In season 2 of "Stranger Things," the arcade video game in which Dustin had the high score was Dig Dug.
The game appears in the season’s opening episode, “MADMAX,” set at the Palace Arcade in Hawkins. Dustin tells his friends that he remains the top player on Dig Dug and Centipede, but soon discovers that a mysterious player using the initials “MADMAX” has beaten his Dig Dug score by more than 100,000 points.
Dig Dug is a maze-based arcade game released by Namco in 1982. Players control a subterranean character who defeats enemies by inflating them with an air pump or dropping rocks on them. Its underground setting also fits the season’s broader imagery involving tunnels beneath Hawkins.
A common mix-up is Dragon’s Lair, another game shown at the arcade. The boys gather around Dragon’s Lair in the same scene, but Dustin’s high-score boast specifically concerns Dig Dug and Centipede. The season’s fifth episode is also titled “Dig Dug.”