Peggle (PC)

Damn you, PopCap, and your simple but stupidly addictive games.

I've bought a few of their efforts over the years, mostly for Lorraine and Aidan to play, because I like to try and keep the missus interested in games (makes it easier for me to have gaming time), and also because, well, they're good for kids (although Aidan prefers, and is better at "grown-up" games).

Usually I end up playing them a little bit as well... yeah, I've got entries on our Bookworm high score table, and I'm not ashamed.

I bought Peggle Deluxe for the family ages ago, having downloaded the demo and watched Aidan play it. I then completely forgot about it. Then, earlier tonight whilst thinking of a quick and easy game for today's blog entry, I remembered this and thought I'd give it a go.

Big mistake.

It's ridiculous how addictive this is. If you're looking for a game with that "just one more go" factor, this is it. The game is incredible simple. You've got a screen which contains a layout of coloured pegs and bricks. Orange pegs and bricks are the ones you need to shift to finish a level, and you do this by firing a ball from the top of the screen and having it bounce around, hitting as many of the orange things as possible.

You get ten balls per level, although you can earn more. There's no batting it backwards andforwards though, like you'd do in, say, Arkanoid, which I'm sure you're thinking this sounds like the reverse of. No, once you've shot the ball, gravity will eventually win the day and the ball will fall from the screen. There is, however, a bucket which moves backwards and forwards along the bottom of the screen. If the ball falls into that, you get it back for another shot.

And that's about all there is to it. It's presented stupidly well, although the unicorns and rainbows are a bit excessive. Yes, I just said that. Peggle is, as I've said, very, very simple and stupidly addictive. It's also cheap. You probably wouldn't regret spending six or seven quid on this (that's the price on Steam), even if it's not the kind of game you'd normally play. I should be going to bed now, but I'm off for another bash. Damn you, PopCap.