Looking for an old Mac game

July 4, 2007 7:25 PM

Looking for an old Macintosh game, where you flip reflectors to get a ball to bounce from one side to the other,

This game may have dated back to the OS6 days (if my memory is working right); it was definitely a black-and-white game, and I seem to remember it being on the old 9-inch screen. Basically, there was a grid on the screen with a bunch of randomly placed reflectors (shaped like forward-slashes or back-slashes). There was a small ball on the left of the grid, just outside the frame. When you pressed the spacebar (or maybe a "go" button?) the ball started moving through the grid, left to right, in a straight line. If it made contact with one of the reflectors, it would bounce off at a 90 degree angle and continue until it hit another reflector.

The way the game was played, you would click on the reflectors, which would make them flip to the opposite type (front-slash to back-slash and vice-versa). You would have to set up the reflectors so that when you started the ball moving, it would make its way to the right-hand edge of the grid, bouncing off reflectors as it goes. A new, random board would be generated each time you played.

I loved this game; it was basically one of those things you could fire up and play quickly to pass a few minutes, a sort of solitaire physics thingy. I loved tracing the potential path of the ball through the grid and off the reflectors, and trying to get it to make it all the way through on the first go.

I've looked through Google and a Mac abandonware site, but have had no luck finding this little gem. Does anybody know what it was called and/or where to find it?

Thanks!

posted by NewGear to computers & internet (8 comments total)

It's Black Box, the game.
posted by boo_radley at 7:54 PM on July 4, 2007

If you liked Black Box, you'll probably also like Chromatron.
posted by Addlepated at 8:09 PM on July 4, 2007

Lumen sounds similar, but it's a laser and not black-and-white. You use mirrors to bounce the laser to checkpoints.

And here's a Flash game, also with lasers that you redirect.
posted by Many bubbles at 9:25 PM on July 4, 2007

It's definitely not Black Box. I've played the game NewGear is describing, and I've played Black Box; they are entirely separate.
posted by Remy at 9:25 PM on July 4, 2007

I have played the game you described on a Palm Pilot, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called.
posted by mzurer at 10:46 PM on July 4, 2007

There it is: Balls!
posted by mzurer at 10:47 PM on July 4, 2007

Both Chromatron and Lumen look very cool. I'm definitely going to try those out.

Yes, the game I had in mind was a LOT like Balls! (Erg...maybe it WAS Balls, and not on the Mac at all? I coulda sworn it was, but then I again I did own a Palm at one point...hmmm...)

Such a great game; so simple and easy to pick up and drop at will. If somebody can find a MAc version, that'd be superduper.
posted by NewGear at 7:28 AM on July 5, 2007

Not what you're looking for, but probably of interest anyway: Balldroppings.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:15 PM on July 5, 2007