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Snood (video game)
Encyclopedia
Snood is a puzzle
video game created in 1996
by David M. Dobson
. Today, versions exist for a variety of platforms, including Windows
, Mac OS
, Palm OS
, and other systems, including unofficially on the TI-83 and TI-84 calculators.
Similar to other puzzle games such as Puzzle Bobble
, Snood has simple rules. Connecting three or more identical Snoods makes them disappear from the board. When the board is cleared, the level advances. If the Snoods reach the bottom of the screen, a life is lost. Play is not time-limited in most game modes.
Each turn, the player launches a Snood of randomly-selected color into the play field. If the Snood lands adjacent to two or more Snoods of the same color, all connecting Snoods of that color vanish and any pieces left unattached beneath the vanished Snoods drop down. The player's score increases with the number of Snoods eliminated. With each Snood launched, a danger meter increases and when it reaches the top, all the Snoods in play lower a level. If the Snoods drop past the lowest level of the playing field, the game is over. Releasing Snoods reduces the "Danger Meter."
The first special Snood is called Numbskull. Numbskull is shaped like a human skull and is the one type of Snood that is never launched into play, which means it cannot be joined with other Snoods. If Numbskulls are found at the start of a level, they will have to be isolated and dropped by the player to remove them from the board. Second, if the player loses the game, all the Snoods will turn into Numbskulls, serving as a visual game over message.
The other three special Snood pieces may be launched, and appear at random (and infrequently). One is called Stone which is round and gray, and will always knock out the Snoods adjacent to where it lands. Another is called Wildcard which appears to cycle through all of the regular Snoods, and may be used in place of any of them. The last is called Rowbuilder, a diamond-shaped creature which will fill one row horizontally with like regular Snoods. In the registered game users may control how frequently these special Snoods appear.
The premise is simple. Unlike Bust a Move
, there is no conventional time limit in Snood modes other than Time Attack; however, players must eliminate Snoods efficiently enough to prevent the gradually descending ceiling from crushing them. Many levels also require Snoods to be ricocheted off of walls in order to get them in the appropriate spot, which can be tricky. Snood requires considerable skill at approximating angles as wll as strategy
.
• Child - The easiest level, on which the player is allowed to use an aimer in the PC Version of the Game
• Easy – Increases the fill rate of the Danger Meter by 2x over Child Mode. Fewer Magic Snoods, and additional rows of Snood on screen.
• Medium – Increases the fill rate of the danger meter, introduces Sleeping Snoods, adds an additional row of Snoods.
• Hard – Adds Numbskulls to the board; increases the fill rate of the danger meter 2x over Medium, adds another additional row of Snoods.
• Evil - the hardest level of the lot, Numbskulls are rampant, and the danger meter fills up 2x faster than Hard, the Snoods almost touch the bottom of the screen on the first level.
" level which adds the element of time to the puzzle. This newest level has added a higher level of difficulty to the game. Newer versions of Snood offer a 'Time Attack' mode, playable on different difficulty levels.
Version 4.0 for Windows and Macintosh, includes a tournament mode and worldwide daily scoring competition (the Game of the Day) hosted at SnoodWorld.com http://www.Snoodworld.com, in addition to other new features.
A sequel was released on the Nintendo DS
and Game Boy Advance
in late 2005
. Other games that use the Snood characters include What's New, Snood Slide, and Snoodoku
.
In 2009, startup game developer Monkey Gods, founded by Naughty Dog
co-founders Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin , licensed the rights to Snood and announced that they were releasing an all-new version of Snood for the iPhone and iPod Touch Platforms. Naughty Dog
is the developer and creator of numerous popular video games including Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter
and Uncharted
.
, Co-Founder of Apple, Inc. lists Snood as one of his favorite games. Al Gore
, Michael Crichton
, Lorne Michaels
and Nora Ephron
are reported to be fans of the game.
Jupiter Media Metrix
did a study in 2001 to find the most played games and Snood placed ninth with 1.5 million unique users. This is most notable because most of the games on the list were those that came with various versions of Windows
(such as the top ranked game, Solitaire
, with 46.7 million users).
Snood received 2004 Shareware Industry Award for Best Game Action/Arcade on July 17, 2004.
Snood has been used regularly by the Ronald McDonald House staff at Stanford University
as a tool to teach seriously ill children. It has also been used as palliative for ill patients who are undergoing chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants and dialysis.
Snood was voted “One of the Top 10 Things on the Web to make you happy”, by the Daily News (New York) in April 2009.
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
video game created in 1996
1996 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters....
by David M. Dobson
David M. Dobson
David M. Dobson was raised in Ames, Iowa. He is a software developer and an associate professor of geology and earth sciences at Guilford College. He is most notable for being the creator of Snood, a clone of the arcade game Puzzle Bobble/Bust a Move, and other games including Snoodoku, a Sudoku...
. Today, versions exist for a variety of platforms, including Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
, Palm OS
Palm OS
Palm OS is a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants in 1996. Palm OS is designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provided with a suite of basic applications for personal information management...
, and other systems, including unofficially on the TI-83 and TI-84 calculators.
Similar to other puzzle games such as Puzzle Bobble
Puzzle Bobble
, also known as Bust-a-Move, is a 1994 arcade puzzle game created by Taito Corporation, based on Taito's popular 1986 arcade game Bubble Bobble, featuring characters and themes from the original...
, Snood has simple rules. Connecting three or more identical Snoods makes them disappear from the board. When the board is cleared, the level advances. If the Snoods reach the bottom of the screen, a life is lost. Play is not time-limited in most game modes.
Game information
The pieces in the game are called Snoods. There are seven regular Snoods and four Special Snoods. The regular Snoods are Jake (Blue), Midoribe (Green), Mildred (Grey), Spike (Purple), Zod (Red), Geji (Light blue), and Sunny (Yellow).Each turn, the player launches a Snood of randomly-selected color into the play field. If the Snood lands adjacent to two or more Snoods of the same color, all connecting Snoods of that color vanish and any pieces left unattached beneath the vanished Snoods drop down. The player's score increases with the number of Snoods eliminated. With each Snood launched, a danger meter increases and when it reaches the top, all the Snoods in play lower a level. If the Snoods drop past the lowest level of the playing field, the game is over. Releasing Snoods reduces the "Danger Meter."
The first special Snood is called Numbskull. Numbskull is shaped like a human skull and is the one type of Snood that is never launched into play, which means it cannot be joined with other Snoods. If Numbskulls are found at the start of a level, they will have to be isolated and dropped by the player to remove them from the board. Second, if the player loses the game, all the Snoods will turn into Numbskulls, serving as a visual game over message.
The other three special Snood pieces may be launched, and appear at random (and infrequently). One is called Stone which is round and gray, and will always knock out the Snoods adjacent to where it lands. Another is called Wildcard which appears to cycle through all of the regular Snoods, and may be used in place of any of them. The last is called Rowbuilder, a diamond-shaped creature which will fill one row horizontally with like regular Snoods. In the registered game users may control how frequently these special Snoods appear.
The premise is simple. Unlike Bust a Move
Bust a Move
Bust a Move can refer to:in music* Bust a Move , a 1989 hip hop song by Young MC* Bust a Move, a song by Infected Mushroom from the album Classical Mushroom* BustAMove, a coverband from Germanyin video games* Bust-A-Move Bash!...
, there is no conventional time limit in Snood modes other than Time Attack; however, players must eliminate Snoods efficiently enough to prevent the gradually descending ceiling from crushing them. Many levels also require Snoods to be ricocheted off of walls in order to get them in the appropriate spot, which can be tricky. Snood requires considerable skill at approximating angles as wll as strategy
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
.
Levels and Play Modes
The different levels of Snood and the difficult progressions are:• Child - The easiest level, on which the player is allowed to use an aimer in the PC Version of the Game
• Easy – Increases the fill rate of the Danger Meter by 2x over Child Mode. Fewer Magic Snoods, and additional rows of Snood on screen.
• Medium – Increases the fill rate of the danger meter, introduces Sleeping Snoods, adds an additional row of Snoods.
• Hard – Adds Numbskulls to the board; increases the fill rate of the danger meter 2x over Medium, adds another additional row of Snoods.
• Evil - the hardest level of the lot, Numbskulls are rampant, and the danger meter fills up 2x faster than Hard, the Snoods almost touch the bottom of the screen on the first level.
Additional Versions
Snood was modified in version 3.0, to include an "ArmageddonArmageddon
Armageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...
" level which adds the element of time to the puzzle. This newest level has added a higher level of difficulty to the game. Newer versions of Snood offer a 'Time Attack' mode, playable on different difficulty levels.
Version 4.0 for Windows and Macintosh, includes a tournament mode and worldwide daily scoring competition (the Game of the Day) hosted at SnoodWorld.com http://www.Snoodworld.com, in addition to other new features.
A sequel was released on the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
in late 2005
2005 in video gaming
-Events:*March 6 — The television show 60 Minutes tackles issues within video game controversy. This segment of 60 Minutes has been criticized by video game players for encouraging video game censorship....
. Other games that use the Snood characters include What's New, Snood Slide, and Snoodoku
Snoodoku
Snoodoku is a puzzle video game by David M. Dobson, the author of Snood. It is based on the popular newspaper puzzle widely known as Sudoku, based on Latin squares....
.
In 2009, startup game developer Monkey Gods, founded by Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1986 as an independent developer, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001...
co-founders Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin , licensed the rights to Snood and announced that they were releasing an all-new version of Snood for the iPhone and iPod Touch Platforms. Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1986 as an independent developer, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001...
is the developer and creator of numerous popular video games including Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter
Jak and Daxter
Jak and Daxter is a critically acclaimed video game franchise created by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 2.The series consists of four main games and two spin-offs,though they are also considered to be part of the main series...
and Uncharted
Uncharted
Uncharted is an award-winning series of action-adventure/platform/third-person shooter video games developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation 3 video game console. The series follows modern-day treasure hunter Nathan "Nate" Drake as he...
.
Awards and recognition
Steve WozniakSteve Wozniak
Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne...
, Co-Founder of Apple, Inc. lists Snood as one of his favorite games. Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
, Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
and Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, playwright, journalist, author, and blogger.She is best known for her romantic comedies and is a triple nominee for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay; for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in...
are reported to be fans of the game.
Jupiter Media Metrix
Jupiter Media Metrix
Jupiter Media Metrix was created via the merger of Jupiter Communications and Media Metrix in June 2000.The Media Metrix part of Jupiter Media Metrix was subsequently sold to comScore...
did a study in 2001 to find the most played games and Snood placed ninth with 1.5 million unique users. This is most notable because most of the games on the list were those that came with various versions of Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
(such as the top ranked game, Solitaire
Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
, with 46.7 million users).
Snood received 2004 Shareware Industry Award for Best Game Action/Arcade on July 17, 2004.
Snood has been used regularly by the Ronald McDonald House staff at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
as a tool to teach seriously ill children. It has also been used as palliative for ill patients who are undergoing chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants and dialysis.
Snood was voted “One of the Top 10 Things on the Web to make you happy”, by the Daily News (New York) in April 2009.