Comments on: Looking for an old Mac game

Question: Looking for an old Mac game

NewGear — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:25:52 -0800

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!

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:54:55 -0800

It's Black Box, the game.

By: Addlepated

Addlepated — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 20:09:21 -0800

If you liked Black Box, you'll probably also like Chromatron.

By: Many bubbles

Many bubbles — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 21:25:40 -0800

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.

By: Remy

Remy — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 21:25:53 -0800

It's definitely not Black Box. I've played the game NewGear is describing, and I've played Black Box; they are entirely separate.

By: mzurer

mzurer — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:46:41 -0800

I have played the game you described on a Palm Pilot, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called.

By: mzurer

mzurer — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:47:51 -0800

There it is: Balls!

By: NewGear

NewGear — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 07:28:06 -0800

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.

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:15:50 -0800

Not what you're looking for, but probably of interest anyway: Balldroppings.