M.U.L.E.

M.U.L.E. is a multiplayer video game written for Atari 8-bit computers by Ozark Softscape. Designer Danielle Bunten Berry (credited as Dan Bunten) takes advantage of the four joystick ports of the Atari 400 and 800 to allow four-player simultaneous play. Published in 1983, M.U.L.E. was one of the first five games from new company Electronic Arts, alongside Axis Assassin, Archon: The Light and the Dark, Worms?, and Hard Hat Mack. It is primarily a turn-based strategy game, but incorporates real-time elements where players compete directly as well as aspects that simulate economics.

The game was ported to the Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, and IBM PC compatibles (as a self-booting disk). Japanese versions exist for the PC-88, Sharp X1, and MSX2 computers. Like the subsequent Atari 8-bit models, none of these systems allow four players with separate joysticks. The Commodore 64 version lets four players share joysticks, with two players using the keyboard during action portions.