Yars' Revenge is a video game released for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It was created by Howard Scott Warshaw, who also wrote the 2600 titles Raiders of the Lost Ark and the much-derided E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Yars' Revenge was Atari's best selling original title for the 2600.

Yars' Revenge is a video game released for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It was created by Howard Scott Warshaw, who also wrote the 2600 titles Raiders of the Lost Ark and the much-derided E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Yars' Revenge was Atari's best selling original title for the 2600.

The game began as a licensed port of the Cinematronics arcade game Star Castle. In Warshaw's original design attempt, a powerful cannon is protected by three layers of counter-rotating shields. The player must shoot holes in these shields in order to destroy the cannon inside. But once these holes are made, the cannon can also shoot out at the player. If the outermost layer is completely destroyed, new layers of shields are grown. Harassing the player are three free roaming mines that hunt out the player's ship.

As the Atari version grew, change after change was introduced until the final product had very little resemblance to the original. In this game, the hero is an insect-like creature called a Yar who must nibble or shoot through a barrier in order to fire his Zorlon Cannon into the breach. The objective is to destroy the evil Qotile, which exists on the other side of the barrier. The Qotile can shoot at the Yar even if the barrier is undamaged, by turning into the Swirl. The player is warned before the shot is fired, and he can retreat to a safe distance to dodge the enemy's energy blast. The neutral zone is a field in the center of the screen where the Yar can hide from the pursuing enemy torpedo in the neutral zone, but where the Yar cannot shoot. The Yar cannot evade the flying Swirl anywhere.

Each level ends with the destruction of the Qotile or Swirl. Odd-numbered levels will have a stationary shield protecting the Qotile, even-numbered levels will have a rotating shield protecting the Qotile. The destroyer missile will follow the player faster as levels progress.

The Yar race and their planet Razak were named after Ray Kassar, CEO of Atari at the time.