Peggle: Take a Chance on a PopCap Game!

The estimated reading time for this post is 4 minutes

Peggle, an addictive, high-quality game, has recently been updated in the iTunes App Store and is available for free on Android devices. You can also check out Peggle on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, PC’s and Macs.

Peggle is an incredibly fun game from PopCap, a developer that creates many fun, addictive games. Peggle is a lot like the Japanese game Pachinko and somewhat like pinball. There is a randomness to the game, but skill is the most important component to success.

The object of the game is to shoot a ball from the top of the screen at different colored pegs,  eliminating all of the orange pegs. When your ball bounces on a peg, that peg is eliminated and will disappear. You get points for each peg you hit, with bonus points awarded based upon the color of the peg, how carefully crafted your shot was and other factors.

Sounds easy, right? Well, there are plenty of obstacles in your way that make the game captivating and challenging.

The first obstacle is that other pegs, mostly blue pegs, may block your clear shot at the orange targets. The game puts other moving and stationary objects in your way as well, forcing your to concoct some clever bank shots to reach the orange pegs.

You get ten balls to use in each round, but you can earn additional balls but achieving high scores (such as hitting the purple pegs) or landing your ball in the rolling skateboard. If you time your shots well, you can take out quite a few orange pegs and land your ball in the skateboard giving you an extra shot at finishing the level. The red arrow in the image below points to the helpful skateboard!

What really makes Peggle a game of skill is the super powers the Peggle Masters give you when you hit a green peg. In lower levels you get to use one Master at a time,  so you can discover what powers you get from Masters such as Tula Sunflower, Claude the Lobster, Warren Rabbit, Renfield the Pumpkin and other characters. But in later levels you get to choose which power to use in achieving your goal. If you want to sneak a peek at the characters’  powers and how you can use them, check out this handy guide from PopCap: Meet the Masters.

I love the choice of super powers because if I fail to finish a level with one Master, I try another to see if that one would help me more. Sometimes choosing the proper Master can make all the difference. Wouldn’t it be cool if comic book super heroes could choose their powers for each situation?

My tendency is to use Lord Cinderbottom the dragon, for a scorched earth game play. The dragon burns through all obstacles so you can get at your toughest targets, sizzling everything in its path. But that doesn’t always work, sometimes a more delicate power is needed.

In addition to the game being fun and addictive, there are other reasons to love this game. First, the music is classic video game goodness. I rarely listen to the accompanying music for games, but Peggle is an exception. And the music that Peggle plays when you win a level, well it just makes you proud to be a Peggle player!

The game also has a setting for left-handed players. Being a lefty myself, I deeply appreciate when a developer recognizes that not all players are of the right-handed persuasion.

For even more amusement, the game has an instant replay feature that allows you to watch what happened with the last ball you shot. You could use this to relive the glory of a well-crafted shot or to help you figure out where you went wrong with a shot that totally misses the mark.

To see a Peggle champion in action, check out this video from a player who achieved over 20 million points in one shot. Don’t be fooled though, the game just isn’t this easy:

If you’re not yet convinced as to why this game is so much fun, you could try playing it for, let’s say five minutes. But make sure you have plenty of time to spare, because you may find yourself becoming engrossed in trying to level up, to the exclusion of all other concerns in life.

You should also consider that Peggle was the Killer App for a friend of mine who wasn’t a big fan of technology. When given an iPad with Peggle, he suddenly began to appreciate the wonderful world of gadgets. Peggle was his “go to” app for months as he tackled the game, level by level.

Bottom Line

Peggle is a fun, addictive game you should check out for a lot of a great entertainment, no matter what your age, technical skill or hand preference. if you have an Android device, definitely grab the app from the Amazon App Store, free today only.

Have you even played Peggle? Do you enjoy discovering fun and addictive games? Let us know in the Comments section below!

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Note to Readers: This post completes my Rice Krispies homage trilogy with Shnap, Crackle and Pop! Who knew there was so much tech involved with Rice Krispies?