Peggle

2025-04-26
When people talk about Tetris as this simple yet timeless game that's always fun, my eyes glaze over. Personally I'd rather drown myself in a urinal than play Tetris. But when I first played Peggle back in the early days of Steam back in 2007, and when I went back to finally play the whole thing in 2025 I was like "I get it." Peggle is almost as simple of a game you could come up with. Aim a ball at some pegs until you hit all the orange ones. The ball bounces, you have X number of balls, go nuts. And honestly I think that by itself would be compelling enough to hold my attention. But it's the "everything else" that elevates it. The weird, dumb, characterful cast of "Peggle Masters" including some sort of rodent riding a skateboard who pops up whenever you get a sick combo with a loud "WEEEEOWW" guitar riff. Why does this happen? I don't know. But I love it. Or the colors and lights and sounds as you hit everything, giving you that delightful feedback that defines the best pinball machines. And of course the music. It's so fucking simple yet so catchy, each song starting with a basic beat and an instrument or two and then slowly, every so slowly, layering up in complexity till your bobbing your head while you're blasting pegs in the Peggle Zone.

Peggle is great and if you haven't spent the 4 hours or whatever it takes to clear it, you owe yourself a relaxing time.