Snood, the Simple Game

Greg Costikyan has penned a Snood screed that bears reading for anyone into game design. I gave Snood a try a couple of years ago when I read that Woz was hooked on it. Fun. I've played it on and off since then. But the ninth most popular game in 2001? That's nuts. Is Snood part of a series of tiny puzzley games, like Tetris and Bejeweled, that can still do well in a world of Counterstrikes and Unreal Tournaments? Is there still the chance for an individual or small team to strike it rich writing a game like this (maybe for cell phones)? Or is the engagingly simple game doomed to extinction? M : The Snood-equivalent for Linux is Frozen Bubble.

whatever

[tps12]

Say what you will about Quake 3 and its tendency to provoke violence in children, but at least people who obsess over it are communicating with other people, albeit over the Internet.

Games like this (and Tetris, and Solitaire, and so many others) are simply antisocial and psychologically crippling. You play for hours, not because you're "enjoying" it, but because your brain is too numbed to stop.

If our legislators had seen these in action, they'd be banning them before they worry about the comparitively healthy first person shooters.

I hope these games get popular...

[GoofyBoy]

.. cause in my old age I can't play twitch games like I used to.

In a child-like echoy voice;
"Ready ... GO!"

Hm

[Anonymous Coward]

The Snood-equivalent for Linux is Frozen Bubble.

This may be the killer app that gets the world's desktop running Linux and KDE!!!

Re:Frozen bubble

[los furtive]

And just like Bust a Move is a rip off of Puzzle Bobble. Anybody try Puzzle Bobble 4 on MAME? It's like smoking crack and watching saturday morning cartoons!

The Year of the Snood

[sandbenders]

I remember it like it was yesterday- rank upon rank of students sitting behind Macs in the computer labs, forcing helpless drama students to go to the engineering labs and use windows machines to get their homework done. Countless hours lost, students failing left and right, the university computer store replacinging record numbers of worn-out Mac mice and keyboards.... The cause: Snood. The year: 1998.

Good thing Slashdot stays on top of the latest trends in the Mac world.

Among my friends, Snood has come and gone, enjoyed a brief renaissance, and finally slipped into obscurity. In fact, the year I graduated, in 1998, the term 'Bad Snood'- for a stupid move, or a stroke of bad luck- was in common usage on campus.

Re:Snood is a definite classic.

[BethLogic]

I was introduced to Snood a couple summers ago while living with a non-geek friend and got very addicted. Many unemployed hours were spent watching the pretty colors gather and then fall. When I was over at my boyfriend's apt I would take every chance I got to try to beat his high score. If he walked out of the room and was gone for a minute I'd start playing. The competition aspect made it much more gripping.

Luckily I found a job and have been able to turn those wasted hours into time spent on /.

Although a little Snood wouldn't be a bad way to kill time as I wait for code to build....

Puzzle bobble ripoff

[YAN3D]

1. Take puzzle bobble (bust a move in the U.S)
2. Add shitty graphics
3. Add spyware
4. ?
5. Profit!

Play Snood responsibly

[Mr. Sketch]

I had a friend in college that played Snood for a very long time and her leg fell asleep so when she got out of her chair she fell on her leg just right and broke it.

Yep, Snood is responsible for at least one broken leg so, please play responsibly.

just one more game

[kennon42]

although, realizing this effect, the creator of snood helpfully provided a "Just One More Game" function, and even gave it its own hotkey :)

Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

It is a variation of Asteroids, As are ALL drop from the sky games, Tetris et al. You youngsters are probably amazed by Pong!

Re:Snood is a definite classic.

[AugstWest]

We actually started sending our high score files to her whenever we'd beat even one of her scores, and she wouldn't sleep until she'd wiped our names off the list again.

Re:Good Design, Annoying Installation

[jgerman]

Obviously you didn't understand... getting rid of the spyware IS the game, kinda like Whack-A-Mole.

Re:whatever

[micromoog]

Once every three years doesn't count as "excess", dude.

Re:Mod Parent Up.

[GeckoX]

Ahh, I see oh wise coward.

Re:whatever

[mgblst]

Come on, he probably can't afford it anymore frequently.