It was written by Greg Christensen, with some features later added by Richard Watts, and published by the Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1981.

[3] Caverns of Mars became the best selling APX software of all-time and was moved into Atari, Inc.'s official product line, first on diskette, then on cartridge.

In Caverns of Mars, the player descends into cave and at the end must retrace their steps back to the top.

Caverns of Mars is a scrolling shooter similar in concept and visual style to the 1981 Konami arcade video game Scramble.

[9] Two months after sending it to APX, Christensen received his first royalty check for $18,000 and a phone call from an Atari executive who praised the game.

Caverns eventually won the 1981 APX game contest, winning another $3,000, and in December 1982, Atari told Christensen he might receive up to $100,000 in royalties.

[12][13] Computer Gaming World called Caverns of Mars "delightful ... addictive and excellently paced".

called Caverns of Mars's graphics "impressive", noting that the game takes advantage of a little-used mode allowing four colors per character.

Four hours later, my wife dragged me away" and concluded by noting that "the Caverns of Mars has that indefinable "something" that makes it arcade-quality".

[18] Caverns of Mars received a Certificate of Merit in the category of "Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Computer Game" at the 4th annual Arkie Awards.

Softline stated that Phobos might disappoint Caverns of Mars players, saying that it was "a reinvention of the wheel" and too easy for them.

The magazine noted some improvements, such as a pause button and multiple skill levels, but advised that "Mars veterans should wait".