''Hamsterball'', stylized as ''HamsterBall,'' is an indie video game developed by Raptisoft Games, released on 8 February 2004 for Microsoft Windows. The TikGames PlayStation 3 version was created on 25 March 2010.

Gameplay

Similar to the arcade game ''

Marble Madness ''Marble Madness'' is a 1984 platform game designed by Mark Cerny and published by Atari Games for Arcade video game, arcades. Set in an Isometric video game graphics, isometric perspective, the game tasks the player with guiding a marble throug ...

'', the goal is to complete a series of 15 race courses in as short a time as possible while avoiding various obstacles. Instead of a marble, however, the player controls a

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...

in a clear plastic exercise ball. A short fall causes the hamster to become dizzy and hard to control for a short time. If the hamster falls too far, rolls off the course, or is destroyed by an obstacle, a new one is placed on the course after a short delay. A set amount of extra time is added to the player's clock at the beginning of each race; if time runs out, the game ends. By following invisible paths on the courses, players can unlock appropriately themed multiplayer combat arenas. During this mode of play, "Rodent Rumble", the goal is to knock opponents' hamsters off the edge or into lethal obstacles as many times as possible within a time limit.

Awards

During the

7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards The ''7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards'' was the 7th edition of the Interactive Achievement Awards, an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 2003. The awards were arranged by the Academy of Int ...

, the

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...

awarded ''Hamsterball'' with " Computer Downloadable Game of the Year".

References

External links

''Eurogamer''
"Download Games Roundup"
''HamsterBall''
IGN review
Official site
2004 video games Action games Marble video games PlayStation 3 games Windows games Single-player video games Video games about hamsters Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Peter Hajba TikGames games Raptisoft games {{action-videogame-stub