BurgerTime, originally released as Hamburger in Japan, is an arcade video game from Data East. It was published in 1982 for the DECO Cassette System. The player controls chef Peter Pepper, who walks across oversized ingredients in a maze of platforms and ladders, causing them to fall and stack on buns below, eventually creating complete burgers. Peter is pursued by anthropomorphic hot dogs, fried eggs, and pickles. A limited supply of pepper can be thrown at aggressors immediately in front of Peter, briefly stunning them.

The game's original title of Hamburger was changed to BurgerTime outside of Japan, which was also used for all ports and subsequent games in the series worldwide. In the United States, Data East USA licensed BurgerTime for distribution by Bally Midway in North America. Data East also released BurgerTime in the United States through its DECO Cassette System. The Data East and Midway versions are distinguished by the manufacturer's name on the title screen and by the marquee and cabinet artwork; the game itself is identical.

The first home port of BurgerTime was released for the Intellivision console in 1983, followed by versions for other systems. There have been multiple sequels for both the arcade and home. When Data East went bankrupt in 2003, G-Mode bought most of the company's intellectual properties, including BurgerTime, BurgerTime Deluxe, Super BurgerTime, and Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory.

The object of the game is to build a number of hamburgers while avoiding enemy foods. The player controls the protagonist, chef Peter Pepper, with a four-position joystick and a "pepper" button.

Each level is a maze of platforms and ladders in which giant burger ingredients (bun, meat patty, tomato, lettuce and cheese) are arranged. When Peter walks the full length of an ingredient, it falls to the level below, knocking down any ingredient that happens to be there. A burger is completed when all of its vertically aligned ingredients have been dropped out of the maze and onto a waiting plate. The player must complete all burgers to finish the board.

Three types of enemy food items wander the maze: Mr. Hot Dog, Mr. Pickle, and Mr. Egg. The player can score extra points by either crushing them under a falling ingredient or dropping an ingredient while they are on it. In the latter case, the ingredient falls two extra levels for every enemy caught on it. Crushed or dropped enemies return to the maze after a short time, with crushed enemies appearing on the edges and dropped enemies respawning at their landing point and climbing back up into the maze if necessary. Dropping enemies is much riskier, but it also awards more points and allows the levels to be finished faster.

At the start of the game, the player is given five pepper shots to use against enemies. Pressing the button causes Peter to shake a cloud of pepper in the direction he is facing; any enemy touching the cloud is briefly stunned, and Peter can safely move through them. Food items (ice cream, coffee, fries) appear after a set number of ingredients have been dropped, awarding bonus points and an extra pepper shot when picked up.

There are six boards of increasing difficulty, with more burgers/ingredients, more enemies, and/or layouts that make it easier for Peter to become cornered. After the player completes the sixth board, the cycle repeats. One life is lost whenever Peter touches a non-stunned enemy, and the game ends once all lives are lost. The number of points required to gain extra lives varies between ports.