Funny that you should mention Lode Runner. That was the most addictive game I ever played on the Apple II, and the object of the worst obsessive episode I ever had with any game.
Great gameplay, 150 levels altogether, an extra man awarded on completing each level ... and no save game? After I'd played it quite a lot I decided I simply HAD to get through all 150 levels, and was curious as to what might happen upon completing the last one. I got up early one Saturday morning and began playing virtually non-stop all day. About 3 a.m. or so I still had about 10 or 15 levels to go, but I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. Since there was no save game I left my Apple turned on and went to bed, figuring I'd get up rested and go finish the game.
I got up on Sunday morning to find the digital clock beside the bed blinking. While I had slept, a brief power outage had hit and the Apple had rebooted. The game demo was running merrily, much in the same way that I was NOT. I was so ticked off that I started all over again and played continuously until I finally finished. I was dead tired at work on Monday, BUT at least I knew what happened upon completing level 150. Trust me, the result is a bit anti-climactic to say the least.
