The player controls protagonist Billy Peltzer, who runs side-to-side across the screen catching falling Mogwai to prevent them from eating hamburgers.

[5] Gremlins, directed by Joe Dante, was the center of a major merchandising push in the months surrounding its release.

Atari intended to release both along with the film in 1984, but the company stopped shipment of all its games after its reorganization that year.

[6] Atari first previewed the 2600 version of the game at the 1984 Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.

[6] In retrospective reviews, Brett Weiss called it "derivative" and lacking in originality,[5] and humorist Seanbaby criticized the premise of defending hamburgers from gremlins, calling it a "clumsily rearranged Hamburglar game".