge obstacles, purchase upgrades that make you faster and your attacks stronger, and fight off a couple of bosses per level en route to victory.

Thematically, it's a different story. Instead of a spaceship, Magical Chase's main hero is a witch. Instead of fighting aliens, she shoots down all kinds of fantastic and bizarre creatures. The very first enemy that you encounter is a chicken head that runs around on human legs. Star-shaped monsters on surfboards and fat, panting blue ghosts chase you from level to level. A floating acorn chucks exploding peanuts at Magical Chase's hero. On death, a killer teddy bear explodes into a bunch of tinier killer teddy bears. It's nuts.

Half of the fun of Magical Chase comes from waiting to see what oddity the game is going to throw at you next, although under the well-rendered pixel art graphics rests a competent and breezy shooter. It's fun, if slight, and it's too bad that Magical Chase never found more of an audience. Thanks to its American release date–which came at the tail end of the TurboGrafx 16's lifespan–and its limited availability (the only way to get Magical Chase was to mail order it), copies have always been hard to find. These days, it's often considered the TurboGrafx 16's "rarest game," and copies sell for around $6,000.

Atlantis II isn't actually all that different from Atlantis the first. It moves faster — a lot faster — and rewards fewer points for successful kills. That's it. And that makes sense: Atlantis II only shipped to players who maxed out their scores in the original game. It never got an official retail release. The cartridge even has the same label as the first Atlantis. The only way to tell if you've got one of the rare copies is by booting up the game and checking the title screen. (An extra sticker helped identify the sequel back in the day, but it peeled off easily and often got lost.)

That's probably for the best, however, because Atlantis has everything you want in an older arcade-style shooter. You protect the city of Atlantis from airborne attackers for as long as you can using three guns — one on the left side of the screen, one in the center, and one on the right — that you switch between by tilting the Atari's joystick. Pressing the joystick's button fires a bullet from the active gun.

Meanwhile, the attacking aircraft descend toward the city each time they pass, ultimately unleashing a deadly laser that destroys part of the city when their altitude drops enough. You should get rid of them before that happens. It's simple but fun and looks great, even on the 2600's old hardware. Atlantis II's increased difficulty isn't worth the $6,000 asking price when you can pick up Atlantis for a couple bucks, but if this is the version of the game you've got, you'll have a great time with it. Just please insure the cartridge first.