JezzBall
Borrowing certain gameplay conventions from Qix, JezzBall presents another
scenario forcing the player to divide and conquer a 2D playfield by whittling
away slivers of it until it is at only 25% (or less) of its original size.
The complicating factor here are balls, more with every level, bouncing off
the edges of the continuous playfield and, incidentally, quite lethal to the
player’s marker, only tangible while in the act of diminishing the playfield
by marking off areas no longer to be used. The player can choose to trim
horizontal or vertical segments — depending on which axis they expect the
bouncing ball to intercept soonest — and the boring apparatus used fires off
in opposite directions simultaneously, meaning the cross-section generally
starts being cut from the middle and works its way toward the outside edges…
all while keeping an eye on how close those balls are bouncing.
The apparatus is slow, and until the entire cross-section is completed, its
entire span is at risk of being hit. The two sides of the dividing sweep are
independent from each other, so if one side is intercepted by a ball while in
the process of trimming, the other side continues unabated, resulting in a
half-complete division.
This game became famous after being distributed as part of the Microsoft
Entertainment Pack 4 of Windows 3.x games, returning in the Best of Microsoft
Entertainment Pack.
JezzBall