Birthday Mania
Video games have always been a favorite among children. Anthony Tokar, a programmer, probably came up with the concept for Birthday Mania in 1984 for this reason. After learning how to program for fun, he created the game himself and advertised it in the Newark Star Ledger newspaper in New Jersey. For a child's birthday, the game might be tailored. Tokar would program the child's name into the title screen in exchange for a buyer mailing him a cheque. After that, players had to blow out falling birthday candles in a straightforward game.
It's estimated that just 10 or fewer copies of the game were ever sold, in part because of the drop in gaming that occurred in 1983 and the fact that the game was never placed on the market and was instead only accessible through an ad in a New Jersey classified.
A copy of the game went for $6,500 in 2009, but if another one turned up now, it would probably sell for more. A few years ago, Tokar donated the game's rights under the condition that any profits from its replication and sale will be donated to a charitable organization.
