Lose Your Marbles
Developer(s)SegaSoft
Publisher(s)SegaSoft
Platform(s)Windows
Release
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Lose Your Marbles is a puzzle video game developed and published by SegaSoft and released for Microsoft Windows on August 19, 1997.

A version of the game was included in Microsoft Plus! 98.[2]

Gameplay

In Lose Your Marbles, the player moves each color of marbles to create matches on the playing field, while the game drops new ones every few seconds. Whether played against a human or the CPU, the goal in Lose Your Marbles is to fill the other player's board with marbles. Creating matches of three, four, or five marbles clears those marbles from the player's board. In addition, a match of five will send marbles to the opposing player's board.

Due to its simplistic controls, Lose Your Marbles can be played with two players with one keyboard. Lose Your Marbles also features a LAN multiplayer mode to connect two players over a local network.

Release

A tag saying "Better than Tetris or your money back!" appeared on the first edition of the game. SegaSoft offered a full refund for purchasers who did not enjoy the game more than Tetris.[3]

Reception

The game received favorable reviews. GamePro lauded the game as "one of the most addictive PC games to come out in recent memory", giving it a 4.5 out of 5 for graphics, sound, and control, and a perfect 5 for fun factor.[11] Nicole Freeman of GameSpot said that the AI is easy to defeat, making single-player mode too lacking in longevity, though she acknowledged that the multiplayer mode is much more fun and long-lasting. She concluded, "It's no Baku Baku, but Lose Your Marbles is not a total loss."[7] Next Generation found the single player mode sufficiently challenging, but agreed that the multiplayer is much better, and stated that "Lose Your Marbles is actually quite fun, even if it doesn't grab players quite like Tetris or have the same staying power."[8]

The game was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's 1997 "Puzzle Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Smart Games Challenge 2. The staff called the former "the best Tetris clone we've seen since last year's winner, Baku Baku."[12] The game won the "Best Arcade Game" award at the CNET Gamecenter Awards for 1997.[13]

References

  1. ↑ PC Gamer staff (August 19, 1997). "More Fun than Tetris?". PC Gamer. Imagine Media. Archived from the original on February 18, 1998. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  2. ↑ Thurrott, Paul (June 25, 1998). "Plus! for Windows 98 Review". ITPro Today. Informa. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Dr. Moo (September 1997). "Lose Your Marbles Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on February 20, 2004. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  4. ↑ Paulsen, David (October 2, 1997). "Lose Your Marbles". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  5. ↑ Royal, Anne (1997). "Lose Your Marbles". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on July 4, 2003. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  6. ↑ Panther, Charlotte (December 1997). "S'marbelous (Lose Your Marbles Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 161. Ziff Davis. p. 391. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Freeman, Nicole (September 10, 1997). "Lose Your Marbles Review [date mislabeled as "May 1, 2000"]". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on December 21, 2004. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Lose Your Marbles". Next Generation. No. 36. Imagine Media. December 1997. p. 174. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  9. ↑ Bickham, Al (January 1999). "Lose Your Marbles". PC Gamer UK. No. 65. Future Publishing. Archived from the original on February 26, 2002. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Lose Your Marbles". PC Gamer. Vol. 4, no. 12. Imagine Media. December 1997.
  11. ↑ Bad Hare (November 1997). "Lose Your Marbles". GamePro. No. 110. IDG. p. 107. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  12. ↑ CGW staff (March 1998). "CGW 1998 Premier Awards (Puzzle Game of the Year)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 164. Ziff Davis. p. 88. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  13. ↑ Gamecenter staff (January 28, 1998). "The Gamecenter Awards for 1997! (Arcade Winner)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on September 30, 2000. Retrieved November 12, 2021.

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