| Atari Games's operators manual (TM-275, © 1985) describes Paperboy as a game for its System II cabinet, for one player or two alternating, steered with a handlebar control whose buttons throw the papers. | title page (scan p. 1)copyright page (scan p. 4)chapter 1, introduction (scan p. 9)p. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playchapter 1 (scan p. 10), inspecting the game | Manual |
| In the arcade game the player delivers papers from Monday through Sunday, and a whole week of deliveries ends the game. The paperboy starts with ten customers in brightly colored houses and ten non-customers in dark ones; a paper on a customer's porch or in the mailbox is a delivery. A missed delivery loses that customer the next day, damage to a customer's property also loses the customer, and losing all ten gets the paperboy fired. A day with every customer served earns a Perfect Delivery Bonus and wins back one lost customer. Extra papers thrown at targets at non-customers' houses (windows, lamps, statues) build a Breakage Bonus. He carries at most ten papers and restocks by riding over paper bundles, and any collision costs a life. After each day comes the Training Grounds, an obstacle course of targets and jumps against the clock, where a collision only ends the course. | p. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Playp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Game Play | Manual |
| At the start of each game the player picks a route: Easy Street, Middle Road, or Hard Way. Each has its own houses, characters, and training course, and scores are doubled on Middle Road and tripled on Hard Way. The manual calls it "really three games in one". | p. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Select a Streetp. 1-6 (scan p. 14), Select a Streetpp. 1-6 to 1-7 (scan pp. 14-15), Select a Streetp. 1-7 (scan p. 15), Select a Streetp. 1-7 (scan p. 15) | Manual |