Up to four players compete in the ten different events of a real-life decathlon, either in sequence or individually.

The events are:[5] A player whose score met or exceeded the values below could send photo documentation to receive an Activision Decathlon Club patch in one of the colors of an Olympic medal: Shortly after release, Activision's Decathlon drew comparisons to Konami's popular arcade game Hyper Olympic (Track & Field), which was introduced at the Amusement Machine Show a month later in September 1983.

According to Cash Box magazine, several people claimed there were "cursory similarities" between the two games.

[6] The Atari 2600 version of Decathlon was reviewed by Video magazine in its "Arcade Alley" column where it was described as "an absolute triumph of imaginative programming" and as "a masterwork".

[3] The game was later reissued simply as Decathlon by the UK budget label Firebird.