Quicksilva

Quicksilva at a Glance

Quicksilva operated as a significant force in the United Kingdom video game market from 1980 until 1987. Founded by Nick Lambert in 1981, the company released its entire catalog of 53 games during the 1980s. You will find their work primarily on home computers from that era, with 35 titles for the ZX Spectrum and 28 for the Commodore C64 series. They also published versions for the Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX81, Commodore VIC-20, MSX, Dragon 32/64, Commodore Plus/4, Atari 8-bit, and BBC Microcomputer System. The company became one of the first major publishers in the UK industry, releasing at least 50 games for the Spectrum alone. Their library focuses heavily on arcade action. The most common genres they handled were Arcade with 35 entries and Shooter with 24 entries. Platformers and Puzzle games made up smaller portions of their output with 9 and 6 titles respectively. Adventure, Sport, Simulator, Strategy, Role-playing, and Tactical games appear rarely in their catalog. Many of these games came from external developers like Jeff Minter or the Spanish team Indescomp. Notable releases included Bugaboo (The Flea) and Fred. In 1984, Quicksilva was acquired by The Argus Press Group, but they continued releasing titles until late 1987. When looking at quality metrics across their rated games on PlayPile, the results are generally positive. They have an average rating of 77.9 out of 100 based on only three reviewed titles. One game achieved a great score of over 80, while two others landed in the good range between 60 and 79. No games fell into the mixed or poor categories. Their highest-rated title is Ant Attack from 1983 with a score of 80. Battlezone from 1980 follows closely at 78.3, and Falcon Patrol from 1983 sits at 75.3. Their release schedule remained steady throughout their short history. The final wave of games arrived in December 1987 with Mean City, Red Scorpion, and The Tube. Earlier in that same period, they released Tantalus and Glider Rider in late 1986. While their catalog is small by modern standards, the company established a strong presence during the golden age of home computing before ceasing operations at the end of the decade.

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