Peggle is a Mac, Windows and iPod downloadable game from PopCap Games. Each level of Peggle features a colorful 2D background filled with different colored "pegs". The objective in each level is to clear all of the orange pegs by hitting them with a ball shot from the top of the screen.

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.

In addition, there are three ranks to achieve, each accompanied by a trophy:

    * Peggle Master – After completing Adventure Mode the player is declared a Peggle Master.
    * Peggle Grandmaster – On completion of all 75 challenges the player receives the rank of Peggle Grandmaster.
    * Extreme Grandmaster – This rank is received when the player manages to clear all the pegs (not just the orange ones) in all of the levels which can be done through the Quick Play mode.

Game characters

Peggle offers 10-11 different playable characters each with their own special power-up that one can use by hitting green-colored pegs.

    * Bjorn – Powerup: Superguide – Creates a guide showing part of the shot's trajectory.
    * Jimmy Lightning – Powerup: Multiball – Spawns another ball when activated.
    * Kat Tut – Powerup: Pyramid – Widens the free ball bucket by attaching a primitive pyramid around it.
    * Splork – Powerup: Space Blast – Lights up all pegs in a certain radius.
    * Claude – Powerup: Flippers – Causes lobster claw shaped pinball flipper to appear on either side of the screen—the player can "click" to remit the ball away from the bottom of the screen.
    * Renfield – Powerup: Spooky Ball – When activated, the ball appears again at the top of the screen after falling through the bottom.
    * Tula – Powerup: Flower Power – Lights up 1/5 of the orange pegs remaining in the stage.
    * Warren – Powerup: Lucky Spin – Randomly activates either Triple Score, Magic Hat (attaches a hat to the top of the ball, which can also light up pegs), Extra Ball or a random powerup from the other characters.
    * Lord Cinderbottom – Powerup: Fireball – Replaces the ball with a fireball that can go through and eliminate all pegs in its path.
    * Master Hu – Powerup: Zen Ball – Tweaks one shot (up to 500%) to optimize scoring.
    * Marina – Powerup: Electrobolt – Eliminates all pegs between the first-hit peg and the bucket. – Marina is not featured in the original Peggle; rather, she is introduced in the sequel, Peggle Nights.

Gameplay

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

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.

System requirements

OS: Win 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista.

Memory: 256 MB RAM.

 DirectX: 7.0. Processor: Pentium III, 700 MHz or faster.

 iPod game requires an iPod nano (third generation), an iPod classic, or an iPod (fifth generation)

Mac game requires OS: Mac OS 10.3.9 and later Memory: 256 MB RAM Processor: G4,G5 or Intel Core Duo Internet: Internet connection is required to register both the download and CD-ROM versions of the game

The game requires strategy to bounce the ball off pegs and other obstacles to clear as much of the orange pegs in the level as possible with the given number of balls. 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.

Besides the orange pegs, the game's levels have blue pegs (which have no effect other than increasing the score), purple pegs (which are worth 50 times the amount of the blue pegs), and green pegs (which activate a power-up based on the character the player has 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.

Available Options:

1 Year Download (+$9.99) 1 Year Product Support (+$9.99) 90 Day Download (+$4.99) Backup FlashDrive Shipped (+$9.99)