Shufflepuck Café

Shufflepuck Café
Developer(s)	Christopher Gross, Gene Portwood, and Lauren Elliott
Publisher(s)	Brøderbund, Ubisoft
Platform(s)	Macintosh, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Amstrad CPC, NEC PC-9801 (Japan), Sharp X68000 (Japan), Family Computer (Japan), MS-DOS
Release	6. July 1989
Genre(s)	Sports game
Mode(s)	Single player

Shufflepuck Café is a computer air hockey game developed by Christopher Gross, Gene Portwood and Lauren Elliott for Brøderbund (not a table shuffleboard video game, as the name would suggest- though that was the intention when the name was first coined by Christopher Gross). Originally developed for the Apple Macintosh, it was later adapted by Brøderbund for the Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS (leaked version), Amstrad CPC, Family Computer, Sharp X68000, NEC PC-9801 and DOS operating systems.

Gameplay

Screenshot from the Amiga version.

There are two game modes. The player can compete in a tournament, playing against opponents who visit the Café, or can practice against each opponent to find out his/her/its weakness in a single-player match.

The game is controlled via the computer's mouse. The bat on the playing field bounces a hockey puck between the player and the opponent. When one of the players manages to knock the hockey puck past the opponent's bat, the player scores.

After a set number of points (usually 15) the match is over.

Shufflepuck Café includes nine opponents:

• Skip Feeney: A short male human in his early 20s, wearing glasses. Has just started in shufflepuck and thus is very nervous, making him easy to beat.
• Visine Orb: A green-coloured alien with huge eyes, who is only about 1.5 metres tall and can barely see over his end of the table. Plays similarly to Skip Feeney, but likes to make the puck bounce against the walls.
• Vinnie the Dweeb: A veteran shufflepuck player who keeps his calm and is not easily surprised. While not particularly strong, his playing style is consistent and is a step up in difficulty from the two previous opponents.
• Lexan Smythe-Worthington: A lizard-like alien, a filthy rich playboy who gets 30,000 credits per year to keep away from his homeworld. He begins playing fiercely and hard to beat, but as play progresses, he sips his champagne, making him inebriated and less focused on the game, thus easier to beat. When defeated, he hiccups and passes out.
• The General (also known as Eneg Doowtrop - "Gene Portwood" spelled backwards): A pig-like alien who pretends to be a military general, although he really is just a militaristic gung-ho enthusiast. Recently divorced, he is addicted to shufflepuck, which he plays with fierceness and devotion.
• Nerual Ttoille ("Lauren Elliott" spelled backwards): A non-corporeal spiritual alien. Mimics your own shot power and angle. When he scores a point, he opens his robe to expose a smirking, one-eyed face at chest level.
• Princess Bejin: A woman with spiritual powers. When it is her turn to serve the puck, she uses telekinesis to make it move in a seemingly impossible pattern. When you beat her, she reveals a little bit of her cleavage. There is a way to predict her serve every time: there are two sounds made when she serves, one indicates the puck will change direction and the other means it will continue in the same direction.
• Biff Raunch: The reigning champion. A tough, street-hardened biker dude who plays a mean game. He has no weaknesses and only the best players will be able to beat him.
• DC3: A robot waiter. DC3 serves as a training partner, who can be customised to be as easy or as difficult as the player wishes. He does not play in the main championship.

In some versions, during gameplay there is a cheat option, which gives the player the option of winning or losing the game, winning or losing the tournament or gaining or losing five points.

Plot

There is a general storyline behind the Amiga version of the game in which the player is an inter-galactic salesman whose spaceship has broken down. He needs to find a telephone to call the breakdown service and get the spaceship fixed. Shufflepuck Café is the nearest place for miles, so he goes in to use their telephone. The main eight Shufflepuck players are standing in his way and will not let him get to the phone until he has beaten them all. Once all are defeated, the player gets in his spaceship and flies off into the distance.

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon #142 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 41⁄2 out of 5 stars.

External links

• Shufflepuck Café at MobyGames