Timeball

Timeball
TurboGrafx-16 cover art
DeveloperNow Production
PublishersTurboGrafx-16
NEC, Hudson Soft
X68000, Game Boy
Broderbund, Tonkin House
ProgrammerManuel Constantinidis (original game)
PlatformsTurboGrafx-16, Game Boy, X68000
ReleaseTurboGrafx-16
  • JP: February 23, 1990
NA: September 12, 1991[citation needed]
GenrePuzzle
ModesSingle-player, multiplayer

Timeball is a puzzle video game released by NEC for the TurboGrafx-16. The object of the game is to guide a ball along pieces of track by moving tiles like a sliding puzzle. The game's name in Japan is Blodia, an anagram of Diablo, the title of a computer game upon which Blodia is based. Versions of Blodia were released exclusively in Japan for the original Game Boy and the X68000. A spin-off titled Blodia Land: Puzzle Quest was released for the Famicom, replacing the ball with cartoon dinosaur-like characters. These versions were developed by Tonkin House and published by Broderbund.

Gameplay

Players must arrange the tiles so the ball traverses all pieces of track.

The grid on screen is composed of tiles. Some tiles have a piece of road, and a black tile represents "the void", an area where one can drag the tile nearby in order to complete a road which will be taken by a ball that will follow the path. Players must arrange the tiles such that the ball traverses all sections of track. The ball can be sped up by pressing a button. If the ball reaches a tile without a piece of track, it falls out of play.

The game also includes a level editor which allows for the creation of custom puzzles. An earlier "prototype" version without the level editor was published for the TI-99/4a and other computers as "Diablo" in 1985.

Release and reception

Timeball was released as Blodia for the PC Engine in Japan on February 23, 1990.


See also

References

  1. ↑ "Da raucht die Birne". Aktueller Software Markt (in German). May 1990. p. 42. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Famibo, Tofuya; Mizuno, Bucho; Morishita, Mariko; TACO•X (March 2, 1990). "新作ゲームクロスレビュー" [New Games Cross Review]. Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 95. ASCII Corporation. p. 14.
  3. ↑ "発売直前 REVIEW 1/31~2/28". 月刊ＰＣエンジン (in Japanese). March 1990. p. 119. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Bloodia [sic]". Génération 4 (in French). No. 21. April 1990. p. 70. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Blodia". Power Play (in German). May 1990. p. 122. Retrieved August 1, 2026.