Peggle

Peggle
File:PeggleScreenshot1.jpg Peggle Deluxe
Developer(s)	PopCap Games
Publisher(s)	PopCap Games
Designer(s)	Brian Rothstein, Sukhbir Sidhu and Stephen Notley
Engine	PopCap Games Framework
Platform(s)	Windows, OS X, iPod
Release	1.0 (February 27, 2007)
Genre(s)	Arcade
Mode(s)	Single player / Multiplayer

Peggle is a Mac and Windows downloadable game from PopCap Games.

Each level features a colorful 2D background filled with different colored "pegs". The objective in each stage is to clear all of the orange pegs by hitting them with a ball shot from the top of the screen. The game requires strategy to bounce the ball off pegs and other obstacles to clear as much of the level as possible with the given number of balls. There are also blue pegs (which have no effect other than increasing your score), purple pegs (which are worth 50 times the amount of the blue pegs), and green pegs (which activate your power-up based on the character you have selected). There is an option for those who are color blind which adds a triangle to the green pegs and a plus to the purple pegs to make them easier to distinguish. Scrolling across the bottom of the screen is the "free ball bucket" which awards the player an extra ball should the previous shot go in.

On August 23, 2007, MSNBC named Peggle as one of the "Top 5 most addictive computer games of all time." PCGamer Magazine published its own list of their 100 favorite computer games of all time and listed Peggle at 40.

On December 18, 2007, PopCap games announced iPod and OS X versions of the game.

Game modes

• Adventure - The objective of the game is to complete 55 stages by removing all orange pegs on each stage.
• Quick Play - Players can free select any of the 55 stages that they have completed in Adventure.
• Duel - Players compete head to head against a computer or human opponent.
• Challenge - There are 75 challenges with a variety of difficulty levels. These challenges range from very easy to very difficult.

Game characters

Peggle offers 10 different playable characters each with their own special power-up that one can use by hitting green-colored pegs. Below is a detailed listing of the characters and their abilities:

Character Name	Species	Special Ability	Description
Bjorn	Unicorn	"Super Guide"	Displays a line telling the player which direction the ball will bounce after hitting a peg or the wall.
Jimmy Lightning	Beaver	"Multiball"	Another ball is generated from the green peg.
Kat Tut	Cat	"Pyramid"	Attaches an ancient pyramid to the free ball bucket, making it easier to catch for a free ball.
Splork	Alien	"Space Blast"	Lights up all pegs in a close radius of the green peg.
Claude	Lobster	"Flippers"	Generates claw-like flippers at the bottom of the playing field for one to use, which simulates pinball.
Renfield Pumpkin	Pumpkin	"SpookyBall"	The ball drops in from the top of the screen after falling out the bottom.
Tula	Flower	"Flower Power"	Lights up 20% of the remaining orange pegs. The pegs selected are the closest to the green peg hit.
Warren	Rabbit	"Lucky Spin"	Causes the player to spin a wheel. The wheel contains any power from other characters, a free ball, triple score for two turns, or the "magic hat", which follows the ball and lights up any pegs it touches for two turns.
Lord Cinderbottom	Dragon	"Fireball"	Turns the ball into a fireball that passes through and destroys all pegs it touches.
Master Hu	Owl	"Zen Ball"	Nudges your shot to improve its quality.

Scoring

Scoring points in Peggle is done in three ways. Firstly by simply hitting the pegs, secondly through bonuses referred to as "Style Points" which are awarded in addition to the points accumulated for hitting pegs and thirdly in the form of completion bonuses once a level or challenge is completed.

Peg Scoring

Points are awarded for each peg that is hit during a single ball shot, starting at 10pts for a blue peg and 100pts for an orange peg. The point total awarded for each ball is calculated by multiplying the quantity of pegs hit by the tally of points for each peg hit. For example, if 5 blue pegs (10 points each for a total of 50 points) and 2 orange pegs (100 points each for a total of 200 points) are hit, the point total for that ball would be 7x(50+200)=1750 points. Cumulative progress during a single shot is indicated using the "Ball-o-meter" on the left hand side of the screen which lights up in blue/green, purple and yellow as your points total rises beyond 25,000, 75,000 and 125,000 points respectively. A free ball is awarded as each milestone is passed.

As the level progresses, the "fever-meter" on the right hand side of the screen gradually fills up and this increases the points value of each peg by a factor of 2, 3, 5 or 10.

The purple peg usually provides a point bonus equivalent to 5 times the value of an orange peg, although this can increase in some circumstances.

Green pegs can affect the peg scoring process when the character-based power-up results in the ability to hit additional pegs, such as "Renfield" when the cumulative total remains as the ball drops down the screen for the second (or possibly third) time.

Style Points

Style points are earned for specific acts during a ball shot and these are added to your peg score after each ball shot is completed. There are many different style points opportunities, some common to all characters and some character specific.

The common style points include:

Act	Points	Description
Long Shot	25,000	Awarded when the ball bounces from a non-blue peg to another non-blue peg that are a reasonable distance apart.
Super Long Shot	50,000	Like a long shot but over a greater distance.
Orange Attack	50,000	Awarded when hitting enough orange pegs in one shot to completely fill one of the score multiplier stages.
Extreme Slide	50,000	Awarded when the ball slides along a series of more than 13 square pegs in a single slide.
Free Ball Skills!	5,000	Awarded when the ball enters the bucket after striking a single peg.
Mad Skillz	25,000	Awarded when a player makes 5 shots that drop into the Free Ball Bucket in a row, after hitting one or more pegs.
Crazy Mad Skillz	100,000	Awarded when a player makes 10 shots that drop into the Free Ball Bucket in a row.
Lucky Bounce	25,000	Awarded when a "lucky bounce" off the side of the Free Ball Bucket causes the ball to subsequently enter the bucket and earn a free ball.
Kick the Bucket	25,000	Awarded when a ball bounces off the side of the Free Ball Bucket and hits the final orange peg on the board.

A Character specific style point bonus of 25,000 points can be earned for hitting both green pegs in a single ball shot, a circumstance which is possible on some but not all levels - typically in the challenge and quick play levels rather than in adventure or duel mode.

A 10,000 point bonus is also awarded when the ball enters the bucket to earn a free ball while a ball-oriented power-up is enabled (eg. Magic Hat or Fireball, but not Super Guide or Flippers).

A 100,000 point bonus is awarded if you get both multiballs in the free ball bucket during the same turn. If you hit both multiballs (and have a total of 3 balls in play) you will get another 100,000 points if you get the third ball in the bucket too.

Completion Bonus

When the player completes a level, the ball falls into one of five bonus slots at the bottom of the screen. These slots normally offer 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000 points. Clearing all of the pegs in a level causes all of the slots to offer 100,000 points. Additional bonuses are tallied as well, such as the "Cool Clear" bonus and 10,000 points for each unused ball. These bonuses are summed together in a "Fever Bonus", which is then added to the player's total score for the level.

Saving a green peg for the last shot that clears the board significantly increases the player's Fever Bonus.

Peggle Extreme

As part of the Windows version of The Orange Box, PopCap Games has released a The Orange Box-themed version of Peggle named Peggle Extreme. The game contains 10 levels that all feature Valve games in some way: three Half-Life 2-themed levels, three Team Fortress 2-themed levels, one Counter-Strike-themed level and three Portal-themed levels. Peggle Extreme also include five master challenges. The game also features a comically disturbing image of Bjorn the unicorn being fed on by a headcrab (who, in turn, is impaled by Bjorn's horn) on the menu screen, as well as a hidden G-Man sun.

Trivia

• References to Chuzzle, Bookworm, Bookworm Adventures, Feeding Frenzy and Insaniquarium (other games developed by PopCap Games) can be seen in the backgrounds and names (e.g. "Insane Aquarium") of some levels.
• Master Hu's name is a pun on the sound an owl makes ("who").
• Renfield's special ability, the "SpookyBall", sounds the opening phrases of J. S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565.
• The music heard while the game is loading is from Morning Mood, the first movement of Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46.
• The music that plays at the completion of each level is the "Ode To Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, often sung in choruses as "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee."
• The level 'The Dude Abides' is a reference to the movie The Big Lebowski, as is the level's background, which displays bowling pins.
• Peggle is also a relatively rare 1991 arcade game; the object of that game being to rotate the entire playing field to keep a bouncing character in play, who bounces off and removes the pegs.
• In both Peggle Deluxe and Peggle Extreme, if you play "Ode To Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, using the buttons on the main menu, you will get an Easter Egg.
• Occasionally after style points are awarded the Jimmy Lightening character will appear in the corner of the screen and say "toasty." This is a reference to Mortal Kombat II, in which a digitized image of one of the designers would appear in the lower corner and say "toasty."

External links

• PopCap Games
• MSN Games
• Czech funsite about Peggle Deluxe