Important announcement:

JezzBall Classic has been released for PC!

Please go to the link above for new
screenshots and information.

There's a free PC demo available for download!









JezzBall Classic
by Winterdust


What is "JezzBall Classic"?

JezzBall Classic is a game where you shall contain two or more bouncing atoms in as little space as you can. This is accomplished by building walls, when over 75% of the play area has been built upon the current level is won and the game advances by adding another atom into play. Each level you have the same amount of lives as the number of atoms in play, when an atom crashes into a pending wall a life is lost and the game is over when all lives are spent.

The game is a version of the 25 years old "JezzBall". It is created to be as close to the original as possible in as many ways as possible. However JezzBall Classic also adds to the original by supplying optional mods that drastically changes how you play the game in order to offer more variation.

Out now on PC, Android and iOS!

There's a lite version available so that
you can try the game for free!



Video

Note 1: In-game frame rate is 60 FPS. This is not reflected in the video due to some limitations in the recording software, plus the fact that the video is only 24 FPS. Because of this the atoms may appear to not move smoothly. Please be aware that this is not the case when you actually play the game, in reality the atoms do in fact move smoothly at 60 FPS.

Note 2: The game is mute, it has neither sound effects nor music. That is why "Canon in D Major" is being played in the video.

Note 3: This video is now many years old and is not representative of the improved quality of version 2.0.0 (the PC release).

If you watch in fullscreen you might want
to change to HD resolution.

VIDEO INDEX:

00:14 - Profile selection
00:31 - A pure game
02:30 - High score screen
03:19 - Comparing level records
04:03 - Resuming an auto-saved game
04:41 - Mods
05:47 - Starting a custom modded game
06:28 - The modes (preset mod combinations)
07:48 - Mode: The casual
08:08 - Mode: The arcade
08:35 - Mode: The arcadium
09:10 - Mode: The prison
09:24 - Mode: The luxury prison
10:00 - Mode: The shepherd
10:26 - Mode: The divisor
10:50 - Mode: The adventure
11:34 - Mode: The challenge
11:53 - Mode: The flying T-rex
12:16 - Mode: The planner
12:43 - Mode: The master builder
13:19 - Mode: The quick
13:35 - Mode: The panic
13:49 - Mode: The artist
14:07 - Mode: The worker
14:57 - Rooms & Missions
15:59 - Playing a room
16:35 - Room 17, 20, 24, 44, 47, 50, 62, 63, 73, 81 and 86
17:47 - Available configurations
19:35 - Background images, borders and wall fill effect
20:18 - Background image examples
20:51 - Random color examples
21:08 - Fortified wallbuilder edges
21:21 - Slow and fast speed
21:56 - Advanced building techniques

A bunch of new things has been added to the game that aren't shown in the video above, for example the following three presets:

The war - Dodge missiles and use the General atom to teleport troops (atoms) into smaller cells.

The inferno - Lava has gotten into the capture chamber, find the best way to build between the puddles.

The haste spell - Everything moves twice as fast as usual, can you keep up?

The appender - Every level has a pre-built wall piece in it to aid you but in turn two new atoms are added into the chamber instead of one.

The bear cave - You're stuck in a cave filled with angry bears! The only way out is to trap them.

The caretakers - One atom moves twice as fast as the others.



Screenshots

Note: These screenshots are not representative of the quality of the game today, look on itch.io for new screenshots from 2.0.0!





Features

+ The original JezzBall experience! Into the very last detail; if you came looking for the JezzBall you remember you will not be disappointed!

+ Four profiles (one reserved for guests) with their configurations stored separately.

+ 700 beautiful background images (real life photos). Go to the "Graphics" config screen to enable it. Will place a random image into the black walls each level.

+ 8 music tracks of classic MIDI tunes you'll probably remember! All recorded using SoundBlaster 16. You can set up to 24 music audio events if you want to.

+ 60 fully customizable SFX audio events - change which sample(s) to play or change individual volumes. A pool of 300 sounds are available from various old games.

+ Automatic saving of all games in progress. Stop and continue whenever you want to!

+ Local high score lists. In the Hall of Fame your name will last forever and on the three other lists you will see the daily, weekly and monthly high scores.

+ Level records. All your best statistics are saved on each and every level you complete. Profile records are comparable.

+ Smart and very customizable controls. If you have a touchscreen you can play using your fingers.

+ 83 mods that once activated changes how the game is played! Use none or pick one/several at the same time in any order. High scores and level records are stored separately for each combination. Some mods will just change the amount of time/lives you have while other will drastically change gameplay (allow you to use two wallbuilders at the same time for example).

+ 22 preset mod-combinations are provided in addition to the original JezzBall experience to give you variation.

+ 100 rooms that will stimulate your intellect as well as your ability to time your deployments! Can you solve them?

+ There are also missions available to inspire you to break your personal bests. Completing them all is an achievement!



Sales pitch

25 years ago people could first play the original JezzBall. Since then a lot of different versions of it has been created, and although some have been great none of them were really close to the original.

JezzBall Classic changes that; it was created to be just like the original! The graphics, the scoring, the physics, the tempo... they are all the same as they were in the original.

The animations has been given a lot more frames to suit today's standards and many new optional features has been implemented. Some bugs and issues of the original has also been solved, for example expert players will be happy to know that the game will now end after 50 levels instead of repeating level 49 over and over again forever. Measurements have been taken to prevent cheating by pausing the game or switching between slow/fast speed right before the last move.

But the true JezzBall feeling can still be found in this JezzBall Classic, and that's what really is important!

How you play on your touch device:

Press down to place the origin of the wall, move your finger to determine the orientation of the wall and release it to actually start building the wall. It is constructed in two directions from the center, if a wall-half is hit by a Jezz atom before it has reached an already existing black wall it is destroyed and you lose a life.



Download

The game is available for PC, Android and iOS.

There is a free lite version out and a full one that costs less than a cinema ticket (not even counting the popcorn and soda), but I promise you will get more hours out of JezzBall than a movie!

Click here to get it today!



Change log

1.0.0 3jul2011
+ Initial release on Android.

1.0.1 4jul2011
+ Minor performance improvement.

1.0.2 7jul2011
+ Performance improvement.
+ More responsive and exact controls.
+ Added in-game configurations (it's now possible to stretch the display).
+ Minor reduced startup time.

1.0.3 8jul2011
+ Just a little maintenance.

1.1.0 10jul2011
+ Two minor bug-fixes.
+ Polished atom and wallbuilder behavior.
+ Added alternative controls.
+ Functuality improvement in the interface.

1.1.1 11jul2011
+ Revamped the controls config a bit. Added an option to require finger movement.
+ Changed the direction toggler size (a little bigger) and default position.
+ Made the direction toggler easier to drag and it now supports multitouch.
+ Made sure that the HUD text won't be hidden behind stuck Jezz atoms.

1.1.2 13jul2011
+ Fixed some rare non-critical issues with loading.
+ Made multitouch optional since it demands higher performance from the device.
+ Added the save of your profile's personal bests (highest-ever seen level and score, plus today's highest score).
+ Various tweaks.

1.2.0 29jul2011
+ Added optional background images that will be drawn on walls instead of just plain black color.
+ Made it possible to show a FPS counter.
+ Made it a little easier to nudge the deployment flag and improved the nudge logic.
+ Some code optimizations for speed.

1.3.0 2aug2011
+ Introduced mods.
+ Added 200 new background images.
+ Added daily and monthly highscores.
+ Replaced the profile's daily best with the profile's best of the session. Added tracking of highest level of the session.
+ Tweaked the controls a bit.
+ Fixed a critical performance issue.
+ Greatly improved the border drawing performance of the background graphics.
+ Various tweaks (improved the background image randomizing, fixed it so that the FPS counter doesn't show too low the first second, etc).

1.4.0 5aug2011
+ Added 6 new mods.
+ Added a mod map that remembers used mod combinations and also has a few presets.
+ A bunch of minor tweaks here and there.
+ Improved deployment logic with the secondary wallbuilder (available through the 2WA mod).
+ Improved general drawing performance.
+ Fixed the FPS counter (was not 100% accurate).

1.4.1 8aug2011
+ Added 4 new mods.
+ Added 3 new preset mod combinations.
+ Fixed a bug that caused the ETE mod not to work.
+ Fixed a bug with the KEY mod bonus calculation.
+ Fixed a critical bug with the INT mod that could cause the game to crash upon loading a game.
+ The mod map now scrolls to the selected mod if it's not visible.
+ Edited the SSS mod to actually make it somewhat challanging.
+ Added the BBB mod to the preset "The panic".

1.5.0 26aug2011
+ Greatly improved performance.
+ 11 new mods (introducing other types of atoms).
+ 6 new preset mod combinations.
+ Now saves high scores of aborted games.
+ Improved atom movement.
+ Improved controls.
+ Better looking level records.
+ More choices in config.
+ Optional graphical effects.
+ Enabled "Move to SD card".
+ Fixed FPS counter (again).
+ A minor bugfix.
+ Tweaks here and there.

1.5.1 30aug2011
+ Now available on iOS!
+ Disabled auto-change between high scores (can be re-enabled).
+ Level record progress scores are now hidden by default (can be re-enabled).
+ Moved stretching options from the general config section to the graphics section.
+ Fixed bug where incorrect data was shown when selecting a high score.
+ Added help chapter on mods.
+ Added explanation dialogue of the game's three most basic yet important things.
+ It's now possible to not auto-start a new game when aborting the previous one.

1.5.2 2sep2011
+ Wall borders are now always drawn correctly.
+ Now there's no new level record announcement if only the progress score was beaten but is hidden.
+ The end-of-level screen should show up more quickly.
+ The HUD is now updated immediately (was one frame behind previously).
+ Fixed a movement/teleportation issue with many atoms in a tight area.
+ Performance improvement.

1.5.3 7sep2011
+ Preset names shown instead of full mod combos.
+ Custom black wall color (can be randomized).
+ Borders also possible on solid color.
+ Beaten personal level records now underlined.
+ New option of not drawing pending walls to help performance.
+ New option of lowering target FPS.
+ Made the controls smarter around the play area edges.
+ Added "Loading..." on app start.
+ Different atom spin animation on end-of-game (can be disabled).
+ Now possible to speed up the end spin animation.

1.5.4 9sep2011
+ Borders are now updated correctly with the TRB mod.
+ Fixed bug where you could not select the name field on the abort-current-game dialogue.
+ Overlapping fading effects are now drawn correctly.
+ Slight improved performance of graphical effects.
+ Tweaked the controls again (should now be good around the play area edges).
+ Now possible to show the largest time between frames in the FPS counter.
+ The guest profile is now not asked to update its name when aborting a old game.

1.6.0 16sep2011
+ Introduced rooms and missions ("headquarters").
+ 20 new mods (having to do with the rooms).
+ Scrolling lists in menus now continue to scroll from the speed.
+ Further worked with the controls a tad.
+ Tweaked ever-so-little with the chance of a Freeze atom appearing.
+ Fixed visual issue about red/blue walls not being drawn temporarily if a game is loaded.
+ Optimized parts of the code.

1.6.1 19sep2011
+ 20 new rooms, 1 new mod. (It should be noted that the IGN mod now counts as a course mod instead of a regular mod so the mod count in the description stays the same.)
+ Now hides the "room completed/lost" text when changing between rooms to avoid confusion.
+ Improved the appearance of highlighted zones.
+ Further worked with the controls around the play area edges.
+ "Make it easier to perform plain presses" is now off by default.
+ Doing the circle-gesture that opens the menu is now easier.

1.6.2 21sep2011
+ 10 new rooms, 1 new mod.
+ Highlighted zones are now drawn more efficiently.
+ Tweaked the controls (turning and nudge logic).
+ Description edits.

1.7.0 26sep2011
+ 8 new mods (3 of these greatly changes how the game is played).
+ 2 new presets.
+ Can now reposition the deploy flag using a second finger.
+ Multitouch options now defaults to ON.
+ Fixed a critical bug with loading a game where a wallbuilder was deployed.
+ Modified game speed (slow/fast). The atoms were moving too quickly, now they have exactly the same speed as in the original JezzBall. My apologies for this mistake.
+ Worked a little with the old controls.
+ Some optimization.

1.7.1 30sep2011
+ Added 10 new rooms.
+ Added 18 new missions. Adjusted the goals of two old missions.
+ Fixed an inconsistency in the "time taken" high score attribute that appeared after the last app update.
+ Fixed a bug that made the FIN mod not work.
+ Reduced possibility of visual lag due to data being written to disk.

1.8.0 1jan2012
+ Improved performance
+ Adjusted atom movement
+ Better app close/open handler
+ 12 new mods (two new atom types)
+ 10 new rooms
+ Two new presets ("The war" and "The inferno")
+ Three new missions
+ Tweaked wallcrawler movement
+ Screen dimming on menus (can be disabled)
+ Can now play in non-fullscreen
+ 60 new background images
+ Miscellangeous maintenance

1.8.1 9jan2012
+ Tweaked room 96 and 99 a little
+ Tweaked the REA mod, increased time halted with 5 seconds
+ Shielded wallbuilders now correctly only loses their shield when first going into lava
+ Fixed slight bug with two missions for a regular game (silver/gold score)
+ Three new missions

1.9.0 22oct2012
+ Baked Adobe AIR into app on Android, no separate download needed, better performance
+ 140 new background images
+ Doubled the resolution of all background images
+ Now possible to open menu by multitouching instead of drawing circles
+ Now possible to skip the profile selection screen
+ Added profile reminder to pause screen
+ One new preset ("The haste spell")
+ Missions now can't be completed on games played with slow speed
+ Changeable background tiles
+ Fixed issue that made the name input not work like it should on iOS

1.9.1 9jan2014
+ Updated the AIR engine
+ Fixed an issue with room 29

1.9.2 15feb2016
+ Updated the AIR engine
+ Added four new background tiles

2.0.0 4apr2016
+ Now available on PC! Comes with an informative README.TXT
+ Sound! 8 music tracks and 300 noises available for 24+60 audio events
+ Can use custom bg images or sounds on PC (separate utils program created)
+ Better looking scrolling lists (unless disabled in graphics)
+ Added dotted border around the main menu Mod Map button to make presets less hidden
+ 9 new mods (2 are new atoms)
+ 3 new presets: The appender, The bear cave and The caretakers
+ The middle cover from the Cover mod now becomes transparent when finishing a level
+ Improved descriptions for the preset game modes
+ Can now set the deployment flag to always show
+ Changed default of "Show level record of other profiles" to OFF
+ Now using higher anti-alias settings
+ Will now see the background image slightly better upon the end-of-level fill
+ Can now render the game in up to 8 times the original resolution
+ Quicker loading at the start of the game
+ Better looking graphics when the stage is resized
+ Added 200 new background images
+ Doubled the resolution of all background images
+ Better at reflecting changes on the first page of the graphics configuration
+ Quality setting for fade effects
+ More efficient reuse of existing bitmaps in memory
+ Doubled max framerate to 120
+ More accurate internal time measurement
+ Now showing the current level number on the main menu
+ Now able to temporary boost the game speed (less waiting for bounces to finish)
+ Can select what the second finger does: Reposition Flag, Toggle Direction, Boost Speed or Abort Deployment
+ Can select what any physical button on your device does: Toggle Menu, Toggle Direction or Boost Speed
+ The destruction of wallbuilders moving into a Jezz Atom is now delayed to give visual feedback of what's happening
+ Score gained from the Bonus Atom is now reduced if the level speed has not been Fast the whole time
+ The Drawing Walls mod now grants bonus points for more complex wall constructions
+ Can select one of three visual effects for wallbuilder destruction (or keep it as none)
+ Enhanced randomization and loading of background images
+ Removed random chance from the Freeze Atom, it now appears at set amounts of created wall cells
+ Changed (simplified) preset "The arcade" to differentiate it more from "The arcadium"
+ Changed preset "The shepherd" to differentiate it more from "The divisor"
+ Changed preset "The adventure", now have normal number of lives and each life is worth twice as much end bonus
+ The Missile Atom now only launches missiles if a wallbuilder is in the same area as itself
+ A third atom should no longer be able to break free two other atoms that are stuck next to each other
+ Fade effect possible on built wall lines and on failed (destroyed) pending walls
+ The Wallcrawler (WAL mod) now starts at a random location instead of always in the bottom right corner
+ The Wallcrawler (WAL mod) now does a visual "landing" animation at the start of each level
+ The Wallcrawler (WAL mod) now disappears when level is lost due to 0 lives (instead of returning to transparent)
+ Added a "Use Recommended?" button to allow new players to quickly change graphics from the default classic theme
+ Will now highlight the config, mod-map (presets) and HQ buttons until the first time they are pressed
+ Grouping mod: The line-of-sight for red-white and blue-white atoms will be shown as dashed lines when the level ends
+ Exiting a room in the headquarters now returns you to the main menu at once
+ The "Speed is key" mod can now award a much more satisfying maximum end bonus
+ A whole bunch of minor tweaks here and there

2.0.1 24apr2016
+ Audio files are now loaded into memory only when needed

2.0.2 29apr2016
+ Restored behaviour of physical Back button on Android devices (opens the menu, exits when double tapped)
+ Changed default purpose of (other) physical buttons from "Enter/Menu" to "Boost Speed"
+ Can now set physical device buttons to "Abort Deployment"
+ On PC the Wallcrawler can now also be controlled with WASD in addition to the arrow keys
+ On PC holding B will now boost speed (was S before)
+ Now better at detecting the second finger on screen when placing many fingers at the same time
+ White noise is now shown when pausing the game during time freeze instead of just showing a black background
+ Game timer now tick down at 10% the normal rate when atoms are frozen due to the REA mod's Reaction Time (same as how it has always been with the FRZ mod's Freeze Atom)
+ Fixed issue with atoms being frozen longer when the game speed was set to "slow"

2.0.3 3mar2019
+ Updated the underlying engine